Trifter

 York is the city in Northern England, about two hours train journey from London. It is a very old city with the history of more than 2000 years.

There is a wall built by King William, along which we can take a walk and we can see the whole city from it. Guided tours can be taken along this wall to get a glimpse of that era of Romans and the Vikings.

Here the terminology is all different. Gate means Street and Bar means Gate.

Actually the city wall was built with two motives; one was protection and other and of utmost importance was to collect the toll from the people entering the city from outside, especially the Scottish. King Williams spent a lot in constructing the castle, so he needed money which by his previous plan was to collect from the citizens of York which because of the strong protest could not materialize. So the solution suggested was to meet the expenditure by collecting the toll from the outsiders. The guards were appointed to see that no outsider is entering the city without paying the toll. Guards made their work easier by just putting the bar across the gate, and that’s why these gates were called as Bars, there are two bars, Botham Bar and Monk’s Bar.

There is one St.Mary’s Abbey, the story goes like this. William had burnt the city of York, in which some churches were destroyed. He was told that he would be spending his life after death in the hell for this sin. Since he was not too keen on spending his time in hell, he asked for the solution and was told that if he builds an Abbey for the clergyman, he will be washed off his sin. That’s how St.Mary’s Abbey was built. There is a legend that Robin Hood had looted it. Now it is in ruins, still one can make out how beautiful it must have been at one time. It is almost thousand years old.

The main attraction of the city, the Minster. Actually it is a cathedral, it has nothing to do with monarchy, but still it is known as Minster and local people would be very much hurt if it is addressed as a cathedral, so beware. Its construction was going on for 250 years. It was completed in 15th century. It is made up of lime stone. And as there was no explicit plan for it, the architects went on building it as they wished. So in some places we find asymmetry, but still interesting thing is that it doesn’t make iota of a difference in the beauty of the Minster. It is really a vast structure. Usually in the cathedral, only one place is there where people pray, but Minster has got some 7-8 places like this. Now maintaining this structure is a problem for the government. Acid rains are damaging the lime stone to great extent. Once it was hit by the lightning. All the glass windows had to be restored. Thankfully photographs were available, so the new windows could be made exactly like the old ones.

Behind Minster, there is a Treasurer’s house and the clergyman’s house. The stones fallen from the Minster are kept in the clergyman’s garden in a very decorative way along the lawn. The treasurer’s house is a “Must See”. But one has to make it there in Summer time, since it is open only during that season.

One comes across this only in York and that is ’snickelways’. These are very small lanes joining the two streets. It’s actually assumed that this word ‘Snickelways’ comes from old English, but in reality it exists from 1984. Writer Mark Jones made use of this term for the first time in his book, “A walk around the Snickelways of York”.

Then There is Clifford’s tower, a memoir to the terrible massacre of the Jews which took place in 1140. Clifford’s tower stands on a small hill.                              

Not everybody is excited at the thought of a visit to museum. But York Museum is really worth seeing. IT IS JUST GREAT!! It is very big, and is maintained really very nicely. Many things are some thousand years old but they are preserved with great care. In some parts, they have actually created the whole street as it would have been 200 years ago. Means the road is made of pebble, then on both sides, shops are set up, on road some carriages are placed, as if they have just picked up that piece from the history and placed it there. One really feels like going in that era itself, while wandering along. Same thing about the shops like that of Ironsmith, comb maker, brush maker, means the people considered as the lower class in the community, their shops are dimly light and the exact atmosphere is created. Same thing about prisons and war scenes. Then they have shown the living room of middle class / upper class families at the time of Christmas, and how great difference took place in the celebration of this festival around the dawn of 19th century because of poverty and depression. All minute details were there. Then the old washing machines, bath tubs, even the toilet seats, oven, cooking instruments, old armors. Old costumes, perfumes, just everything is preserved and displayed in very creative manner. Then there was a section as Cradle to Coffin, means everything from Baby’s birth to death, the cradle, baby’s clothes, wedding gowns, even the carriage carrying the coffin.

A thing not to be missed is the Railway Museum. It was awarded the best museum in Europe in the year 2002. From 1840, the trains existed in England. Victoria traveled by train first and praised the invention very much, and then onwards, trains became inseparable part of British life. Museum displays very old trains and the engines. There are royal trains, the salon of Queen Victoria, Mary and Queen mother. They are really spectacular, very elegant. You name it and it is there. Bed, writing table, dressing table, telephone, even a small compartment for the pets. All the old coal engines are there. One particular model which was destroyed in the Second World War in the bombing, so in it’s memory, they have rebuilt that model for the museum. The coal engines used to be built in York to be exported to India.

 If you are up for a little adventure and don’t mind meeting a ghost, then York city Ghost Trails are for you. It is again the walk along the city walls but in the night, with lots of scary ghost tales.

River Ouse flows through the city. In older times, this river marked a separation or a division between the monarch and the working class, with Monarch and the soldiers living on one side of it and the merchants and common working people on the other.

York is really a charming city. The city along with the Minster with its elegance makes a lasting impression.