On Saturday during our stay in York we visit one of the newer attractions called DIG, a sister attraction to the Jorvik Viking Centre. The whole purpose of the DIG is to experience the science of archaeology, through a tour guided by an archaeologist. It is a quiet day and our family are the only people on this tour. The first stage of the tour is a briefing on archaeology, the tools used in digs and the history of digs that have been conducted around York. Next we move into the three areas where we can excavate with our newly acquired skills to look for artefacts. These areas cover three important periods in York’s history the Roman, Vikings and Medieval and Victorian periods. We dig site in turn and apply our knowledge to identify each.
As we are finishing our DIG tour we receive a call from our friends Lorraine and Kevin who we are meeting up with and spending the next day or so with. After sitting and having our pack-up sandwiches at the York Minster we go for a walk around the town. With different agendas, Laura, Karen and Lorraine go for a mooch around the shops whilst the boys plus Emily go to take a ride on the York Eye, a 175 foot Ferris wheel which has been turning on its axis since 2006 at its location by National Train Museum. We have to go through the train museum which is a wonderful place to visit but unfortunately today we only have the opportunity to glance at a few of the magnificent engines and carriages on display. One favourite of Mark’s is the Mallard, this train was in service during the 1930s and was capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph – which is very impressive. The bright blue colour scheme of the Mallard which now lives in the Railway Museum makes it stand out like a beacon amongst the primarily black paintwork of the other locomotives. There is also a Japanese bullet train on display 
and we could not resist the temptation of looking inside for a few minutes. The passenger accommodation on these trains is more like being in an aircraft rather than a train. We quickly move outside to the York Eye and the queues are non-existent so we more or less can jump into our capsule at will. The weather today is quite warm but inside the capsule it is baking hot. The wheel rises into the air very slowly and we are teased by the increasingly splendid views that are unveiled before our eyes. The Eye provides amazing views across the City of York and the surrounding countryside. The ride is actually good value as we circle four times, but the sauna like conditions make us all feel a bit uncomfortable.
After our ride around the Eye the divided parties meet up to return back to the Youth Hostel. In the evening we return back to the City and the grounds of York Minster where there is an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well”. It is a simple production and the audience is pretty small. We pull up a spare park bench and drink our beer – all very civilised. The play is very enjoyable. Jack and Emily sit right at the front on the grass so they are almost in the play and at the very end they do get to participate – to Mark and Karen’s delight they loved it.
Our last morning in York is very relaxed. We say goodbye to Kevin and Lorraine and head back into the City for a last farewell before starting our journey southwards. We still have one attraction left on our City pass – a boat tour down the River Ouze which cuts its way through York. It is a fine morning once again so it is a very relaxing to be tootling up and down a river on a quiet Sunday morning. The only interruption is the voice of our tour guide blaring over the Tannoy system, but the information parted is interesting so we forgave them.
Sadly we leave York on to our next stopover is Waltham, near to Grimsby where we will be staying with our friends the Moores. En route we stop at Leconfield, a small village which was once the home of an Air Force Base. Karen’s father was stationed here when he died in an accident and is now buried in the grave yard at the Church of Saint Catherine. It is quite a few years since we last visited as a family and as always it is an emotional experience – especially for Karen. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation we leave to continue our journey to Waltham.
After spending 2 nights in Waltham we head continue our journey south this time to the historic city of Norwich. This ancient cathedral city has reputedly 52 churches and 365 pubs within the city walls (which are only visible as ruins in a few places). We lived here for a couple years and this is where Emily was born. The plan is to stay here for a few days with our friends the Hogaths in the village of Hainford just a few miles north of the City. This is a great chance to catch up with old friends and visit some of the places we love and that Jack and Emily cannot remember as they were very young when we lived there. We spend some time wondering around Norwich itself and visiting the Cathedral, which is a magical place. We also go out to the coast to visit some of our favourite seaside places – including Sheringham and Cromer.
No comments:
Post a Comment