A planned day today, in so far as I had booked a ticket, planned an itinerary using AI and had nothing else on the slate when I got home tonight.
The itinerary went out the window early, as upon seeing the City Walls, I knew my priority was going to be walking the entire wall circuit. On the two hour train ride I had downloaded and studied an app that had a guided tour from the “Friends of the City Walls” society that gives a running commentary as you walk the walls.
I can’t describe how delighted and excited I was when I alighted from the train, walked out of the station and immediately spied the walls. Quick bit of backwards and forwards and I was following the audio guides to the first check point and the beginning of a two and a half exploration of the walls.
The history of the wall is fascinating as it encompasses Roman times right through to the English Civil War and was being retired right through the Victorian Era. It has survived attacks from marauding armies, angry town folk, aerial bombings and is one of the most complete city wall defences still in existence. Outside the wall, York is very much a regular English city, but inside that wall, there are areas where you are stepping back into a medieval portal.
I was lucky in so many ways today. Finding that simple little guide map on the train there was my first piece of fortune. It gave me a walking history lesson. My second was that this just happened to be one of the days that the Fishergate Postern Tower was open to the public. It was built around 1502 to defend a small gateway and the dam that was built to flood the moat and water fortifications of the wall. It was a cramped climb up the 500 year old spiral stairs, but worth it for the guided tour to find out more about the history of the building. It has a garden-robe (toilet) that would drop straight into the river, with an intricate flush system provided by stored rainwater.
My second piece of luck was a windy but rainless day (it had been predicted but did not eventuate) that meant a climb of Clifford Tower (part of the old York Castle) gave a windblown, but uninterrupted view across the city. Again, the garde-robes in this structure had an intricate flush system that had not been seen in any other build. Still straight into the river though!
My third piece of luck - it was the King’s Birthday weekend, and while exploring the St Mary’s Abbey ruins I was wondering about the military presence in the gardens. As I finished my walk, the sound of cannon fire echoed across the river - it was a 21 gun salute as part of the ceremony - hence the army across the landscape.
The ruins of the abbey are beautiful and haunting. The abbey was a victim of Henry VIII’s dissolution when he became leader of the church in England. It was one of the richest abbeys in the country and a threat to Henry’s reign, so was disolved and dismantled. They have placed markers on the ground to show where certain elements were (if you relied on what was still standing you wouldn’t have any idea of the size of the abbey). There was a wedding when I went back for a second look, and the bride and groom will have some gorgeous photos with the ruins as the backdrop.
I took plenty of photos of the gardens as well - the colours are still in full bloom there, and there were hundreds of fat bumblebees buzzing around collecting pollen.
Next up York Minster, York’s cathedral. There is significant restoration work underway on the Minster and a lot of scaffolding. I didn’t do the tour this time, as I only had a day and wanted to see as much as possible, so was satisfied to just walk the grounds and drink in the exterior visuals. From the Minster I walked to the Shambles, one of the preserved medieval streets with timber-framed buildings dating back to the 14th century. It was previously a butcher’s street (hence the overhanging first storeys that were designed to keep the meat out of the sun) but is now a very busy and thriving shopping street. The streets are cobbled and I heard a guide mention that what is now the cobbled centre of the street was previously a narrow ditch down the middle where blood and such could be sluiced downhill to run away from the street. Suddenly it was not the cute little medieval remnant that I thought it was as you think about what the smell would have been like walking through there in the day!
Oh and I stopped at a bakery on the way to the Shambles and had perhaps the best ham, cheese and mango roll I have ever had. When I ordered the ham and cheese roll from the cabinet, they mentioned they only came with mango. I envisioned slices of mango and declined, but they were insistent that they were very popular and I wouldn’t regret it. They also mentioned it was mango chutney and not slices, and let me tell you, I was glad to be swayed. So much so that I seriously contemplated going back for a second helping!
From the Shambles onto the Jorvik Viking Centre, for a ride through time to the days of the Vikings. The centre is on the site of an archaeological dig that discovered the remnants of the Viking village of Jorvik, uncovering what life was like to live in that time period. Really fascinating to learn about combs made from deer antlers, the diets and health of the people (they discovered a number of skeletons with various health concerns) and the tools forged by blacksmiths for everyday use.
With all the things ticked off my primary list, I returned to the abbey ruins to explore a little more, then made my way through the locals shops for a browse before setting off back to the train station for the two hour journey home.
I was at the station for a little over an hour and the delights of people-watching there almost out-weighed the city walls. Being a Friday night, there were hordes of people heading to other cities for parties and such. One very loud group of girls were going to Leeds for a hen’s do. How do I know they were going to Leeds for a hen’s do? They loudly proclaimed it to anyone who would listen, and I’m pretty sure they had already pre-loaded a few drinks in anticipation. I was sitting in the shelter of the waiting room (it was quite windy and cold on the platform), and when they came in to wait, I had to leave as the noise in the room was overwhelming with them all babbling. As I left they asked if I was going to Leeds (as they didn’t know what platform they were meant to be on) and when I said no, they began to question the others passengers waiting. Turns out they were on the wrong platform, because when the Leeds train’s arrival was announced shortly after, I watched those girls run in their finery yelling and screaming at each other to hurry up across the concourse. And that was just the first group I saw do the platform sprint!
The trip home was uneventful, I had already scouted out dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, so with my piping hot Chicken Noodles in hand, I made my way back to the apartment and am now safely ensconced watching Netflix and enjoying the photos I took of the day.
