York: Roman Empire to the Age of Steam

The Roman Bath Museum can be found in the cellar of the Roman Bath Inn, York
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Everyone headed off in different directions today. I headed back into York to make the most of my weekly bus ticket. So far I’ve paid £7 out but had £12 worth of trips! My main objective today is to find a suitable birthday present (on Saturday) for my brother. This means taking a look around the shops and poses a slight problem for me. I’ve begun to suspect that the streets within York’s walls are actually magical and frequently rearrange themselves like the rooms and corridors of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books. Even with a map I find it impossible to get to the same place twice and usually end up discovering somewhere completely new. This means a new approach to shopping. If you find something you like buy it now as you’ll probably never find the shop again.

Entrance to the Merchant's Hall, York
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Having successfully achieved my goal, I discover myself standing outside a very familiar pub called the Roman Baths. Strangely I’ve been looking for this for the past week but haven’t been able to remember where it is. Now I’m not looking, here it is! Many years ago I came for a brief visit with a boyfriend. He knew the city reasonably well and had pointed it out, before dragging me off to do something more interesting. Many years ago, the owners of the pub decided to excavate a cellar but instead discovered a Roman Bath (hence the name of the pub). It’s not the most impressive tourist attraction you’re likely to see, but it is one of the more unusual. I crept down the stairs and paid a fairly modest entrance fee to the chap at the bottom. I then spent a full five minutes looking at it before heading back up to the street. They have really tried hard to give you a lot of information about the site, but there really isn’t a great deal to see – Bath won’t be worried about the competition.

I’ve begun to suspect that the streets within York’s walls ... frequently rearrange themselves like the rooms and corridors of Hogwarts.

The Mallard, National Railway Museum, York
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To save me a bit of extra cash, I was presented with a discount ticket for the hidden secrets of York. Each time I visit one of these sites, I only pay half price. Sounds okay until you remember how much trouble I have finding a major department store. However I do manage a bit of navigation and successfully make it to my second “secret”, the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall.

I’d seen the outside of this building a few days ago and knew it would be something special. It really is and if you get the chance to visit please do. It’s important because it’s the only complete Guild Hall in Europe that is still owned by the company that built it – The Merchant Adventurers. Although different parts of the building have been added over the centuries, the earliest parts date back to the 1300s!

Engines on display at the National Railway Museum, York
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The lower part of the building is constructed from brick, but the upper level and roof are all constructed from timber. The Guild hall is on the first floor and this is where the company met and did business. The lower floor, or Undercroft, was used as a workhouse and hospital for the poor. Amazingly the current floor level in the Undercroft is a full 1.5 metres higher than it was originally. This is because the building, next to the River Foss, was prone to flooding. At one end of the Undercroft stands a 15^th century chapel. It was designed so that it could be seen by the inmates from any part of the main room.

The Flying Scotsman undergoing renovation, National Railway Museum, York
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By the time I leave it’s only about 3pm, so I finally make my way across town towards the National Railway Museum (NRM). My meandering route takes me along the River Ouse and I take a look to see whether the water levels have returned to normal. Naively I thought once the water had gone that would be it, but of course as the water retreats it leaves thick mud in its wake. You also have to remember that it is one thing to see roads and paths like this, but the flood water will have deposited mud in the buildings affected. My guess is that the water has gone down about five feet (roughly my height). However it is still over the banks in a number of places. It amazes me that a reasonably small amount of rain can have this effect, but apparently it was actually a months worth in two days!

The varied open collections of the National Railway Museum, York
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The NRM is a really impressive day out and it’s free! I’m no trainspotter, but I do appreciate old steam engines, particularly famous ones like the beautiful Mallard. However this museum doesn’t just collect the past. They also have a Eurostar engine, passing through a single section of the concrete Channel Tunnel walls and a section of the Japanese bullet train that you can walk through and sit in the seats. The latter could make for some interesting holiday snaps!

If you ask anyone in the UK to name a steam train, most would probably come up with The Flying Scotsman. It was initially saved in the 1960s and continued to travel around the country and abroad until 2004. Then, under threat again, it was bought for the nation and given a home at the NMR. Unfortunately today it really isn’t looking its best. In fact it has been dismantled (temporarily) whilst they give it a full refit. The aim is that by 2009 it will be back in operation. Whilst many of the trains here are purely for display, they acknowledge that this is one train that the public will want to see in action again.

Open stores, National Railway Museum, York
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Whilst all these wonderful engines are fascinating, my favourite part of the Museum is actually the open storeroom. Here you will find every conceivable item of railway memorabilia. There are pieces of furniture, statues, china, toilet bowls, enamelled signs, signals, bits of engines, stained glass windows, letterboxes, bells, model trains and even architect models of railway stations. They are all stacked high in racks and all mixed together in a wonderful treasure trove that you just have to explore.

The Merchant's Hall, York
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The only things about the whole museum that I didn’t like were the lockers available for the public to use. I had amassed quite a bit of shopping and thought this was a brilliant idea. All you had to do was put a £1 in and follow the instructions. I was £2 down and still hadn’t successfully deposited my goods when I finally gave up. I could see what I was supposed to do but just kept getting it wrong! In the end I took my stuff around with me, sulking at my own stupidity.

Back home that evening my brother was cooking. It was a lovely meal featuring fresh local asparagus from a nearby farm shop. Unfortunately when I looked in the fridge afterwards I discovered that we may be eating asparagus for some time to come. Apparently my brother had realised one bunch wouldn’t be enough, but there was a buy two get one free offer on and they simply wouldn’t let him go without it. Hmmm, I think it may be asparagus risotto tomorrow evening!