My buddies Frank, Theo and I (together with our assistants Paul and Di) set off about 10am to drive to York. It wasn't a bad drive, with some rain, but we got there in about two and a half hours, heading straight for our bed and breakfast, The Carlton House, York. Although it was still before 1pm, we were able to get our keys straight away so the assistants took our bags up to the room - on the second floor (no lift!)
The room was pretty big, though we teds noticed there was only the one bed (and no bath, for that matter, the assistants were going to be uncomfortable on the floor!) Anyway, the room had a tall bay window, dressing table, tea tray, wardrobe and bedside tables. Either side of the window were two little rooms - a toilet and basin in one and a shower cubicle in the other. Now, overall the B&B was great, with few complaints, but there were enough little things that irritated the humans and I such that we couldn't give five Teds, though we only docked a half a Ted (ouch!)
Neither bathroom door had a lock (yes, the one is a sliding door, but you can get a hook and eye to lock it - we know this as we have similar in one of the Florida bathrooms). My humans are pretty ticked when the bathroom door(s) doesn't lock. Call us weird but we'd rather be able to lock the door. There was no towel rail in the toilet/basin room (other than the robe hook on the back of the door) which meant constant reshuffling of the towel around the room. Would it have been so hard to put in a small towel loop or rail? No. You know DIY-TGT would have one up in no time. The other issues would arise over the weekend so I'll mention them as we go. As I say, each one individually might not be worth mentioning, but there were enough annoyances that nearly lost them a Ted. They kept that half because of the bottle of water we got each day, the single pack of biscuits each day on the tea tray and because of the great breakfast (more on that tomorrow). Oh, and because, once we logged into the Wireless Internet network it worked fine all weekend, whenever we were in the room, with no more logging in. You know poor internet is a deductible Ted offence - they did fine on that score.
We were given a map by the lady on reception who told us to take the Castle Wall to get to York Minster - our first planned stop. So, that's what we did. We walked up the street to Micklegate Bar - More about that tomorrow, when the sun is out! - and climbed up the steps to the wall and walked around, passing York Station, before dropping down to cross the river. The level was pretty high, reaching the seats of the benches along the bank!
We had done some research and knew that the guided tours of the Minster left on the hour so we arrived just at 2pm (just in time!) We paid our £15 entry fee, which included entrance to the cathedral with a one-hour guided tour and access to the Tower! You can skip the 275-step tower and pay just £10, if you are smart, though there's a great view! (Rent a helicopter, trust me!)
We met with our guide - who'd already started - in the centre of the cathedral. He was reliant on his voice, so was a little quiet and when folks asked questions, though you could generally here his answer you couldn't hear the question. That said, there were only a few questions from the audience, which seemed quite a big group of about 40 people. He talked for awhile about the fires that affected the wooden-strutted roof of the Cathedral during its history. He seemed very knowledgeable, but would have benefitted from a microphone, though that might upset other visitors to the building - though you have to pay at least £10 to enter, whether or not you take the tour.
He told us a little about the glass and its restoration, with dates in the windows to indicate when restorations occurred, the latest being in 1950 when the windows - which were removed during World War II in case of bomb damage - were returned to the building. The three remaining images are of the same windows - the coloured windows are some of the oldest in the Cathedral and were very pretty, though difficult to see without binoculars or a zoom lens.
We moved to the centre of the Cathedral, where we could get a good look at the 1832 organ overhead. In the North Transept, we looked at the Five Sisters window, which has five fifty-foot tall, less colourful windows - although the longer we stood, the more the colours started to stand out. Above these windows were five smaller additions, which, though more colourful were painted on and the paint has peeled in places (the original windows have glass that is coloured all the way through.
Below the organ pipes is a non-symmetrical fifteenth century Choir screen containing sculptures of fifteen (eight and seven) kings of England from William the Conqueror to Henry VI, though apparently they would have been brightly coloured originally.
We entered the Choir by passing under a colourful and ornate archway to find a raised seating area with lots of wood, though apparently it's not original, owing to one of the fires that destroyed the earlier seating and the organ, in 1829. The present seating is very in-keeping with the period however and looks awesome. Anyone - including visitors - attending certain services can sit in the seats of the Choir, though some are reserved for the regulars. Below right is the cathedra - a bishop's throne - the presence of which is what makes York Minster a cathedral. The official name of this particular church is Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York although it is more commonly known as York Minster - a Minster is just a meeting place, associated with teaching.
Just outside the Choir were a couple of interesting artefacts. Below left is the Primatial Cross of York which dates to 1909 and is used for ceremonial occasions. Below right is the S.S. Vale of Pickering. The plaque alongside it suggests it is there to remind people to remember those who go to sea - as the county has a lot of coastline.
We ended the tour in the South Transept. Below left is the Tomb of Archbishop Walter de Gray, who oversaw the conversion of York Cathedral from Norman to Gothic. However, he died in 1255, before the work was completed. This is the area of the Minster that suffered from fire in 1984. My assistant, Di, was waffling on about Blue Peter who had a competition for kids to design six of the new bosses for the ceiling. It seems the one we took a photo of wasn't one of the Blue Peter winners. You can see more about the fire (and the bosses) by clicking here. This was where the tour ended and our guide left us.
You'd think he'd have told us the Tower Tour started over in the corner but he didn't so we went back to where we started and had to ask! Once we knew we went back to the corner of the South Transept and headed up! There are 275 steps up to the top of the South Tower and I know Di wasn't looking forward to that part - I dunno what the fuss is about, she's so lazy! It's a narrow, tightly wound spiral stone staircase with a metal handrail. There's not much in the way of things to look at to give you the excuse to stop either. Part way up, you step outside onto a walkway on the roof of the Transept so that you can cross over to the Central Tower.
To Di's disgust there were even more steps this side than we'd already done - or maybe it just seemed like it? I didn't count so I have no idea. There are a couple of windows, so I grabbed a photo while Di attempted to get oxygen into her lungs.
Eventually, on her hands and knees, Di crawled out - with me in tow - to the roof of the South Tower. It's got wire fencing up all around, presumably to stop people leaping off. There are a few holes/windows in the fence so you can get a few photos from up there. Blimey it was windy, and a bit rainy (or was that snow?) Well, we'd got this far and I figured you'd want to see the view so here it is!
At the top of the tower there's a little kiosk and a nice lady was sitting in the cold. Not sure if it's her only role but she was selling I made it to the top badges so of course I had to have one. It's nice! After about ten minutes Di was breathing again and I had my badge so it was time to head back down the way we came up. The weather was better on the return crossing of the rooftop so I grabbed a couple more shots of the cathedral.
As we reached the bottom, I heard the organ was playing, so I figured it would be cool to take a little movie of the Minster - without the pesky silence. When I played it back - yikes! It's a little creepy - especially running TGT at the beginning as the chase begins. It fizzles a little after that but hey, it's still a pretty place. It was a long way down! Round and round and round. Eek. If you are remotely unfit or old, don't do it! It's a hard walk! So Di says anyway - I thought it was easy. Heehee.
For those of you with an i-thingy that won't let you watch the embedded video (a known problem that apparently Apple can't be bothered to solve as it's affecting the enemy - Google's - YouTube) you can try clicking on here.
We headed down some more steps into the crypt and undercroft, which are the earliest parts of the cathedral, in some cases pre-dating the current Minster. There's a mosaic on the wall of Saint William and some impressive archways down there.
There's a shrine to Saint William in front of the mosaic (below left). Below centre is a Norman pillar but there are several architectural styles of pillar on display and foundations of the Minster (below right).
There are a few other artifacts below ground, including this carved chest (below left). Below centre is the font that York Minster uses for baptisms. The bottom part dates back to the 15th Century, but the cover was designed in 1947 in commemoration of the baptism of King Edwin in 627, in the first Saxon cathedral. There are a number of old pillars down there too.
Below left is even further into the foundations and dates back to the Roman fortress that was built on this site. This is a 4th Century column base of the house of a commanding officer. We headed back up out of the crypt and into the stained glass window exhibition. Below right is a Glazier's toolkit, used in the making of stained glass windows.
For the next three years there is an exhibit below the Great East Window contained within The Orb. This houses five newly conserved stained glass windows that were taken from the Great East Window, four permanently and one on rotation each month so more can be viewed. The window was created and painted in the early 1400s and must have been amazing to see at the time. They still are! Here's a before and after shot of Saint John - you can see where they've removed some of the patches of metal so there is more exposed glass (modern adhesives have removed the need for the metal joins, they hope!) I thought I'd try and make myself into a stained glass window. I think they should change it, don't you?
Here are some of the other windows on display, from below right to left, The Seven Churches, An Angel Announces the Fall of Babylon and Saint John Sailing to Patmos, with an additional extra, of course.
We just had time for one last wander around the cathedral - it's pretty amazing considering how old it is! Then we exited through the obligatory gift shop. They had quite a lot of stuff - the regular made in China touristy stuff, some nicer fancier stuff, jewellery, bags, t-shirts and the like. Not a bad shop and I did notice you can go inside even if you don't want to pay the £10 to go inside the cathedral. But I'd recommend you do. I tried to go in a few years ago and you paid for the Tower, the Crypt, the cathedral everything was extra. I agree £10 is a lot for a church, but there's a lot to see - with the tour and the Tower we were in there for a couple of hours. It is pretty amazing!
Even better, once we got outside, though it was setting, the sun was out, so we took a couple of photos of the Minster, though we couldn't be bothered to walk round to the front. The assistant said something about wobbly legs after the Tower! Wimp! Looks pretty in the sun, doesn't it?
Oops, we only had twenty minutes to get to the brewery and my Google Maps app said it was an eighteen minute walk. Yikes, and the assistant had wobbly legs. Hope we made it. It was back at the city walls, down to Micklegate and hang a right down a side street. Phew, found it with about one minute to spare. Sheesh - it's at the top of the stairs! Still we made it to York Brewery. It was a good job we booked as they had a lot of people on the list - we just had to email we'd be going, then we paid our £8 on arrival. This gave us four tokens for four thirds of their beer - we decided to wait until after the tour to try them - much to Theo's disgust.
Folks gathered in the bar area and when it was time to start we were taken through to another room. There was quite the crowd gathered around as our guide told us about the different types of barley and malt that go into their beer. That's Theo, bottom right, he's my little buddy, but he's quite a drinker!
They passed around samples of roast barley, chocolate malt and crystal malt - we got to sniff and taste them (yuck).
Next they passed round some hops - you can see some above in the picture with Theo. These looked a bit like cornflakes. These are added into the mix to add flavour, depending on the length of time. The ones in the little jar had a particularly strong smell, they just leave them in for a little bit as they don't want to make the beer taste horrible. (Not a great trait in a beer.)
In the next room we saw the mixing tanks. Hops and malt are mixed together and heated in the large tanks to achieve the required flavour. Theo was concentrating hard as he said he wants to make some beer. I prefer to buy mine.
The heated mixture - or wort - is then cooled with the liquid being moved to fermentation tanks. Any left over grains are supplied to local farmers for animal feed. Yeast is added to the mix to convert the sugar into alcohol. Below you can see the tanks with the yeast on top as they bubble into a think layer on the surface. Part of the fermentation process creates carbon dioxide which puts the fizz into the beer.
We returned to the first room where our guide described how the beer is moved into barrels, and fish swim bladders - or finings (below left) - are added to help remove particles from the beer. The barrels are sealed and stored while they clear then they are shipped around the country to customers. The green bung on top of the barrel is used to seal the barrel, but when you want to get the beer out, it needs a hole through it. Then the tap is hammered into the barrel and woohoo, the beer can be accessed, using the tap to pour the beer into a glass. Or - if you prefer - directly into your bear of choice. *rolls eyes*
Done with the tour it was time to go check out their beer! The humans (sigh!) got four tokens each (to be fair, the bears got a free tour).
We decided to have two at a time - any more would be rude (it really would, Theo.) We started with Eboracum and Minster Ale. Eboracum is the Roman name for York. It is a 3.7% ABV chestnut brown ale, made using three British hops - North Down, Fuggles and Goldings. It has a light, but malty taste. I liked it. The Minster Ale was my preferred ale in this round. This is a 4.2% ABV with Challenger, Chinook, Centennial and Pacific Gem hops and Pale Ale and Crystal malt. It has a light, crispy taste and of the two this was my favourite, if not of all six.
Our second round was the Yorkshire Terrier and Guzzler. The Yorkshire Terrier was my preferred ale this round, but Theo liked the Guzzler better, though I think that was more about him liking the name! Yorkshire Terrier is a golden coloured 4.2% ABV premium bitter, made with Pale Ale and Crystal malt and Challenger hops. Guzzler is another golden beer, crisp and refreshing, made with Challenger and Celeia hops and Pale Ale and Crystal malt. The taste was a little strong for me, but, as I say, Theo enjoyed it.
For our third round of new and unique beers we tried Centurion's Ghost Ale and Great Walls of Fire. The Centurion's Ghost Ale has a dark, ruby colour with light bitterness and autumn fruit. It is 5.4% ABV, made with Challenger, Fuggles and Bramling Cross hops and Pale, Crystal and Chocolate malt. It wasn't really to my taste, but I don't generally like darker beers. Which leads me onto Great Walls of Fire which is a 5.1% ABV porter, made with Challenger and Phoenix hops and 4 malt. It has a full, creamy body with a slightly smoky aftertaste. I preferred this to the Centurion's, but really preferred the lighter ales.
That said, Assistant Paul preferred these last two and as he has the greater capacity - even greater than Theo - he had another one of each for our last two tokens. We did help him out a bit though. So, the tour and four thirds of beer cost £8. We arrived just at 5pm and left at about 7.30pm, so two and a half hours, which isn't bad. Clearly it depends how quickly you drink your beers (or if you start before the tour), but we just took our time before dinner. The people were friendly, the tour was informative and the beer was good, so they get five Teds - couldn't find any reason to drop them any.
It was time for dinner, which wasn't as easy as we thought - but then it was the Saturday night after Friday's Valentine's Day, so the Saturday crowd had undoubtedly been boosted by additional V-Dayers, darn 'em! So, the two Italian restaurants we tried between the Brewery and the B&B had no tables available. However, we did pass a Table Table restaurant The Longboat.
They didn't have a table immediately, which was a cunning ploy as they advised us to get a drink at the bar. I ordered a pear cider which was a large Kopparberg, which is one of my favourites, but it was a big 'un (well 500ml). As we took a seat and told the restaurant guy where we were he was ready to show us to our table. I'd only had about two sips of cider and we'd have wine with dinner so these drinks were totally unnecessary - okay, not unwanted, but hey. They took us to a little table with a nice bear shelf and took our orders.
We were hungry - we hadn't eaten all day apart from crisps in the car on the drive up! I ordered a starter of a Warm Bread Trio which was just enough bread for the three of us (no one cared about the assistants at this point, they were the ones who'd starved us all day!) There was garlic butter (aka slime - yes it's fine melted on, but this was in a dish, all cold and slimey, yuck!) and balsamic vinegar with olive oil, which didn't mix particularly well. But the bread was lovely, when it finally arrived, about half an hour after we arrived.
For the main courses Paul and I opted for the gammon - we were offered two eggs, two pineapples or one of each, but I chose the two fried eggs and also chips and uh-oh peas (it's okay, Paul weirdly likes peas!) Di found a Quorn burger on the menu and it said all our burgers come with... so she ordered without the other slime, mayonnaise. Some time later the waiter came to say it didn't come with mayo, but did come with ranch dressing (to be fair, it was on the menu). Why do people put vegetarian food on the menu and insist on going off piste with all our burgers come with... - just treat it like a flippin' burger. No freaky salad accompaniments, VEGGIES WANT CHIPS TOO! Sigh. I've heard this rant a few times - and if you've been following me for a while, I believe you have too!
Still, when the food came, about fifteen minutes later (maybe they'd redone the veggie burger?), it was lovely. Nice and hot and no complaints at all. Not even from the veggie person. However, the very slow service and slightly annoying start, together with the slime-off means that the thud you just heard was them dropping a Ted.
Overall it was a good value meal, with the red wine at just £9 for a bottle, a starter and a side order of onion rings the whole bill (for two assistants and three hungry bears) only came to just over £30. Not bad, if you ask me.
We headed back to the hotel (not far) for an early night. And a lot of leg massages for the assistants!
Although it was still before 1pm, we were able to get our keys straight away so the assistants took our bags up to the room - on the second floor (no lift!)
