YORK CITY

Good morning Everyone,

On Friday, I spent the day with my friend Gloria. We decided to enjoy a day trip to the City of York.

As a "Southern Softie" I packed a jacket, in case it turned cold, umbrella in case it rained, water in case we were thirsty, bananas in case we were peckish and I wore good sturdy shoes, warm trousers and a jumper!  Gloria wore beautiful cotton trousers,  a tee-shirt, summer shoes and a light crochet jacket in case it turned cold..... yes Gloria is from the frozen north of England and is used to the cold and I am from the much milder south of England and I "feel"the cold!

We travelled by train and arrived  at York Railway Station.  We headed out of the station and started our adventure.

York is a beautiful walled city which was founded in 71AD by the Romans. It is a fascinating city with so much history and so many beautiful buildings.

The Black Swan Inn

The Black Swan stands in Peasholme Green, named because the area used to be a water meadow and used for growing peas.  The building is timber framed and the front is plastered and white washed.

By all accounts, the Black Swan is haunted!  There are a number of ghosts, and one regular ghost is a workman, who wears a bowler hat.  He fidgets and tuts, as if he is waiting for someone.  He then gradually fades away when he is being watched, or is known to walk from room to room appearing to look for someone!

The East Lodge

We crossed the River Ouse  to get to the centre of York. I took these photos whilst standing on the Lendal Bridge, which is an iron bridge built over the River Ouse.

As you can see from the photos, it was quite a cloudy day, but that didn't diminish our excitement.

This is a photo of one of the toll houses which was close to Lendal Bridge.

With Map in hand and asking a few lovely people for directions we made our way to the centre of York.

Where we found Gert & Henry's.  Gert & Henry's Restaurant is housed in a Tudor Building in the centre of Newgate Market. I love the address..... 4 Jubbergate, isn't that just a quaint address. 

It is such a busy area that it is impossible to take photos without passers-by being included, but  that adds to the charm of the photo I think.

So many beautiful flowers for sale, we did not buy any I'm afraid, as they would have wilted by the time we reached home. So I took photos instead.

I love the   blue colour  of the irises they look so vibrant  and the chrysanthemums look positively autumnal.

After lunch, we made our way to the Quilting Museum. The museum  housed quilts from across Europe, with countries exhibiting two quilts each.  Believe me there were some crackers, it was a joy to be able to view them. The frustrating thing was we were unable to touch the quilts, but they were so tactile that you wanted to touch them.  I do understand why we couldn't, but it didn't stop me wanting to.  I'm afraid we were unable to take photos inside the Museum, so I'm unable to share with  you the superb work which was on show and we were so busy chatting about the quilts when we left the museum, that I forgot to take photos of the museum itself.  Sorry I was enjoying the moment.

Copley's of York

I took a photo of this building because it looked so quaint and I thought it would house  an antique or curios shop, but in fact it was an Estate Agents.  Do you know even MacDonald's was housed in a beautiful old building, the best looking MacDonald's building in the world I think!

St Sampson's Church

This is St Sampson's Church.  This church is first mentioned in 1154.  It's lower part was damaged in 1644 by cannon balls and the church was largely rebuilt in 1818.

St Andrew's Evangelical Church

St Andrew's Evangelical Church was closed in 1559 as a result of an Act of Parliament.  The church has had quite a diverse history as it became a stable, school and a brothel before it reverted back to being a church.

The windows are quite beautiful.

and finally as we headed back to the railway station, we came across this  fine fellow.  The statue is of George Leeman. 

George Leeman was a successful lawyer and politician who lived from 1809 - 1882.

So with weary feet we headed home.  We both had a fabulous time and I think we will head back next year to see the what else York has to offer, as I know there is so much more!

I hope you enjoyed the tour around York as much as we did.

See you later in the week. Take care until then.

Best Wishes,

Daphne xxx