After our short sojourn near Sheffield we headed to York, where we met up again with Steve and Denise (who we 1st met in Spain).
We found a campsite that was close to both the cycle path into York centre (and part of The Way of The Roses), and also 1 of the 5 park and rides that serves the city.
We actually ate out on our 1st night at The Dawnay Arms just down the road (where we enjoyed a 10% discount courtesy of staying at this particular campsite, Grantchester). And very nice it was too 🙂
On Saturday we headed into York centre and decided to walk to the Park and Ride, Rawcliffe Bar (there are 4 others), about 2 miles along the cycle path. We realised that it was actually quicker to walk along the main road so did that on the way home later. The cost of the bus was £2.80 return each – so a nice cheap way to get into town (and good for my steps too!)
I have been to York once before about 10 years ago, and I remembered seeing a sign across 1 of the streets (it turned out to be Stonegate) for Ye Olde Starre Inne, which is where we ended up stopping for a little lunch. (I had wanted to go to Betty’s but there were queues at both of their cafes – they’re very popular!) After lunch we went our separate ways; Calv and I headed towards the castle area where we visited Clifford’s Tower, all that is left of the original castle perched high up on a mound (the main picture is a view from the top).
You could easily spend a fortune in York (and I’m sure people do), but we are not in a position to do this any more so we missed out on York Castle Museum (£10 each), The York Chocolate Story (£11.50 each), The Merchants Adventurers Hall (£6 each; also closed for a private function) and The Minster (£10 each).
We spent the afternoon wandering really, taking in The Shambles (and The Shop that Must not be Named), a wander a little way along some of the city walls and just taking it all in really – the beautiful, ancient buildings, the numerous historic pubs and the bridges.
Eventually we headed back to the campsite for a bbq with Steve and Denise and a game of Sequence (a good game – we’re now on the hunt for a set of our own!)
We revisited York on our own a couple of days later. This time we cycled right into the centre along the cycle path, which was a very pleasant ride at about 4 miles. We locked the bikes up near the minster and headed for the National Trust’s Treasurer’s House. This was actually originally 5 houses that were remodelled into just 1 by a wealthy, and perhaps a little eccentric, industrialist, Frank Green.
For me though, the most interesting thing about the house is the fact that it is where a legion of Roman soldiers are said to have been seen, on many occasions, marching through the cellars. Unfortunately we weren’t able to visit the cellars on the day we went, although we could have taken a tour of the attics. There is plenty of the house to see and lots of information provided (as ever in National Trust properties).
The other reason for returning was to visit the Jorvik Centre – which deals with the city’s rich Roman history, mainly via an interactive ride on a pod taking you through reconstructions of Roman streets. At £10.25 each it’s well worth a visit, even though we had to queue for about 45 mins. Luckily we were able to resist the lure of the Patisserie Valerie opposite!
Before returning to the campsite we stopped for a drink in The Guy Fawkes Inn – where Guy (or rather Guido) Fawkes was born.
On the intervening day we had spent the day visiting Harrogate and Knaresborough, which I will write about in my next post.
Keep travelling 🙂
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