England Day 9: Falling For York

The 9th day of my November 2023 England trip dawned in the shadow of Storm Debbie. The plans for this day were for all of us to hop on trains in our respective cities (the extent of Englands mass transit system really is remarkable, even if it doesn’t always run the smoothest) and converge on the city of York. York is Gilly’s home town, so she played hostess for the day, planning the sights and events for the most part. But everyone of the goblins attending had been to York before, and I could see many a cheeky grin as I was swept from one place to the next, since they knew what was coming and how much I would love it.

I had some experience with England’s trains now, since I took one solo from my trip to visit Martha to Manchester. This time I wasn’t lugging a giant suitcase with me, so it was much more pleasant. Bryony, Fiend and I all went on the same train, and met up with Gilly at the station in York. And the adventure began. First we crossed the river into the oldest part of the city, where Roman stone walls still stand, and centuries old stone caskets lay around for you to walk right up and wonder what their stories have been.

As we walked down the far side of the river, I was already setting my phone to camera mode. What stunning vistas and sights everywhere I looked.

Now, just as a heads-up. If some of my photos from today look like an ad for this gorgeous backpack from Fable England? Well it’s because we were taking pictures for a collaboration with Fable England lol. It was my main traveling bag for our adventures throughout this trip, and it was fun to give it a day of honor in York.

Old open stone graves are not something you typically see in a city in the U.S. Nor are gorgeous crumbling gothic walls like this.

Today I wore my cozy fleece coat with my rain jacket under it, and my favorite pair of green leggings. Even in the bad weather I felt cosy all day.

This beautiful medieval building was closed, but we may or may not have climbed up on stones to peer in the windows at the gorgeous ballroom. The last photos you saw were taken in the area to the left in this photo.

Look at these gorgeous ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey. They date to 1294.

The autumn leaves everywhere just added to the romantic moody ambiance of York. And as you can see, at least so far the sky was nice and blue with only an occasional wind gust to send the leaves scattering around our feet.

Gilly then took us to the York Museum Gardens. Even in dormant season there was so much beauty.

Including a few wire mesh ghosts leftover from the recent Halloween celebrations. They only added to the wonderful moodiness of the place.

And here is the aforementioned Roman wall. Gilly explained that the bottom stones are Roman, and the upper ones are medieval I believe?

Of course what I noticed was the little faerie door among the stones. Can you see it?

Here it is! Look at the perfectly arched top, and the way it is a little discolored from the other stones. Can’t you just see the invisible fancy hinges and doorknob? Yes, I knocked.

In the garden, there’s even a beautiful bronze age stone covered in cup and ring marks. Just laying there. Next to a garden bench, in the middle of a flower bed. For people to look at when they take a lunch break. Blows my mind. I love this photo of it covered in leaves.

No big deal, just a garden of ancient looking plants next to a Roman wall. Every day occurrences.

And then more Roman walls and more old stone graves.

I mean, when it starts to drizzle in your home town, this is where you go to shelter, right? Right?

It may seem like I’m being whimsically facetious right now, and I am. But in honesty this gives me a chance to talk about something that was a repeat occurrence over the course of this trip, and that is how I reacted to actually seeing all these things I looked at so longingly in photographs and read about in stories for years and years in person.

Now I know how absolutely surreal it is to see these things with my own eyes. You see a photo and it doesn’t quite click that it’s real and exists in this world right now. Maybe you even see photos of your friends walking down cobblestone lanes, surrounded by medieval buildings. But it still doesn’t click. Not quite. It still all looks like a storybook or a dream, someone else’s life, in another time or certainly unaccessible to your own midwestern born and raised self.

But it IS real, and then you see it and instead of it feeling less magical, YOU feel like you’ve stepped into the storybook pages.

I tell you, there were multiple times a day on this trip that I got literally physically lightheaded from the realization that I was seeing all these things with my own eyes.

Thanks Gilly for reminding me where this place was. In her words, this is “Kings Manor. Much of it dates back to the medieval period. It’s now the home of the Archaeology, Medieval Studies and Eighteenth Century Studies of York University.”

Next it was time to go up on the actual city walls of York. You can travel large swaths of the city walls. York overall is extremely friendly for foot traffic. There are whole streets that no cars are allowed to drive on. But I’ll get to that. It’s my favorite part of this city I so utterly fell in love with.

Yes, spoiler alert: I am in love with York. Even writing this blog and looking at my photos from this day again makes my stomach flutter and I want to go back so badly.

Before we went up on the walls, we walked through that large arched opening in the photo above, and I saw my first pedestrian street.

This is the large area you saw in the previous photo. You can see the barricade to cars here.

And then it was time to go up on the walls! It was a bit breezier up here. (Okay, quite breezy) but it was so worth it.

I love this photo Bryony took of me up on the walls. A lovely woman stopped us while we were up here, and told us that she’d crossed our paths a few times already as we walked around, and we were the best dressed women in York. How sweet!! 

Beautiful view up on the walls, with York Minster Cathedral peeking out in the background.

Sorry to put another photo of the bag, but it looked so pretty here in this crenelation on the wall.

Another beautiful Bryony photo. She really is such a talented photographer.

I don’t so much care what this plaque said, but just LOOK at that FONT. I am a pretty font nerd, because I love to use words in my art sometimes, and write things on my walls using pretty fonts. And by gosh this one is exceptional. I wish someone would write out the alphabet from it for me to drool over.

Another lovely view from the walls. There was a gentleman mowing this lawn, and I caught a moment where he ducked out of view.

(deep breath) Then we came down from the walls, and it was time for me to really fall in love with York. I got to walk the streets.

Are you already in love? Is your stomach fluttering like mine is? Well, let me keep going….

As we walked the streets of York, Gilly explained to me that even in an ancient city of labyrinthian streets, there are even more little tiny side streets and connectors, or paths that didn’t seem to go anywhere. And they have a name:

Snickelways.

When I heard that term was probably when my heart cracked completely open for York. I am now obsessed with snickelways and I want to write whole stories about them. Whole novels. Have you ever heard of anything more liminal, more magical?? And furthermore, they all have names. Names like “Mad Alice Lane” and “Pope’s Head Alley.” (eyes roll back into my head with euphoria)

Below was probably my favorite snickelway of them all. I mean, look at it!!

Y’all, this isn’t a set. It’s not a renaissance faire. This is real. It’s real.

We stopped at a lovely little vegan cafe to grab some lunch, (I ordered one of only two things on the menu they could guarantee had no garlic…I’m very much intolerant, if you didn’t know) It was a lovely respite from the wind and drizzle.

Next they showed me the little garden that had the blue plaque ringed with rainbow that commemorates the famous Miss Anne Lister.

Then we got to see the shortest road in York, with the strangest name.

By the time we got to Merchant’s Hall, it was either closed or closing soon, so that was disappointing. But it just means I need to return!

Here’s the outside of the gorgeous building, even if we had no time to go in.

No, the photo below is not distorted from a fisheye lens.

One of the goblins (Gilly or Bryony) reminded me at this point that medieval buildings were built wider on the second story because they were only taxed for the square footage of the ground level.

Another snickelway!!! Oh!! (hops hops hops) Oh I love them SO MUCH.

We didn’t go in here, but the windows were lovely.

Aaaaaand then it was time for the absolute most famous street in York: The Shambles. Some people actually consider this street to be a snickelway too, apparently, because it is so short. I disagree since it has so many businesses and foot traffic, but it IS magical.

By this point the rain was really starting to fall, and the wind had picked up. The weather was officially miserable. But you know what? The Shambles are never this quiet, not even on a week day. So I definitely counted the pros and cons here, and called it a win.

Our first stop was the York Society of Alchemists. (what a name!!) This shop is mainly a perfumery. Love the giant Krampus in the front window.

Right when you walk in the door, there is a giant furry dragon who blows steam out his nostrils, moves his head, and his eyes occasionally glimmer. On the side walls, among the perfumes, eyes peer out at you and blink.

Although the shop was wonderful, I sniffed perfume after perfume and just wasn’t finding anything I liked. Until I tried their Merry Krampus perfume. First I sprayed a tester paper, then I loved it so much I sprayed my wrist. We had other stops on the street, so I decided to let it sit for a half hour or so to see how it settled with my skin chemistry. Yeah..I still loved it. So I wound up running back here to buy a bottle.

We went to a couple more shops, and then it was time for the only thing I knew about coming into my day in York, and definitely wanted to try to do. The York Ghost Merchants went viral on TikTok a couple of years ago, and this place is regularly massed with people. On a typical day you have to get there early to avoid a multiple hour wait. Once again, thanks to the horrendous weather, our wait? About twenty minutes.

Part of the reason the wait is usually so long is because the shop is very small, and only allows in about five or six customers at a time. The employees all dress like Victorian workers, and it is so wonderfully atmospheric, even if it is totally a tourist trap. I don’t care.

While we waited, I slipped away with…was it Bryony or Gilly? I’m sorry I don’t remember! To take a photo of me standing in the Shambles.

And I almost got one with no one else in it! Just one darn person.

So the Ghost Merchants. The walls are covered with these tiny little artisan made ghosts. They are all the exact same shape and most are the same size, but they are all different colors. You go in, and decide what ghost speaks to you, and adopt your ghost.

I did debate between a few ghosts, but ultimately decided this lovely gal was definitely the one for me. I loved how she looked like she was standing in a swirling grey mist.

Before I decided on her, I sent Tom a text showing him a few I was deciding between. When I asked him which I should get, he said “blue and red.” “But I don’t want blue and red” I replied. “Yeah, but I do. Can you get one for me too?” I turned to my friends to tell them what he wrote, and ask if everyone could look for a Spider-Man looking ghost. And as I was finishing the sentence I turned back to the shelves and there he was….the absolute PERFECT Spider-Man ghost. You’ll see him in a couple photos….just wait ;)

Once you adopt your ghost, there’s even a little nook with a photo opportunity for you to take a picture of your new supernatural friend. Here’s mine…

Aaaaand here he is. Spider-Man ghost. Look at him! He’s red and blue. And covered in a filament like webbing! It couldn’t have been more perfect.

I almost forgot to mention, when I went to pay for my ghosts, the gal at the register had been talking to the other goblins, and she was enthusiastically telling us how great we looked, and asking if our style brought us together, or how we met, etc. She went on to say that she sometimes really wants to dress more creatively, but no one else in her friends group does. She said it so sadly, but when I was checking out she told me we really made her day, and she gave me a free Ghost Merchants canvas bag that was super cute.

After we went to the Shambles, we went down a few more streets, saw a few more beautiful sights. Sadly at this point Gilly had to leave us to go pick up her kiddo. We missed you Gilly!

Once again, we’d been walking and going in the wind and rain for a long time, and I was really starting to feel it. I asked meekly if we could please please find somewhere to go sit? I had mentioned earlier in the trip that I really wanted to get a scone with clotted cream and jam while I was in England, and everyone thought maybe York would be the best spot.

Enter Betty’s, shining like a beacon of warmth and comfort in the stormy dusk.

Betty’s is a beautiful, somewhat fancy place, and I felt a little out of place in my soggy jackets with my frizzy hair. But we shed ourselves of our layers, and….I got my scone and clotted cream and jam. And it was sooooo good.

The fizzy elderflower drink was also scrummy. And wonderfully enough, Betty’s had a vegan clotted cream, so Bryony and Fiend were also able to join me in the yummy tea.

Ooof. Look at the happiness, not the hair.

We wandered a few more streets, but we were all getting tired and it was a long train ride home. Little did we know how long. It wound up that because of the storms, there were mudslides and several train routes were canceled, rerouted, delayed.

Fiend got on her train, and Bryony and I waited for ours. Then they changed the platform. And wouldn’t state what platform it had been changed to. We stood there for what felt like an hour (probably about twenty minutes or a half hour?) waiting for the screens to show what platform we needed to go to, and then the train itself was massed with people because of all the issues.

Finally we made our way home, and Bruce picked us up at the station. By this point, my poor middle-aged arthritic American joints were aching like the dickens, so sweet Bryony drew a bath for me. It was heaven.

And that was it for our day in York! The day I fell in love with a city.

Below, you’ll see two of the three postcards I sent out to people on my Patreon. (On the left is the Rylands Library from our Manchester day). I was resolved, after I heard about snickelways, to write the mini story for the York day about the Shambles and the snickelways around it. But would you believe it was super hard to find a postcard of the Shambles? I’m quite pleased with the one we wound up finding though!

Only two more days left on my England trip! Coming up on Day 10: visiting the stunning village of the Brontes, and going to a bucket list folk group concert all dressed as Faerie gentry. Stay tuned!