York Day 1

 June 1st. Fine but just cool enough to enjoy.

Today we were discussing the bathrooms at the various accommodations we have had.  Some required a step over a bath much taller than we are used to at home, some had a shower head and a rain head and we couldn’t seem to get the balance right, one had no door at all and was a tiled recess with the opening reflected in a large mirror, some were so small they truly were a water closet (!), indeed one measured only 540mm square (we used Little Sister’s knitting tape measure to prove that!), some were push button califont, others were mixer taps, one had the tap controls outside the cubicle and a step away which made for some difficulty, and the current one has a califont system with knobs for regulation.   We decided that the shower at our farm stay in Wales has been the best but don’t agree on the worst.   I say it’s the one where the controls were on the far wall of the bathroom outside the cubicle but Little Sister says no door on a shower cubicle takes the prize.  We have three more places of accommodation left at which point we can declare a winner and loser.

Fixed hours for breakfast at this accommodation so no sleep in but we woke refreshed and had breakfast along with others staying in the Guest House.

Then we strolled to the riverbank and into the Memorial Gardens.   We enjoyed their beauty and then turned a corner and several squirrels came to play with us.  I had come prepared (thanks Maggie) and found that squirrels like Flapjack but dislike pigeons.  

One in particular made friends and was happy to eat from my fingers.  His playmates came and went and one showed us the beautiful striping on his tail.

Up to The Minster where we spent a couple of hours enthralled in all that it had to offer.   

Medieval grandeur, magnificent stained glass,

intricate wood carving, marble effigies of past archbishops,

A pipe organ of particularly well decorated pipes and an intriguing door, the rose window, 

interesting memorial plaques, and so much more.   

The Chapter House was particularly beautiful with its high crypted ceiling and there was a model outside showing how the oak beams were constructed to hold the weight of this roof.   

I asked a Minster Official to show me where the Mouseman Mice were and she graciously pointed out three.  The original stalls in The Lady Chapel had been made by Robert Thompson a master carver from Yorkshire. Originally he did not sign his work but as his skill was recognised and many churches, cathedrals and abbeys requested his work, a colleague said this type of work left them “poor as church mice”   From that time and that comment he began to ‘sign’ his work with a carved mouse.   Not only he but the colleagues who worked with him and their signatures were differentiated by the way in which the tail of the mouse curved.

Between 1967 and 1972 work to strengthen and reinforce the foundations of the Minster was done at a cost of around £2 million.   The weight of the tower was such that the whole foundation was sinking into the ground.  It was first discussed with consulting engineers and then with archaeologists who between them managed the task.   Now in The Undercroft there is a large cavernous area where the remains of the Roman Fort on which York Minster was first built were discovered.  These are shown in a glass floored area and there was much information about the construction and preservation of this ancient building.   

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There was also this 1000 year old copy of the Gospel of John and various other church treasures on display.

We wandered out and down the street for a pot of tea (delicious) and then in and out of some narrow lanes before our Wow moment.  Both of us had this shop high on our list.

It proved a delight and we left several of our £ notes there!

By then it was lunch time and we wandered up through The Shambles, overcrowded and shamelessly cashing in on the fact that J K Rowling is supposed to have based Diagon Alley on this street.  

However we had already heard that story about a different street in Edinburgh and two other English cities also claim the same thing so….

Lunch was pizza…very poor service and pizza that had little in common with its Italian forebears.  We refused the ‘voluntary service charge’ when we paid as a protest.

Back to our accommodation where we each had a nana nap before we ventured out for Choral Evensong at The Minster.

The Evensong was held in the Quire and with a visiting choir as the Minster choristers were on half term break.  A blessing really as the strong adult voices of Amici Coro were superb in the acoustics of the Minster.   We arrived at 5:15 and had trouble finding a seat in the back of the stalls even though the service began at 5:30.  But it was a wonderful half hour even though I had no idea of the hymn we sang at the end.   How fortunate that my father paid for music lessons for me all those decades ago and I can still read music!   This is the third time we have been to a Choral Evensong and I am becoming more familiar with the music and the service but both Little Sister and I felt this was the best so far.

Afterwards we wandered through the town centre and once again explored The Shambles.  

This time it was easier as the crowds had dissipated and we could enjoy the unique buildings some wonky and pressed  so close together that the street is very narrow in places while in others it is a case of ‘watch your head’.

We found the famous Betty’s Tearooms and took a souvenir photo.  Now that’s what we both call a tea pot!

And the plaque marking another Margaret.  Margaret Clitherow, martyred in York in 1596 but not canonised until 1970.   We Margarets have to wait a long time for some things - although  even my great UK adventure wasn’t quite that long in the making.

Then using the spires of The Minster as a landmark we meandered back to our accommodation past these unusual green animals and a “No Mow May” meadow outside the South Door.   

All in all a great day in a charming city.