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Day 9: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 Doncaster, England
York, a City
Layered With History, Beauty and Variety
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It started
out as an overcast day but it was sunny and warm by the
afternoon. We drove to the walled city of York,
which is Yorkshire’s most visited city. Exploring York's
historic city centre is like taking a trip back in time. We
joined a two-hour walking tour of the city which included a walk
along its 4 km of thirteenth and fourteenth century city walls.
Our guide was pretty knowledgeable and made the tour
interesting.
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Walking the
Walls of York |
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York is
dominated by the imposing bulk of York Minster with its
superb stained glass windows - the equal of Canterbury Cathedral
in the south. The famous glass windows of the East End of York
Minster were covered in scaffolding as it is undergoing a £30
million, ten-year renovation. We decided not to pay to see the
inside of another cathedral – impressive though it might be – so
I could not get a photo of the east wall. I found this one on
the internet. The city's rich cultural heritage dates back to
Roman times, but the flavour of the old Viking Jorvik is still alive at
the outstanding Jorvik Viking Centre, and the medieval
architecture of the city is superior. By now it was lunch
time and we headed for Russells of Coppergate for a
Carvery lunch, which consisted of mouth-watering roast beef and
Yorkshire pudding - of course. |
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5 Sisters Wall,
York Minister |
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After lunch, we visited the
National Railway Museum, the largest railway museum in the
world, and York Castle Museum, a superb museum with realistic
historical street scenes from the past. We also took a stroll down
The Shambles, often called Europe's best preserved
medieval street; although the name is also used to collectively
refer to the surrounding maze of narrow, twisting lanes and alleys
as well. The street itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book, so we
know that it has been in continuous existence for over 900 years.
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Russells of
Coppergate |
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Kathryn in
York Castle Museum |
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Kathryn in the
Shambles |
The
Shambles has the effect of a time machine, transporting you back to
the Elizabethan period. The houses that jostle for space along the
Shambles project out over the lane in their upper stories, as if
trying to meet their neighbours opposite. In some places the
street is so narrow that if you stand with arms outstretched you can
touch the houses on both sides.
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The name
"Shambles" comes from the Saxon "Fleshammels", which means, "the
street of the butchers", for it was here that the city's
butcher's market was located. The butcher's shops have now been
replaced with shops catering to visitors, including jewelry and
antiques; indeed, the Shambles is now one of the premier
shopping areas in the city of York. |
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Fast Fact:
A short
detour from The Shambles leads to York's shortest and most
unforgettably named street, "Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate".
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A word about York
street names: You will notice that many streets end in the suffix
"gate", such as Stonegate, Coppergate, and Skeldergate. This does
NOT mean that the "gate" in question was a part of the old York city
walls. In York they have a saying: “all the streets are Gates,
all the gates are Bars and all the bars are Pubs”. ‘Gate’ is
from the Viking ‘Gata’ meaning a street; ‘Bar’ is French ‘Barre’
meaning a barrier or toll bar; and ‘Pub’ is of course a Public
House.
By now, Ken’s
knees were quite swollen and so we headed back to the car. Instead
of going back to the hotel, we headed northwest to the coast,
driving through the southern edge of the North York Moors. We
arrived on the North Sea coast at Scarborough and then drove
south along the coastline to Bridlington before heading
inland toward Doncaster. The scenery was breath-taking but
unfortunately, there were no places to pull over on the narrow roads
to take photos, and it was late afternoon and the sun was going
down. We stopped at several stores and gas stations to try and buy
ice for Ken’s knees but we had no luck. Unfortunately, ‘we’ didn’t
check the gas gauge until it was dark and we were on little side
roads in sparsely populated east Yorkshire. ‘We’ then missed a turn
and were headed the wrong way south on the M1 Motorway. After
several kilometers, we managed to get turned around and headed back
to the hotel. Ken drove white-knuckled with visions of walking
along the M1 back to the service station near the hotel to get gas
for the car. Luckily, we had enough fumes to make it home and had a
much needed sleep.
Click here for a slide show of Day 9 photos.
Day 10
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