York

York

Bobbies are friendly in York!

Well, we're back on the tourism trail today... Put the family stuff aside for a while and back to experiencing the treasures of York.

I changed my plans a bit and chose to stay here rather than go on to Whitby, because I wanted to "do" York. Last time I came I was on a bus tour and it was a bit rushed, so this time I wanted to really see it.

I have been extraordinarily lucky with the weather up until now, but today was a cool and rainy day. There were a few things I wanted to see, so I tried to plan some indoors things, so the rain did not affect me too much.

The local knowledge, via the reception at this motel, suggested I choose the park and ride option, rather than try and drive into town. It was a very good suggestion! I drove just half a mile down the road and they have a great big car park where you park and catch the bus into town. It cost me 2 pounds 75 for the whole day - included parking and the return bus trip into town. So much easier...

So I arrived and the bus driver shouts out "City centre" so I hopped off with everyone else, and didn't have a clue where I was... so I asked these 2 lovely little ladies who told me lots of local things - including how to get back onto the bus for the return journey. And they said they were walking near the York Minster (Cathedral) so would I like to join them. I have been blessed with so many helpful people along the way on this journey. 


They pointed out where The Shambles was, so at that point I wandered off on my own, having thanked them profusely for their helpfulness.

If you're interested in the history of this place, click on the link above. There is also included some info about St Margaret Clitherow, who because she sheltered priests was sentenced to be pressed naked beneath a heavy stone for 3 days without proper food or drink. Great stories from this era...

The Shambles York

The Shambles York

The Shambles York

This is from the website linked above..

The word Shambles originates from the Medieval word Shamel, which meant booth or bench. It was once also referred to as Flesshammel, a word with meaning around flesh; this is because Shambles was historically a street of butchers shops and houses. Records state that in1872 there were 26 butchers on the street. The last butcher to trade on Shambles was at number 27 of the name Dewhurst.
It is also interesting to notice the way the pavements on either side of the street are raised up, this was done to create a channel which the butchers would wash away their waste through; offal and blood would gush down Shambles twice weekly.

 As I was walking along I came across a couple of policeman -Bobbies - and I asked them if it was Ok to take their picture... No  problems, in fact the lady poiceman offered to take the picture and include me in it... See above also..

Bobbies in York

My next stop, and actually my priority for the day was the York Cathedral -commonly called the York Minster. Apparently ( as my guide told me) you can only call a cathedral a Minster if you can prove it has engaged in missionary activity. Can't remember the details, but some Christian Princess was to marry some Pagan prince and so she brought her own Bishop with her to do the ceremony, and that Prince was baptised in York,  therefore it was missionary, therefore it can be called a Minster. Probably haven't done the story justice, but you can get the gist of it!

York Minster - too big for one photo!

York Minster

York Minster

 When I went in and paid my entrance fee (as they kept telling us it costs 20,000 pounds a day just to keep it going!) I asked if they had an audio guide and unfortunately they  didn't but a guided tour was about to start in 10 mins so I tagged along into that. And  the guide was excellent. He was a very good story teller and gave an wonderful background to all the history of York in general and all the different races that had conquered York at various stages

The tour took nearly 2 hours but was terrific and gave a real overview to the history and all the different parts of the Cathedral.

Inside York Minster

Stained glass windows inside York Minster

Roof York Minster

The guide was a real story teller and he told us the story of how a man called Jonathan Martin burned down the Cathedral in 1829 because he didn't like the organ music.

He was eventually found to be insane and ended up in a hospital in London for the insane called Bedlam!  Click on the link above if you're interested to read the whole story... it's actually fascinating and worth a read if you have the time.

I found the tour really fascinating and loved hearing the history, not only of the Cathedral, but of the town of York itself.

For example, the Emperor Constantine actually came from York, and then had to work his  way back to Rome and conquer all his rivals. He was the Emperor that made the Roman Empire Christian and it all started in York!

Statue of Constantine

Explanation of Constantine

Here's a few more pics of the inside of York Minster

Chapter House

Ceiling of Chapter House

Detail of sculptures on wall of Chapter House - some very funny!

3 Headed Queen

They are re-doing the stained glass window on the Eastern transept and it will take ages and lots of money. The series of windows show the sequence from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. They started at the bottom so here are a few pics from these windows..

So that was how I spent my morning ... learning lots as usual and always discovering more history about each place I visit.

Had a bite to eat in a shop called BHS (I think!). It was a bit like Myers and had a cafe on the first floor.

It was raining quite steadily by now, so I thought I would go and visit the Viking exhibition called Jorvik which was found in a part of town called Coppergate - Gate being the Viking (?Danish) word for street.

Parts of it were quite well done and they had re-created a Viking town as it would have been in York in about 866AD. There were the standard museum parts, some of which had audio visual components which were well done. Then you hopped in a little trolley (a bit like the ghost train capsule) and it took you through this Viking village. My pics didn't come out too well because you were moving along on this little trolley but I'll try and include a few. The display included smells and all which was quite interesting!

Jorvik display

Jorvik display

Jorvik display

Jorvik display

I was thinking I  would like to walk around the walls of York, but when I got outside, it really was raining quite heavily, so I decided to  just come back to my motel. It was only 4 o'clock but the night begins early here, and it was already quite dark.

So that was my day in York. Very enjoyable... Would maybe have liked to fit a bit more in, but you can only do what you can only do....

And what I did was good....!!!!