Inveterate Travellers: Driving to York

The trip from Edinburgh to York was undertaken in the first sunshine we’d had in a week or more and TomTom Tim took us on what was purported to be the shortest possible route. However, he hadn’t factored in that much of the trip was across country on 2-lane rural roads and sometimes, only 1 lane, so it was a little long-winded if more picturesque than the motorways.

We found our B&B in York, only about 10 minutes walk from the central area (one of our search criteria), unpacked the car and then had to carry all the luggage up 6 flights of stairs, so another good gym session completed. Central York is enclosed in the remains (mostly still standing) of old Roman walls and it’s one of the prettiest towns in this region. The Minster (or cathedral) is particularly beautiful and quite spectacular and is the largest gothic cathedral in England. It is an amazing sight and somewhat breath-taking in that it has been standing on this site in one form or another, for almost 2000 years. Recently, repair work on the foundations was begun, only to find the foundations and columns of the original ‘church’, dating back prior to 300AD. At that time, foundations were laid almost on flat ground, with little under-pinning, so it’s no surprise that a church of this enormous size now has problems underneath. The repair work and renovation is well under way and it’s estimated that it will take nearly 20 years to complete. The current incarnation of the church was begun in the early 1100s and added to many times over several hundred years.

We found a great little pub (from a recommendation) in town called The Royal Oak, where we went for dinner on the first night and the food was so good that we decided we’d come back again the next night. We were close to leaving on that first night when a blues duo started playing in the front lounge and they were so good that we stayed until quite late. I’m a sucker for good blues music and this pair, a woman on double base and a fellow playing lead guitar and harmonica and singing, were as good as I’ve heard outside a major concert. They were fantastic! The next night we went back and had another great meal and the entertainment was a folk/pop duo (2 BOB) who were again, very, very good. We plonked ourselves in the front bar, chatted to the locals as well as the players and again had a fantastic night, not getting to bed until after midnight.