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We Enjoy Using the Trains
for travel while in the UK. This is one of the many stations we have been in.We have wanted to visit to Scotland the whole time we have been in the UK, but winter is not the best time for it. We have very good friends that live in Scotland and we had been in hopes of getting up there to visit them, but they wisely advised us we should push it as late in the spring as possible. We were torn with what to do. Bob still had some dental appointments and we wanted to book our train tickets, they are much less expensive if you book them ahead. We had a choice — should we book for the free time we know for sure we had between dental appointments OR take a chance and book a train from the next place we were going to be, Chatham, without knowing for sure when that would be. Now for those of you who know Janice which do you think we chose?
That’s right, the conservative approach and booked our train tickets with the dates that we knew we would have to be back for the last dental appointment. The unfortunate part of that was that it wasn’t going to give us enough time to get
Views from the Train to York
show agricultural areas & wind turbines too! to the area where our friends live. Guess the only good thing about this is that it will force us to come back again while we are in Europe to get up to visit them. We were very glad that they came down to see us in December so we at least did connect once while here.
We enjoy train travel so hopped on the train in London and went up to York in the northern section of the UK. We knew it was taking away from our time in Scotland, but we had been told by so many cruisers that we just “must” go to York. We were glad we took their advice. We stayed at a nice inn within walking distance to all of the major sights within the walled city of York. The entrance gate to the central part of the old town is an impressive start. We climbed the stairs in the gatehouse and took a walk on top of the wall which gave us a nice view of the area.
The first Norman Castle was built here in 1068 following the Norman conquest of York. Remember in 1066 the Normans first conquest took
Entering York
is impressive as you enter through the gate of the walled city. place in Hastings which is in southern England. Although this was a decisive victory for the Normans it took them many years to conquer and subdue the remainder of England. King Henry III between 1245-1262 built a stone castle and added a keep which is now called Clifford’s Tower. A keep is a fortified tower with residences which are intended to be a place of last resort. This castle was used for military purposes during the Scottish wars and later used as a prison. In 1684 an explosion destroyed the interior of Clifford’s Tower, but the English Heritage took it over and opened it to the public in the 20
th century. An interesting side story: soon after the explosion a man was hired to keep an eye on the tower, unfortunately he saw this as an opportunity to make a little money on the side and started selling the stone from the destroyed interior for a tidy little profit. Luckily he was caught not too long after he started and gave up his head for that tidy little profit.
We had a very cold and rainy day the first day in the city, but like the British we have
learned to pull on your wellies (boots) , throw on your Macintosh (raincoat) , grab the brelly (umbrella) and off we go. Even though we have been in numerous churches and cathedrals the York Minster is exceptional. We were fortunate to join a tour and learned about the building of the present cathedral which took from 1230 to 1472 to complete. It is located at the site of the original wooden church that was built here in 627. All too often as Americans we think that these buildings were built hundreds of years in the past and never change. It makes more sense to think of these buildings as part of a culture. As the culture changes the people’s needs for these buildings changes and therefore the buildings are modified to meet those new needs. This results in buildings which tell stories in their structures. A good guide will show you how the structure and the people are interconnected and have changed over time. Fortunately we had one that did just that.
The York Minster is the 2
nd largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe and has gone through many repairs due to damage done during the reformation (Henry VIII)
The Clifford Tower
was originally surrounded by a moat fed by the nearby river. and numerous fires over the years. The most recent work is to its medieval stained glass windows. Some of the glass dates back to the 12
th century while others are from the 15
th century. The window called Five Sisters stands 50 feet tall, while the 76 foot tall east window is the largest expanse of medieval glass in the world. There is over 2 million pieces of glass making up the 128 windows in the cathedral. Fortunately and unfortunately for us the large east window was covered due to major renovations. A life-size pastorate hangs in front of the window giving a very good idea of what it normally looks like. The fortunate part is that at this time they had a unique exhibit that had some of the original stained glass pieces down at ground level where you could get close to them to see the details. With the repairs to the glass over the ages, many pieces had been repaired with extra lead came which covered some of the colored glass making the entire window much darker. With modern techniques many of the broken pieces are being glued back together and the extra lead came is being removed.
Climbing Around the Clifford Tower
up the stairs to the entrance & up to the Tower when inside The result of these changes is amazing, the windows are much brighter and allow much more light into the building. The exhibit showed “before” and “after” panels of glass which highlighted these changes. It was a joy to be able to see the details of the glass that most of us cannot see due to the height of these windows. We asked the guide why they would put so much detail into windows that were 100 feet off the ground where the detail would not be seen. She reminded us that these windows were not constructed for people’s edification but were put there for the glory of God who sees everything.
We enjoyed exploring the narrow, winding streets of York, but it was time to move on. We took a train out of town about ½ hour and picked up a rental car in order to have a chance to explore some of the country lanes and get to some of the areas that would be more difficult by public transportation. Our next goal was Edinburgh, but on the drive up we enjoyed the beautiful scenery with its rolling hills and valleys. We traveled through large agricultural areas, others
The Clifford Tower
was part of the defense of the city of York with plenty of sheep grazing and fields divided by beautiful stone fences that seem to go on forever. We had our first glimpses of the snow covered highland mountains from the border of Scotland and England. Here there was an explanation of how the Union Jack came to be. We found out that it is a combination of the St. George Cross (England) and the St. Andrews Cross of Scotland. The scenery from this spot was spectacular in all directions — what a great introduction to Scotland! We did find though that the air was quite cold and the wind was strong – we were glad we hadn’t come up earlier in the year.
We had purchased membership into the English Heritage program last fall when we were at Stonehenge and as a result have “free” entrance to their historic properties. Jedburgh Abbey was on the way to Edinburgh so we stopped to take a look. It is a ruined Augustinian abbey from the 12
th century and one of four great abbeys in Scotland. It was founded by King David I and with its location close to the border with England it was to make a statement of his
power and authority over the “borders”. There were many conflicts over the border which at one time even forced the priests to flee in the 14
th century. The Protestant Reformation of 1560 was the cause of the Abbey’s final demise. The abbey itself is in ruins, but the Abbey Church is in quite good shape after all these years with the tall walls still standing showing that one end was Romanesque while the nave was in the gothic style. While visiting the abbey we started to hear bagpipe music so we investigated further. A car rally was going on in town and part of the celebrations included a parade with a marching pipe band in full regalia. This was a definite bonus of our stop in Jedburgh and a nice welcome to Scotland.
We made it to Edinburgh and checked into our inn early enough to give us time to have a walk into town to see it lit up in the evening. The Edinburgh Castle looms high on Castle Rock and with it being lit up at night made quite the impression — we looked forward to the next day when we could explore it completely.
Your Eyes are Not Deceiving
it is actually leaning like many others we have seen here in York. Since the reign of King David in the 12
th century there has been a royal castle at this location and it continued to be a royal residence until 1603. By the 17
th century it was mainly used as a military barracks. It was the site of many battles from the 14
th century War of Scottish Independence up to and including the Jacobite Rising in 1745. Many of the buildings were destroyed by artillery in the 16
th century, but the 12
th century St. Margaret’s Chapel is believed to be the oldest building remaining in Edinburgh. The Royal Palace and the Great Hall also survived the 16
th century artillery damage, but have had Victorian modifications made to the interior. As usual at these monuments we used the audio headsets that are provided and learn much more of the history than the limited amount you are able to obtain from the signboards. It definitely makes it slower going through these historic buildings, but time we have and we are working hard at making sense of all of the historic events that have occurred over the centuries. Between wars, marriages and royal family disputes understanding the history of Scotland is not easy. It was
a very cold and windy day when we visited the Edinburgh Castle but we were still treated to some magnificent views over the Firth of Fifth (the estuary) and the town of Edinburgh itself. Several of the rooms where the Scottish royalty lived have been carefully renovated and give an excellent idea of what it must’ve been like to live in these castles during the 12th and 13th century.
We also took the time to explore the Palace of Holyroodhouse (now usually called Holyrood Palace) which was located at the opposite end of town from the Edinburgh Castle. It was originally built by King James IV in the early 16
th century with the tower added later by King James V. The current baroque style came about between 1671 – 1679. This is still the official residence of the Queen when she is in Scotland, but fortunately for us it was open to the public when we were here. It has been the primary residence of numerous Kings and Queens of Scotland since the 16
th century. We were able to tour the 16
th century historic apartments of Mary Queen of Scots and the state apartments used for official gatherings of
Dormer Details in York
Notice the windows on the sides of these dormers the Queen, but we could not take photographs so unfortunately we cannot share that with you. There was an additional display that was recently opened showing the numerous gifts that the Queen has received over the years throughout her travels to other countries. It was interesting to see the variety and types of gifts she received showing off the styles of the artists and/or craftsmen of the countries. The Holyrood Abbey which is located next to the Palace was built much earlier in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. The Abbey Church was last used in the 17
th century and was in ruins by the 18
th century.
While walking through town you can’t help but see the 200 foot tall monument to honor Sir Walter Scott who died in 1832. It is obvious by this monument how much Scotland admired his literary writings (How many 100 foot tall granite monuments are there to great American writers?) High on a hill there is another monument dedicated to Admiral Lord Nelson’s victory and death at the battle of Trafalgar in 1802. It was built between 1807 – 1815 and designed to represent an upturned telescope. In 1852 a large time
The Rain Didn't Stop Us
while walking the streets of York ball was installed at the top which drops when the one o’clock cannon at the castle fires each day. The time ball showed the sailors the correct time (important when you need to sail on the high tide), but due to fog many times it could not be seen. As a result cannons were installed at the Edinburgh Castle and fired at one o’clock to solve the problem. Now they both work together each day.
We left Edinburgh and headed toward Stirling but stopped at a couple of places on the way. The Linlithgow Palace was begun in 1424 by James I for the Stewart royal family. It became a pleasant stopping point for the royal family on their travels between the Edinburgh and Stirling Castles. The Stewart Queens especially liked the tranquility here and used it as the royal nursery for James V (1512), Mary Queen of Scots (1542) and Princess Elizabeth (1596). When James VI was crowned as James I of England (yeah, that one took us a little while to figure out) he moved the royal court to London and the Linlithgow Palace fell into ruin. Even so, our stop here was a good one as
Anyone for Chocolate?
York is the place to buy it as seen from this store front window. Even green frogs are candy! it gave more of the history of the royalty and how they lived. It was also located in a beautiful location overlooking a small loch (lake) and was a nice stopping place.
Next we went to a place with a very modern idea, a boat lift. The Falkirk Wheel was opened in 2002 and allows boats to travel between the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Union Canal. It is the first time these two canals were joined since the 1930s which connects Glasgow and Edinburgh. The wheel raises boats 79 feet in the air and the boat still needs to go through two more locks to raise an additional 36 feet to the canal. It is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world. It was quite impressive to see a boat go into the wheel (it is somewhat like a very large bathtub) and then rotate upwards as it is counterbalanced by an equal weighted “tub” of water. The whole process takes 15 minutes from when the boat enters the wheel until it is able to leave at the top level to continue its journey. After seeing all the historic buildings with their “modern”
Many of the Homes in York
had interesting door knockers such as these. conveniences, it was quite a change to see such technology being used to move boats from one level to another. It replaced the need for a large flight of locks saving time and maintenance costs. Both of these canals are used by pleasure craft.
We continued our journey which led us to Stirling. We had been told by many of our cruising friends that this was a “must see”. We were somewhat torn as we had seen quite a few castles since being in the UK, but they were right, this one was excellent as a result of its recent major renovations. Just like any good castle should, it is located high on a hill which is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned here including Mary Queen of Scots. There have been eight sieges of the castle with the last being in 1746 when Bonnie Prince Charlie tried to take over the Castle (The Jacobite uprising), but was unsuccessful.
There have been times when the king or queen of Scotland was also the king or queen of England; at other times in history the two were very separate. This
Always Looking Up
This is one of the many details in the wooden ceiling of the York Guild Hall leads to some of the interesting history we learned about. That’s why James V of Scotland is James I of England. Even the present Queen is Queen Elizabeth II in England but she is Queen Elizabeth I of Scotland. It definitely makes it confusing for those of us trying to learn the history here.
The first record of Stirling Castle is from 1110 and over the years it switched back and forth with control being between England and Scotland. By 1303, Stirling was the last castle under Scotland’s control but later it continued to change between English and Scottish rule.
Almost all the buildings currently here were built between 1490 and 1600 when Stirling was the principal royal center of the Stewart line of kings including James IV, James V and James VI. Many additions were made to the Palace over the years by each of them. King James V added the Royal Palace which was the first Renaissance palace in the British Isles. It combined Renaissance style, late Gothic details and became one of the most impressive buildings in Scotland covered with carved stone sculptures. It was begun in 1530 and was almost completed by the time
"To the Ancient & Famous City of York"
"from her god-child in America the City of New York" is written on the plaque of his death in 1542. The architecture is French inspired (James V wife, Mary of Guise was French) but the decorations were German inspired (James's attempt to show his visitors he was a player in European royalty). The sculptures were life sized figures with the principal one at the corner being none other than King James V himself. Others that were depicted were St. Michael,the Devil (not sure how they knew this was life size?) and some planetary figures such as Venus and Saturn. The Palace consisted of two apartments, one for the King and one for the Queen. The ceiling of the King’s Presence Room was covered with carved oak heads that were taken down when the ceiling collapsed in 1777, but fortunately 38 survive of the total 56. Depicted on some are Kings and Queens while others are biblical figures. A Ƚ12 million restoration project was completed in 2011. With this project they recreated the royal apartments as they would have looked when King James resided here. They did an outstanding job as they had done so many rooms that you felt that you had been transported back in time.
The one notable thing that
was missing was any sign of gold as the furnishings were painted with royal blue, red and yellow. We were informed that these three colors were a sign of wealth and power as the pigment used to make these colors came from semi-precious stones that came from afar. The blue was created by using the stone lapis. It was difficult to extract the blue from it to make the pigment — as a result of the expense of doing this it became known as “royal blue”.
An added bonus was the fact that “King James” and “Mary of Guise” were at the Palace talking to those that came through their home telling us of the happenings of the day, some of the history of the times and answering questions. These two actors were delightful giving us a real feel for what it was like to live in this castle during its height of power. All of the guides were informative and willing to answer questions from young and old alike. They seemed to have many activities designed to be of interest to the younger set of visitors which makes it a great place for families with children as well.
A Few Things You Can Shop For
Colorful hats, nut brittle & of course double decker bus cuff links! It was also nice because things were not behind ropes and barriers so children could touch and look to their hearts content. We must admit this made for a very noisy visit but it was a good noise because it made the whole castle seem alive.
During the 17
th century it was used extensively as a prison for French and Americans (remember those revolutionary terrorists). The last reigning King to live here in 1650 was Charles II.
The town of Stirling at the bottom of the hill was quite small but a nice one to walk around in the evening. Early the next morning we returned the rental car and headed back to London via the train. We treated ourselves to First Class which was nice for the 5 ½ hour trip back. It actually became a little longer trip as there had been storms most of the day and we were delayed due to lightening causing damage to some of the signals on the tracks. We were treated to some excellent food and anything you wanted to drink was included in the price. Now Bob will be spoiled for anything but First Class travel again!
One
Surprised to see a Dragon
in the York Minster - the guide wasn't sure why but thought it might be related to the Vikings funny thing we were told while on our visit to Scotland. Someone had asked us where we were from and we told them the US. They then asked how long we had been in the UK. When we told them since October, they were shocked and told us that is very unusual as most Americans cover all of Europe in 6 weeks and we had been here for almost 6 months!
The trip to Scotland was a very quick one unfortunately, but well worth it. What we did see was beautiful and we enjoyed the people that we met. They were all so friendly, helpful and very humorous. All you had to do was stop for a moment to look for a street sign or pull out a map for someone to come over to offer assistance. We do hope that while we are in Europe we make a point of coming back to Scotland to see other areas and of course see our friends in northern Scotland.
We made it back to London the night before Bob’s last appointment with the dentist which turned out well. It is still surprising that almost 6 months has passed since
Historic Signage in York
seen up high at the corner of a building arriving in London, but it is time to move on. Sorry it has taken so long to get this posted but as you can see we saw quite a lot, absorbed lots of history and as always took plenty of photos which we hope you enjoy.
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