It was Emily's birthday weekend so we had a day out in York last Sunday.
York is a walled city located at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. It was founded by the Romans in 71AD and they named it Eboracum. By the Middle Ages it had become a major wool trading centre.
There were several Greylag families by the side of the river with goslings of various ages.
The Medieval Clifford's Tower once the central stronghold of York Castle.
The Golden Fleece public house - the oldest and most haunted licensed premises in York.
The Shambles - a Medieval narrow street. It was almost impossible to take photos the place was that crowded. In fact, even at 10.30 on a Sunday morning the whole of York seemed crowded!
There was an outdoor market in one of the courtyards with a lovely gardening stall.
York Minster -
We spent several hours looking round the Minster - but I will do a separate post on this in a day or two. Don't want to upload too many photos in one go in case Blogger decides to play up and put them all out of order!
Betty's Cafe Tea Room. The larger famous Betty's tea room was just round the corner and there was a very long queue extending out of the shop and down the pavement for afternoon tea - we didn't bother!!!
The Mansion House - home of the Lord Mayor of York
David and I went round the Jorvik Viking Centre.
In 866 the Vikings raided and captured York. Under Viking rule York became a major river port. The last Viking ruler of Jorvik Eric Bloodaxe was driven from the City in 954 by King Edred in Edred's successful attempt to unify England.
The museum contained lots of information about Vikings and their way of life together with a ride round a recreation of a busy street in Jorvik (York) complete with sights, sounds and smells (!) from this era. The recreation is based on information found from archaeological excavations conducted on the site by York Archaeological Trust from 1976 - 1981. It was too dark for photos and you weren't allowed to take any on the ride - so just one of a display case.
Emily and Brian had planned to go a ride on a Big Wheel but ended up having a look round the castle.
York is a beautiful City with so much to do and places to visit. You could easily spend several days here.
One of the highlights of the day was a beautiful display of thousands and thousands of cowslips on the road verges as you join (and leave) the A1 for York. I am not sure if they have been planted or occur naturally. I haven't seen so many cowslips in one place since I was a child.
It looks like you had a good day out in York and I hope you enjoyed your time in Yorkshire's unofficial capital :-) I like the shots of the Minster, Shambles etc, but as you say York does suffer from dreadful overcrowding, especially in the more historic corners of the city.
ReplyDeleteDavid Turner - Yes thanks David - did enjoy the day. Must admit I hadn't stopped to think how busy it would be - reminded me of Stratford on Avon our way which is always packed with tourists.
ReplyDeleteMany belated Happy Birthday Greetings to Emily! It looked like you all had a most enjoyable time in York. I have never been to that area at all but of course have heard that York Minster is very special and of course I would love to visit the Yorkshire Moors one day. The Golden Fleece sounds a fascinating place with its ghostly goings on :-) Lovely to see the goslings, things are certainly moving on now. A very interesting read and lovely photos which I felt really portrayed the essence of the place.
ReplyDeleteYour remark to David rung a bell. I love Stratford and we have visited many, many times but my goodness it is a busy place particularly in high summer!
Great photos of a fascinating place. There is so much interesting history there with some fabulous buildings. And wonderful that you also had the added bonus of all those cowslips.
ReplyDeleteI fully intended to mention the Cowslips!! They would have been the highlight of my day!
ReplyDeleteShySongbird - Hi Jan :) Many thanks for your lovely comment and birthday greetings for Emily :)
ReplyDeleteStratford is nice - keep meaning to go to Anne Hathaway's cottage and return to the Butterfly place its lovely there.
Years ago we used to go and stay with friends in Leeds and visited some lovely places including York but we didn't go in the Minster so was thrilled we did on Sunday. The Moors are lovely. Wouldn't mind a holiday up there one day! Mum and Dad used to stay in Robin's Hood Bay a lot years ago.
Would have liked to go inside the Golden Fleece and I noticed signs advertising nightly ghost walks round the city centre!
Hope you are continuing to feel better.
Wendy - Many thanks for your lovely comment. Cowslips were the icing on the cake :)
What a great day. I realised, looking at you lovely photos, that I haven't been there for thirty years. It doesn't appear to have changed much thank goodness!
ReplyDeleteShySongbird - You would have loved the cowslips Jan :) Pity we couldn't stop the car and take photos !!!
ReplyDeleteEm Parkinson - I think its about 30-35 years since we were last there and its much as I remembered.
Now this is more like it!!! The places around the church look like a lot of fun. You have the best pictures of all the pastries. The Greyleg Goose is a very English bird. I don't know if we have them here but I think they are beautiful birds.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I love food too much. I think I'd be eating the entire time I was there so that I could try all of the flavors:)
Chris Rohrer - Thanks Chris!!! I like the Greylag too - lovely muted colours :)
ReplyDeleteHave to admit we ate an awful lot of junk food that day!!! Bettys tea room is renowned over here although we didn't visit this time we have been to the one in Harrogate years ago - cakes unbelievably delicious :)