Paul and Judy are on the road again: York

York (Mon 14/7/14 & Tues 15/7/14)

York was an interesting historic city to visit. We enjoyed an "AirBNB" home stay with Neil and Susan, retired teachers. In York we walked a large section of the old city walls, visited the Minster, walked many of the streets of the old town admiring old buildings, went to the Viking Museum, and went on a free guided walking tour. And there was more!

"It's a shambles". The phrase originated in this once chaotic
narrow street in York which housed butchers and other traders.

Shambles Street

The first recorded church on the site now occupied by the present cathedral was a hastily built wooden building put up in about 627 as a place to baptise King Edwin of Northumbria. Successive building have been erected and destroyed by fire, Normans, Danes and other causes. The current Gothic building was begun in 1220 and worked on in stages until it was finally declared "complete" and consecrated in 1472. This building was damaged and looted under Henry VIII, Elizabeth and Commonwealth troops of Cromwell. It's a mighty building (2nd largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe) and well worth visiting.

The mighty York Minster

Statue of Emperor Constantine "the Great" close to where
he was proclaimed "full Augustus" (later Caesar) in 306
whilst serving as a joint ruler of the Roman Empire. He was
in command of the largest section: Britain, Spain and Gaul.

Section of the ornate ceiling in the nave of the cathedral

An ornate "boss" on the intersection of the ribs of the ceiling

Some of the interior decorations

A section of one of the many stained
glass windows (possibly St Paul?)

The ornate "rood screen" separates the long nave from the choir/altar area.
It's decorated with statues of kings who all seem to look somewhat similar.

Statues along the screen.

Down in the crypt galleries you see some of the modern engineering works
which help stabilise the old building against ...... cracking and falling down.

Medieval Adventure's Hall (a "Guildhall"
for traders and financial speculators)

The upper hall with its splendid ceiling.

As kids we would look forward to November 5th: Guy Fawkes Day.
Guy Fawkes is the best known of the group of conspirators who
planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 to kill King James I
and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne (the "Gunpowder Plot).

The Guy Fawkes pub displays a sign board with a modern
representation of Guy Fawkes which was designed for
"V for Vendetta" a novel (1982) with film adaptation (2006)

It's still possible to walk along the city's walls. Most remain due to
public protest in the 1800s when an attempt was made to demolish them.
Little did those early "civic activists" know the debt we would owe them.

York Minster from the wall

One of the remaining gates. Norman walls and later.
There are Roman ruins and structures in many places.

What would an English town square be without
a performance by a group of "Morris Dancers"

The "Tour de France" stated in York and wound through its
streets just a couple of days before we arrived. It was a very
popular event. Yellow bicycles, tricolour flags and banners
written in French & English were all along the city streets.

Yes, even Tour de France cakes shaped like
bicycle wheels, and in "race leader yellow".

Finally a few shots of various places which caught our eye.

"Carvery style" roasted meats for dinner

Entrance to a museum giving a fascinating look at the background to the
"War of the Roses" between the House of York and the House of Lancaster.
There were: videos; armour, artifacts; accounts of local, crucial battles;
and clear genealogical charts showing the claimants to the throne. This was
the "Richard III" museum. The corresponding "Henry VII" museum was nearby.