York Daily Photo

Anyone coming up?

2011-05-29T01:31:00.003+01:00

At the end of Goodramgate, you come to this staircase leading up into Monk Bar, the strongest medieval defense tower along the city walls. The Richard III Museum is at the top of the steps, housed in the tower, and from here you can also walk the walls to Bootham Bar.

Lady Peckett's Yard

2011-05-27T21:43:00.001+01:00

It was weird weather in York yesterday, warm but sporadically rainy and very grey. I had to go in to town to the bank, and walked past the entrance to another of York's snickelways, Lady Peckett's yard, on my way. I nipped down it to take this photo, and stayed there for a few moments looking around and feeling like I was back in time. The grey weather contributed to the atmosphere. (I would however have dearly loved to have moved those bins in the background, out of the photo, but they were too big and heavy, with no where else for them to go!)

This snickelway was once called Bacusgail (1312) or Bakehouse Lane. but was later renamed after the wife of a former Lord Mayor of York.

Mini Food Festival

2011-05-27T19:11:00.003+01:00

There's a mini food festival on in York at the moment. The Autumn Harvest Mushrooms stall in particular caught my eye because of the wide variety of mushrooms on offer there, both fresh and dried. They're based in South Yorkshire, and can often be found at farmers' markets across the county.

A Tranquil Oasis

2011-05-21T00:01:00.002+01:00

The photo of the benches I posted yesterday overlooks this public garden, which is off Peasholme Green opposite the Black Swan pub. The building in the foreground on the right is the School House Gallery which exhibits contemporary ceramics, and behind it is the Quilt Museum and Gallery. The garden was recently redesigned by the York Conservation Trust.

Peaceful Spot by the City Walls

2011-05-20T00:01:00.002+01:00

Can any Yorkies out there guess where these benches are? They're pretty hidden away and off the beaten track. A photo of the view they overlook is coming up tomorrow.

That's part of York's medieval city walls in the background, with the luxury of a railing to make people walking around it feel safer. Not all parts have railings, but I think those bits are mainly where there's a grassy landing on the other side!

Penny Lane

2011-05-19T00:01:00.003+01:00

This is one of York's snickelways, called Penny Lane, which I nipped through today taking a short cut across the town centre. I love the medieval brick on the left, and the wavy line of the Victorian wall on the right.

Having just looked Penny Lane up in Mark W Jones' Snickelways of York book, I've found out there are supposed to be hub-height indentations in the walls made by the wheels of hand carts people once used to wheel through here. I can't see any on my photo, so will have to go back for another look!

Low Petergate

2011-05-18T18:09:00.002+01:00

A classic York street scene, with the Minster in the background. Low Petergate has a mixture of chain stores and independents.

Explicit Language For Sale?

2011-05-17T00:01:00.002+01:00

Sign in the door of Give a Dog a Bone, another one of my favourite shops on Fossgate which sells all kinds of funky gifts and fun bits and pieces.

1950s Lounge in York Castle Museum

2011-05-16T08:00:00.000+01:00

History meets nostalgia in many of the recreated rooms in York's Castle Museum. This is one of them - the 1950s lounge. I could feel quite at home in here.

A Fossgate Favourite

2011-05-15T14:06:00.003+01:00

"The Hairy Fig, purveyors of fine fodder" a gorgeous little shop on Fossgate, right next to the entrance to the historic Merchants Hall.

Boat on the Ouse

2011-05-14T02:23:00.003+01:00

Thanks to those who left a comment yesterday and welcomed me back. After blogger's misbehaviour today they all seem to have vanished.

Clifford's Tower before a storm

2011-05-12T02:36:00.002+01:00

Poppleton Station

2009-11-19T07:50:00.007Z

Look, my village has a station where the man pops out of his little house to open the barriers when a train is coming.

The village I live in is called Upper Poppleton. Nether Poppleton is a little further down the road. The station is just labelled Poppleton, probably so that neither village feels left out.

York Village Challenge

2009-11-18T07:43:00.003Z

I currently have the best of both worlds. I moved in June to a village on the north west outskirts of York, with the city on one side, and open countryside on the other. It takes me literally only 5 mins by train to get into the city centre.

The photo is of a section of my village's name, from the station platform. Anyone want to guess what the whole thing is? (A clue: There are 2 villages next to one another with "POPP" in the name. Say them both out loud. Mine is the one that sounds like bubble wrap popping).

The FuTuRe of Travel

2009-11-17T10:51:00.005Z

The number 4 from Acomb to the university and Science Park is the poshest bus in York. It is called the FTR which immediately made me think farter. But no, the letters ftr are actually a reference to the FuTuRe of travel.

The FTR is a bendybus, with spacious seats, plenty of standing room, and a TV screen which displays messages such as "For the comfort and safety of FTR passengers, please do not eat, drink or smoke in the FTR." This one kept coming up a lot last night, which was irritating, because I had a vegetable samosa and bottle of diet coke in my handbag, and was trying to suruptitiously pic-nic. Not straightforward. The FTR is the only bus in York to have a conductor, who comes to take your fare once you've sat down. Every time he got up, I had to quickly freeze my jaw in whatever chewing position it happened to be. Which is why I hadn't finished before the end of the journey.

I justified my samosa-eating recklessness by telling myself that despite the FTR TV warnings, my samosa didn't actually pose a safety threat or inconvenience to any of the other passengers. This was before a pea fell out though, and rolled right into the middle of the sparkling purple FTR floor. I must have jolted in horror because the pea was closely followed by a potato cube and several other peas. Fortunately my stop was coming up, and I was able to exit quite speedily.

For some rather better pictures of the FTR than mine, do check out this gallery)

Ruby un-hibernates

2009-11-16T10:10:00.004Z

I have been hibernating. Right through the tail end of last winter, right through summer and most of autumn. Then for some reason I decide to tentatively poke my camera through the back door in the middle of a rainstorm.

It's slashing it down in York today. This view of the remaining apples on the tree in my garden is the best I can do.

Things have changed since last I blogged. I now live in a village to the north-west of York, with Mr Ruby, Erik (my eldest son), and the two younger ones who are now not so young. Life continues. And I am still Ruby :-)

Pextons - a fine local shop!

2009-02-13T00:01:00.001Z

I'm lucky to live near a good parade of local shops, just a few minutes walk from my house. Last night they were a real God send. It was nearly 5pm, snowing thick and fast, and I suddenly remembered I needed to make a tray bake for my youngest son to take to school the next day. I had a recipe handy for carrot and orange cake, but no carrots and no suitable cake tin! So I put on my boots and coat, and went to get what I needed at the shops.

The photos are of Pextons on Bishopthorpe Road, a hardware store selling all sorts of useful things for the home - including a cake tin in just the size I needed for my recipe.

Exciting news!

2009-02-12T09:07:00.004Z

Today's photo is of our blue bag and green box, provided to householders in York for our fortnightly collection of recyclables. What could that have to do with exciting news? Bear with me, it's coming.

I make sure that I use both the bag and box shown above, but also do more besides, such as avoiding excessive packaging in the first place, using my own bags and shopping trolley for my shopping, shopping locally, and on one occasion, I even left my excess packaging behind in the supermarket.

The changes I made were as a result of following my friend Karen's Rubbish Diet Plan - which is about slimming the bin, not the waistline! There is a hideous problem in the UK (as in other places) with too much rubbish being sent to landfil, and ensuing environmental problems.

Karen, who blogs as almost Mrs Average, started her blog The Rubbish Diet at the beginning of last year after a new year resolution to create less waste, and a decision to participate in the local council's "zero waste" week - where the aim was to generate NO RUBBISH as a household for a whole week. In fact the only thing she ended up sending to landfil that week was just one sticking plaster!

Anyway, back to the exciting news as advertised in the title of this post. Karen's blog The Rubbish Diet has just been shortlisted in this year's Guardian Media Awards! The award is an Innovation Award and you can see it for yourself on the Guardian's website here. Scroll down right to the bottom, you'll find it under the heading "Independent Media."

WOW! Congrats Karen, this is much deserved recognition for the Rubbish Diet, WOO HOO!

I like the Knavesmire in the mist

2009-02-11T09:07:00.002Z

I posted a misty Knavesmire photo not so long ago, but went back to take more. Here's one of them (click on the Knavesmire label at the bottom of his post if you want to know more about it from my previous entries).

I got to London and back with no problems yesterday, and one highlight of the day was that I saw Feargal Sharkey somewhere in the vicinity of Goodge Street. My friend Karen, who is very good at celebrity spotting, pointed him out to me. So ever since, I have been singing - mainly the first song in this list, which is very catchy, but also the second two which bring back my early teenage years:
A Good Heart Teenage Kicks My Perfect Cousin

(Just so it's clear, Feargal Sharkey has nothing whatsoever to do with the Knavesmire, it's just that I'm thinking about seeing him yesterday while putting this photo up!!)

London again

2009-02-10T00:01:00.001Z

Make way! I am going to London today! I need to be there to attend a luncheon at 11.45am, and will, I hope, be boarding my train at 8:12am.

Snow, rain, floods and all kinds of awful weather conditions are forecast so this photo of a Japanese bullet train in the National Railway Museum here in York is on my blog for good luck!

Not that I know how one of these would fare in British winter weather conditions. Our own trains tend not to do that well either, of course, and I will be amazed if I get to York Station tomorrow and see lots of "on time" trains on the board. I am kind of expecting lots of cancellations. How I hope I'll be pleasantly surprised!

(There is of course also the possibility that I might get there and not be able to get back. That would be interesting.)

More snow

2009-02-09T00:01:00.000Z

Just when the last lot of snow had just about cleared, it's done it again! My daughter gave a huge sigh when she saw it, and told me; "School is freezing when it snows and some of the stricter teachers won't let us keep our coats on in the class room." Thermal vest for her today then :-D

Army Climbing Wall in Parliament Street

2009-02-08T00:02:00.000Z

The army recruiting team were in York for the recent residents' festival, with a climbing wall that moved on a conveyor belt sort of set up - so you could climb and climb but never get to the top. It could be tilted forwards and backwards to vary the gradient too.

LJ had a go, but don't worry, I'm not letting him join up. He'd hate the haircut, anyway :-D

The Roman Bath Museum

2009-02-07T00:01:00.002Z

In the centre of York is a pub called the Roman Bath, named as such because the steam room of a Roman bath house was found underneath it in the 1930s. The excavations have been turned into a small but very interesting museum, and last week I went for a look.

This was the bath house in the military fortress of York rather than in the civilan side of town, so there are no decorative mosaics and some tiles bear the insignia of the 9th legion who founded York in AD71. (OMG! This place was once full of naked 9th legion Roman soldiers sitting in the steam!)
I liked this model of the fortress and stood here for a while working out where everything was. That's the main gate at the front which was in St Helen's Square, and the tower on the front left must be the multangular tower. I think the square building in the middle is about where the Minster is, and I think the bath house must be that barely visible building on the front right, just peeping out from behind the wall.

LJ enjoyed trying out the replica armour, shields and helmets in the museum. He found out that a centurion's helmet is very heavy!

Sumo Wrestling in Parliament Street

2009-02-06T00:30:00.002Z

This was going on for a large part of Saturday morning at the Residents' Festival, with various bystanders lured out of the crowd to don a Sumo costume and wrestle. I should have volunteered. It would have been a good way of keeping warm. Live coverage of events was going out on Minster FM.

The Fountain

2009-02-05T00:01:00.002Z

There's a Facebook group I've been enjoying recently, called You Know You're From York When ... and number one on the list is "you meet up at the fountain." Above, is The Fountain. No-one meeting there on the day I took this pic, Monday at around 10am. It was way too chilly!

Lendal Bridge and Tower - seen from the York bus

2009-02-03T23:35:00.003Z

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!

Bishopthorpe Road in the Snow

2009-02-03T00:01:00.000Z

This is the view looking up Bishopthorpe Road, from my morning bus stop. Continue up the road this way, and you go past Terry's and to the village of Bishopthorpe ("Good Morning Archbishop Sentamu").

This is the view looking down Bishopthorpe Road from my bus stop. Continue this way, and you'd go past the Southbank shops (Pig and Pastry, Millie's, hooray!) and into town over Skeldergate Bridge.

A bit of a blizzard was blowing while both these photos were taken yesterday morning, and the bus was half an hour late, booo! Neither of my kids' schools closed, to their dismay as they would have far preferred a day building snowmen and poly bagging. (Ruby Senior: "Well why should schools close because of snow? They never did when I was a child. Not even in 1947!")

Little J did manage to get a diminutive snowman built while we were waiting for the bus, however.

Please note: Normal service on Ruby's blog has been interrupted due to adverse weather conditions, and her subsequent urge to blog snowy snuff. Reporting on events at York Residents' Festival will resume at the earliest opportunity, weather permitting. Thank you for your patience.

York Residents Festival

2009-02-02T00:14:00.005Z

This weekend it was the York Residents' Festival, and I'm afraid I'm going to be grumpy about it.

The idea is that York residents get to go and visit all of York's major attractions for free - or at a nominal charge. The problem was that everything was PACKED and it was FREEZING in the queues! The kids wanted to visit "Haunted" - a haunted house which is one of York's newer attractions, but the queue was humongous and barely moving. We tried for the Jorvik Viking Centre, which was only doing the residents' festival from 4pm, but again, mega queues in the cold.

There were quite a few interesting things going on in Parliament Street, so we stood and watched this chap (above) fire juggling for a bit while we tried to decide what to do. You probably won't believe what we ended up doing. I hardly can believe it myself. Photo tomorrow. Clue: it didn't make things any warmer!

PS. This chap set his hair on fire by mistake at one point, but just patted it out and didn't seem unduly bothered by the incident.

York's Snickelways

2009-02-01T00:02:00.001Z

On the first day of the month, the City Daily Photo blogs participate in a theme day, and this month, it is "paths and passages." I couldn't possibly not participate.

York is celebrated for its passageways, and being an ancient city, it is full of them, some very old and winding, leading between the main streets of the town and providing handy short cuts for those in the know.

In York these passageways have a name all of their own: snickelways, a word coined by the author of the book picured above, bringing together the words snicket, ginnel and alleyway. It caught on very rapidly, and is now a word in current wide use here, whether people are familiar with the book or not!

There are so many snickelways in York, some of them spooky, some plain, some ancient, some modern, that I couldn't decide which one to photograph. In the end disorganisation made my choice as I only remembered to do it at the last minute when I was already waiting for my bus to go home. So the pictured snickelway below is the one next to my bus stop! I've never been down it so I don't know where it goes, but I do like its name: Black Horse Passage.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in the City Daily Photo Blogs Theme Day.

Now then, Smiler!

2009-01-31T10:12:00.003Z

I felt like a twerp taking this photo, and I don't really know why. Maybe it was because it's not exactly a place where people normally stop and take pictures. They just fly through the barriers (just behind me here) and on to wherever they're going. Taking this, I did have a bit of an audience of puzzled ticket barrier "help" men behind me who probably wondered what the hell I was doing.

And then there's that whole "being a tourist in your own town" sort of thing to mentally deal with, which is a sore point for me because I regret my separation from this metropolis - and that I haven't been around to witness and live through its recent developments.

I must have got over it though by the time I exited the station, as I was greeted by a group of passing workmen with: "Now then, Smiler!" Which made me laugh. I had a friend at school who used to say that exact same greeting to people who were smiling. Wonder if it's a Leeds thing? I've never heard it anywhere else :-D

Leeds Blogs!
Two great Leeds blogs I've been enjoying recently are:
Leeds Daily Photo by Paul and
Leeds Grub by Katie.

Day Trip

2009-01-30T00:01:00.000Z

Above is York City Station on a wet January morning. In a few hours, I shall be there, setting off on a day trip to Leeds, where I'll be meeting my old school friend in the Art Gallery Cafe. We haven't seen each other for a few years now, as she's been living abroad for a while, and is only here on holiday in fact - so I'm grabbing the chance to catch up. It will be great spending some time in Leeds with her. It's home town to both of us, and a place which has changed immeasurably since the days of our mispent youth!

Sightseeing Bus!

2009-01-29T00:20:00.003Z

There are quite a few bus stops for the York City Sightseeing Bus along my normal morning bus route. The buses run all year round, have a running commentary, and you can get on and off as much as you like. Unfortunately I won't be reporting back about whether it's any good, because it costs £10 for a ticket, which only lasts 24 hours and seems to go where my normal bus goes anyway :-D

I buy a weekly ticket for the ordinary bus service, which costs £15 and with it I can travel anywhere on any bus within York. I intend to do some exploring some time soon.

Ghostly Gate House

2009-01-28T00:27:00.004Z

I was in the village of Bolton Percy yesterday, about six miles to the south of York. It is a quiet little backwater and in parts, is one of those places where it seems not a lot has changed for centuries.

This gate house, glimpsed through the trees in the church yard, is believed to date from around 1467. It is now falling into disrepair, and is on English Heritage's buildings at risk register. Plans are underway, however, to conserve it by converting it into a holiday home to let. Much as I instantly dislike this idea, it does seem like the only way forward, as the money generated would pay for its upkeep.

Currently, the gate house is semi-derelict and one imagines it to be full of the ghosts of the past. Personally, I prefer it that way.

The Mutangular Tower

2009-01-26T00:34:00.006Z

Here it is. The multangular tower. A rather nice piece of Roman architechture left in the Museum Gardens, once at the corner of the Roman military fortress of York. The small bricks at the bottom of the tower are the Roman ones. The top part with the larger bricks is from when the tower was rebuilt during the medieval period.

Here it is from the other side. You can see the difference in brick type more clearly here, that upper part with the "windows" being the later one. The red stripe in the Roman built section looks decorative but was apparently to cement the structure together

There are lots of Roman tombs all over this part of the Museum gardens. They have been brought here from other sites around York. Here, Little J is lamenting the fact that there is rubbish and graffiti around them. "That is someone's tomb, so why do people put rubbish in it?" he asked me.

Rowntree Park Lake

2009-01-26T00:17:00.003Z

Rowntree Park is just near our house. I took the kids there yesterday afternoon, along with their friend and they played happily for ages in the playground. Then I looked round to find the lake and sky were pink, and managed to quickly grab this shot. The park closes at dusk, and the park keeper was already on the way over to us to say time up, jangling his keys, as I took this. 4.40 pm, if you wondered!

Ruby investigates Roman York in St Helen's Square - with "help" from Little J

2009-01-25T13:01:00.012Z

My youngest son Little J is not particularly into historical stuff, unlike my eldest Erik who loved it when he was this age. Above is Little J on Saturday, pictured thwarting my attempt to photograph the location of the Praetorian Gate - the main entrance into the fortress of Eboracum (York) established AD 71. He had just bought a new game for his Wii with some Christmas money, and wanted to go home and play it. So he decided to pogo around me and my camera in protest.

Here is the same location, St Helen's Square, without Little J pogo-ing into the photo. The road you can see between the blue and black shop fronts there is Stonegate, and follows the line of the original main road into the fortress established by Roman soldiers who built the first city of York, all those centuries ago (there was nothing here before the Romans' arrival, at this strategic meeting point of two rivers, the Foss and the Ouse).

Nothing left of the Romans' gate here now, but five minutes away in the Museum Gardens stands a multangular tower that was part of the fortress's defences.

Ruby: Would you like to go and see it?
Little J: Oh, all right then! But can we go home, soon?
Ruby: Look, I'll do you a deal. If we can go see the ruins, we'll watch Mr Yellow juggling for a bit first.
Little J: Done!

Clock

2009-01-24T10:02:00.005Z

When belting into York Station to catch a train, it's always a relief if it leaves from one of the lower number platforms, as you know the platform is right there near the staion entrance.

If, on the other hand you get something like platform 5 - like I did on Wednesday, you have to leg it up these steps, and down the the ones at the other side before you can look for your train.

I love this clock at the top of the first steps going up, as I can look at it and work out how many minutes I've got. In this picture though, unusually for me, I had plenty of time, as my train to London didn't leave till 10.29. But that was because Ruby Senior, who is Organised, dropped me off at the station ;-)

NB The rose in the metalwork of the clock is the white rose of Yorkshire :-)

Ankle Boots and Chewing Gum at York City Station - and London!

2009-01-23T11:11:00.012Z

I was very pleased with myself for wearing my posh ankle boots to go to London in yesterday. That's why I photographed them at the station, while waiting for my train. Look how the chewing gum splodges on the station floor match the pattern on my skirt. I didn't notice that when I took the picture, but it's actually quite cool.

Ruby Senior was doubtful about my choice of footwear for London. The boots have a heel, and I don't do heels, as a rule. She was also alarmed by the fact that I was still trying to zip the boots up when she took me to the station in the car. I had to push the passenger seat back to the max, rest my feet on the front dashboard, then give each zip an almighty prolonged tug to get

them up.

"It's not like you'll just be able to slip them off if they're uncomfortable."

"I'll be fine!"

London is crazy, and big. My feet were fine. To begin with. I was a bit teetery with the heels when getting on and off trains, but it was all going well, until I stood up after being seated during the meeting ... and felt like I was standing on knives.

I hobbled out in the direction of the tube station, with the gait of an old lady. I should have been brandishing my umbrella at the crowds, saying; "London is for the young! Make way! I need to get home!" I passed a couple of shoe shops, and cursed myself for not buying a sensible flat pair instead of the ones I was wearing. Then I saw the entrance to Marble Arch tube, which involved stairs, so I hobbled on along Oxford Street instead. I would get a bus! But none of the buses were going in the direction I needed.

In my semi-incapacitated state, I was also a sitting target for the army of distributors of a free newspaper called London Lite. Avoiding eye contact was useless. It was thrust in my face at regular intervals along Oxford Street, but a loud, assertive "No thank you" seemed to make it disappear again.

Then suddenly, I needed to sit down. Immediately. But there was no-where. So I staggered across Oxford Street, and got on a bus to take me back in the direction I'd just come from. I didn't know what to do with my London travel card on bus - whether it needed swiping or what - so I held it up cheerily at the driver who glowered at me and growled "Just get on." Charming. Then I found all the seats in the bus were taken. Aaargh, I couldn't even sit down in here!

Trying to distract myself from the knife like pain in my feet, I stared through the bus window, and found myself looking at an irate fireman in a fire engine whose siren was blaring. He was yelling and gesticulating and trying to move the engine. My mind blotted out these superfluous facts, as I am rather partial to men in unform, especially where rescue scenarios are involved.

A daydream was imminent. Help me, handsome fireman! I am stuck on the top of a tall pair of shoes, with knives in my feet. Carry me to safety, and away from this godforsaken metropolis, back to my home town!

The fireman turned and looked at me. Eek, had I been thinking out loud?

Then I saw him mouth: "Tell the driver to move the bus." He probably wasn't talking to me. I looked away. Then I looked back at him. His face was angrier now and there was no mistaking his nasty glare was directed straight at me. "TELL the driver to MOVE THE F*ING BUS and TELL HIM NOW!"

Aaargh, what a nasty fireman! His scary order propelled me straight down the bus on my painful feet and I stood in front of the driver's cab. The driver turned and glowered at me. Up until this moment I think I had been considering yelling the words "Move the f*ing bus!" but one look at his face told me this was a very bad idea. What I actually said, was "Excuse me. The fireman driving the fire engine has told me I have to ask you to move the bus." The bus driver looked at me with a reptilian grin, indicated the gridlocked traffic around the bus and said. "Ask him, 'Where to?'"

I decided that I wouldn't bother.

Opposite Marble Arch tube, I flopped out of the bus and onto a low sill outside a shop. I let out a scream of relief as I took the weight off my feet. Within seconds, a London Lite newspaper was in my face

"Have a paper, please darling."

"No thank you."

"Why not? It's free."

"I don't want it."

"Please, have a paper."

"No thank you."

"Take a paper."

"No."

"Take it."

"No."

"Why you don't want take it? I am just doing my job."

"If I took a paper from everyone who offered me one, do you know how many I'd be carrying by now? About six."

"Sick? You are sick?"

"NO, I said six"

"Take a paper."

"I don't want one. PISS OFF!"

"OK darling, have a nice day."

Yes, I thought, I will have a nice day. So I went in the shoe shop next to Marble Arch tube, and bought a pair of padded slip-ons, a size too big, because my feet were too swollen for anything else. Wearing them was bliss, and probably the highlight of the day.

Ee, it's grand to be back in York.

View Through a Window

2009-01-22T08:58:00.003Z

This is the view through our back bedroom window, taken just now at 5 to 9 am, Southbank, York.

When I lived away, and used to come up and stay here in my mother's house, I used to sit and look at this view and dream of coming back to live here. It is so very Northern, and feels like home for me. Although I can see why it wouldn't appeal to some (I also like mills, and cooling towers :-D).

And having just waxed lyrical about the North, I am now off down South for the day. London is calling, and I have a ticket to ride (how many more song titles can I get in?), leaving shortly and back late this evening. I've just joined a professional association that has about 7 meetings a year there, and today will be the first of those for 2009. I lived and worked in London for about 3 years - it'll be good to be back for a visit.

Squidgy Bits Rule!

2009-01-21T00:01:00.001Z

Look! The council wants us to join the gym, and is telling us to say NO to our squidgy bits! Frankly, I am quite at peace with my own squidgy bits. I am sure we should all have at least some, anyway. It's probably when you're squidgy all over that it's time to start worrying. Nice red posters at least, but Ruby isn't joining the gym - I'll stick to riding my bike, thanks :-D

News about Terry's

2009-01-20T09:15:00.007Z

A leaflet came through the door this week about the disused Terry's factory, seeking our opinions as nearby residents on the amendments to the council's brief for would-be developers.

Terry's is currently owned by the developer Grantside, who bought the factory in 2006 for £26 million. They put in a proposal to turn the place into loads of homes, a luxury hotel, offices and workshops, but the plan was thrown out by the council's planning department.

So the amended brief from the council says the developers may submit proposals for: a high quality hotel, conference and leisure facilities, shops, restaurants, and specifies that the development must benefit local people and have a "communal" feel.

I've been trying to get my head round it for a day or two now. It isn't stated on the information given to me why the last proposal was chucked out, and how the amendments will prevent that happening again - which surely, it the key piece of required information here. I think, if I remember rightly from what I read in the paper at the time, the main reason was the traffic congestion that it would supposedly cause in the area. I can only assume this must have been because there were too many homes planned as part of the last proposal (?). Why am I having to assume things? It would be nice if it was all made a bit clearer After all, this article in the Press yesterday tells us:

"It's one of the biggest and most crucial developments in York's recent history - and now the people of the city are getting their chance to reshape its future!"

Communicate to us clearly about it, then!

After residents have given their opinions, which we have until Feb 22 to do, the brief will be revised, and presented to the council's planning committee in March or April, according to the article in yesterday's Press. Then I suppose Grantside will have a look at it and submit another proposal. If they can still afford it, and if they aren't too p*ssed off by now.

Hockey in Halifax

2009-01-19T09:15:00.002Z

Today in York, it is one of the most miserable days imaginable. Dark, cold, windy and raining hard. I just got drenched on the school run, and am now warming up with a cup of coffee while looking through the photos I took of Little J playing hockey for York City Under 10s yesterday in Halifax. We had sun, and lots of it, hooray!

Halifax is about 35 miles to the south west of York, on the edge of the Pennines, in my home county of West Yorkshire. It was good to see some hills - the area immediately around York, known as the Vale of York is completely flat. It was even better to the see the sun.

On the way there and back, we passed signs to Brighouse and Rastrick, famous for the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band which scored a pretty massive hit in the late 70s with the Floral Dance.

Angry Tree on Bishopthorpe Road

2009-01-18T00:01:00.000Z

This piece of graffiti is on Bishopthorpe Road. Look at the photo below, to put it into context.

Building with whopping great hole in roof. Tree leaning over it in an aggressive stance. Did the tree actually inflict the damage? Or was it another tree, now gone? I really don't know, but one thing's for sure: Tree 1, Building 0!

The Knavesmire - a closer look

2009-01-17T00:01:00.002Z

Knave - a rogue, a rascal - from the old English, cnafa
Mire - an area of wet, swampy ground; bog; marsh - from the Old Norse, myrr

The Knavesmire is a large area of undeveloped ground in York known as a stray. It is the haunt of dog walkers these days, and is low lying, flooding easily when it rains.

The York Races take place on the Knavesmire, with the racing track (not pictured) occupying a large part of it. Between 1371 and 1801 public executions took place here too, as I mentioned the other day. In fact horse racing in York started as a side show event for the crowds who came to town to watch the knaves being hanged. It didn't surprise me when I found that out. There is still a motley crew coming to town for the races these days too, with restaurants and pubs in the city centre hiring extra bouncers for the occasion.

But the Knavesmire has a strong character all of its own, which for me overrides the unpleasant aspects of its history. It is very atmospheric, especially in the early morning mist, and a great place for a walk - preferably with wellies.

Ruby's Morning Bus Ride #3 - Bishopthorpe Palace

2009-01-16T00:10:00.008Z

The bus ride is nearly over. We stop at York College of Law while an early student gets off, and then continue on up Bishopthorpe Road, to Bishopthorpe. Since thorpe means a place in Old Norse, I guess "Bishopthorpe" means the place of the bishop. In fact bishops have been living in Bishopthorpe for centuries. And one still does. Not just any old bishop, either. This is an Archbishop.

Yes, Archbishop John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, lives in Bishopthorpe. We go past his palace every morning, and as we do, it has become a bit of a tradition to call out a greeting and enquire how he is getting on with his daily routine (please take note, I am with my young son when I do this).

The bus is going fast, but here comes Bishopthorpe Palace ... "Good morning Archbishop Sentamu! How are you today?"

"Are you up yet? Have you cleaned your teeth yet?"

"Or are you in your office already? Good-bye!"

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be one of those posts you regret doing the minute it's up?

Ruby's Morning Bus Ride #2 The Scary Statue of St Chad's Church

2009-01-15T00:01:00.008Z

I tried to leave a cliff hanger yesterday, saying I'd post a mystery exciting scene which I pass on my daily bus journey to take Little J to school. But my cliff hanger was upstaged when I mentioned in passing the creepy statue outside St Chad's Church, which looks like a giant insect, and which scares me.

You wanted to see it ... Are you sure? Are you sure sure sure? Too late to change your mind now anyway, here he is :

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

I told you he was scary!

The first time I did the bus ride to school with my son, I was pointing out interesting things to him, to try and get him to enjoy the journey. As I glanced up at the statue above the church's main entrance, I was going to tell him to have a look - then I saw it properly from myself and my pointy finger went right back down, I can tell you. He has never noticed this and I shall not be showing him, either. *Shudders.*

I don't know what it reminds me of exactly. A fly? A half-hatched pupa ? I had a look at the church website to see if it said anything about who the statue is meant to be (St Chad himself?) but they make not a mention of it. I don't blame them!

Tomorrow, the mystery special place we pass on the final part of our morning bus ride, which also involves a special ritual ...

Ruby's Morning Bus Ride #1 - The Knavesmire

2009-01-14T00:13:00.003Z

Every morning at 8.15 I leave the house with my youngest son to catch the number 11 bus to his school. Looking out for familiar landmarks has become a ritual.

First is the Knavesmire on the edge of the racecourse (pictured above), where in the cold weather we sometimes see kids skidding across the ice, because the middle of the Knavesmire is waterlogged and frozen over. Public executions once took place here (urgh!) - the most notorious person to be hanged on the Knavesmire being Dick Turpin.

Next is Terry's chocolate factory, then St Chad's church where there is an unpleasant statue above the door, which I think is of a holy person but looks like a giant insect, and I am frightened of it.

Knavesmire School is next, then Terry's again from a different angle, then a long expanse of road going past York Crematorium, York College of Law and the Bustardthorpe Allotment Association, whose name makes me laugh (I have a mature sense of humour).

The most exciting place of all is last, just before we get off - photo tomorrow.

Ruby in Tesco

2009-01-13T00:01:00.000Z

Tesco in York is very big. It takes me ages to get round it. Rows and rows and rows of stuff. It's in fact a bit too big for my liking but sometimes I go there anyway because I know I'm going to find everything I want in the same store. Eventually.

Have you noticed lately that when brand names are pluralised - such as Shoot in that sign in the top right - it seems to be becoming more and more acceptable to use greengrocer's apostrophe (an appostrophe where it shouldn't be, as in "apple's 70p a pound."

Shoot's £1. State of that. I think I'll go and find the manager and say "Hello, my name is Shoot, can I have my £1, please?"

Changing View, January

2009-01-12T08:48:00.004Z

Very January. The park by Clifford's Tower is deserted and colours, distinctly muted. You can just see the York Tour bus in the distance on the road, providing a splash of red.

I've decided to take a picture of this view every month, to see how it changes - a lovely idea which is not my own, but is from Marley over at Cheltenham Daily Photo. I've been really enjoying his recent Changing View series, which he began in September, and have been amazed at how much his scene changes in as short a period of a month - what a difference passing time and the seasons make. Thanks Marley for the inspiration - I hope you don't mind me adopting your idea for YDP.

Clifford's Tower is probably York's most well known landmark. Very distinctive up there on its hill, where it has been standing since 1069, built by William the Conqueror as part of his campaign to subdue the Northerners. Anyone out in town in York on a Saturday night will soon see it clearly didn't work ... ;-)

The Spooky part of the Museum Gardens ...

2009-01-11T14:13:00.008Z

When you go into the Museum Gardens through the main gate on Museum Street, and turn right as soon as you enter, this is what you see. Wander a little further down, and you see there are tombs inside this tunnel, and the ceiling is a Norman vaulted one.

This section of the ruins in the gardens is actually part of the remains of St Leonard's Chapel and Hospital, a place where the sick and poor came to be healed - in spirit as well as body, and was apparently the largest such place in the north of England. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1137, which is when these ruins date from.

Not pictured here (I'll post a photo when I have one!) is a spacious undercroft, off to the left from the tunnel, which has some beautiful arches. I was actually too scared to go down there and get pics the other day when I took these as it was getting dark! It was the prospect of meeting one of the dodgy types that sometimes hang around here that put me off though, more than the prospect of ghosts. Although I admit, that did also cross my mind. Eek!

This part above definitely does spook me a bit. It's the inside of the "tunnel" and the graves are Roman ones. I seem to remember reading that they weren't found on site, but have been found at excavations in other parts of York.

Funny how just across to the right beyond the park's railings is one of the busiest roads in York, with bus stops, people and loads of traffic. Then along at the end of this tunnel, which you can just see, is the forecourt to the library with people constantly coming and going. I can't help feeling in a totally different world just here though, and civilisation seems far away.

Gates to the Garden

2009-01-10T01:05:00.003Z

I can't ever walk past the gates to the Museum Gardens without going in. They tempt me. They have everything: Roman coffins, an observatory, the Yorkshire Museum, benches and flowers, dodgy types hanging about among the abbey ruins (they would have sooo got moved on in Bury St Edmunds). There is even a burger van, on occasions.

The photo above shows The Lodge in the background. Just after I took this photo, I went to have a closer look at it. There was a poster in its window advertising the events of the Yorkshire Philosphical Society, which I hadn't heard about before.

Then I went to have a look at the spooky bit of the gardens, which I really like, but which frightens me a bit as well! Photo tomorrow!

Red Letterbox Day!

2009-01-09T00:01:00.001Z

I am finding myself trying to seek out bright colour, in dull and dingy January, and when I do find some I feel very cheered. Especially by my local post box which has just been repainted. There's even a bit of a red splodge on the wall next to it - oops. All very nice and cheerful though. It's almost enough to make me want to start sending letters again, instead of emails!

Ruby has written a guest post today on the blog of her good friend and writing partner Karen, aka Almost Mrs Average of The Rubbish Diet. A link to the post is here: Ruby's Rubbish Surprise: reporting live from York. Do pop over and see my post about York's bins - or the lack of them, inspired by my post on this blog yesterday!

CAT!

2009-01-08T10:00:00.004Z

The cat on the roof here looks like it's ready to leap down and check out all these tempting bin bags with who knows what tidbits inside, left out for collection on bins day.

Not that the cats in the neighbourhood get much chance for bin bag attack. Bags can only be left out after 7pm of the night before collection. And why no wheelie bins, you may ask? Well in certain areas of York where there are back access alleys to the houses such as this one, wheelie bins are not allowed - to avoid the problem of people leaving them out permanently, where they look unsightly!

All well and good, but even in the short window of available time, cat attacks can and do happen. Aaaargh! Here comes one now!

Addendum: This cat actually disappeared through a cat flap in the gate of the house where the leaping cat is positioned!

Pictured: Back access passage between Knavesmire Crescent and Curzon Terrace

The Home of the Chocolate Orange

2009-01-06T00:01:00.001Z

The imposing builiding above (photographed yesterday morning on my way back home after the school run) is the home of the Chocolate Orange. Yes, it's Terry's, the chocolate factory! Or should I say, it was. Sadly, in September 2005 it closed its doors for the last time. Chocolate Orange production now takes place outside of the UK, at Kraft foods in Sweden, Poland, Slovakia and Belgium.

So what of the building?

Since its closure, the factory has been standing empty, but plans have been drawn up to convert it into a complex of luxury appartments, business and retail outlets, and a leisure centre. There have however been planning permission problems. And the project has not been mentioned for a while now. The hoardings advertising the development are still there (above) but with the current downturn in the housing market, I wonder if it is actually going to happen?

WOW!

2009-01-05T00:01:00.001Z

Is it just me, or is this not likely to get anyone else hot footing it into the newsagent for a copy of the Malton & Pickering Mercury either?

Or maybe some people think differently ...

Pics taken on a day out to Pickering, a bit further up into North Yorkshire than York.

Colour

2009-01-04T00:01:00.000Z

January can be such a grey, bleak month, without much sunlight at all. The berries on this otherwise bare tree provide a welcome splash of colour in Rowntree Park.

Penthouse Living

2009-01-03T00:01:00.000Z

At the end of my regular riverside walk into town, I pass these appartments, just before I come up onto Skeldergate Bridge. Look at the penthouse flats on both of them!

For a long time, I have thought of these penthouse flats as my dream home. Imagine the views! Well funnily enough, while browsing houses online, I have noticed that there are appartments in the penthouse suite for sale at the moment - so I don't have to imagine the views any more, I can actually see them: Lookee here!! Click number 5 to see the view - WOW!

£485,000 for a lease on a 2 bed flat though? How bout no! Weirdly enough I almost like the houseboat moored below it just as much. Says she, trying to convince herself ...

Boats on the Ouse

2009-01-02T00:01:00.001Z

Following on from Wednesday's post, this was taken a little further up the river when I was on my way home. In the background, down the river, you can Ouse Bridge, which features in Wednesday's photo. I guess these boats, moored by some of the new(ish) riverside appartments, must be privately owned. Handy if it floods!

House Hunting 2009

2009-01-01T00:01:00.001Z

This year, I'm going to be house hunting.

Having risen to ridiculously high peaks, the house prices in the UK are now dropping again, and will need to drop some more before I can afford to buy. So I'm watching, and waiting, and in the meantime, am very often tempted by houseboats and caravans ...!

I pass this particular boat on my way in to town. It was for sale a little while ago, but presumably has a new owner now. No, not me, but I was sorely tempted!

P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ouse Bridge

2008-12-31T17:18:00.003Z

I walked along here in the early evening today. Funny how ones moods draw one to particular places. I kept ending up on bridges throughout my walk; crossing over them, looking upriver, looking downriver, and with this bridge - going for a look underneath it too.

Apologies for not blogging for so long, and thanks for all the comments on the post below! I am fine, and alive, but haven't been feeling like going round town with my camera for quite a while, and felt quite unable to blog. I am at a very definite crossing place in life at the moment, having left one life behind, I need to walk on into the new, but it has been more scary than I thought.

Easier, I guess, to stay stuck on the bridge where all options for advance or retreat are still open. Better get off it soon, and start walking in my chosen direction. It's a new year after all ...

PS. Last month I put 2 posts on here. The first said something like "Sorry I haven't blogged for so long. But I'm starting again from today." I published it, screamed, and deleted it. I then wrote another post which said something like. "Sorry I haven't blogged for so long. But I have decided not to blog York anymore. So that's it. Goodbye." I published it, screamed, and deleted it. As you can see, I have been more than a little confused. So was everyone else, I think, when those posts showed up in feeds but were gone from the blog.

Anyway ... if I haven't deleted this post by the end of the evening ... it would appear I that I am back!

My Favourite Train

2008-11-16T00:03:00.000Z

My own personal favourite train in the National Railway Museum is this one, the Mallard. I like the look and shape of it. My mum just told me she used to travel on one of these when going to and from London in the 50s. The one in the background - the Eurostar is one I've been on, under the English Channel to France.

Wheels and pistons at the National Railway Museum

2008-11-15T00:24:00.000Z

This exhibit at the National Railway Museum has always been a favourite of my children, especially Erik, when he was little. The wheels and pistons of this train are exposed and are turning so that you can see how it all works. There are information panels telling you what all the bits are, and here a guide is explaining it to some visitors.

National Railway Museum

2008-11-14T00:01:00.000Z

Trains are one reason that York gets a lot of visitors. York has always been a major railway centre, and we now have the National Railway Museum here. There are loads of fantastic exhibits, and although I'm not a particular train fan in the way some people are, I do like looking at the steam engines on display. It's amazing how huge they are when you get up to them.

York at Night - River Ouse

2008-11-13T11:22:00.002Z

Here's one I prepared earlier.

I took this shot when I was visiting York last year, before moving here. Whenever I came here - as I did quite often to visit my mother - I always felt quite elated on seeing this view from Skeldergate Bridge, with a really happy yaaay I''m in York feeling.

I'd love to have a riverfront flat here - it's a dream I have. No garden for the kids though - although we could always get a boat, I suppose :-)

The Yorkshire Wheel

2008-11-12T00:01:00.003Z

Indeed it was the Yorkshire Wheel I took yesterday's view from. Wayne was right, despite referring to it as a blot on the landscape! Personally I have to confess to being a bit of a big wheel fan, even of fairground big wheels although they always scare me to death (obligatory horror thought while riding: what if the fairground man was on the p*ss last night and didn't put it together properly). Not that the Yorkshire Wheel was remotely like a fairground ride - much more sedate and upmarket - but I still had to ride it and get some photos.

The Yorkshire Wheel is gone now though. Yes, as reported by The JollyGreenP in this post , it was dismantled on November 5th and is no longer on the site at the National Railway Museum where it used to stand - although it will possibly be re-erected somewhere else in the city.

Thanks to everyone who had a guess at the location, btw. Jane, I loved your suggestion of on top of the Norman Tower. I would have needed a powerful zoom to see York from Bury :-D Now, what should Wayne have as his prize ...? Hmm, maybe a special photo, coming up on Friday!

Bits of the Minster #4

2008-11-11T00:01:00.002Z

I was very pleased to discover today, in the dim and murky depths of my groaning "My Pictures" folder, a set of photographs I took about a year and a half ago, and which I'd started to think I'd taken in a dream. I thought this one fitted nicely into my "Bits of the Minster" occasional series.

Can you guess where I was when I took it? The answer is in a photo I posted ... oo, around a couple of weeks back, I reckon. ;-)

Terry Avenue in Autumn

2008-11-10T00:01:00.002Z

I cycle down Terry Avenue when I go into town. Rowntree Park is on the left, behind the railings. The River Ouse in on the right, behind the hedge. When I was living away, this ride is one of the things I used to think back to and miss loads. When I lived here before though, in the early 90s, I lived in the village of Heslington and cycled in to town down the other side of the river. Which is just as nice as this one.

Remembering Guy Fawkes - A Son of York

2008-11-09T11:06:00.011Z

This is St Michael-le-Belfrey Church, in the centre of York, where Guy Fawkes was baptised. On the left of this scene stands York Minster (which you can't see). On the right, (which you can see,) is the house where Guy Fawkes was born, now the Guy Fawkes Inn. I stood and watched for a while the other morning, thinking how in 1570, Guy's parents didn't have far to take their three day old baby for his Christening service on April 16th.

I thought I'd conclude my Guy Fawkes mini-series with a thought provoking poem by one of our own daily photo bloggers (Hyde) Gerald England, written when he was in Glasgow in 1966.

RECOLLECTIONS: NOVEMBER 5th 1966

It was just the other day.
Bonfire night the fifth of November.
I went down myself
to where the suburb children
had built their bonfire
and as I watched the effigy
slowly being burnt,
I thought to myself I ought not to be here -
it is a Yorkshireman whom they burn.

My thoughts floated back
to the little close in Petergate
where in 1570
in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfry
behind the great Minster of York,
Guy Fawkes was baptised.
And as a rocket shot out of a one-pint milk-bottle,
shooting high over tenement roofs,
I thought I ought not to be here -
it is a Yorkshireman whom they burn.

My thoughts escaped
to the Old Hall at Scotton
where Guy's childhood was spent.
There, in those rooms, did he plot
with the Brothers Wright?
And I thought of their home,
Ploughland, on the Spurn Road
where Holderness cocks a snoot at the sea.
Just then they lit some Roman candles
and the explosion of a banger
woke me and arrested my thoughts.
Then I remembered, I ought not to be here -
it is a Yorkshireman whom they burn.

My thoughts escaped once more;
down South to Kettering and Newton Hall
where met the unlucky thirteen,
six Yorkshiremen and seven others,
then plan to annihilate King and Parliament for ever,
with thirty-two hundredweight of powder.
And as the bonfire cast shadows on the ground
I remembered I ought not to be here -
it is a Yorkshireman whom they burn.

Oh how I pictured,
as the body on the firebegan to disintegrate in the flames,
the sufferings felt by Guy
as he neither lay nor sat nor stood
in the Cell of Little Ease until,
on the 31st day of January
in the year sixteen hundred and six,
he was executed,
hung, drawn and quartered.
I knew as I watched the dying embers of the fire,
I ought not to be here -
it is a Yorkshireman whom they burn.

GERALD ENGLAND

Guy Fawkes' Birth Place

2008-11-08T00:02:00.001Z

The blue plaque outside the Guy Fawkes Inn on High Petergate reads as follows:

GUY FAWKES BORN HERE

APRIL 13th 1570

The notorious gunpowder plotter who attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5th 1605.

He was hung, drawn and quartered in Westminster London January 31st 1606.

The interior of the Guy Fawkes Inn

Guy Fawkes' Record of Baptism in York

2008-11-07T13:06:00.007Z

Guy Fawkes, whose death is celebrated on Bonfire Night (Nov 5th) was born in York, and was baptised in the church of St Michael Le Belfrey. On my visit there this morning, I found that the register showing the entry for Guy Fawkes' baptism is on display this week, on its final day today so I was lucky to get to see it just in time. I can't read the script at all, but his entry is on the left and is the third from the top, with two small black vertical lines just next to it. Guy Fawkes, son of Edward Fawkes. The entry is dated 16th April 1570.

This nice lady whose name I omitted to ask (although we established that she knows my mum!) has been a guardian of the register while it's been on display. It'll be out again in January, as part of a residents' week taking place.

Ruby's Bonfire Night 2008

2008-11-06T00:03:00.000Z

This array of fireworks was exploded in our back garden last night, shortly after the photo was taken. In the absence of Mr Ruby, I had to light them myself. Two kids were watching from an upstairs bedroom window, another one from downstairs by the back kitchen door. I think they enjoyed watching me legging it like a mad woman down the garden steps when the fuse started to fizzle quite a bit more than watching the fireworks. Their favourite bit though was probably when I was squatting at the bottom of the garden in the dark, trying to read instructions by torchlight. I managed to lose my balance, did a slow motion semi-backwards roll and ended up on my back with my head among some plantpots.

You'll be pleased (I hope) to know that the Ruby Torch didn't get me. I legged it extra fast after lighting that one.

My Favourite Night Of the Year

2008-11-05T08:42:00.005Z

It's Bonfire Night! The most exciting night of the year - in my opinion anyway. Although there are lots of organised firework displays around, we always have fireworks in our own back garden on the actual night, Nov 5th.

For those outside the UK I should explain that Nov 5th in is a weird sort of evening, in theory commemorating the "bringing to justice" of a man called Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. I say in theory, because if I thought too hard about what it was actually about, I might have to stop celebrating it! Most people, including me, do it now for the fireworks, toffee and fun! Traditions are funny things.

Some people make a "guy", an effigy of a man, to put on their bonfire and burn on the evening. I can remember making one as a kid, with my local brownie pack, to put on the brownies' bonfire :-S

Guy Fawkes was born in York, so I wonder if the "guy" tradition flourished even here? In Leeds down the road where I was brought up, it certainly did. Over the next few days I'm going to do a Guy Fawkes / Bonfire Night series, and perhaps see what I can find out about him locally.

(Today's photo was taken at a display I attended last year, and the mosaic was put together using the free tool mosaic maker over at a site I rather like - BigHugeLabs, in case you're interested.)

A peaceful place to work ...

2008-11-04T00:05:00.001Z

The above photo is of the place I wish I'd gone to yesterday. York library. But I didn't go there. I had the unlikely idea of working in an unlikely place instead and what a disaster that turned out to be.

So where did I go? To Tesco Cafe of all places! Tesco is my local supermarket. It's a huge one, and has a very bright and cheerful cafe upstairs. I figured I could work there from 9 till 3.30, school run time, and I have to say I did get quite a bit done - but not in ideal circumstances.

Obviously I knew there would be hustle and bustle, which I can take in moderation. But what I hadn't bargained for was the cafe being full of college students, all day, because Tesco is right opposite York College. It was like trying to work in a high school canteen. At one point a man (presumably a college lecturer) came in and went round the tables telling all the students: "We have had complaints about large groups of students in here, occupying tables and not buying anything, making noise, and swearing. Have you been swearing?" Which caused some hilarity.

Back to York Library tomorrow, I think.

P.S. Sorry no photo of Tesco cafe. I forgot my camera, duh! And no, I'm not going back another day to take one :-D

P.P.S Do I sound like a grumpy old git? I feel like one!

Pizza Hut Limo

2008-11-02T11:23:00.004Z

Well it's great to be back in York, with all of its York-ness and eccentricities. Haven't had time to go out and take photos yet, but here's one I snapped some time ago - of someone arriving at Pizza Hut by limousine. Personally it wouldn't be my choice of dining establishment for an evening of chauffer driven luxury (I'd go to Pizza Express, it's in a posher building ;-) but someone is obviously a fan.

PS Today I'm going to spend the day in a very unlikely place. Tune in tomorrow to find out where.

Stations

2008-11-02T10:56:00.005Z

Later today, the kids and I will be boarding a train to take us back to York. Above is a photo of our destination: York Station. Wayne commented a while back that York Station has lots of atmosphere, and I would agree with that. It's quite a big, sprawling station, and we are well connected in York to all other places. We also have the National Railway Museum in the City which I shall photograph sometime soon. That's the Yorkshire Wheel in the background by the way, a bit like the London Eye on a smaller scale. Panoramic views over the city from there!

Our departure point will be Bury St Edmunds Station, shown above. A bit of a grim station, with no shops on the platform and trains are often missed out. There isn't even anywhere nearby you can go for a coffee - the nearest place is Tesco cafe, not good. It's a shame, because the station is a beautiful huge Victorian building and it has loads of potential. This area of Bury is currently being redeveloped so maybe things will change.

Ruby is in Bury St Edmunds for the week, where she formerly lived and blogged. This post is part of a series to run until her return to York, comparing the two towns.

Books

2008-11-01T08:00:00.005Z

When I first got married to Mr Ruby, it was my dream to build up a huge collection of books, and maybe one day, have a house with its very own library.

I think I must have changed at some point in the late nineties, when we were being crowded out of our house by amassed books, from university text books to the bestsellers of five years ago. I got rid of the lot.

I still love books, but once I've read them, out they go, and when I want to use reference books I go to the library. My inner gypsy doesn't like clutter. She needs to be ready to take off at any moment, without having to worry about what to do with books.

The above photograph shows a room in one of York's many second hand book shops. This one's just next to the Minster. I love browsing this shop, but you can safely say that no room in my house will ever look like it!

This post was for City Daily Photo Blogs' Theme Day Nov 1st 2008 : Books.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Spooky Trees

2008-10-31T00:04:00.003Z

Mad pollarding in York, by Skeldergate Bridge.

Mad pollarding in Bury St Edmunds, by the Norman Tower.

I always think there's something a bit otherwordly about severely pollarded trees. So I thought this would be a good post to do for Halloween. And the Bury St Edmunds photo was taken in the Great Churchyard.

Ruby is in Bury St Edmunds for the week, where she formerly lived and blogged. This post is part of a series to run until her return to York, comparing the two towns.

Big Hair at St Williams College

2008-10-30T09:51:00.001Z

The day I got married I had big hair. I went to get my hair done in a salon somewhere quite near the scene of this photo on the morning of my wedding, and came out with a massive bouffante. By the time I had my photo taken looking out of one of the top windows of the courtyard inside St Williams College (above), where we had our wedding reception, it had flopped a bit, but was big compared to how it normally is. Had I fallen out of said window, there was still a good chance my hair would have worked as an already-open parachute.

Although big hair was a change from my usual flat hair, all things considered, I would probably not go large on a haircut again.

Iconic Statues

2008-10-29T10:00:00.001Z

There is a very good opportunity for a silly photo if you are posing next to this statue. You can actually hang your bag / umbrella / whatever you have with you, from Constantine's extended hand. Very irreverent of course, but in York, no one much minds. This statue has been here only for about 10 years but has quickly become one of the city's iconic symbols.

So what does the Roman Emperor Constantine have to do with York? Well, he was actually proclaimed Emporer in York, in 306, and the statue's plaque tells us that after his conversion to Christianity, he "established the foundations of Western Christendom."

This is a statue of St Edmund by Elizabeth Frink. He stands rather spookily between St Edmundsbury Cathedral and the Great Churchyard. There is an ongoing local campaign in East Anglia to reinstate St Edmund as patron saint of Britain (he was ousted by St George). The original St Edmund, King of East Anglia was killed by the Danes in 869, at Bradfield just outside Bury St Edmunds. Don't try hanging anything from this statue. The locals would lynch you.

Ruby is in Bury St Edmunds for the week, where she formerly lived and blogged. This post is part of a series to run until her return to York, comparing the two towns.

Toilets

2008-10-28T00:02:00.001Z

"I know, having visited York, that you come away thinking nice Minster - shame about the toilets'." Richard Chisnell, Director of the British Toilet Association.

Above is Splash Palace - as York's Public Conveniences are known locally. I've always thought they were OK as far as public toilets go, but apparently no-one else agrees. So this building in Parliament Street will be flattened next year and the debate is on as to what, if anything, should be built in its place. An opportunity to showcase what the town has to offer there, thinks the York Tourist Board. Whereas others think it will open up the town centre if nothing is there. New public toilets will be round the corner near Newgate Market.

On to toilets in Bury St Edmunds. Where do I start? Here is a town where there is major toilet trouble. The old main public loos were knocked down as part of a project to build a new shopping centre. New temporary loos were set up in portakabins, right next to where building work is going on, meaning there is now quite a hike from Bury's current town centre to go to the lav. This has caused lots of complaints, and dissatisfaction that the council is effectively moving the town centre from its age old location to where the new shopping development is. Toilets are but one aspect of that particular story.

Ruby is in Bury St Edmunds for the week, where she formerly lived and blogged. This post is part of a series to run until her return to York, comparing the two towns.

Journey

2008-10-27T17:54:00.002Z

I didn't get my act together quickly enough today to continue the series comparing York and Bury St Edmunds. That will have to happen tomorrow now. In the meantime, here is a photo taken somewhere between the two towns as my eldest son and my daughter share ipod music on our journey.

Abbeys

2008-10-26T09:30:00.001Z

In the centre of York is a park known as the Museum Gardens. It has the ruins of an Abbey in it, St Mary's Abbey (1006-1539). Above, this section of the ruins makes a nice setting for one of the paintings in The Grand Tour. When I took this photo, a big sound system erected right next to the ruins was playing Gregorian chants (don't know if that's the right term; it was monks singing in Latin).

In the centre of Bury St Edmunds is a park known as the Abbey Gardens. It has the ruins of an Abbey in it: The Great Abbey of Bury St Edmunds (1020ish-1539). Like St Mary's in York, it was pillaged for building materials after Henry VIII's dissolution of the monastaries in 1539. But this abbey had a flint and rubble core, so when the stone cladding blocks were taken off (few remain), these weird and wonderful shapes were left. One of my Bury St Edmunds blog readers who used to play in the Abbey Gardens as a child called this part shown above "The Chicken and the Kettle."

Ruby is in Bury St Edmunds for the week, where she formerly lived and blogged. This post is part of a series to run until her return to York, comparing the two towns.

Ticket to Ride

2008-10-25T08:00:00.000+01:00

I have a ticket to ride, ladies and gentlemen.

This afternoon, I shall be boarding a train at York Railway Station with my 3 children (although one of them is no longer a child) and heading back to Bury St Edmunds for half-term week.

Bury St Edmunds is where I lived for 11 years. Most people in York haven't heard of it, so I explain that if the map of Great Britain looks like a witch riding a pig, with Cornwall as the pig's trotter, and Wales as its head, then the pig's arse is East Anglia. Bury St Edmunds is somewhere in the middle of the arse. I shall be there until next Sunday night.

Throughout the week, I shall be running a series of photographs which compare York, where I now live, to Bury St Edmunds.

Guess the weight anyone?

2008-10-24T08:00:00.004+01:00

This squash is in the window of the greengrocer's, Millie's, right next door to the Pig and Pastry. For a £1 you can have a guess at the weight, with the chance of winning £50 to spend in the shop. All proceeds are going to the children's ward at York District Hospital. I haven't had a go because I'm useless at weights and I really have no idea. If anyone else does, give me a hand and post your guess below! I might enter yet. A bean or two from Millie's negotiable if I win with your guess ;-)

Through the window you can see the terraces on Bishopthorpe Road. The road leads, unsurprisingly, to the village of Bishopthorpe, where the current Archbishop of York resides.

Ruby and the Open Door in the Shambles

2008-10-23T16:00:00.001+01:00

Open doors are irresistible. They are just asking you to go through them.

And so it was that I came upon an open door a few buildings down from 12 Shambles.

I went through it, and followed the staircase up, with pictures of film stars watching me all the way. At the top was a landing and then another staircase with more film stars. Up again. First there was a hairdresser's, then some offices. Up a few stairs, down a few stairs, along another corridor. And then I met a nice man who has a therapy practice at the top of the building and he let me have a look at the room where he works.

I entered through the doorway pictured above at number 15, but by the time I was in the therapy room on the top floor, I was above number 19. It could have been a room like this where Gails Man's great-great grandfather, William Riley lived in the 1880s, as the building above 19 is similar to the one above number 12. Although I suspect the decor would have been quite different.

What I love about this room is the fact that the windows are almost the same height as the wall itself. Imagine having a bed by them. The view through William's window could have been very much like the view through this one. Only with quite a lot of butcher-y things going on down in the street below. Here's the view as it is today:

12 Shambles

2008-10-22T11:26:00.013+01:00

I received an email recently from Gail's Man at Nottingham Daily Photo, telling me about his own connection with York.

He has roots here, right in the very heart of the town. His great-grandfather, William Riley, a chimney sweep, lived at number 12 the Shambles in the 1880s. And his uncle, William Everett, was born just round the corner, at 30 Little Shambles in 1898.

Today, I went to investigate 12 the Shambles, pictured above. One of the street's characterful medieval buildings, it is now a sweet shop, and the manageress was happy for me to have a look round and take some photos - and interested in the story of the building's one time inhabitant!

Inside it looks every part the olde worlde shop - but it would of course, like most of the shops in the Shambles, have been a butcher's at the time William Riley lived here.

The beams are fantastic. I even had a peek behind the shelf units and you can see the same wooden beams across the walls. From oak trees that lived quite a long time ago!

You can see evidence that this was once a butcher's on the top photo as the heavy window sill is where meat would have been displayed, and also on this pic (right) behind the shop sign, meat hooks are still visible (some bent to accomodate the sign). In Victorian times, meat would have been hanging outside most of the shop fronts in the street.

No meat today - just lots of colourful sweeties. These pictured are all traditional Yorkshire boiled sweets. They had Yorkshire mixture too, which was always one of my favourites as a kid.

There are another couple of storeys above the shop, which I presume was where Gails Man's great-grandfather lived. These are all offices now, and I didn't manage to venture up in this particular building, although I did in an almost identical one a few doors down. But that's for tomorrow.

Shambles

2008-10-21T09:36:00.010+01:00

Shambles, more popularly known as The Shambles.

It's apparently Europe's most visited street. It also has the claim to fame of being Europe's best preserved medieval street. I walked down it with a friend recently, who set it looked like a film set, but nope, it's the real thing!

The word Shambles is from Anglo-Saxon shammels meaning "little shelves/booths" and the word Flesshamels means literally "meat shelves." The Shambles was once the home of York's meat market, where meat was displayed by butchers on the wide wooden slabs at the bottom of the window frames.

These days it can be a bit hard to imagine that this was once a meat market. It would also have been - a bit of a shambles, frankly, as animals were slaughtered in the street, and all the waste - guts, offal and blood - was thrown down a runnel in the middle, hence the expression shambles, meaning a mess.

These days there are some very nice characterful little shops there - some of them touristy, but none the worse for that. Interestingly, there is another City Daily Photo blogger who has a connection with the Shambles. Who could it be, and what's the link? Tune in tomorrow to find out ;-)

The Pig and Pastry

2008-10-20T09:36:00.003+01:00

What could be more welcoming on a grey October morning, than the Pig and Pastry on Bishopthorpe Road? This is the local cafe I mentioned in a previous post - where I met with friends on Friday morning. As well as a cafe, it's also a deli, and there's a lovely warm, friendly atmosphere. It isn't in the centre of York, but isn't too far from it either - and I'm lucky enough to live just round the corner. I think this could well become a regular haunt :-)

I took these photos this morning. I need to investigate the range of cakes and pastries they do further next time I go in. The pastries being put on display, fresh from the oven, looked sooo tempting. The Pig and Pastry is relatively new on the Bishopthorpe Rd parade of shops, but is already extrememly popular!

Pig & Pastry, 35 Bishopthorpe Rd, York YO23 1NA. Tel: 01904 675115

Swing in Davygate

2008-10-19T15:25:00.007+01:00

There was a bit of swing going on this afternoon on Davygate. In the mood, na na na na naaaah! Not that they played that (when I was listening) but it reminded me of that a bit.

In the background is St Helen's Graveyard (a little bit of preserved graveyard off Davygate) and you can see the copy of the painting "Lady Cockburn and her three eldest sons" by Sir Joshua Reynolds, part of The Grand Tour in York.

To follow on from my last post, I had a really good time at the Pig and Pastry by the way, and met a very interesting new friend :-) The Pig and Pastry might become a regular haunt - rather good, and not at all far from the new chez Ruby.

Bits of the Minster #3

2008-10-17T08:40:00.002+01:00

For me, this was the obvious shot of the Minster to take, and is the first one I took, in fact. I probably didn't put it on first because it seemed obvious.

It's difficult taking pictures of something that everyone takes pictures of, because of the need to make it different, and capture something original. Photos taken from an odd angle to make the thing look different can look as cliched as those taken as a straight shot, which is why I wasn't too thrilled with the one above. It's sort of a mixture of "straight on" and twisted angle, to get the lampost in as well. But having left it to "rest" for a week or two, I don't mind it as much this morning.

About this morning. I am excited. I'm going to meet the friend of a friend that I mentioned before. We shall be having coffee (and possibly a cake :-) ) in the Pig and Pastry. In fact I had better go and get ready now ;-)

Alternative transport

2008-10-12T17:56:00.005+01:00

Best granny-mobile ever. Look! It has a buggy board on the back for grandad!

My kids were really excited to see this today, as it made them remember when we used to have a buggy board to go on the back of the push chair, for one of them to stand on. It might even be in the shed in Bury St Edmunds still.

The above photo was taken in Rowntree Park, less than an hour ago. It's worth pointing out that the pair are actually heading towards the skate park :-D

Harvest Festival

2008-10-10T16:19:00.005+01:00

Little J's school had their harvest festival today in St Andrew's Church, Bishopthorpe. Next year I shall know to camp outside the night before to get a place near the front. A good thing about where I sat though, was that it was right behind Kay, one of the only 4 people in York that I know so far, making me feel a little less like Ruby-no-mates. She's the mum of one of Little J's new friends, and we had exchanged a word or two in the playground.

Then during the service, the vicar got up to say his bit. I admit, I was only sort of half listening to him but I suddenly became aware of him saying " ... and then you just say to yourself, 'Oh God! I can't be doing with this!' " I noticed Kay in front of me leaning across to the lady next to her, and whispering: "Did he just say Oh God?" So I leaned forward between them and said, "He did! He said Oh God!" And we all sat looking at one another in a nice, companiable, astonishment sharing session.

Afterwards, Kay invited me back to her house for coffee, and showed me round the village of Bishopthorpe. She's going to introduce me to another one of her friends next week. So it seems I will soon be knowing five people in York :-)

Big Fish

2008-10-09T12:31:00.002+01:00

It was misty in York this morning. I had a perfect idea for a misty photograph to post, but could I be bothered to go out into the cold morning with my camera? Could I heck. Bad blogger, Ruby! In fact I've been having a bit of an "I wish it was the weekend and I really can't be arsed to do anything" day.

I have cheered up now though, having forced myself to get a few things done, and just having eaten a nice smoked salmon sandwich for lunch. That's not related to the picture above, by the way - in case you were thinking I might suddenly launch into something like: "At the fish farm this week ... " ;-)

The picture is in fact another one from this weekend, when we visited Burnby Hall Gardens in Pocklington. We were all feeling a bit tired when we arrived, having just spent three hours at the hockey tournament, but the sight of all these huge, very tame fish in the lake cheered us up instantly. Especially the kids, who were feeding them (tubs of fish food are available for £1).

There's definitely something a bit magical about Burnby Hall and Gardens. It's like a setting for fairy stories or something. Wanna go back there soon. But in the meantime I have the thought of a return visit to another very special place to keep me occupied. The countdown has begun. 16 days before a week's holiday in Bury St Edmunds :-D It's going to feel strange going back as a visitor.

A newsagents on Stonegate

2008-10-08T00:30:00.003+01:00

A newsagents like they used to be, on Stonegate. I like this shop. Like quite a few shops in York, it's just a proper independent shop. It doesn't consciously try to be one, but it carries on the tradition of the way these kind of places have always been. I admit to being a bit of a Borders fan, and I like WHSmiths as well, for the sheer variety of things they have in there. But shops like this make me remember my childhood, and the very similar place in Leeds I walked past on my way home from school - where I would often stock up on penny bubblies, get a quarter of Yorkshire mixture, and buy my favourite comics. Worth nipping in to support them by buying a paper and a mag whenever I can, I reckon.

The man who wasn't Anthony Worrall Thompson

2008-10-07T01:01:00.007+01:00

I don't know many people in York. Not many at all. In fact, outside of my family, I know only four other people so far.

Coming to live in York after my eleven years in Bury St Edmunds is bizarre, in ways I had never imagined. In Bury St Edmunds I knew a lot of people, and if I didn't know them, I very often knew them by sight. It was that kind of town. In York, I never see a familar face. Just recently, however, a strange phenomenon has begun to occur - I keep thinking I see people I know. Everywhere.

Today on King's Staith, for example, I was sure I saw the man from the Waterstone's Bury St Edmunds children's book department. He was leaning against the railings, talking on his mobile phone. I was all ready to run up to him, shouting, "Hello! Hello! What are you doing here?" but then I got nearer and it wasn't him at all. And I have lost count of the number of times I've thought I've seen Hoffy, and other people from around Bury. It's as though my brain expects me to see people I know, and is compensating by making strangers look familiar.

And then there are the celebrities. I saw Eddie Baird from Amazing Blondel in town the other day (wasn't him, pity) and at Little J's hockey match on Sunday, one of the dads, for a few marvellous moments, appeared to me as Anthony Worrall Thompson (above). Imagine that! "Ruby, come and eat this specially prepared Sunday lunch with all the trimmings ..." How 'bout YES!

I think I need to start getting to know more people in York ;-)

A Grotesque Old Woman

2008-10-06T08:36:00.005+01:00

One of the things I'm enjoying about the The Grand Tour in York, is that sometimes there has been a cleverly fitting, or even ironically fitting choice of location for the paiting.

"The Grand Tour" consisits of reproductions of priceless, famous paintings, hanging all around the city, and was a joint project between York Art Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Here we have "A Grotesque Old Woman" by Massys (1465 - 1530), and we are told about the painting that "it was probably intended to satirise old women who try inappropriately to recreate their youth." The location is - slap bang between two York beauty salons on Grape Lane.

You gotta larf :-D

The Park in Early Autumn

2008-10-05T20:24:00.005+01:00

It was a bit of a golden autumn afternoon here in York today. Not that we were in York for most of it, and not that this picture was taken in York either, but the York connection is there as my youngest son Little J is wearing a York hockey shirt.

The picture shows Burnby Hall Gardens, Pocklington, where I spent this afternoon with Ruby Senior and both my youngest kids. Little J had been in a hockey tournament all morning. Won 2 matches, lost 2 matches, and did a lot of leaping about in the process, as he always does. So here, you can see him having a well earned rest by the lake.

Burnby Hall Gardens is famous for its water lillies, of all different kinds. I shall revisit next year in the right season. I'd never heard of this place - it's gorgeous, and it seems to be a genuine well kept secret of the area.

Autumn Fruits in Little Betty's

2008-10-04T09:26:00.003+01:00

My favourite shop window display in York at the moment is in Little Betty's, on Stonegate. Betty's is a very famous, widely celebrated cafe/cake shop in York, with other branches around Yorkshire too. I love the main shop opposite Borders, and have a very nice blog friend who works there :-) I also love Little Betty's. Walking in Little Betty's is like walking back in time.

The above marzipan fruits etc from the current window display look so autumnal and are just the sort of thing that makes me love this season - I was pretty much brought up to associate the time with creating, hoarding, and getting excited about festivities to come. At some point, I think I need to have a celebratory autumnal visit to the cafe upstairs in Little Betty's rather than just looking at the lovely things is the window.

Bits of the Minster #2

2008-10-03T10:09:00.002+01:00

What a lot of clever people got it right. It is indeed the Minster that you see when you come out of the Shared Earth shop and look left. I avoided putting down the Shared Earth shop address in my last post, 1 Minster Gates, incase it made it too obvious, but it was anyway :-D !

Technically speaking, it's only a bit of the Minster that you can see, so this photo fits in nicely to my Bits of the Minster series! On the top left in the photo, you can see the Shared Earth shop sign. The shop jutting out there on the right is an antiquarian book shop which I intend to go and visit sometime soon. Ruby Senior has a couple of antique books on the shelves here gathering dust, so we're going to take them in and see if the bookseller is interested. On the bin in the foreground is a poster advertising the York Ghost Tours. I've never been on one, but that's another thing to do at some point - there are lots of ghost stories associated with York. And at the top right of the picture you can see a signpost indicating the way to the Museum Gardens, and the National Railway Museum. Things to blog another day.

Shared Earth Shop

2008-10-02T07:01:00.000+01:00

On our Monday evening walk round York, my daughter wanted to go into the Shared Earth Shop. It was one of the only shops open at that time (around 5.45pm) and was brightly lit with its door enticingly open, so we could see all the colourful bits and pieces inside. So in we went. My daughter scampered off immediately, so I strolled around looking for a nice photo to take. I just had my camera pointed to take this shot of all the bags, when she stepped into the doorway there, to tell me to look at the little trinket box she was holding. So above, you can see the Shared Earth shop bags, with a bonus view of my daughter!

I love all the bags here. A year or so ago, the "real bag vs disposable bag" issue was not as big as it is now. But now, just about all the shops are stocking proper bags, and encouraging us to use them, rather than buying plastic. Is this the same in other places?

Tomorrow I'll post the sight you see when you come out of this shop and turn to the left. Can anyone guess what it might be?