Red Roses in York

Read this blog: The one where we came in from the cold

Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August 2025

To fulfil his contract as a Product Manager, Robert aims to spend three days a month in the Great Rail Journeys’ office in York whenever his travel commitments allow. He had identified that the weekend before his August dates coincided with some of the Women’s Rugby Union World Cup matches being played at York Community Stadium. Tickets cost just £25. Of course we wanted to go and were lucky enough to be able to book tickets and extended his hotel booking. 

As we waited to board our train at King’s Cross we had a swift cappuccino. The architecture here reminded Robert of the Vortex waterfall at Singapore Changi Airport. 

Robert’s first port of call when we arrived was the York Tap at the railway station where he always aims to enjoy a raspberry beer if time allows.

There is no shortage of fine hostelries in York but Matilda had read an article mentioning the garden of The Fat Badger and demanded that this be included in the route for the evening. Unfortunately as it was raining, it was not really the right day to be enjoying time spent in a pub garden. So we also ‘dropped in’ to The Last Drop Inn where we were able to watch some rugby before heading back to our hotel.

Usually Wetherspoons can be relied upon to provide a tasty and sustaining breakfast at a very reasonable price. However on Sunday morning there were no poached eggs available whatsoever. Apparently these are delivered pre-cooked. Consequently, Eggs Benedict and all variations were “off” the menu. Matilda could be heard muttering “How hard is it to poach an egg from scratch?” Her second choice was also unavailable as there were no avocados.

After this disappointing and inauspicious start to the day we set off to go on a tour of the Cold War Bunker. Previously when Matilda has joined Robert it has been a weekday trip spanning Monday to Wednesday as these are Robert’s usual working days in York. To accommodate a rugby match, this trip included days over a weekend when the Cold War Bunker was open and Matilda seized the opportunity to pre-book tickets for the first guided tour of the day. 

We found the exterior to be rather reminiscent of a sewage or water works – see also Selfie of the day.

Now situated in a predominantly residential area of York, the Cold War Bunker was originally built in the grounds of a manor house which was subsequently redeveloped as various council offices. 

Constructed in 1961, this is the most modern of all the sites now under the auspices of English Heritage. It was operational until 1992 when, in the spirit of glasnost, it was deemed to be an unnecessary precaution against a threat which had ceased to exist with the end of the Cold War. It was summarily decommissioned and mothballed. Our guide told us that several of the workers found out they were now unemployed via the Ten O’Clock News.

Unfortunately when English Heritage took over the site in 2000 it was found that the waste ejection system [below] had failed and the floors were growing a fine crop of mushrooms. The restoration required was therefore quite extensive and after six years of conservation and renovation work, the Cold War Bunker was first opened to the public in 2006. 

Although ostensibly safe from radioactive contamination, the crew were only provided with fairly basic accommodation. The sewage extraction system [above] was set up such that the toilet would flush once every eight hours to conserve water. There were just four toilets for the 60 members of the volunteer crew. 

If tensions during the Cold War had escalated and precipitated a nuclear Armageddon, this partially underground bunker would have been the base for monitoring nuclear explosions and radioactive fallout across the Yorkshire region. It was home to the York 20 group and was one of 25 such stations operated by Royal Observer Corps (ROC) volunteers across the UK. A further 1,500 three-man observation posts were established to provide data to these monitoring posts.

Our guide told us that one of the prized exhibits here is the Atomic Weapons Detection Recognition and Estimation of Yield device (known as AWDREY). This was a desk-mounted instrument installed at 13 of the 25 ROC stations operational during the Cold War. To all intents and purposes it looks just like a wall cabinet. Originally developed to monitor extreme weather and storms in America, AWDREY unfortunately was prone to identifying both lightning strikes and fireworks as nuclear blasts. 

Consequently, AWDREY was not deemed to be reliable enough to be the sole source of data. In a rather shocking example of the casually cynical assumption prevalent at the time that some people were expendable for the greater good, individual members of the ROC would have been expected to leave the bunker at regular intervals to take readings from equipment mounted outside. Showering was a drain on valuable water supplies, and were provided for decontamination purposes only after these excursions from the relative safety of the station.

Unusually there were more women than men among the volunteers. There were separate male and female rooms but the staff took turns to sleep in a ‘hot bed’ dormitory with one person waking another to start their shift and getting into an already warm bed. Only those who had been outside would have been able to shower.

The air-filtering system, water and supplies were designed to last for just 30 days.

Walking back into town we passed the Holgate Windmill which was built in 1770. A notice board gave information about opening times and helpfully informed us that this Lincolnshire Mill “. . . is fitted with five double-shuttered sails making it unique in Britain and a marvelous example of a Lincolnshire style mill.”

Apparently the Lincolnshire style mill became very popular in Yorkshire and both Holgate Mill and Skidby Windmill in East Yorkshire are still working mills.

Having taken in some historical sites, we made our way by bus from York Railway Station to York Community Stadium to watch South Africa play Italy in an almost carnival atmosphere.

The following day, Robert set off for the office whilst Matilda took a leisurely walk through York . . .

. . . to Betty’s for breakfast [see Dish of the day] before catching her train back to London. She was not surprised, but nevertheless pleased, to see that both eggs and avocado were available in this famous establishment.

Selfie of the day:

Dish of the day: