York, our first post-retirement outing, was not strictly a mid-week excursion from home, rather a short get-away during our May 2022 visit to London.
Day 1
Facing the option of a 6-hour drive from London or a 2 hour train ride we opted for the latter. The day started well: the tube from East Putney to Kings Cross exactly 42 minutes as advertised. We should have known better than to expect this good fortune to continue. A track inspection on the LNER line revealed a problem between Doncaster and York, so our train terminated prematurely in Doncaster. The track then spontaneously mended itself, but we still didn’t venture past Doncaster. Instead we boarded the next Edinburgh train and a one hour delay entering York. I’m sure this was just a LNER ploy to avoid the cost of providing an extra train to York. What’s more, my son, who arranged the tickets, profited £23 from the LNER ”delay rebate”.
First stop in York was the Tourist Information office to pick up a street map. The perceptive staff member spotting our luggage and lack of bicycles put away the cycling map and handed us the standard street map. She correctly predicted that we would get lost (not such a surprise for the “Careless Navigator”, as I am known by my family), but her knowledge of the City Wall (quote “hundreds of steps and 4 miles long”) was not so astute. It’s actually only 2.6 miles long.
Goggle maps provided two routes to our Airbnb. The first one via an imaginary river walk, the second required us to swim the final 50 yards across the river Ouse. We found a third option on terra firma using real streets. The studio apartment was very good, well equipped and recently renovated. It overlooked the river, close to the town center but in a quiet, peaceful neighborhood. Unfortunately, the neighborhood streets were too quiet and peaceful to be included on the York city map.
Off we went to explore York via the North East section of the city wall. While well preserved in sections, some of the wall is narrow and slanting, no place for young children, pets or visitors who are intent on visiting York’s 365 pubs.
And so we arrived at the “Hole in the Wall” for our first Yorkshire ale. Something strange has happened to bar and store check-out staff since we left England nearly 40 years ago. No longer do they either completely ignore you or make you feel that you are imposing on them. They are pleasant, helpful and polite. I suspect they have all been replaced by alien shape-shifters who are performing the role as they think it should be done.
Next stop the Three Tuns via the York Minster, where the polite barmaid shape-shifter carried my beer to our table. I am not fooled. Advice to those not familiar with English beer: those beer handles in pubs are not just decorative to make the bar look pretty; they dispense the flat, warm, cask ales that the Brits love so much. Later that week, at the Ship Inn in Wandsworth, I overheard an American tourist complaining to the barman that her beer tasted as if it was not carbonated. After the barman patiently explained cask ales she left in a huff mumbling “Well it’s nasty”.
If anyone is of the opinion that only American food portions are huge, then a visit to the Mumbai Lounge will dispel that belief. Wonderful North Indian food (lamb heavily featured). Large portions and no doggie bags meant we had to eat it all, shame. Then hardly able to walk, we headed back to the Airbnb to binge watch “Garden Rescue” starring Charlie Dimmock, turning bare lawns into garden oases. That may have been inadvisable, as my garden “honey do” list seems to have grown significantly.
Day 2
We bravely set out early to start our cultural day, negotiating the South West section of the city wall on route to the York Castle Museum. Possibly the most interesting museum I have ever been to, with whole rooms dedicated to different eras of York history and a glimpse into the dark side of York’s past when they incarcerated fine citizens for seemingly minor crimes (like overdue bills). Of course, they also imprisoned a few real bad eggs like Dick Turpin. The highlight of the museum is Kirkgate, the recreation of a Victorian street, each shop based on a real York business in the late 1800’s.
Our visit to the museum took much longer than we had expected, so we skipped climbing all those steps up to Clifford’s Tower (the only surviving remnant of York Castle) and headed for the Jorvik Viking Center. The line was way too long, so instead we vowed to be there early the next day and stopped off at the Punch Bowl pub for a pulled beef sandwich and another fine Yorkshire Ale.
Then to York Minster or, more officially, the “Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York”. It’s advertised quite accurately as one of the “World’s Most Magnificent Cathedrals” and boasts many stunning stained glass windows. The resident docent in the Lady Chapel was really knowledgeable, explaining various obscure features to us (apparently, there are hidden green men amongst the carvings) in a broad Yorkshire accent, before switching to fluent German for other visitors from foreign parts. However, his York coverage completely omitted the pubs!
We made a quick stop at the Royal Oak on the way back to the Airbnb for more liquid refreshment, and an interesting chat with three locals. While discussing York’s 365 pubs the man stated that if you started at one end of Fosse Way and had ½ pint in each bar you would never reach the far end: he looked as if he had tried a few times. The couple had previously run a guest house in York which gained popularity with Americans after being featured in Rick Steves’ best places to stay. If you have never watched one of Mr. Steves show, I highly recommend them. At first appearance a bit old-fashioned, but full of great local information.
After a quick rest, and more Charlie Dimmock, we set out for dinner. I particularly wanted to visit the Black Swan pub which was the start of the four day stagecoach ride from York to London in days gone by (a York Castle Museum factoid). Fortunately, the Black Swan was very close our Airbnb. When asked, the barmaid instantly knew that the pub was 605 years old, but not about the stagecoach. Seems the shape-shifter’s education was lacking. Maybe they should be sent to the Castle Museum before deployment in York. After another huge dinner (steak and ale pie) we finished our day in the Black Swan with a couple more ales.
Day 3
As planned, up early to beat the crowd and pay a visit to the Jorvik Viking Center. First, a walk to Left Luggage, near the railway, to drop off our suitcase and then a walk back into the town center.
As we had hoped there was a very short line, and the Jorvik center did not disappoint. In addition to the expected display cases full of Viking artifacts, there was an impressive subterranean Disneyesque ride through a reconstruction of a Viking village. We learned that my father in law’s claim to a Nordic heritage was given credence by the little known (and somewhat contentious) belief that Dupuytren’s contracture, from which he suffered, is linked to the Vikings.
Running out of time before our train ride back to King’s Cross, we made our way to the National Railway Museum which is conveniently (and not surprisingly) located next to York railway station. What’s more it’s free. The museum contains every type of train you could imagine, from the revolutionary Stevenson’s Rocket to the magnificent Mallard locomotive which still holds the world record speed for a steam train of 126 MPH, set in 1938. My dad would have spent many hours here.
Our return trip to London was uneventful, a big disappointment to my son who was hoping for another unearned “delay rebate” windfall from LNER.