York Day Four

Our last day in York, beginning with a lie in and checking out of the hotel. We headed back up Micklegate Bar, and along the wall back to the York Castle Museum.

We saw the half of the museum we missed last time. This displayed clothing fashions from past centuries, an interesting section on York (and UK) life during WWII, special exhibits on the 60’s, and then underground a look at the prisons where you definitely would not have wanted to be held. Worth a look, especially the 60’s exhibit.

We then walked across to the National Railway Museum. This is the world’s largest train museum, all indoors. We did not enjoy it as we should have as the place was over-run with naughty children and tired parents. No doubt the fact entry is free contributed to this! The noise was tiring.

There were some most interesting sections for us. We saw, and climbed on board, the first of Japan’s bullet trains, which considering they were made in the 60’s were quite luxurious. I was amazed how wide they are.




We saw the Mallard, arguably the world’s fastest steam train.


The Royal Trains exhibit is excellent. Here we saw how luxurious Queen Victoria’s trains were.

After that, we caught the “road train” which is for small and big kids alike, up to the Minster.


From here we walked up the Bootham Bar then along another section of the city wall and down Monk Bar. This section was more enclosed than others we'd seen, but offered amazing views of York Minster, across the beautifully manicured back yards of houses which reside alongside the wall. By this stage it was getting very cold.


We made our way back to the train, via a few pubs and shops to help keep us warm and entertained. The trip back to Edinburgh was very relaxing, as we were booked in first class. Well done Helen, for spotting it was only an extra £2 pound each for an upgrade.

We enjoyed our time in York. Of all cities I’ve visited so far, this felt like it had the most character and genuine history.

Tomorrow, New Years eve!

York Day Three

Today we left York for the day, catching the train to a couple of other destinations.

First was Knaresborough, the cutest little town I’ve ever seen. Residing on a hill above the River Kidd, Knaresborough is a small market town, with a lovely little town square. There is a particularly old castle ruins right next to the town, which along with a park sits above the river, with amazing views down the river where the rail bridge is.


We stopped for breakfast at the Lavendar Rooms, a small café upstairs at the town square, in a building which happens to be the oldest chemist in England, although isn’t a chemist any more. If you are ever in the neighbourhood, we highly recommend you drop in for a meal. The service was friendly, the rooms were homely, and the food was divine.

After that, we caught the train on to Harrogate. Helen’s been here before, and will no doubt return again! We walked for an hour through a rather busy shopping centre. There is obviously plenty of money in this town. The reason for this visit was that Helen wanted to return to Betty’s Tea House, having visited before. We had to wait 40 minutes to be seated which I wasn’t impressed about, but people in the know queue for a reason. The service, and the food, and was nothing short of perfect. By the time we left, I was converted, and I would return without much protest.


Our day ended with a train ride back to York, where it had turned particularly cold. We warmed up by having Mexican for “supper”.

York Day Two

Today we walked some of the wall. Starting at Micklegate Bar, we walked along the wall to the right. This gave us great views of the wider surrounding area, both near and far.





We came off the wall at its endpoint, then crossed the Skeldergate Bridge. From here we went up to Clifford’s Tower, what is left of the old York Castle. This gives great views of York also, probably the best there is.




We then visited the adjacent York Castle Museum. We only walk through half, leaving the other half for another day. This showed how many technologies have developed, making domestic life easier. Relevant to the entire western world, not just York. It also had an entire Victorian Street recreated indoors, very well done.


Following that, we headed through the city, having a good look around the shops, and various streets, in particular the famous Shambles. It certainly has character, and is very cute, and some of the buildings are very odd shapes, not all sqaure, and look like they fill fall forward.


The day was getting rather cold, and beginning to rain a little. We decided to spend the remainder of the day in the pub, having a few drinks, and using their WiFi, and also having a Sunday roast complete with – you guessed it – Yorkshire Pudding! Any visitors to York could do worse than to visit The Punch Bowl. This is now our favourite pub.

York Day One

Helen and I took a 4 day break in York, England, during our Christmas break.

Day one started early, catching the 6:43am train from Edinburgh. Not much to say of that, as much of the journey was in darkness. We arrived in at York around 9:30am. The first port of call was the Ibis Hotel where we were booked. Too early for check in, we dropped our bag then promptly headed out again!

We went back to the train station, and jumped on the tourist bus which took us for a drive around the city to recorded commentary. This was a good way to find our way around (although Helen knew her way around already, having been here before :-) and learn about the sights and the city history.

York is a very old city with plenty of history, going back to the Romans. The city was once fortified, and to this day most of the city walls remain. These are quite impressive and are visible the moment you step out of the train station.




Once we finished the tourist circuit, we stepped off the bus and went for a walk into the middle of the city Here we found a small coffee shop where we warmed up over hot chocolate and scones.

Next we went to see York Minster. This is most impressive, both in size and detail.



We spent hours in there. After a casual look around, we walked up to the top of the tower. This was not easy. It’s very high and is reached via two spiral staircases. The first reaches perhaps half way, and at this point a walkway crosses a roof line to the tower. Next is a tiny door and corridor I could barely squeeze through, then a final spiral to the top which is very high, very tight and very narrow. My legs were burning by half way up. Being at the front, I just pushed on not wanting to hold up everybody else. When I reached the top, there was no Helen. Unfortunately she got claustrophobic and stopped not wanting to move. As it happens she was near the top, I went down and then she came up.

The views were amazing from the top. We waited a while before heading down.




Going down was almost as hard, playing tricks on the eyes and making us dizzy. My legs felt like jelly for a short while afterwards, Helen for longer.


We then took a guided tour around inside the Minster. The guide was great and pointed out all sorts of interesting details. There are so many things to see it would take days to get around it all.




After that, we headed outside the city walls and caught a bus to the hotel. After hotel check in and a break, we walked back through the city to find dinner, and as it happened the bells were ringing at York Minster. We followed the bells and they were still being rung when we got there. The sound was incredible. As it was dark, we could see the people inside pulling the bells, as it was lit inside.

With that excitement over, we found dinner at a small pub, then headed home for the night.

Royal Yacht Britannia (Part 1)

Today the weather wasn’t too friendly. No rain, and not too cold, but really windy! Our home town of Wellington is rarely as windy as it was today.

Not far from us is HMY Britannia, aka Royal Yacht Britannia, which was in service from 1953 until 1997. She is now on permanent exhibit at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh. We walked down to Ocean Terminal to have a look.

They have done a fantastic job with the creation of the exhibit, with a staircase and lift on the wharf allowing easy access to all levels of the ship which is tied up tight alongside. From our perspective, the ship is in perfect condition, showing little signs of rust, and on most woodwork the varnish is shiny. Anyone who has spent time at sea knows how harsh salt water can be, and anything but the most rigorous maintenance will result in corrosion. Not surprisingly, HMY Britannia has been maintained with military precision.

The wheel house is not inside the ship, but is instead a static display on land before boarding.


The ship tour starts up top at the bridge and its deck, which is surprisingly small.




We then move down a level, to where many bedrooms are. We saw Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom, separate from Prince Philip's, each with single bed. No hanky panky on board! The only double bed on the ship was installed specially for the honeymoon of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. All beds were surprisingly small and simple, we expected to see large luxurious beds with fluffy duvets and piles of pillows; but instead we saw narrow, short beds with thin mattresses and sheeted blankets like those you would find in a cheap 70’s motel.




The captain, who is an Admiral, gets a cushy cabin with ensuite and bath and private dining room and galley. Other officers get smaller cabins and share bathrooms with crew.

The tour continues through the officer’s mess which is quite luxurious, including a bar, generous seating, and a formal dining room. All adorned with historic pictures, silverware, and gifts from foreign lands. They have a toy wombat which in years gone by was put on the ceiling fan, and spun until it falls off, just for entertainment. The poor thing is missing an eye!






Further on we saw the various kitchens, and finally the main dining room which is the full width of the ship and just as long. It was also adorned with gifts from countries around the world. The giant carpet can be lifted to show a wooden dance floor. Apparently it takes hours to set the table, measuring the location of every piece of cutlery.


Beyond that are separate offices for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and finally the rather large drawing room complete and grand piano.


At this point, we decided to leave, as our pass is valid for one year thanks to Gift Aid. Expect another installment in the future!

Impressive as it was, it would probably not be as luxurious as many superyachts used by the rich & famous. The Queen is perhaps careful with her taxpayer’s money after all? It is amazing it was both commissioned and decommissioned by the same Queen. She really must have been sad to let it go.

Hogmany - Party Time!

We've booked tickets for Hogmany celebrations in Edinburgh.

On New Year's Eve, we're attending a Candlelit Concert in St Giles Cathedral, which should be nice and civilised. From there, we will head to the Princes Street area which is closed off for the Street Party and fireworks. Should be fun!

HBOS Museum

Today we decided to have a lazy day, due to wet weather. We ventured out in the afternoon though. First we went to Snax Café, my favourite little diner where the menu can best be described as “… and chips”.

Once fed, we went to The Mound, to visit the HBOS Museum. To the uninitiated, HBOS is Halifax Bank of Scotland, a very large and very old bank which has roots in Scotland.

The museum is located on the lower floor, to one side, of the HBOS headquarters which is a landmark building on The Mound in Edinburgh. Its claim to fame is that is has £1 million in notes on display. This would be impressive, except that every note is stamped to be void :-(

The museum is very interesting, providing a full HBOS family tree showing, in which all past history was BOS (Bank of Scotland) acquiring smaller banks which ceased to exist, except Halifax which was a merger hence creating HBOS. On the day before our visit there, shareholders had approved the purchase of HBOS by Lloyds TSB. Nobody knows for sure how this will end up. Will HBOS cease to exist?

The history wasn’t just of banking, but also of all aspects of Scottish history especially regarding business and banking's involvement. There was lots of commentary about how banks are the pillar of society, and industry, and the economy, and are so conservative, and stable; really driving the message home. How times have changed! It’s very ironic to be seeing such a detailed exhibit in these troubled times.

They had a “safe” with a combination lock. By finding the answers to certain questions within the museum, the safe could be opened to retrieve the prize inside. We took the effort to do this, and came away with chocolate money for our troubles.

An interesting place, and entry is free. We recommend anyone in Edinburgh to visit it, while they still can.

Falkirk Wheel

Today we visited the town of Falkirk with the intention of seeing the Falkirk Wheel. Based on advice from workmates, we caught the train to Falkirk High railway station, from there walked along the Union Canal which would take us right to the wheel.

It was a cold morning, and to our amazement the canal was frozen over. Helen took delight at throwing sticks and twigs and watching the slide across the ice. We found some ducks who were hanging around in the water, under a bridge where there was no ice. Although the water was certain to be cold it didn’t stop them! When they saw us they walked up onto the ice to say hello.

Our walk took well over an hour to arrive at the Falkirk Wheel although we did dawdle. Not much can be said about the wheel that isn’t best said here. It is a millennium project which (quite successfully) links canals together, by lifting boats up and down simultaneously between the two canals of 35 metre height difference. We concur it is an engineering marvel as well as a work of art.



The wheel is free for canal users to travel, but has been made into an impressive tourist attraction, which judging by its popularity must do well. We went on the first boat ride of the day. The boats seat maybe 100 people but there was only us two and one other person! There are three boat captains and they take turns between driving and playing tour guide. We received plenty of personal attention and explanation from our guide, who was really nice and also told entertaining stories about the canal.


After riding up the wheel, the boat heads through RoughCastle Tunnel which we’re told is of historical significance.


Out the other side, we arrive at another lock on the canal. Here, there is a large turning area, which was completely frozen over. The skipper spun the boat round a few times, using the thrusters to help churn the water and break the ice. The ice mostly broke into large sheets rather than little pieces, and when the boat turned one sheet slid over another. This is apparently a problem as the following night they freeze into double thickness. So we had to work hard to break it well. The noise of the ice breaking was something else!




At this point the boat returned back the way it came, through the tunnel and down the wheel. This time, facing forward, the view over yonder is spectacular, if not short lived, but you wouldn’t want to be afraid of heights.


We then gave our thanks to our guide & captain, and headed across the pond. It wasn’t long until the next sailing, and I wanted to capture photos of the wheel in action. We had to be careful, as the ground was also covered in ice walking around here.




Once we had photos, we headed inside for soup and scones to warm up before heading on our way.

My Commute - A Photo Essay

I thought there was snow yesterday, but today there was more! I came prepared though, and brought my camera along. This added about 15 minutes to my walking time but I'm sure you'll agree it was worth it to get these to share with you all. - n.b. click on the images to view enlargements

I begin by walking up Pilrig Street towards Pilrig St Paul's Church. Then I catch a bus up Leith Walk, where I get off on North Bridge. Here I have a short wait, taking in the vista looking west across to Carlton Hill and the Firth of Forth in the distance. I read my free copy of Metro magazine under the street light while I wait.


My faithful #47 bus then takes me to my work. Because of the snow, the bus route to my work was closed to traffic today, so instead I jump off at the Gowkley Moss Roundabout which is not too far from work. Today, it was totally snowed in.


From there I walk to the Edinburgh Technopole where my office is located, along the most scenic of routes. This time of year, the sun is a little lazy and in no hurry to rise.


Wild berries grow at the roadside, while I continue on towards work.


As I approach work, the lines of trees at the roadside are a photographer's dream.


And finally, here I am. My office is on the top level of the building, on the left.


I hope you enjoyed my commute. You're welcome to come join me anytime!