Tuesday 3 February 2009

Lendal Bridge and Tower - seen from the York bus

So after dissing the York bus only a few days ago, I went for a ride on one. An open topped York bus. On the freezing cold last day of January with the snow blizzard that was about to hit York already making itself felt in the air.

I now know what it is like to have the beginnings of frost bite in my nose end. Why don't they make hats for noses? You can get hats, gloves, ear muffs, even thermal underwear to insulate your nethers, but noses are just left exposed to the elements. Anyone good at knitting? There is clearly a gap in the market.

Apart from the bitter cold, being on the York bus was really very good. There was even a commentary to listen to, through some provided earphones. I found it a bit irritating at first, because the commentator was talking to me as if I was an imbecile, but then I realised I had tuned into the little kids' channel. I hadn't realised there were channels. After playing around with the dial for a bit, and amusing myself by listening to various different languages, I settled into the English one (for grown ups this time), and began to enjoy it.

After about fifteen minutes though I'd had enough of being in the open top, and moved downstairs for the remainder of the journey. Maybe I'm just getting nesh* in my old age.

The view here is of the River Ouse, and the bus is going over Lendal Bridge onto Museum Street. The tower is Lendal Tower, built in the 1300s, originally defensive and also a toll point along the river. An iron chain was once stretched from this tower to Barker Tower on the opposite bank, to stop river traffic. A little ferry used to operate just here from at least the 1400s, to get people from one side of the river to another. But the ferryman was put out of business in 1863 when this bridge was built.

*Nesh was a favourite word of my grandfather, who hailed originally from Sheffield. Being described as nesh means you're a wimp - in the sense of overly sensitive to the cold!

7 comments:

Olivier said...

j'aime bien la tĂȘte de l'enfant, il est sous le charme de la dĂ©couverte (et aussi surement il doit avoir bien froid ;o) )

I like the child's head, it is under the spell of the discovery (and surely it must be cold ;o))

janerowena said...

Can you knit, Ruby?

I help to run a messageboard, and this pattern I tracked down has proved very popular!

I'm not sure it will catch on, though...

janerowena said...

http://www.greenlightwrite.com/nosewarmer.htm

I forgot to leave it! Duh..

Christina S said...

Jane, I can only knit plain stitches (learnt when making squares for blankets in Brownies, circa 1976) so the nosewarmer pattern is a little complex for me. I am however tempted to get someone to make one for me, hee hee! (The teddy in the pic looks a bit like it's wearing a wooly gas mask, but I would have gladly put one on anyway on the York bus)

Anonymous said...

I keep meaning to go on the Glasgow tourist bus tour, haven't managed it yet. Maybe when it's not so flippin' cold!

marley said...

What fun! A tourist in your own town :)

Anonymous said...

Maybe you'd enjoy another ride when it's nearer summer, although it will probably be fuller then!

I thought I knew all about my home town of Bath until I took a ride on the tourist bus! We don't have enough historical buildings around Ashton, where I live now, to have many tourists, but I try to sell the place through my blog and website!