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Original York
- Piprey on wheels
York is a walled city to the North of England surrounded by the rivers, Fosse and Ouse. Originally inhabited by the Celts,
Vikings and
Normans (William the conquerer had raided this city very badly), it attracted even the Arabs for lucrative trade.
York Minister is an important cathedral with paid entry.
I took advantage of
Great British rail sale, booked a return from London to York for 61 GBP which might have costed me around 85 GBP otherwise. It was a long train journey of 3-4 hours. I looked for
McDonalds at King's Cross train station. Finding none, I hopped over to the high street for a filling breakfast muffin and a coffee latte 😊
Comfortably seated, the train raced through Stevenage, Doncaster and Peterborough. I observed that most of these
towns were dominated by a Church spire. I disembarked at York. Immediately outside, stood the city walls and we could walk on it!
I rushed like a mad hare in march to the castle museum with only a few hours before everything shut down.
The
York Castle museum was awesome. It described daily lives of
Victorian and Georgian times with a little notes from the women. It was fascinating to see that
there were slums, overcrowding and poverty as York was expanding into a town attracting rural population. No wonder, the
British tried to get overseas posting for a better living.
There was a life like replica of a Victorian street, complete with confectionary shops, lace/flannel shops, grocery (flour/egg/fresh meat as there were no refrigerator) shops, a life like horse drawn carriage on the roads etc. We could even smell the horses.
It was
dark, dingy and
dusty in the Victorian streets. A few people wore black bowler hats and dark suits. Women wore lovely laces over their shoulders. Indeed, it seems I was
transferred to a different world altogether through a
time machine!
Fashion from 1800s to present, was wonderfully exhibited with dresses, jewelry and accessories for both men and women. There was a section on different toys over the ages.
A
part of the castle was a prison where mostly debtors were locked up. There were life life projections on the walls and the stories of poor people who stole food. Very informative. Many were
transported to Americas and later to Australia. About 50%!g(MISSING)ot released.
The
section on World Wars was well documented, throwing light on the lives of the common soldiers. With such violence, it is a wonder there can ever be mental peace for people who have witnessed war. Who lost and who gained, who knows!
I walked on the pebbled roads to visit the
Barley House, a
restored medieval house. It was
Recorded exhibition of an office clerk of old and admin assistant of today
Eye problems of the present admin assistant because of computer screen. Ink stains on the fingers of the office clerk of olden times. by the Archaeological society of York.
Locals volunteered to stitch the clothes to preserve the original style for Barley House restoration. Very well done!
Next, went to
Jorvik museum to see a life theme park like
exhibition of the Vikings. They used to live at the very place of this museum at
Coppergate. The name
York was derived from Jorvik. With less gadgets and no electricity, life was simple.
Slaves were common so that they did all the hard labour. The homes ans surroundings were
smelly. People suffered from various diseases
especially worms and tooth decay. The
fresh vegetables were mostly seasonal. The
silver ingots were small and used as currency by the traders. They
lived in huts called long houses where people, slaves and cattle all lived together.
Candles and
fire was used to warm the huts.
All the museums done, I wandered about the
The Shambles, a vegetable and meat market. I bought a hair band as I dropped mine somewhere in York.
People were
friendly. There were loads of
young people working in the shops and museums. Later in the evening, as I did the walks on the wall, I liked a Spanish tapas place. I ordered a Spanish beer which was clean, crisp and fruity with some fish croquettes.
Barley House
Hall to entertain guests and to hold a feast The
weather was windy with some spells of sunshine. My return journey was tiring with two long changes in London itself. I reached home by 1 am. I ate a mid night snack of burger from burger king at London Paddington.
York is an ideal weekend break. Full of cobbled street, the locals take pride in their history.
Of course, one must catch a good weather for photos. The museums were fabulous.
Original York, you get 5 stars!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
York
Nice blog. Thanks for taking us along.