Read this blog: The one where Robert queues for ghosts and Matilda fails to get her passport stamped
Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th November 2024
Robert had a Great Rail Journeys [GRJ] Tour Managers’ Comms Group meeting scheduled in York and Matilda decided that since there was one side of a fully paid up double bed available she could travel up with Robert and spend the day of his meeting visiting the Christmas market and walking round beautiful historic York to start getting her in the festive spirit.
The day before the meeting, we travelled up by train – naturally – and arrived in time to stroll through the market in daylight.
The York Ghost Merchants had recently released a special edition Christmas tree decoration ghost and so Matilda also persuaded Robert to visit The York Ghost Merchants shop at The Dispensary in St Anthony’s Garden.
Special edition ghosts are limited to one purchase per person so Matilda needed Robert with her to allow her to purchase two. Under duress, he agreed to accompany her. The queue at The Dispensary was indeed much shorter than the one for the shop in The Shambles but otherwise the experience is very similar. Friendly and personable costumed staff manage the queue and only a few customers are allowed in at any one time to browse and choose their ghosts. You can take a photograph your chosen ghosts in a small tableau scene set into one of the walls. No photos were taken of Robert queueing as this was to be kept secret from our daughters. Mission accomplished, we then went in search of a restorative snifter and some food [see Dish of the day] before retiring for the night.
The following morning we had a Wetherspoons breakfast and then parted ways at Micklegate: Robert to attend his GRJ meeting whilst Matilda climbed up the Micklegate steps and set off to ‘walk the walls’. She had done this once before, several years ago, whilst her daughter was studying for her Masters.
At 3.4 kilometres [almost two miles] long, the walls are the most extensive and complete medieval town walls to survive in England. They were built mainly in the 13th century on top of older earth banks and are free to access on foot throughout the year between the hours of 08:00 and dusk. Anyone, like Matilda, who is aware of their own fragility and finds the lack of a restraining barrier slightly unnerving will be reassured that the walls are closed when the conditions underfoot are icy or treacherous.
The River Ouse and the River Foss meet in the city of York and after recent heavy rains were quite swollen.
So much so that parts of the garden at SOPHiE, the café on Skeldergate Bridge, and nearby St George’s Field were underwater.
The route at ground level between two sections of the wall took Matilda close to Clifford’s Tower which has reopened after being closed for some time for restoration and preservation works.
Clifford’s Tower, also referred to as the York Castle Museum, was part of York Castle, a royal stronghold and an important centre for royal government for 600 years, between the reigns of William the Conqueror (1066-87) and Charles II (1660-85). When it was finished in 1298, Clifford’s Tower was the most important fortress in the north of England. Now it is cared for by English Heritage, and as a member, Matilda decided to take advantage of the free entry this affords her.
The tower originally constructed on this site in 1068 was a timber structure, but the one that survives today was built in the mid 13th century to an elaborate Norman four-lobed plan. The design was modelled on a tower in France at the time and is unique in England.
Over the centuries, Clifford’s Tower has witnessed some dramatic and tragic events According to the English Heritage website “In 1190, one of the worst antisemitic massacres of the Middle Ages took place on this site when York’s Jewish community was trapped here by a violent mob and many Jews chose to commit suicide rather than be murdered.”
Subsequently, the tower caught fire on 23rd April 1684 during a ceremonial salute in honour of the Restoration of King Charles II. There were rumours of sabotage at the time and the tower was never occupied again.
New walkways and staircases have been installed as part of the renovation, making more of the tower accessible, and a roof deck provides views across this historic city [see feature photo].
Matilda has wanted to take tea in the café in one of the gatehouses ever since she first learned of its existence and so stopped at Gatehouse Coffee for a refreshing pot of Earl Grey tea.
There is a roof terrace and although Matilda went up to take photos in the sunshine she felt it was too cold to actually imbibe her tea al fresco.
The gate at Walmgate Bar is the most complete surviving gateway on the city walls and still has both its portcullis and 15th century wooden gates, together with a timber-framed building on its inner façade which houses the café.
Continuing along the walls, Matilda spotted various plaques and markers indicating where historic buildings had been.
At another break in the wall, Matilda returned to street level and had hoped to go into the York Art Gallery to view an exhibition about William Morris wallpaper but sadly the gallery is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Originally this building opened in 1879 for the second Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition, inspired by the Great Exhibition in London of 1851. Shortly afterwards, in 1892, it became the York Art Gallery.
Matilda next diverted her steps to visit the Treasurer’s House, a National Trust property close to the Minster. Matilda felt that some of the rules displayed below stairs [where you can also find the café] could be usefully implemented back at home where some rooms have never been painted in the last quarter century.
Matilda was particularly keen to visit as she would be able to get the final stamp in her National Trust passport proving that she had visited 30 properties.
Between 1897 and 1898, Mr Frank Green undertook an extensive renovation and combined the three dwellings on this site to create one house with space to showcase his collection of furniture. In the entrance way, two floors were removed to create the impression of a medieval great hall.
The garden has several attractive statues and is small and surprisingly peaceful, given its position in the centre of York.
Robert and Matilda had arranged to meet at the York Tap on the station platform [see Selfie of the day] where Robert indulged in a swift cherry beer before we boarded the train down to Birmingham to visit Robert’s favourite Christmas Market. It was not until we had almost reached Birmingham that Matilda realised that she had forgotten to get her NT passport stamped at the Treasurer’s House.
Selfie of the day:
Dish of the day:
