Day 11, York

Going to the City of York

My children knew that today I was going to take the train to York, but I didn’t tell them from what station the train left––Kings Cross Station, which was the sight of the first explosion on 7/7. I knew it would be okay to leave from there but I wasn’t sure that they would believe this. Both main line trains and the Underground leave from this station; I was taking a main line train that left at 7 a.m., but I had to meet the Grayline representative there at 6:30 a.m. to get my train ticket and my vouchers. I took a taxi to the station because I didn’t know how long the bus ride would be and I didn’t want to be late (or get on a bus at 5:30 a.m.)––so I spent another 20 pounds on taxi fare. You can see the memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack at Kings Cross Station in this photo. It was very sad to see it.

Going to the City of York

Another view of the memorial.

Going to the City of York

York

Our train was to arrive in York at about 9 a.m., but due to electrical problems on the train line, we didn’t arrive until 10 a.m. There was one other person going on the excursion to York with me––a man who came wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers T–shirt. He thought that since I was from LA that he would be traveling with another Dodger Fan (he used to live in the LA area but moved to Arizona) and he was terribly disappointed when I told him that I had only been to two Dodger games ever and that was only because my son had tickets for the very best seats in the stadium and that I also told him that I do not follow the Dodgers. I mention this as he now knew we had little in common and didn’t want to hang around with me very much. I can really put people off! Our group did though include three people from Memphis, Tennessee, who were going on a day excursion to Edinburgh, a stop on the train’s northern journey. When I told one of the men in the group that I was from California, he started razing me about us having Arnie as our governor (I hadn’t even voted for him)––and this wasn’t the first person on my trip to make fun of our choice of governor, quite a number of people did. Anyway, the York Tourist Office was right at the station and the Dodger fan and I saw a notice about a walking tour of York that was to start in 15 minutes. We got directions to its meeting place (through one of the city walls) and we started hiking up the hill to it. This is the city wall we were directed to.

York

We made it up to the meeting place at the Yorkshire Museum, after I was told that I walked too slow (the Dodger fan said that is because I live in LA and we don’t walk––we only drive). I was supposed to keep up with someone over 6 feet tall? We had an older woman as our tour guide––these tours are free and the tour guides conduct the tours out of a love of their city. We passed this statue of Emperor Constantine. York was founded in 71 A.D. as a Roman provincial capital and was the northernmost city in Roman Empire. Constantine was proclaimed Roman Emperor in 306 A.D. here.

York

Near the museum we saw this collection of old city walls. The first wall (closest to the front of the photo) is the Roman Bank (1st–4th centuries). The second wall is the Dark Ages Bank (5th–10th centuries). The third is the Norman Bank (11th–12th centuries), and the fourth, the Medieval Bank (13th century).

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A part of the old walls––I believe this a Norman wall built on top of a Roman wall.

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Also nearby were the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, destroyed during the takeover of the Catholic Churches by King Henry VIII.

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Our guide told us that this was a dinosaur egg in front of the abbey.

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Close–up of the dinosaur egg.

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The Anglo Saxons came into York after the Romans left and York became the capital of Northumbria. Then came the Vikings, then the Danes, and then the Normans who destroyed the city and then rebuilt it. Most of York remains today as a Norman–built medieval city. This building is called Kings Manor and was part of an old college but which now is a school.

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Note the size of the window on the left of the building.

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We next took a walk on the city walls, going up the steps that you can see in the photo. The gates in the walls are called bars; this one is Bootham Bar. You can also see the towers of York Minster. The cathedral here is called a minster––a place from which people go out to minister.

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We on now on walking on the top of the wall. There are 2 1/2 miles of walls around the city though there are some breaks in them. Some parts of the walls do not have any railings to keep you from falling.

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View of the wall from its outside.

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View of York Minster from the wall. Our guide told us that there is always scaffolding somewhere on its outside as it is a continuing process to keep up the minster.

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View of Monk Bar from its side.

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View of Monk Bar from street level. It is the most ornate of the surviving bars.

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View of Monk Bar from inside the city walls.

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We next took a walk around York. Our guide pointed out this building to us and its second–story overhang (you see this all over York). In the Middle Ages, taxes on houses were levied only on the square footage of the first story, so if people wanted larger houses, they increased their size on the second floor.

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Bulging building on a cobblestone street being held together by metal rods.

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Half–timbered building with second–story overhang.

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Entrance to St. Williams College.

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Statue on top of the entrance.

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Interesting overhang of building onto the wall.

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A street in York.

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Another York street.

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York Hogroast Store offering sandwiches made from the finest meats.

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Entering the Shambles. This is the ancient street of the butchers of York. “Shambles” comes from the word “Shamel” which refers to the stalls or benches on which the butchers displayed their meat. The Shambles was rebuilt in 1400.

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You can see two of these “shamels” outside this chocolate shop.

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Many of the buildings in the Shambles are so close together and overhang so much that they are almost touching.

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Another view of the Shambles.

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Located in the Shambles is the shrine to St. Margaret (located on the bottom floor of the middle house). Margaret Clitherow was the wife of one of the Shambles’ butchers. During the time when Protestant England was at the verge of war with Catholic Europe, she, a Catholic, harbored priests in her home. She was caught and put to death for doing this.

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The Golden Fleece, second building from the left. It advertises itself as “York’s Most Haunted Inn.” It was established in 1503.

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Our nearly two–hour walking tour ended here. Dodger fan and I went our separate ways to do our own sightseeing. I walked around the city. This is a photo of the River Ouse and the Merchant Adventures Hall, founded 1357.

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Another view of the hall. It advertises itself as Europe’s Finest Medieval Guild Hall.

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Other buildings that I passed along my walk.

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An old church offering a light lunch. It was time for lunch but I bought a sandwich, crisps (potato chips), and Diet Coke nearby and ate sitting on the wall in front of the church. It had become another very hot day. The English heat wave extended all the way up to York.

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I next walked up the hill to visit York Minster. This is a street leading up to the minster.

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I passed this ghoul at an intersection. His sign read: “Secret York. Explore Passageways, Undercrofts, and Ruins. 2:15 Today.” Sounds interesting. I think that I would have gone on it if I had more time in York. Many people spend at least two days here.

York

York Minster

York Minster. It was begun in 1220 and took 250 years to finish. It was originally a Catholic church but it denomination was changed to Church of England during Henry VIII’s reign.