York

Englands medieval capital.

Arriving by train is very simple, York has many city train connections as it was and is a central Hub for the LNER, London Northeast Railway company.

Leaving by train is just as easy, even though the public areas stink of piss, in a medieval city this must be a 1000-year old problem, pity they haven’t found a solution to keep it clean, after all tourism in York is a mammoth business, with well over five million visitors per year, lasting impressions count for everything.

We stayed at the Apple House B&B, https://applehouseyork.co.uk close walking distance to the train station as well as the old city. A few minutes from Mickelgate. Great a la carte breakfast at Apple House and very friendly. Well recommended.

York Minster:

Exploring York within the city ramparts is best done by walking and York has some stunning sights.

York Minster: - York’s gothic cathedral, construction began in the 1220s and was declared complete in 1472, York Minster started out as a catholic church and was later reformed by Henry VIII to a church of England site, York Minster is a monumental and impressive building. I didn’t go in, religions scam enough money without giving more, although I believe they should be looked after by the government as cultural landmarks.

Walking around York:

Walking around the ramparts offers here views of the Ouze river and buildings from the city’s glory days. Walking is also the best way to explore the city centre as vechicle access is limited.

We had a great Thai dinner at The Old Siam and a traditional english afternoon tea at Betty's, order the afternoon tea to share. If you feel a bit peckish duck into Selfridges and grab a sandwich or convience meal, Why do the English make the best sandwiches to go.

The Shambles:

While exploring York you’ll eventually come to the Shambles a narrow street with overhanging houses and shops. Apparently, it was an inspirational location in the Harry Potter series, it was never used as a film location but it looks just like in the film, thus its packed with people and of course there’s a Harry Potter shop with a line as long as a basilisk snaking its way through the area. Theres even a broom parking space if you just flew in for a quick visit.

Theres also a great English pie shop in the middle of the Shambles, many different fillings and all made with traditional hot water dough, great for ploughmans lunch.

York Castle Museum:

Yorks castle museum reflects on the city’s history over the past 1000 years and is full of time capsules showing English everyday life during various historic periods. The museum is an interactive playground for children and is very well presented. The castle has gone through many changes during different periods. At one time it was a jail collecting and transporting prisoners to the antipodes.

Dick Turpin the famous highway man was imprisoned and executed here. Another favourite son of York was Guy Faulks, Guy in his heyday almost succeeded in blowing up the houses of parliament in London way back in 1605”.

I remember the children’s chants outside London’s tube stations when I lived there, “a penny for the Guy” collecting money for fireworks for Guy Faulks night, “Bonfire night in England”.

The National Raiway Museum:

York is the home of the National Railway Museum a fantastic museum which I visited previously about 35 years ago. I was especially interested to see if they still had the narrow-gauge Beyer Garratt K1 from 1909 on display, when we visited previously, we dropped of some original sleeper spikes from the historic Zeehan - Williamsford, northeast Dundas tramway, This line served the early mining towns in Tasmanias rugged west coat. I asked the blank faced information’s desk about the loco and the sleeper spikes, after much a do it was confirmed that the Garratt has been moved to Manchester.

The museum houses a vast array of rail memorabilia including many locos and rolling stock, the most famous is naturally Stevenssons rocket, also pride and place is the Mallard, holding the record for the fastest steam train at just over 200km per hour, pulling seven carriages and weighing 240 tonnes.

The world famous flying Scotsman also has York as it’s home base, but it wasn’t there as its still running out on the main line.

Hard core rail enthusiasts must be able to spend days here. Which is great because it’s free, a major national Museum Free!! Well done, York

The Vikings:

Of course, York is also home of Jorvik the Viking centre museum. Rebuilt as a replica of a Viking village unearthed during city redevelopment in 1976, the Museum officially opened in 1984 and shows some of the village daily rituals, tasks and living standards from the period around 900AD. During this period the Vikings captured York and made it one of their settlements on the English east coast. I dare say they left a lasting heredity.

“Destiny is all”

York has an abundance of pubs and bars, reputedly over 350, one for each day of the year. many of these old free houses are within the ramparts and are 3-500 years old, they all have a long history and all claim to be haunted, visiting them or some of them is an inaugural part of the York experience. Many have classical names and are pokey dark places. The House of Trembling Madness, is one such pub where the name stands out, it wasn’t so old, but the name is iconic. After trying a couple of York’s finest one should try one of the modern corporate pubs belonging to the pub holding companies outside the ramparts, just to feel the difference.