York

We were really looking forward to going to York. It promised so much history that we were interested in, as well as a reputation for being very beautiful.

The Ashberry

We escaped work again on Friday evening and headed to King’s Cross station. Siobhan managed to get there before me again despite the fact that she had further to travel. We grabbed some hot food and got on to the train in plenty of time. While the last time that we had been on this train (when we went to Edinburgh) had been action packed and very entertaining, we were both very pleased that our carriage was very quiet so we could just relax. We got to York without event, and although it was freezing cold, we decided to walk to our B&B (The Ashberry) as it wasn’t very far according to Apple maps. It actually wasn’t either, and so we checked in about 8.30pm. The hosts, Steve and Sara, were very welcoming although quite surprised that we weren’t heading back out. We were pretty had it after a week at work and our room was toasty warm while it was freezing outside.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and we were the first ones down to breakfast. Breakfast was great. While we were having breakfast and watching the world go by, the sunshine was heating everything up and the steam was rising off the roofs of buildings. This was making it quite hazy. By the time we had finished breakfast and got rugged up to head outside, it was quite foggy and our bright sunny day had disappeared. 

 

First stop was the Mickelgate Bar. There are four of these around York, built into the city wall. And I haven’t developed a drinking problem, heading straight to a bar after breakfast either. The bars are the gates into the city, with portcullises and the works. According to my favourite historian (Siobhan), Mickelgate Bar was the gate at which traitors’ heads were mounted on pikes for all to see. As it was still so cold, the gates up onto the wall were closed as it was rumoured that the wall was icy and so wasn’t open. It was cold, but it wasn’t that cold. We were slightly disappointed that the wall wasn’t open, but we were hoping that the day would warm up so that it would open later in the day.

We decided that our next stop would be York Minster. This is another amazing church. We had intended climbing the tower to get a view over the city, but as it was very foggy we decided that we would save our energy. Hugh Jory (Ian’s brother) explained the difference between a Minster and a Cathedral on Sunday, and it had something to do with whether the bishop has a seat there or not. While that seemed a plausible explanation, the fact that there was a cathedra (a bishop’s seat) in York Minster didn’t fully explain it for me.

From the Minster, we headed to Bootham Bar where we were able to climb up onto the wall. This was still freezing cold, but it was very atmospheric, walking along the walls in the mist and fog. We walked all the way around to Monk Bar where we descended and headed back into town. After a very nice coffee, we headed for The Shambles. It is one of the main shopping streets in York, and presumably gets its name from the state of the buildings that line each side of the narrow lane. The are seriously old school, and the years have been less than kind with the various right-angles that the buildings once possessed. It all looks very quaint though, and Siobhan got some really nice wool in one shop for a future jersey / cardigan. 

We also visited the XIIIth Century Holy Trinity Church. As its name implies, this was very old, and it was amazing to see the subsidence that had occurred yet the church remained standing.

We next headed to Clifford’s Tower, the main fortification remaining in York. It stands atop what I think was a man-made hill, overlooking the surrounding city. The fog had lifted slightly, and so we got a reasonable view around York. Clifford’s Tower had an interesting history, and while it doesn’t take long to fully check it out, it was well worth the visit. It helped that it is run by English Heritage and so our membership meant that we got in for free.

The York Castle museum was next and although we were a little apprehensive about spending time in a museum when there were other things to see, it proved to be one of the highlights of the trip. While there was various information about York and its history, what it did really well was its recreations of houses, rooms and streets from days gone by. There was a whole street set up with stables and coaches, as well as all kinds of different shops. It was very well done. We had a good wander around and then headed back to our B&B to drop off the shopping before heading to the pub to watch the All Blacks play Wales. Luckily a pub just down the road from our B&B was going to show the game so we didn’t have to wander far.

I guess that the game will be remembered for Andrew Hore’s forearm king-hit on the Welsh lock very early in the game, and then the Welsh fight-back in the second half. But for us it will be remembered for the other Kiwis that were at the pub watching the game too. One was from Wellington, and the other two were from Hawkes Bay. It was nice chatting to them. They had just returned from a trip to Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris – which was the reverse of the trip we had planned to do with the kids just after Christmas. They recommended that we book our accommodation through AirBnB, and this was a great recommendation.

After the All Blacks had done the business, we headed back into town for dinner and ended up at a Spanish tapas place. It was nice, but not as good as the real thing had been in Barcelona.

On Sunday we met up with Hugh and he escorted us around the wider York area. We visited the Ripon Cathedral, and then had lunch at a very cute little pub in north Yorkshire somewhere.

Hugh returned us to York later in the afternoon, but we still had a bit of time before our train home, so we all went on York’s wheel. It had cleared up from Saturday, and so we were able to get a bit of a perspective on York before heading to the train. Annoyingly, the train was delayed by just over an hour, but once we were on the train, it was a reasonably uneventful trip home.