York

8th May - Wednesday

Merchant House 

Queen Victoria's train 

The Eurostar wasn't like this 

Definitely how the other half travel 

The royal amenities - note the "throne" to the left 

Well, I think it would make a tasty snack! 

 Ready for a train trip

The Rocket replica, showing how it worked 

 Restoration workshop, with the Flying Scotsman in the background

 Toot, toot - better than walking in the rain

 York Minster

The Nave

Phew, you have bad breath!

Looking for presents - but none here

And the streets get even narrower

Wish Betty would open  a tea room in Hobart

We awoke to a cold, dreary and damp day – I think the warm, sunny weather has deserted us for a while. We discovered at breakfast that we were the only guests, and as the hostess didn’t seem to be a chatty sorty of person, breakfast was more just eat and go.


Today was spent in York, using the park and ride facilities once again – makes life (and driving) so much easier. Unfortunately, a migraine during the night left Himself feeling a little “flat” for the morning. Our first attraction was the National Rail Museum – being free of charge was a real bonus! We spent a couple of hours here (a train buff would have spent all day) looking at the old trains and carriages used by Queen Victoria and subsequent kings and queen as well as ordinary folk. Cat took some convincing that the bird in a cage was actually stuffed! We then moved along to the immense warehouse area, which contained many huge engines, including a monster built in England for the Chinese, as well as part of the Japanese Bullet Train. The Flying Scotsman had its own separate area, complete with memorabilia. A replica of the very first steam train, The Rocket, was also on display. We were also able to view the restoration workshop and the large archive collection of railway memorabilia. Instead of walking in the rain back over the river to the York Minster, we were able to travel in comfort in a special little train.

York Minster was very impressive, although slightly different from Canterbury Cathedral in that the ceiling was plastered timber and not stone. We arrived just as a guided tour was commencing, so were able to hear how the cathedral came into existence and its associated history. During the time we were there, a service was taking place in the North Transept, as well as the church ladies selling tea and biscuits in the same area.

The tour did take longer than we had anticipated, consequently lunch was closer to 2.00 pm (thank goodness for English breakfasts!). Betty’s Tea Rooms had been recommended to us – and we would definitely recommend them to everyone else! Fortunately, we arrived between the lunch and afternoon tea crowds, so didn’t have to wait very long for a table. It was definitely well worth the wait – a Caesar salad for him and a prawn and avocado open sandwich for her. Despite being rather full after the salads, we realised it was nearly afternoon tea time, so asked for the cake trolley. Decisions then had to be made!!! The second decision was that we would not be eating dinner tonight.

With not much left of the afternoon, we spent the remainder of our time in York just wandering around the area known locally as The Shambles, a collection of narrow streets and alleys with plenty of interesting little shops.

After nearly 1000 miles, our car was showing we only had about one third of a tank of diesel remaining, so we decided to fill up – approximately 40 litres cost £60 (AU$90). Thank goodness the Renault seems to run on the smell of an oily rag.