York St Cuthbert St Helen on the Walls and All Saints Peasholme is some name for a Church Administrative unit. Now working with St Michael le Belfrey, St Cuthbert’s is currently applying for planning permission to improve the external appearance of the surrounding grounds. Who said this Administrative unit was not in use today. Reputedly the oldest parish church in York it was reconstructed by Saxons using roman masonry.
St Saviour’s Church, St Saviourgate which like many other churches in York has been re-purposed and is now put to a community and educational use. If you use a snickelway down the side of Fibbers in Stonebow you get an unusual view of St Saviour’s church demonstrating how in medieval times the church was built on a hill.
St Michael’s le Belfrey was rebuilt between 1525 and 1537, during King Henry VIII’s break with Rome. John Forman, the Minster’s master mason was responsible for the Tudor gothic style with renaissance influence. It was, and still is, the largest parish church in the city, originally serving a wealthy community of merchants and craftsmen. Furnishings are nineteenth century, pews and reredos with 14th century glass in East window. Guy Fawkes was baptised at this church. It is within a few yards of The Minster.
This Marygate church, St Olave’s, was badly damaged during the Civil War. The font dates from 1673 and there is some medieval glass in the center of the east window
To make up a tour of churches visit All Saints North Street for exceptional glass, Holy Trinity Goodramgate, St Mary Castlegate for pre-conquest masoary, Holy Trinity Micklegate, St Helen St Helen’s Square, and St Martin-Le-Grand Coney Street which was badly bombed during the second world war.
See also Gods own County top ten West Riding Churches and top North Riding Churches
What is the capital of Yorkshire?
‘Y’ at least according to the old playground joke. Obviously a trip to York will dispel any thoughts of York being a joke and I wondered how to report on our great County town. If you Google York you get 808 million hits so that gives you some idea of the vast range of reasons for celebrating York. On that basis I have selected just one or two that took my fancy on last weekends visit.
‘York Minster is one of the great cathedrals of the world. We invite you to enjoy its vast spaces, filled with music and revealing the human imagination at work on glass, stone, and other fabrics.’ And thinking about fabrics you can buy a handmade Archbishop of York Christmas tree decoration, produced using traditional cloth techniques from the Minster shop or the web site by clicking the photograph below.
An ‘Ouse Cruise’ when the river is not flooding may appeal to some but a drop of booze by Lendal Bridge was my eye-opener on a Saturday morning. The Maltings’ great atmosphere (enhanced by the woman who spilt a bottle of vinegar) was provided my a mix of locals, visiting sports enthusiasts and day trippers like us. Formerly Yorkshire pub of the year it deserved the Camra accolades it has received and to top it all is the chip butty.
Then it was on to the Wall for a walk around the city or at least to the next stop. Depending which direction you take from The Maltings it is either 2.5 miles around the wall or 0.1 mile to the next watering hole. There are 4 very old bars in York – Micklegate Bar, Monk Bar, Bootham Bar and Walmgate Bar. After all my drinking it is a good job the railway station is so convenient for the journey back home.
The Maritime Weekender at Hull Marina this weekend drew me to a City I normally only pass through on the way to the Ferry. Despite cool blustery weather the Sea Shanty singing along the Marina wall was in full flow despite the hands in pockets approach of one of the singers from Hissyfit. Bitter End had all the audience participating, Shellback Chorus had at least 15 singer and Kimbers Men sang in powerful bass. As a music event in several pubs and outdoor stages it was fast moving, entertaining and well supported. Beyond the music there was other daytime entertainment and retail therapy set against Hulls seafaring history.
Walking from the railway station to the marina involved negotiating a street food market thronged with folk buying Yorkshire grub with the odd bit of exotic cuisine. This must have been specially designed to tempt me but I waited for Fish and Chips at The Green Bricks pub one of the singing venues on Humber Street. Moving on to The Minerva for more music and sustenance you got a good view of The Deep one of the ‘Visitor Attractions’ I didn’t have time to visit. This is home to 40 sharks and over 3000 fish in an area called a ’submarium’.
Hull Museums & Exhibitions
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The founders of Ripon St Eata and St Wilfrid were fishers of men in the Middle Ages. The Cathedral, containing one of Europe’s oldest crypts, was founded on the ruins of St Wilfrid’s Abbey about 672 AD, the small crypt is Saxon is called St Wilfreds Needle. In 686 AD the diocese was combined with York and there was no Bishop of Ripon from then until 1836. The present building was begun by Archbishop Roger (1154-1181),with the transepts and portions of the choir still existing. The western front and towers are fine specimens of Early English and believed to be the work of Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York.
Ripon is said to have been made a royal borough by Alfred the Great, and in 937 AD, Athelstan is stated to have granted to the monastery sanctuary status, freedom from toll and taxes, and the privilege of holding a court. There was a ring of Sanctuary Crosses around the City and whilst only one original remains a facinating walk has reconstructed and linked others with replicas. Around 950 AD the monastery and town were destroyed by King Eadred during his expedition against the Danes and again by the Normans in 1069 AD but they were rebuilt by the archbishops of York.
Ripons hey-day was during the twelfth to sixteenth century before the woolen industry moved to Leeds, Bradford and the West Riding towns. Ripon was also famous for its school of carvers who made the Cathedral misericord and supplied choir stalls to other places of worship including 68 stalls for Beverly Minster in 1520.
The first Ripon fair was in 1100 AD and there is still a thriving Thursday market in the square. In the square is an obelisk built in 1780 which is surmounted by a horn. This symbolises the custom of a Wakeman or watchman blowing a horn at 9.00 pm daily as he took over the safety of the City for the night. The horn is still blown though the Wakeman was superseded by the first Mayor in 1604.
Ripon takes its name from Ripum or Ripa ‘on the banks’ and indeed there are the banks of three rivers the Ure, the Laver and the Skell meeting in Ripon.
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How many good buildings has Bradford got that it can allow this great 1930’s edifice to fall down around the politicians ears?
Well there was Swan Arcade, Busbys, two Victorian Railway Stations, Kirkgate and Rawson Markets but emphasis is on the ‘was’. I guess the ‘Penny Bank’ at North Parade / Manor Row is threatened and even the modern Yorkshire Building Society premises up Westgate and the City Centre police station are desolate.
Mills are virtually wiped out with an occasional white elephant housing conversion scheme or arsonists testing ground.
Meanwhile the great vision from out political elite is a moat around City Hall (sorry I mean a Park with a Mirror Pool). Not to mention the hole in the City Centre designed as Forster House by John Paulson. Come back Paulson even you can’t do as badly!
Returning to the Gaumont there is a full and interesting history by Colin Sutton ‘Bradford – New Victoria/Gaumont/Odeon’
It is not too late ‘Save our Heritage Buildings’.
Mill on Thornton Road 2009
Doncaster Mayor
English Democrat Peter Davies replaces outgoing Doncaster Mayor Martin Winter having campaigned for a cut in councillor numbers from 63 to 21. He pushed the Labour candidate into third place winning on the second preference system. The anti-EU former schoolteacher has also called for a referendum on the future governance of the borough and the end to council literature being translated into other languages. He is quoted “We have had a corrupt and spendaholic council and Doncaster is laughed at all over the country. I will get rid of the dreadful political correctness and introduce a refreshingly open regime.”
Rosier View
Rosie Winterton (Minister for Yorkshire and Humber and Department for Work and Pensions at the last count) and MP for Doncaster Central grew up in Doncaster and is proud of the town’s rich and varied history as well as how it has helped shaped the country today according to her web site. ‘Doncaster stands on the site of the Roman settlement Danum. It is the largest geographic Metropolitan Borough in the country with an area in excess of 225 square miles… Transport coal and steel have been the core industries around Doncaster and Rosie reports how it was the first public proclamation that helped create the original Labour Party:
‘Thomas R Steels was a railway signalman working for the Great Northern Railway Company who moved to Doncaster in around 1891. In March 1899, Steels drafted a famous resolution, at the Good Woman public house on St Sepulchregate, on labour representation in Parliament. The motion called on the TUC “That this congress, having regard to its decisions of former years, and with a view to securing a better representation of the interests of labour in the House of Commons, hereby instructs the Parliamentary Committee to invite the cooperation of all the cooperative, socialistic, trade union and other working class organisations to jointly cooperate on the lines mutually agreed upon …….’
So I am left wondering if much has really changed?
Don Valley MP Caroline Flint is now the former Minister for Europe. Well I think least said!
In business there is a style of management referred to as Kipper Management, ‘Two Faced and no Backbone’.
With ‘the house’ expenses scandal maybe we have got a ‘Flippin’ Government’ with lots of fishy smells.
The Complete Snickelways of York - Mark W Jones
If you like maps then you will like this book. If you like quirky maps and routes you will love this book. If you like York, and who dosen’t, then you may have already got this book or one of the earlier editions. Written and published like the Alfred Wainwright’s Coast to Coast book in hand written text with drawn and sketched routes this book gives an exceptional insight in our York, past and present.
For quirky who would have thought that Arthur Gemmell’s stile maps couldn’t be beaten for content or detail of presentation but they are? All these three cartographers Gemmill, Wainwright and Jones put the Frank Wilkinson walking series to shame from a cartographic perspective.
So what on earth is a ‘Snickelway’? In Mark Jones eyes it is a cross or hybrid between a Snicket, a Ginnel and an Alleyway with the odd Court, Yard or Throughway thrown in for good measure. What is more he takes us on walks through 50 of them all within a quarter of a mile of ‘The Shambles.’ That would be 51+ Snickelways if you count the top of the wall. A complete walk would be in excess of 3 miles plus the wall if you choose to tackle it all in one go. My favourite review of the book says ‘ My wife and daughter set off after breakfast with a copy of Snickelways, and I am still waiting for them to get home to make my midday meal’. Angry York resident at teatime.
Mark Jones should be an honourary memeber of the International Cartographers Society or you yourself may wish to be a member of the Map Collectors Circle. I doubt the Roadmap Collectors Association have discovered Snickelways yet.
History, York and Railways go together almost like fish, chips and mushy peas. Well the Railway station designed by Thomas Prosser and William Peachey in yellow stock brick with tone dressings, in a classical Italianate style must have been food for thought when it was opened in 1877.
At that time it was the Largest Railway Station in the World with 13 platforms and the marvelous glazed arching roof. All the platforms except 9/10/11 are under the large, curved, glass and iron roof. This North Eastern Railway building was the third station to be built in York as the first was opened in 1839 by the York and North Midland Railway on land previously occupied by a Hospital for Poor Women. Then it was developed by a second station built within the shell of the first by George Townsend Andrews in 1840 almost in time to coincide with the new postage stamp.
Another world first for York Railway station was the incorporation of a hotel within the buildings. Royal Station Hotel was named after Queen Victoria who reputedly had lunched there on her way by train to her Scottish estate at Balmoral Castle. The arrivals platform had a refreshment stand and there was an office for George Hudson.
Vision Of George Hudson – Railway King
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What do an apothecary, confectioner and citrus peel importer have in common? When one of them was Joseph Terry you may make the connection to Terry and Berry the forerunner to Terry’s of York. Joseph Terry married into the partnership that had worked from 1767 and brought his Apothecary skills to the business with a factory in Brearley Yard and a shop next to the Mansion House.
Early products included candied peel, marmalade and medicated lozenges as wel as cakes and confections. In the early 19th century the conversation lozenges bore messages a bit like modern day Love Hearts such as ‘Can you Polka’ and the racy ‘Do you flirt’. After the arrival of the railway to York Terry was selling his Coltsfoot Rock, Jujubes, Gum balls and Acid drops to many towns throughout the country. (Price 52/- per cwt Mmmm a sweet price).
Joseph Terry died in 1850 but his 3 sons including Joseph jnr took the business forward building a Chocolate factory in Clementhorpe in 1887. The business grew through two world wars and remained in family ownership and management until 1960. It then passed through various corporate hands including Forte, Colgate Palmolive, United Biscuits, Philip Morris, Kraft and Suchards.
The family were civic minded and Joseph Terry jnr was Lord Mayor of York during Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. The war office recognised the value of chocolate for the troops before the first world war as being of benefit ‘…..on the march, at manoeuvers or any occasion when staying power is needed’. Between the wars new products were created including Spartan and All Gold.
Sadly in 2004 the production at York was stopped and transferred to Europe bringing an end to a proud Yorkshire food manufacturing operation.
Other products you may remember include Neapolitans, Twighlight, Waifa, and York Fruits. I am not sure this product below was quite the success of the Chocolate Orange that goes right back to the companies origins as peel importers. In fact I never saw a Chocolate Banana or the Chocolate Apple for that matter.
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It is 19th April and the top Yorkshire football teams are striving for Premiership football next season. Hull City AFC deserve to succeed after promotion last year and warming the cockles of so many hearts at the beginning of the season as they triumphed over complacent so called top teams. Unfortunately the great start faltered a bit in 2009 but I have every confidence that they will get the points to keep them up.
Sheffield United are in touch with an automatic promotion spot but have the play offs as a fall back position. Sadly Sheffield Wednesday can’t now get into a play off spot so ‘Come on The Blades the premiership needs you!’
Ten days ago it looked all over for Middlesborough but a doughty performance in the last couple of games gives them every chance of getting away from relegation. So my prediction is ‘3 Yorkshire teams in the Premiership’ but even if it is none the supporters will remain loyal.
Now it is off to the cricket with Yorkshire threatening to demolish Durham this afternoon! Well sporting enthusiasts live in hope.
