Let’s talk: York - City walls, tea rooms and plenty more to see

This post is in collaboration with hotels.com, but all views are my own.

Since we’ve been in lockdown again I’ve found myself thinking about travel, and I’m sure I’m not alone.  My mind’s been buzzing with the plans we had that have been postponed until next year,  looking back at the replacement plans we managed to take (just) and well it’s been quite a year for not really going anywhere much, hasn’t it?  It seems though that my travel feet are getting itchy it seems - and realistically, for us, for the time being our travel plans will be in the UK.  But really that’s no hardship as there’s plenty of beautiful places to explore and it’s not that unusual for us to take a UK break either. The real pondering though is do we go somewhere new-to-us, or go back to somewhere we’ve been before as a couple, or revisit places from our childhood holidays.  

One of the places that I’ve visited a few times, both as a child and more recently with MOH, is York.  It’s one of those places, that for me has a bit of magic, and even though our most recent visit is now ten years ago (no, I’m not sure how that’s happened either) but it’d be great to go back as there’s so much to see.  And so, I was curious to see how many of the things on the “best things” list I could tick off  - six easily, which is great, but that also makes we want to head back again.

But that trip, which I’m struggling to believe was 10 years ago, but was also easy to date - you’ll see why -  was also memorable as it coincided with the volcano in Iceland erupting and disrupting travel. I was so glad I’d reserved our seats on the train, and that our train was one that still ran.  Phew.

When we’re away we explore as much of where we are as we can on foot, and I’m certain we clocked up a healthy number of steps walking the City Walls, exploring York Minster, wandering up and down and around The Shambles, climbing up Cliffords Tower for some spectacular views, before heading to Betty’s for refreshments and then later full of cake people watching in the gardens and dragging ourselves out again in the evening.  I know enjoying yourself is hard work.

And you know what? I’d do all of those again, but I’d also be keen to take a look around the National Railway Museum too - MOH is convinced I’m a secret travel nerd, but I dispute that - there’s nothing secret about it! Remember that time we spent a whole day at BMW World in Munich? Yes, exactly.

Photo by Sarah on Unsplash

With its mix of history, shops to explore and cakes, as well as my new discovery, it’s probably just as well we’re still currently in lockdown.  None of us can be sure what the tiers system will bring until it’s confirmed later in the week, but if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s to plan where we can, check the current restrictions and do what’s sensible.  But most of all, to make sure we take the opportunities that come our way, safely.

Poppy heads and tentative sweet peas

We’re staying in Yorkshire for today’s post, and it’s the first Flowers on Friday for a week or two. When I was sorting through photos of Castle Howard for yesterday’s Brideshead Revisited post, the poppies and their seedheads stood out. I”m not sure if it’s the insect on one, how they’re all standing to attention or the contrast with the dark background, which is actually a yew hedge. Or the delicate pinkness of the flowers. Or the sun, which has been mostly missing this week hasn’t it?

It’s not been cold though. Just wet. Very wet.

Maybe it’s the sun as this sweet pea making its way up the obelisk also appealed. Sigh.

Just a short post today, but one full of sunshine. A girl can dream hey?

Or, we could all combine our sun dancing skills, it seems we’ve perfected our rain dancing ones!

Brideshead visited and restored

Yes I know it should be revisited, but as it’s my first visit I can hardly revisit can I? Though I will admit when we booked our trip to Yorkshire last year Castle Howard was high on my ‘to visit’ list, which may just have been swayed by the TV series which aired in the early 80s. MOH though, was of course, completely unaware of this.

In fact the walled garden was fantastic and by far exceeded my expectations of a walled garden, I’d like to a post, but it seems I’ve not shared them yet. Clearly I’ve been keeping them for myself (and the other hundreds of thousands of people who visit each year!)

But once we were in the house, I was on Brideshead watch. So I was pleased with the Brideshead Restored exhibition.

The rooms from this exhibition were completely destroyed by fire in 1940, five years before Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited novel. While the original series was filmed at Castle Howard, it also hosted the cinema version released in 2008. The burnt out shells of the rooms still remained when Miramax were looking for locations, and the producers quickly realised there was an opportunity to turn these rooms into film sets.

In 2007 the area was cleared for carpenters, set builders and painters to transform it into a dramatic painted interior. The murals have been “convincingly distressed” to look as if they have been part of the fictional Brideshead Castle for many years.

This room was used for two scenes in the film - dinner on the first evening when Charles Ryder stays with the Marchmain family, and Lord Marchmain’s deathbed scene if you must know. I don’t think I’m breaking any secrets by saying in both cases some licence was taken by the film makers.

The view from the windows also featured strongly in the film, and when it’s this good, why wouldn’t it?

And I couldn’t end this post without a glimpse at the Brideshead cast reunion. Sigh.

I’ve a feeling I’ll be dipping into the book for a top up of some teenage memories. Let’s just call it the Downton effect…