York

What a beautiful city York is. We walked along the wall surrounding the old city, admired the old gates (called bars) and wandered through the tangle of streets (called gates).

And we visited York Minster, 'the largest medieval cathedral in all of Northern Europe'. It's a huge building - not just one open space but a series of transepts, naves, chapels and towers. The south transept was badly damaged by fire in 1984 but has been almost restored. We saw a display of carvings, showcasing the work of stonemasons, that will be installed this year on walls in the south transept later this year. They are gargoyles depicting human suffering and humour. And we also saw a panel that shows the skills of the York Minster Broderers' Guild - depicting Birds and Beasts found in the Minster. (Click on the photos to enlarge so you can see the detailed work.)

Trains, and more trains

Several people told us that if we were anywhere near York we should definitely go to the National Railway Museum. So off to the museum we went - it was free, but we had to pay an 'all day' fee to park the car. I'm glad we started in the morning because we were there most of the day. So the car park fee wasn't wasted :)

It's a huge collection, of trains and everything associated with trains and railways. They have a huge room full of  shelves loaded (in an orderly way) with models, signs, clocks, tools, seats, timetables etc etc. There was a big research library for the train fanatics. The children's playground was a joy for parents and grandparents as well as children. There was a viewing deck with an electronic timetable displayed so that we could see the real trains going past. We could see the Flying Scotsman in pieces in the (very clean) workshop, undergoing a complete restoration.

We saw a replica of Stephenson's Rocket, and dozens of other trains of various ages including royal trains. There were a lot of people around but in such a big space that wasn't a problem. I'm glad we went but I think I've seen enough trains now.