27 September 2014.

We head off to Paddington Station to get the tube to Westminster. Paddington serves 2 tube lines, plus some rail so it’s a bit confusing We know we want the Circle Line, but where is it? We ask a Bobby how to get to Westminster, which turns out to be brilliant as he tells us the line is closed for maintenance over the weekend. We need to take the Bakerloo line to Charring Cross and take a short walk to the Embankment. 

Charring Cross puts you out at Trafalgar and from there, I know where we are going. J  We set of down Whitehall, past 10 Downing and the Horse Guards, take few pics of Big Ben and the houses of Parliament, and head for Westminster Pier. It’s a nice day to take a ride on the Thames. Low tide so the guide is talking about the effects of the boat wash on the mud and sediment on the river bed. We cruise past new buildings and old. The tower, tower bridge, the globe theater, the “shard”, new apartments, etc, until we get to Greenwich.

Tower of London

London Eye

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Globe theater

We decide to buy the “big ticket” as we want to see Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, and the Longitude exhibit at the Maritime Museum. One of the few advantages of being over 60 is that there is almost always a senior “concession” on entry fees.

The Cutty Sark was launched in 1869 for the tea trade. She made several voyages to the east before the sailing ships were put out of business by the faster steamships on that run. She them began trips to Australia to pick up bales of wool. She was a fast ship. As part of the renovation, they have lifted her out of the water so you can see the metal sheathing – the café is below the waterline. They have floored the hold with replicas of boxes of tea, along with the ceiling. Given the number of masts and yards, it’s hard to believe she was crewed by 26 men – 19 when they converted her to the wool trade. I've been impressed with the number of interactive displays for children at many of the places we have visited.

Cutty Sark keel - sheathed in metal

Mid-deck

Cafe under the ship

Off to the Royal Observatory – up a steep hill. Nice views, but a hike. You get to read the story of the positioning of the Prime Meridian at Greenwich (in spite of the French). There is a nice display about the history of timekeeping – local, national, international. Moving from sundials to the atomic clock. Use it, share it, measure it. The six beeps provided by the BBC. They have many of the original instruments that the various Royal Astronomers (including Edmund Halley) used to make their observations.  

Telescope in the Octagon Room.

Royal Observatory

Prime Meridian

There is a special exhibit on Longitude at the Maritime Museum. Very well presented. It starts with the statement of the problem – including a copy of the Longitude Act of 1714 and letters from Isaac Newton commenting on the various proposed solutions. If you have read Longitude, this is the chance to see actual documents and the clocks and chronographs. Some of the timepieces are replicas, but they have the actual H4 on display. I assumed no photos - Michael got a few before he was caught. Maybe he'll post a couple. (They were banned in only one room.)

The Maritime Museum has some other permanent exhibits, but we need time to get back up river. So we walk back down the hill and queue for the boat. The tide is now high and we are clearing the bridges by 2-3 ft. – or so it appears. The river has a very different appearance at high tide.

Hike back up to Charring Cross and hop on the tube back to Paddington. We saw a Greek restaurant last night that looked good and turns out to be very nice.

Lunch tomorrow with Michael’s second cousin, whom we have not met before. Should be fun.

26 September 2014

We called Enterprise and they can take us to the train station. I want to get to Clifford’s Tower and maybe the Castle Museum or the Georgian House. Michael is headed back to the Railway Museum with his good camera.

Clifford’s Tower is all that remains of the castle that used to be at York. The mound that it sits on is not natural, but was built. There was also a bailey at one time, but no longer. The views from the top of the wall are wonderful. Like everything else that dates to that era, it has burned and been rebuilt, more than once. One of the burnings occurred in the 12^th century. A group of Jews from York were concerned for their lives and decided to take refuge at the tower. Unfortunately, a knight betrayed them. Rather than convert, they set the tower alight and perished in the fire.

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Plan of the York Castle

Plaque commemorating the death of 150 Jews in 1190

Inside of the tower from the upper wall

I took a really quick tour of the Castle Museum, which has nothing to do with the castle. The north building consists of a series of period rooms – 1600s through Victorian times,  an area with recent historic toys, and a wonderful recreation of a Victorian street. Sort of like what we saw in Ironbridge, but indoors and with sound effects. Very well done.

Rural cottage from the 1850s

They have a few samplers - under very low light, of course. 

Victorian street - it's darker than this. 

I decided I might have just enough time to tour the Georgian House before scooting back to the hotel. The house dates to the mid-18th century. It was build by a wealthy man in hopes of attracting a husband for his daughter (he did not approve of her choice). Sadly, he passed away and she sold the house and moved to the country. In the 20^th century the house was purchased and turned into a dance hall and cinema! It survived the insult and has been restored to its original appearance.

They were able to purchase period furniture from a chocolate magnate with a passion for Georgian antiques. Unfortunately, they do not allow pictures. You will have to use your Antiques Roadshow imagination. Secretaries, chests, and chairs with beautiful carving and inlay. Beds that need steps to get into. The York art gallery is closed for repairs so they also have some nice artwork on the walls.

I hurry back to the hotel. The 15-minute drive to Enterprise takes a little over a half hour. Traffic!!! We’ve been walking and did not realize how bad the traffic is. Andrea drives us to the station so we get another view of that walls from the outside. Nice to have someone else driving for a change. The train is on time and we get a chance to enjoy the views of the countryside.

Kings Cross Station in London has a corner, over by the loos, with track 9¾ for the Harry Potter crowd. There is a line to take photos. only the second place we have had to pay to pee. 

We’re staying in Bayswater, near Paddington Station. The hotel room is tiny, but we expected that. It’s London and less than L200 a night. Every building on the street is a small hotel. We’re on the lower level – as in below street level. We find an Italian place around the corner and have pizza for dinner. Nice break from pub food. Thinking about going out to Greenwich tomorrow by boat. 

25 September 2014

Short drive today – just an hour and a half from Durham to York. Construction on the A1 slowed us down a bit, but we got to the hotel about 11:30. We were hoping we could leave the car, even if we could not check in. The hotel appears to be made up of 4 townhouses merged. Most of the B&Bs are one townhouse. This place has 30 rooms. And it’s within walking distance of most of the things you would want to do in York. J

We walked to the train station to pick up our tickets for tomorrow and grabbed lunch. Michael wanted to see the railroad museum and the Minster. I wanted to walk the walls and do more exploring so we split up after lunch.

I got as far as the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey – another victim of Henry VIII – when I realized my idea of traveling light was not working. I had left my bag with my spare camera battery at the hotel, and the camera was saying “battery empty”. Rats!! Fortunately, I was only a few blocks from the hotel and they had a spare key. Phew.

Back to the Abbey for a few more pics and off on Rick Steves’ self-guided tour of York. The gardens at the Museum of Yorkshire are very nice, even at this time of year. Then off to Exhibition Square, which is being renovated. Up on the wall for a walk around to the Monk Bar and the old part of the city. There is a sculptor working in the gardens behind a hotel. He’s carving 3 figures from a Midsummer Night’s Dream on the trunk of a tree that had to be cut down.

Once I am down off the wall I walk around to the hotel so I can get a closer look. Nice work. I chat with his wife for a bit, then move on past the Dutch House (first all-brick building in town) and the treasurer’s house to the back of the Minster. A guide sees me taking pictures and asks if I speak English. I get a few tidbits about the Chapter House and the new statue of St. Peter before he lets me go.

St Mary's Abbey

Minster from the wall

Walking the Wall

Monk Bar (gate)

Tree sculpture - that's the sculptor's elbow on the left

Minster from behind the chapter house (right)

They are doing a major rework on the eastern wall of the Minster. It was bulging and so they took all the glass out and are rebuilding that part of the wall. All the stonework is still done by hand and you can watch the carvers at work next to the Minster. Inside there is an exhibit showing how they are renovating the stained glass in the east windows. You almost never get to see the glass up close – it’s 50’ up in the air. But as they finish the rehab, they are displaying some of the panels inside the church. They are cleaning and re-leading, and replacing some of the leading with epoxy to improve the look. The results are amazing.

Stone masons at work

South transept and central tower

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South transept - English Gothic style

Since Michael is off looking at trains, I decide to join a free tour. These guys really enjoy sharing what they know. And they know a lot. The Minster is built on the remains of a Roman fort – those Romans again. They are not sure what happened with the Anglo-Saxons, but the Normans built a cathedral and then it just kept being expanded over a period of 250 years. It is the largest display of medieval stained glass in England. The earliest panels date to the Norman cathedral of the 11^th century. Oh, and the Vikings invaded here too. 

The north transept has a set of windows known as the Five Sisters – the name appears to be a corruption of Cistercians, a monastic order that paid for the windows. They did not believe in representational art so the patterns are repeats of a floral motif and have relatively little color compared to the other windows. At some point in the late 19^th or early 20^th century, someone decided that the windows let in too much light and the space needed to be darker to invoke a more religious feeling. So they splattered the glass with gray paint!! How do you clean that off 126,000 pieces of glass??

"Five sisters"

Close up of 5 sisters with a "patch" of Norman glass (bottom colored panel)

The problem with building on the ruins of other structures is the lack of a firm foundation. In 1967 they noticed the central tower was swaying and major cracks were developing. Excavations revealed the lack of a foundation – the building was sinking. They brought in engineers and have now stabilized the situation (concrete and huge bolts). And the cool thing is, you can go down to the “undercroft” and see the original Roman un-foundationsand how they have engineered the repairs. There are also examples of archaeological items they found while making the repairs.

There have been 3 major fires in the Minster, the most recent in 1984 when the south transept was struck by lightening. The roofs are made of wood.

Ceiling the in nave

Nave towards the Choir

Choir screen - yes, that is all stonework

West wall - note the heart shape in the window. 

St William - c. 1317 glass

Straight up the central tower. 

Taking a tour does not leave me a lot of time to explore, but I head off to the Shambles – a narrow lane of shops dating to Medieval times. And I find a wool shop! (English for yarn store). And a chocolate shop! (York is apparently famous for chocolate). After making a few purchases, I head back to the hotel.  

Shambles

We have another grand dinner at the hotel. I might get a couple of hours tomorrow to visit the Castle and Clifford’s Tower before we take the train to London.