Before my recent weekend trip to York, I am ashamed to say that the only thing I thought I knew about it was that William Wallace sacked the city during his rampage into the North of England, as depicted in the film Braveheart (a film not known for its historical accuracy, but on this part, I was willing to trust it).
I soon discovered that I should have known better. Five minutes into a walking tour of the city with the Association of Volunteer Guides of York, our guide was describing the history of St Mary’s Abbey and happened to mention something about pesky Scots. “Aha”, I thought, here’s my chance to impress the group with my historical knowledge and proceeded to ask, “William Wallace being the peskiest of the lot I presume?” Inevitably, the answer came back that William Wallace came nowhere near the city and that it is pure Hollywood fiction. Curse you Mel Gibson!
Fortunately, this embarrassing faux pas did nothing to diminish my enjoyment of the rest of the excellent walking tour in which I learnt so much about the history of this fascinating city. Taking in 4th Century Roman fortifications, a medieval Abbey from which King Henry VIII stole stone to build his Kings Manor, the ancient city walls and the city’s oldest street “The Shambles”, amongst several other highlights.
Spring has finally sprung in the UK and I was treated to glorious sunshine over the course of the whole May weekend. This enhanced the total experience and revealed one particularly beautiful aspect.
Described as York’s jewel in the crown, the Minster really is an amazing sight. The first version was the size of a small house and built of wood, the current “modern” version is made of limestone and its central tower is large enough to fit the leaning tower of Pisa comfortably inside. However, as impressive as it is from the outside, the real treat is when you walk inside. Stained glass windows three storeys high glistened with the sun pouring through them and when combined with the resident organist practicing for that evening’s service, it made for quite a spiritual experience.
The great thing I found about York is that so many of its sights are within short walking distance of each other. It reminded me of Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh in that way. On my last morning, with a 2.30pm cross country train back to Glasgow to catch, I climbed up Clifford’s Tower, which is an absolute must if you want the best 360° view of the city, followed by a couple of hours in the National Railway Museum, without even breaking a sweat.
On the food front, I have to say, the city mightily impressed me. Yorkshire is famous for its love of tea and this meant there is an abundance of excellent tearooms… which, of course, also means plenty of cake! When the sun goes down, the bustling Walmgate area has a number of excellent restaurants. I’d advise booking well in advance.
With my first recce trip to Northern England done, I am looking forward to helping McKinlay Kidd clients see this unique city differently in the months ahead.
By Hamish @ McKinlay Kidd
(Featured photo taken at York Minster)
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Now I can’t wait to visit!