Today is our last day in York, and we have spent most of it walking.
This morning, we walked around the City Wall. There was an original wall built by the Romans, but not much of that remains now, although the remains of it can be seen in places - notably the Museum Gardens. The City expanded under the Normans, and the wall that exists today is the Norman wall. A length of it does follow the line of the original Roman wall. The walk is about 2 miles, and on such a lovely day it was a great way to spend some time - it took a while because I kept stopping to take photos! I've uploaded a sample; don't worry, they're not all there!!!
The afternoon was spent wandering around the city streets, which I just love. We also cruised them a little on a sight-seeing bus, just in case there was anything that we had missed.
Now there's time for one more walk, and then tomorrow we head to Whitby and Goathland. More fine weather is promised, and so this should be good too!
Showing posts with label York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label York. Show all posts
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
A day in York
York is a wonderful place; I am really loving it.
Today started with a visit to the National Railway Museum, which contained a bonus for us. We had not expected to see the Flying Scotsman there, however we discovered that the NRM acquired it a few years ago. As luck would have it, the Scotsman is currently under repair and so we actually saw it in the workshop dismantled! This was fine, as I have seen the Scotsman when it came to Melbourne twenty years ago, so the dismantled engine was a bonus!
There are many other treasures to be seen at the NRM - the famous Mallard is there, and also the Royal train with carriages from Victoria's era onwards.
This visit took up the whole morning - a fabulous place!
From Roman remains yesterday, to Vikings today! After lunch, we strolled up Coppergate Walk, a very old street in York. Excavations there have revealed the remnants of the Viking settlement of Yorvik (the Viking name for York). A recreation of Coppergate as it was in the time of the Vikings can now be viewed under Coppergate Walk, and we toured it this afternoon. All the street and Viking life scenes have been based on the archeological findings in the area, giving this display a real authenticity.
Back to the Normans......We also wandered up to York Castle today. Clifford's Tower (originally built by William the Conqueror) still stands, and we climbed this, giving us a birds eye view across the city. Clifford's Tower is one of 2 remaining castle towers in the clover shape (the other is in France).
We finished the day with a boat trip down the River Ouse, which runs through York. Not a minute wasted today!!
Today started with a visit to the National Railway Museum, which contained a bonus for us. We had not expected to see the Flying Scotsman there, however we discovered that the NRM acquired it a few years ago. As luck would have it, the Scotsman is currently under repair and so we actually saw it in the workshop dismantled! This was fine, as I have seen the Scotsman when it came to Melbourne twenty years ago, so the dismantled engine was a bonus!
There are many other treasures to be seen at the NRM - the famous Mallard is there, and also the Royal train with carriages from Victoria's era onwards.
This visit took up the whole morning - a fabulous place!
From Roman remains yesterday, to Vikings today! After lunch, we strolled up Coppergate Walk, a very old street in York. Excavations there have revealed the remnants of the Viking settlement of Yorvik (the Viking name for York). A recreation of Coppergate as it was in the time of the Vikings can now be viewed under Coppergate Walk, and we toured it this afternoon. All the street and Viking life scenes have been based on the archeological findings in the area, giving this display a real authenticity.
Back to the Normans......We also wandered up to York Castle today. Clifford's Tower (originally built by William the Conqueror) still stands, and we climbed this, giving us a birds eye view across the city. Clifford's Tower is one of 2 remaining castle towers in the clover shape (the other is in France).
We finished the day with a boat trip down the River Ouse, which runs through York. Not a minute wasted today!!
Friday, May 29, 2009
York via Lincoln
We drove from Norfolk to York over two days, breaking the journey at Lincoln.
We went into Lincoln and had a look around, the main attractions here being the Cathedral and the Castle.In the Castle, we saw one of the remaining copies of the Magna Carta. Of the 41 documents originally made and distributed throughout the country, only 4 remain. We saw 2 in the British Library, 1 here at Lincoln, and will see the 4th at Salisbury. Pretty cool.
On Thursday morning, we drove from Lincoln, crossing the Humber Bridge into Yorkshire. Part of the road on our route to York included a stretch which was once a Roman Road (Ermine Street) - awesome.
York is a very historic city, and still has its ancient city wall. We are staying near one of the gates, called "bars", so we can walk to just about any of the sites that we want to visit. Today we walked around the city centre and explored some of its fascinating streets. Of particular interest was "The Shambles", a medieval street whose buildings lean inwards so that the upper floors almost meet at the top. I've taken some pictures, but I'm finding that my photos of street scenes don't really capture the essence of the places. (I tried some of the London squares also, but they just don't capture it).
Yet another Medieval Catheral - this time York Minster. It must seem that all we've done is look at Cathedrals, but I'm finding that each one is unique, and has its own special feeling. This was true of York Minster also. A special feature here is the remains of a Roman fortress which was built on the site around 71AD. These remains were uncovered during underpinning works at the Minster during the 1960s-70s, and can be seen in the Minster's Undercroft. The remains of an earlier Norman Cathedral can also be seen in the Undercroft; this existed before building of the present Minster was commenced in 1220.
Well worth the visit!
We went into Lincoln and had a look around, the main attractions here being the Cathedral and the Castle.In the Castle, we saw one of the remaining copies of the Magna Carta. Of the 41 documents originally made and distributed throughout the country, only 4 remain. We saw 2 in the British Library, 1 here at Lincoln, and will see the 4th at Salisbury. Pretty cool.
On Thursday morning, we drove from Lincoln, crossing the Humber Bridge into Yorkshire. Part of the road on our route to York included a stretch which was once a Roman Road (Ermine Street) - awesome.
York is a very historic city, and still has its ancient city wall. We are staying near one of the gates, called "bars", so we can walk to just about any of the sites that we want to visit. Today we walked around the city centre and explored some of its fascinating streets. Of particular interest was "The Shambles", a medieval street whose buildings lean inwards so that the upper floors almost meet at the top. I've taken some pictures, but I'm finding that my photos of street scenes don't really capture the essence of the places. (I tried some of the London squares also, but they just don't capture it).
Yet another Medieval Catheral - this time York Minster. It must seem that all we've done is look at Cathedrals, but I'm finding that each one is unique, and has its own special feeling. This was true of York Minster also. A special feature here is the remains of a Roman fortress which was built on the site around 71AD. These remains were uncovered during underpinning works at the Minster during the 1960s-70s, and can be seen in the Minster's Undercroft. The remains of an earlier Norman Cathedral can also be seen in the Undercroft; this existed before building of the present Minster was commenced in 1220.
Well worth the visit!
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