York

      We spent last weekend in York, and once again wished we had taken more time. In many guide books and websites, it is listed as a day trip from London. Technically it is with fast trains and a reduced itinerary, but it sure doesn’t do the city and environs justice.

The Shambles 

      The walls around the medieval town are mostly intact, the narrow street in the city centre (the Shambles) are still cobblestone in many places, the parks along the river are green and vibrant, the pubs snug and lively, and the York Minster and Cathedral dominates the skyline. (By the way, “minster” is a missionary, teaching church—this one was built upon a Roman site to convert the heathens of the north.)

      We walked most of the walls, peeking out occasionally at some well-kept gardens, a couple of small wedding receptions, a few noisy and happy beer gardens in the back of pubs, and many, many daffodils. We came down from the heights (brave Kate) to walk along the riverside, which was filled with young adults, ostensibly watching an FA Cup semi-final, but really simply enjoying beautiful weather.

      The York Minister claims to be the largest medieval cathedral in northern Europe and to have more medieval stained glass than the rest of England. The key word is medieval in both cases, but still the place is huge. I’m not looking up cubic footage, but it sure felt like the biggest church we’ve seen. Having scaled the town walls, we opted not to climb the 275steps to the top of the church tower.  The current building is at least the fourth on the site--one had burnt down, another destroyed by Normans, and a third destroyed by Vikings and Danes.  The construction of this one began about 1250; the East and West windows are mammoth and date from the 14^th Century.  The Reformation and Civil War did some damage on this one—lots of headless saints—but at least it survived. Well, not entirely, in the 19^th century there were two fires, one by arson and another by accident. In 1984 there was another fire started by lightening (no comment). Roughly in the middle of the church is a choir screen adorned by sculptures of the seven kings who can claim credit for supporting the church, from William the Conqueror to Henry VI (the latter also started the cathedral at Kings College, Cambridge). Attached to the church is an octagonal chapter house, which also seemed huge, partly because it doesn’t have a center column like most of the others we’ve seen.

from the city walls

note the dragon on the left wall

       We had a good tour with Wendy, a local woman with a keen sense of humor. She enjoyed pointing out the slight irreverences and quirks of the place—the statue with two right feet, the laughing and profane gargoyle-like carvings above where the Dean sits in the chapter house, the optical allusion of a bizarre dragon statue high on the nave wall.  She also showed us how they are restoring the stained glass in the north window, removing the 19^th century “improvements” and correcting the errors from when the windows were put back into place after World War 2—as with other great cathedrals in England, the stained glass had been removed to preserve them during the Nazi bombings of Britain. 

      After the tour we walked over to the York Museum and Gardens. The Museum had closed--no Richard III experience for us this day, but the gardens along the Ouse River were gorgeous. The museum is relatively late (1830) for York, but next to is the ruined St Mary's Abbey--Henry VIII ransacked the Abbeys to promulgate his new religion (and cover the expense of going through six wives). There are also remnants of Roman walls and towers in the park.

 We stayed in a family-owned small inn—they called it a B&B, and we did have a fine English breakfast. It also had a cozy whiskey bar in the front. And as this is the closest we will get to Scotland on this trip, we tried a few special malt whiskeys. Yum. We also spent the weekend trying local ales. A New York Times article in 2014  listed Yorkshire as one of fifty top destinations in the world--because of its famous local beer. There are 131 distinct breweries in the shire, and we heard there were over 300 pubs in York. I said at the start, we didn’t have enough time.

      The next day, we visited Castle Howard, about fifteen miles north of York. It is listed as one of the top ten great estates in Britain, a part of the treasure houses tour, and the location of numerous movies and TV shows, most notably Brideshead Revisited (twice).  I plan—foolish mortal—on writing about the great homes and gardens we’ve visited. Blenheim and Castle Howard, alone, each deserve an entry because of their history, architecture, and gardens, but then I am looking forward to offering some American views on the English aristocracy and their piles over the years (see past Warwick entry for a start)

Preview of coming attractions:

Cambridge

      We’ve been busy. I finished my class, we had family visits, and a trip to Ireland. Now it’s time to catch up with this blog. We’ll post a short entry now, while working on the Ireland trip and London with grandkids. Our time is growing short. Two weeks from today we will be back home in Virginia.

     This past Sunday was “The Boat Race,” 8-person skulls from Cambridge and Oxford racing on the Thames in front of thousands. Can’t quite decide on the American equivalent—clearly more than anything Yale vs Harvard, or Army vs Navy, yet more clearly amateur than American collegiate big time sports. Still, it is a very big deal, broadcast on BBC and watched across the country.

not the Boat Race; punting on the Cam

     Oxford won for the third year in a row, and four out of the last five. It was an historic event since, for the first time, the women’s crews competed on the same day as the men. Oxford won both. It was time for us to don our Oxford Blues and take a day trip to Cambridge. The town and the University are smaller than Oxford. While a day trip cannot due it justice, we took a two-hour walking tour, visited colleges and cathedrals, ate and drank at a historic carriage-stop pub, oh, and window-shopped.

Cambridge Senate and St Mary's Church

     From an American perspective, the two great Universities look a lot alike. Cambridge started when a small group of pious students fled the 1209 riots in Oxford, and a century later the Pope recognized it as a studium generale.  The growth of both universities ran roughly parallel from the late middle ages to present day. Now, Cambridge has thirty-one distinct colleges; Oxford has thirty-five. One doesn’t spend much time in Oxford without hearing, and hearing again, about the twenty-five Prime Ministers who graduated from Oxford (and the leading candidates in next months election are both Oxford men); while in Cambridge, we heard, and heard repeatedly of the 60-plus Nobel prize winners from Cambridge. One more distinction: During the Civil War of the 17^th Century, the king lived in Oxford, while the puritans, led by Oliver Cromwell, who attended Cambridge for a year, encamped in Cambridge.

     Kings College is the big show in town. The King in this case is Henry VI, but he didn’t get very far into his creation before he was deposed and the War of the Roses ensued. It wasn’t until the Tudors claimed the throne and wanting some legitimacy and peace, appropriated the design and work of the previous founder. The college started as a place for poor boys of merit, and it still is known for its appeal to a range of economic classes. The grounds dominate King’s Parade, one of the main streets in town (“get your selfie sticks here”), with a huge imposing gate, and an even huger and more imposing cathedral.  The cathedral is rich in history, and unlike many other churches managed to remain relatively unscathed from the puritan rampages of the Civil War.

Great Courtyard and Chapel (right)

     Pembroke is the third oldest college, and has an illustrious history. The College was founded in 1347 by a Frenchwoman, Lady Marie de Valence, trying to bring some peace and calm to the war between France and England (now that’s a challenge—it’s the 100-year war). Pembroke’s list of graduates can match any. There is a fine statue of William Pitt, who as Prime Minister (Cambridge did graduate some) led mad George III and England to recover from the grievous loss of the American Colonies and defeat Napoleon.

     Interestingly, two of the first three colleges at Cambridge were supported initially by woman and a number of others (e.g., Queens College) were created by women over the years. The first college for women was in the late 19^th century, but the Cambridge fellows overwhelmingly voted against women receiving actual degrees; that didn’t happen until 1948. There are still a couple of women-only colleges.

     Trinity College is the wealthiest of the colleges at Cambridge, and fittingly it is the sister college of Christ Church at Oxford. It was founded by Henry VIII, and funded by the money gained by the dissolution of the monasteries. The ancient wooden entrance gate is a must-see tourist spot for the statue of Henry VIII (no, I’m not obsessed with the guy, the English are). In place of his scepter is a wooden chair leg, probably first placed there by an undergraduate scaling the façade. It has become tradition, and when the wood rots it is replaced by another chair leg. Another noteworthy feature of the Trinity entrance is an apple tree grown from the seeds of the apple tree that dropped one on Newton—a wonderful image of how steeped this place is in history and tradition. Unfortunately, the courtyard wasn't open while we were there[ it is the largest and among the most beautiful of the colleges.

A descendent of Newton's apple

     There is more story here, but not enough pictures to with it. One final note: our impression is that Cambridge is more old school (despite its standing in the high tech community and its very modern science campus), with the college porters in their bowlers and shops catering to traditional ladies and gentlemen (there might be more tweed here than all of Scotland).