York

What a delightful day spent rambling the city of York!

Video chatting on our wall walk.

The wall with the 1500's gate.

We started our day with a walk on the York city wall. It was great to be joined by our children on a video call. The wall is the longest surviving town walls in England. Most of the wall was built in the 1200's. There were some ancient wooden gates from the 1500's - thick and with a wee door for checking out who's at the gate.

We had a lovely, relaxed, English breakfast. Christian decided to try the black pudding. This tastes a bit like pumpernickel with Vegemite on it. 

On the advice of a dear friend who used to be local, we headed back out to find walk the Shambles. We're just a bit museum-ed out (I never knew I would say that), but the walking about and looking in strange nooks and crannies turns up some real gems. And yes kids, nooks and crannies!

Really crowded streets...

The streets were pretty crowded, and a bit noisy. A few streets had a good busker playing away. But the day is clearly interspersed with crowds and churches. Squirrel count: 6, church count: 6 (if you consider the old abbey and nave of the Norman church).

Walking down the Shambles we found the house, now a chapel, of Saint Margaret Clitherow. She died a martyr of the church in 1586, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. During this time worship was only allowed in the state church, what we would call the Anglican Church. Roman Catholics were banned from gathering together for worship. She was found guilty of harbouring priests. It's a pretty sad story.

At the end of the Shambles, we found St Crux, a church building, still used by the church, but not for worship. They were holding a jumble sale out the front and selling lovely, hot lunches, tea, coffee and cake inside. All home made food, all at SUPER reasonable prices! £1.50 for a tea or coffee, and the same for a piece of home made cake!

A lovely girl, probably Skipper's age, took our money, and this photo.

You know why I took this photo! It's exactly the same as ours!

Christian got stuck into a book on Richard III he had just bought.

Quite a unique place to have tea and coffee.

The streets are crazily busy.

We wandered down this wee lane...

And found a place for sewcialising...love you Princess!

Turn around, and you see this Tudor building!

More busy, busy streets

And making fun with other tourists.

Organ at All Saint's York...for the organ lovers

Tomb stone found at All Saints. Ancient tradition has it that there has been Christian worship on the 
site since AD 600's. Evidence was found in the 1960's of viking Christian burials with this tomb stone.

The entrance way to St Leonard's hospital - the poor, the infirm, the elderly.
Medieval medicine of the basic needs: food, bed, warmth.
Disbanded in 1540 with the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII

Bird handlers in the York Gardens were selling a moment with either an owl or an eagle.

Loving the ruins of the Abbey in the York gardens

Christian wants a place like this at our place...don't know how, but we can give it a go.

Found a young man practicing the organ at St Olaves.

The middle window here is St Cecilia - patron saint of musicians - she's holding a wee organ.
This one is for Joybug, who dressed up as St Cecilia for All Saints Day this year.

We went to York Minster for a service of Evening prayer, and heard the organ play.
Illegal picture of the decorated organ pipes for you Tiger.

Whilst at Westminster, I saw the grave marker for Wilberforce. Here was a memorial.
A man well worth remembering for  for his unflinching campaign to abolish slavery and
founding the: Church Missionary Society, and RSPCA
 

York Minster

Just outside York Minster we found this Roman column...put up in AD 72
This would be the year that the Romans lay siege to Masada
The probable year Saint Thomas was martyred.
Two years after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.