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Monday September 1st
We have just returned from the city of York after spending all too little time in a wonderful place. It took us four hours to drive there and we left home early, using motorways mostly and arriving before lunchtime.
The ancient centre of York is strictly for pedestrians and we were able to walk there within ten minutes from our B and B.
This place goes back to pre Roman times and wherever you walk, you are in the footsteps of Romans, Normans and Vikings. As we passed through one of many arched city gateways we could already see the towers of York Minster, which dominat.JPG)
e the city. The city itself is quite small with rambling narrow streets and very old houses and shops which lean out overhead, threatening to tumble into one another. The most famous of these little streets is called the Shambles and it was once the street of butchers in medieval times. It is now filled with little cafes and gift shops and very old pubs. And there is another street leading to the Minster. It is now called Stonegate but 1900 years ago it was the Via Praetoria because it led to a Roman barracks.
And so we came to the magnificent Cathedral of St Peter in York, better known as York Minster. We have seen many cathedrals and churches in this country but York Minster is something else again. It is the la
rgest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, and the finest example of what’s known as perpendicular Gothic architecture. We spent the next hour or so looking at medieval stained glass, the tombs of bishops going back to the 6th century, and memorial effigies of aristocrats and princes from across the centuries. The screen which divides the nave is fifteenth century and it’s decorated with statues of English kings from William the first to Henry the sixth. I think these pictures speak for themselves.
The ancient centre of York is strictly for pedestrians and we were able to walk there within ten minutes from our B and B.
This place goes back to pre Roman times and wherever you walk, you are in the footsteps of Romans, Normans and Vikings. As we passed through one of many arched city gateways we could already see the towers of York Minster, which dominat
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e the city. The city itself is quite small with rambling narrow streets and very old houses and shops which lean out overhead, threatening to tumble into one another. The most famous of these little streets is called the Shambles and it was once the street of butchers in medieval times. It is now filled with little cafes and gift shops and very old pubs. And there is another street leading to the Minster. It is now called Stonegate but 1900 years ago it was the Via Praetoria because it led to a Roman barracks.And so we came to the magnificent Cathedral of St Peter in York, better known as York Minster. We have seen many cathedrals and churches in this country but York Minster is something else again. It is the la
rgest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, and the finest example of what’s known as perpendicular Gothic architecture. We spent the next hour or so looking at medieval stained glass, the tombs of bishops going back to the 6th century, and memorial effigies of aristocrats and princes from across the centuries. The screen which divides the nave is fifteenth century and it’s decorated with statues of English kings from William the first to Henry the sixth. I think these pictures speak for themselves. The Minster
The Nave
15th Century Screen
York Minster Pictures
Memorial Effigy
The Organ
But below the present day Minster there was another world to see; the Roman, Viking and 
Norman world. In the undercroft and crypt we saw the ruins of Roman occupation, stone statues of the Emperor Vespasian, Roman drains, early Viking walls and Norman foundations, all in amazing condition. A Roman fortress stood here in the time of the Emperor Constantine and before the first place of worship was built. This is also the last resting place of St William of York.
Emerging into the sunlight again, I spent time photographing this fantastic building from every angle, before plunging back into those narrow little streets, which they call “Snickleways”.
We enjoyed a pleasant afternoon tea in an upstairs tearoom called Betty’s. This was an elegant little
place which served tea and coffee in silver plated pots and dainty china cups. I had a fruit scone called a “warm Yorkshire fat rascal”. Barbara had elderflower cake with China rose petal tea.
We visited three other places of interest. One was a sort of time travelling experience back to 975AD, the city of Jorvik. This is what this city was called when the Vikings lived here. You sit in a sort of capsule which transports you through replica streets of Viking times with market places and tradesmen.JPG)
and merchants on either side. It was really quite well presented, with the noises of the place and even the rather unpleasant smells you’d expect to encounter in an unsewered settlement back then. As well there were all sorts of skeletons and relics of the former inhabitants.
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We also visited the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall. This is a medieval guild hall and it is still used by the same guild which built it 650 years ago. Apart from the hall itself which features an impressive ceiling supported by huge old wooden beams, there is a chapel and portraits of all the Worshipful masters of the guild going back centuries.
We spent a little time in another very old church; “Holy Trinity”, which is notable for it’s rickety stone floors, and the pews which are all divided into separate boxes with lockable doors, which p
arishioners apparently purchased and enjoyed their exclusive use.
In the middle of Stonegate there is an old pub called the Guy Fawkes, which, according to the plaque on its wall, is where the man himself was born. The pub wasn’t built until 200 years after his death but I suppose he may have been born on this site. Anyway that is where we decided to have dinner, accompanied by a pint of very dark bitter called Midnight Bell. There was another one called Old Legover but I gave that a miss. The meal was Beer and Ale Pie with chips, not exactly Claridges fare, but filling enough. By now it was almost sunset and just for fun, Barbara and I joined a so called “Ghost Walk “through the city.
Our guide was a young man in a black top hat, with black cape and carrying silver topped ebony cane. He looked like an undertaker and he took us to various locations where the spirits were said to walk. One was said to be a child who starved to death in a plague house. Apparently she survived the plague but her parents did not and she spent her last days trying to escape the boarded up house, with only her dead parents for company. The house is still there and the little girl is said to have been heard crying in her room and knocking at the window. Another ghost is that of a man who was beheaded and his head buried in a graveyard at one end of Stonegate, and his body at a graveyard at the other end. The body has been seen walki
ng the street, trying to reach its head at the other end.
We of course saw no ghosts of any kind, but the ‘’undertaker’s” performance was very entertaining, and it was a fun way to end our visit.
We drove home via Stafford on the following day, and had lunch with my cousin Brenda and her husband. She’s about to leave for Melbourne soon, as indeed will we.
That’s a fact that is becoming more sharply into focus as we draw near to the end of our time here
I walked around the corner this morning to the local village shop, where I get the Times, and I found myself looking at every house and every front garden and trying to imprint them on my mind in case I forget any little detail.
Tomorrow we go up to London and then by train to Amsterdam.
A week later we will be in France and the week after that we have to pack up, dispose of the car and all our furniture and then.......home.
The Nave
15th Century Screen
York Minster Pictures
Memorial Effigy
The Organ
But below the present day Minster there was another world to see; the Roman, Viking and 
Norman world. In the undercroft and crypt we saw the ruins of Roman occupation, stone statues of the Emperor Vespasian, Roman drains, early Viking walls and Norman foundations, all in amazing condition. A Roman fortress stood here in the time of the Emperor Constantine and before the first place of worship was built. This is also the last resting place of St William of York.Emerging into the sunlight again, I spent time photographing this fantastic building from every angle, before plunging back into those narrow little streets, which they call “Snickleways”.
We enjoyed a pleasant afternoon tea in an upstairs tearoom called Betty’s. This was an elegant little
place which served tea and coffee in silver plated pots and dainty china cups. I had a fruit scone called a “warm Yorkshire fat rascal”. Barbara had elderflower cake with China rose petal tea.We visited three other places of interest. One was a sort of time travelling experience back to 975AD, the city of Jorvik. This is what this city was called when the Vikings lived here. You sit in a sort of capsule which transports you through replica streets of Viking times with market places and tradesmen
.JPG)
and merchants on either side. It was really quite well presented, with the noises of the place and even the rather unpleasant smells you’d expect to encounter in an unsewered settlement back then. As well there were all sorts of skeletons and relics of the former inhabitants..JPG)
We also visited the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall. This is a medieval guild hall and it is still used by the same guild which built it 650 years ago. Apart from the hall itself which features an impressive ceiling supported by huge old wooden beams, there is a chapel and portraits of all the Worshipful masters of the guild going back centuries.We spent a little time in another very old church; “Holy Trinity”, which is notable for it’s rickety stone floors, and the pews which are all divided into separate boxes with lockable doors, which p
arishioners apparently purchased and enjoyed their exclusive use.In the middle of Stonegate there is an old pub called the Guy Fawkes, which, according to the plaque on its wall, is where the man himself was born. The pub wasn’t built until 200 years after his death but I suppose he may have been born on this site. Anyway that is where we decided to have dinner, accompanied by a pint of very dark bitter called Midnight Bell. There was another one called Old Legover but I gave that a miss. The meal was Beer and Ale Pie with chips, not exactly Claridges fare, but filling enough. By now it was almost sunset and just for fun, Barbara and I joined a so called “Ghost Walk “through the city.
Our guide was a young man in a black top hat, with black cape and carrying silver topped ebony cane. He looked like an undertaker and he took us to various locations where the spirits were said to walk. One was said to be a child who starved to death in a plague house. Apparently she survived the plague but her parents did not and she spent her last days trying to escape the boarded up house, with only her dead parents for company. The house is still there and the little girl is said to have been heard crying in her room and knocking at the window. Another ghost is that of a man who was beheaded and his head buried in a graveyard at one end of Stonegate, and his body at a graveyard at the other end. The body has been seen walki
ng the street, trying to reach its head at the other end.We of course saw no ghosts of any kind, but the ‘’undertaker’s” performance was very entertaining, and it was a fun way to end our visit.
We drove home via Stafford on the following day, and had lunch with my cousin Brenda and her husband. She’s about to leave for Melbourne soon, as indeed will we.
That’s a fact that is becoming more sharply into focus as we draw near to the end of our time here
I walked around the corner this morning to the local village shop, where I get the Times, and I found myself looking at every house and every front garden and trying to imprint them on my mind in case I forget any little detail.
Tomorrow we go up to London and then by train to Amsterdam.
A week later we will be in France and the week after that we have to pack up, dispose of the car and all our furniture and then.......home.
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