Kings of Rail and Land

Our host Ms. Kay mentioned that we might want to take the bus into the city center. We drove to a local carpark and boarded the bus for a minimal fee. In about 15 minutes or so we got off at the National Railway Museum located in York proper. The museum was very interesting and contained a lot of examples of trains used throughout Britain’s history. There was a very old Rocket Train from 1846 all the way through a sample of the current Eurostar that passes through the Chunnel everyday. There was the Chunnel Funnel train, which was used to haul all the debris out of the underground tunnel. The famous Flying Scotsman, which ran direct from London to Edinburgh for decades, royal train cars, old steam locomotives, and my favorite was a wonderful display about the WWI hospital trains. Seamus, in particular, was very happy with the time we spent at the museum. He loves trains!

We left around noon and walked about 10 minutes into central York. We passed by the York Museum, Memorial Gardens, crossed the River Oose and then explored St. Mary’s Abbey ruins and the old walls of York. We finally arrived at the impressive front doors and awe-inspiring towers of York Minster. York is the ancient seat of English Kings. There has been a church on this site since the 7^th cent. Before that the Romans had one of the largest garrisons stationed here in York. Many of the garrison’s main ruins are found in the undercroft of the Minster. The famous Roman Emperor Constantine was in York when his father died and he was made Emperor. Constantine was the first Christian Holy Roman Emperor.

Over 14 yrs. ago, when I was pregnant with Seamus, Robert and I attended Mass at York Minster and got to sit in the choir up near the High Altar. It was great getting to show the kids where we sat all those years ago. Everyone enjoyed seeing the Chapter Room where all the Bishops of the Anglican Church meet, seeing the 12^th cent., tomb of Saint William of York, and our best adventure was climbing to the top of the Central Tower. Yes, we climbed up 275 small stone spiral stairs to the topmost roof of the Minster. It was worth the climb! The city views were impressive! It was definitely much easier going down than up and we felt we all earned a nice cup of Yorkshire Tea, cakes, and scones with clotted cream and jam.

The rest of the day was spent meandering in and out of the old cobblestone streets and all the quaint little shops. There are 23 cat statues in the old town above doors or in windows. They are called the Cats of York.

We found a few as we walked around. Once back in Easingwold we had a nice dinner at the New Inn across the street from our B&B. After dinner the kids decided to play Go Pig (Fish) with the new “Trains of Britain” deck of cards we got at the museum. The drank Irn Bru, UK’s favorite soft drink, and whoever won the round got to eat a beloved Percy Pig Gummy candy!