11th of October, 2025 - Malton (York)

Because I got a bit side-tracked during my days on the moors, I’ve only left myself one day in York, so I probably missed quite a few things in the county capital that I would have loved, but since I don’t know what they might have been, I’m gonna stick with one day was enough and it was a wonderful one day!

Park & Ride is a great system, I love it. Park on the outskirts, so no city traffic, free parking and just £3.75 for an all day bus fare which drops you right in the city centre without having to worry about city parking. It’s excellent. York Park & Ride dropped me half a block from The Shambles, one of the main things I wanted to see today, yay. I shopped in Mark’s & Spencer’s, because I could (and it’s English, so I’m in) and then headed for The Shambles which was both the inspiration for and is now the centre of, All Things Harry Potter. It was very busy, so all of my pictures are crowded with tourists (bloody tourists!) but it really is a tiny, narrow, roughly cobbled street. It made me think of Charles Dickens more than Harry Potter if I’m honest.

I never found out why, but York is OBSESSED with ghosts and ghost stories. These characters were policing the entrance to a ghost museum and shop where you could get your own personalised ghost made. The queue stretched all the way up The Shambles. Those people must have waited for hours!

Little Shambles is a square in the centre of all the skinny cobbled streets that opens up into a loud, bustling and altogether brilliant marketplace. I have, however, done enough shopping, so I closed my eyes, turned in a circle and picked a crowded little lane way at random. I figured that all roads will eventually lead to the Minster and after a little bit of zigzagging (and some mental arithmetic to try and work out how I’m going to find the right Park & Ride bus later), i did, indeed, find myself staring up at the magnificent York Minster.

I did a guided tour and you won’t be surprised to hear that I was constantly last in the group because I just kept staring up at the awe-inspiring magnificence long after the group moved on – every damn time!

The beautiful west window

The scale of this place is amazing - it doesn't look as huge in pictures

See the heart shape in the tracery?

That's coz the Minster is the "heart" of York

The Five Sisters Window (I only need one, mine's the best -

sister that is, not window)

The Chapter House

23 metres to the chapter house ceiling (see pic above)

and then another 23 metres above that only visible from outside

in order to make a ceiling that doesn't need a central support pole

very clever!

All the Kings who reigned while the Minster

was being built (it took a long time!)

Look how big it is in the middle of the cross bit!

I was disappointed, given my Tudor Bent (see what I did there!) that the only part of the Minster under scaffolding is the Tudor rose window, commissioned by Henry VII and apparently a great source of pride for the people of York, because although Henry was a Lancastrian usurper, they choose to focus on the fact that he married Elizabeth of York and not only do they believe that without her the white and red rose would never have come together to give us the most famous dynasty in the world but also, The War of the Roses would still be raging. Team Elizabeth all the way, but maybe that was just our guide, Fran. Either way, it’s under big white canvas and scaffolding, so despite Fran’s enthusiastic pro-Liz commentary, the wonderful Rose window remains a mystery – well, to me at least.

I would have liked to go to St. Paul's as well, as per Aunty Jude’s suggestion, but they were closed until Monday and since I only have one day in York, I won’t manage to get there. Seems odd to me that a church would be closed on the weekend, but I figured that even if they were open for services, I didn’t have time to attend, so I didn’t get there, sorry Aunty Jude!

Having missed the one in London, I was very excited to finally find my Paddington statue in the Dean’s Yard, next to the Minster. He’s a super popular dude is our Paddington. It was me and a whole lot of 7 year olds taking photos, but oh well, my one and only chance and all that.

You’ll be pleased to know I did find my way back to the right bus stop and subsequently back to my little car that was waiting patiently for me. I can pick my car from a long way away, it’s the one with all the suitcases and shopping bags stuffed up against every window 😆.

By the way, if anyone ever asks you, feel free to say no thanks to the roast dinner wrapped in a giant Yorkshire pudding (surprisingly enough it’s called a Roast wrap). It’s all the rage here, but I’d happily  go back to my civilised sandwiches at Betty’s Tea House any day of the week!