United Kingdom – Page 4 – European Traveler

York, UK: A Medieval City Ringed With Walls and Featuring Hidden Gems

By Don Heimburger
Photos by the author and courtesy York Tourism

While London plays a key role in tourism in the United Kingdom, there are other cities in the U.K. that, while perhaps not as large in size or offering as many attractions, still rank high on the thrill meter.

One of these is York, which is worth a couple of days to explore and get to know. It’s accessible from Manchester Airport, an international hub that sees hundreds of flights each day from around the world. By train from the airport, York is about an hour’s ride.

Let’s take a tour of the walled city of York.

“I was born in York and grew up there,” says actor Judi Dench, “so I have a great fondness for this remarkable city with its winding, cobbled streets and beautiful architecture.”

“The city has evolved over the years, with…a wealth of interesting shops and a vibrant cafe and evening culture,” she continues.

In the 18th century, York was seen by the monied class as an attractive alternative to London, and today many Georgian townhouses and buildings can be seen in the town because of this. At Fairfax House, for example, you can see what’s called the most distinguished 18th century townhouse in Britain.

Likely the first thing to grab your attention in York is the Minster, renowned around the world as the largest medieval gothic cathedral in northern Europe. Taking 250 years to build, it dominates the city, with its central tower rising 200 feet skyward. “…That first glimpse of the magnificent Minster towering above the city will never cease to inspire and move me,” states Dench.

The cathedral, 500 feet in length and 100 feet wide, has the largest concentration of medieval stained glass in Britain. While there, you can also visit the undercroft, treasury and crypts. The church’s collections, open to the public, are a rich time capsule of the Minster’s history. The collection consists of silver, textiles, furnishings, monuments, stone and glass objects.

(left) Roman ruins underneath York’s business district

WALK THE WALLS
“Walking the walls” is a favorite thing for visitors to do. Since Roman times, these walls have helped defend the city, and now add interest as an attraction. Four main gatehouses, or bars—Monk, Bootham, Micklegate and Walmgate—were once used to extract tolls and act as defensive towers. There are a little more than two miles of walls around the city.

A odd thing about York are the snickelways and ginnels, or passages, some quite narrow and obscure. These short cuts conveniently connect sections of the town, and can save a lot of walking. After a day in York, I started using the snickelways like I was a resident.

The main shopping area is traffic-free, meaning the erratic streets are quiet and pleasant to stroll around, day and night. The medieval streets and buildings are beautifully preserved, especially 2,000-year-old Stonegate and Petergate streets, York’s main shopping arteries. These two streets were used by the Romans, leading to a massive Roman headquarters structure which is now occupied by the Minster.

SHAMBLES STREET
Visitors will enjoy reading the names of streets as they wind through the city. Mad Alice Lane, Grape Lane, Swinegate and Coffee Yard all can be found here, as can Shambles, a former street for butchers: you can still see the wide windowsills used by butchers to display their goods, and in some cases the meat hooks remain above the shop windows, as well.

If you like chocolate—and who doesn’t—York might surprise you. It’s been making the delicious treat now for 150 years, and was named Britain’s Home of Chocolate in 2012. It even has a Chocolate Trail that will take you into York’s Chocolate Story shop and museum, where you can mold and decorate your own chocolate bar, York’s Cocoa House where you can enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and Monk Bar Chocolatiers who hand make every blissful piece. Also, the York Kit Kat factory, one of the largest in the world, turns out six million chocolate bars every day.

The Treasurer’s House, which claims the most haunted cellar in York, is worth a visit to hear about royal visits, servant life and see four centuries of interiors and antiques. When the garden is open, you can also enjoy home-cooked meals here as well.

CLIFFORD’S TOWER
While most of York was the result of Roman and Viking construction, the original mound of Clifford’s Tower, with a timber structure at the top, was constructed by the Norman William the Conqueror in 1068 as a statement of his power over the region. The tower is 50 feet tall and 200 feet in diameter with four overlapping circles, resembling a four-leafed clover. The design pattern was unique in England and after being decimated by fire, wind and even water (the castle sunk into the moat causing the walls to crack in the 1350s) the castle’s jailer began demolishing the tower and selling the stone himself.

For those with a technical interest, the National Railway Museum near the railway station is a must, and it’s free. Here is the largest railway museum in the world, boasting a host of record-breakers and history makers, attracting 800,000 visitors annually.

National Railway Museum

It is home to a wide range of railway icons and literally millions of artifacts, from the opulent Royal trains to the record-breaking Mallard. Many of the museum’s collection of more than 300 locomotives and pieces of rolling stock are displayed in the Great Hall. Some of the featured pieces include the Flying Scotsman, famous for being the first steam engine to travel at 100 mph, and the collection of royal trains, including the royal carriages used by Queen Victoria to those used today by Queen Elizabeth II.

Permanent displays in the museum include “Palaces on Wheels.” Based in the Station Hall, this exhibition features royal saloons dating to the Victorian era, giving visitors a glimpse into the sumptuous bedrooms, dining rooms and day saloons that were palaces on wheels.

At York’s Art galley, you can view more than 600 years of British and European art, from 14th century Italian panels to 17th century Dutch masterpieces to Victorian narrative paintings.

Also, the Yorkshire Museum houses some of the finest collections of archaeological and geological treasures in Europe, from prehistoric to medieval times. You can also walk on a Roman mosaic floor or kneel at St. William’s medieval shrine while here. This museum features new, interactive galleries and audio-visual shows.

As the locals like to say, York has many “tucked-away” attractions, including museums, bars and restaurants, interesting shops, peculiar old signs, strange stone figures, gateways and medieval battlements.

York is a fun, history-filled city, with numerous attractions that will interest nearly every age group.

WHERE TO STAY IN YORK
Grays Court in York near the Minster, is probably the oldest continuously occupied house in Britain, and as such, is a special place to stay, if you get the chance. It is built on the site of a Roman legionary fortress.

The staff is small and will likely remember your name after you’ve registered for the night. Grays Court is a family-owned and run country house with seven bedrooms, all filled with antique and contemporary furniture, and you’ll find the atmosphere around Grays Court quiet and friendly. A protected lawn and garden face the rear of the house, and the common areas invite you to wander throughout the house and get to know it.

Grays Court was once owned by the Duke of Somerset, Queen Jane Seymour’s brother, and was visited by King James 1st, James 2nd and the Duke of Cumberland. Sir Thomas Fairfax, Archbishop Robert Holgate and Archbishop Thomas Young have also lived here.

At one time the house was the original Treasurer’s House, commissioned by the first Norman Archbishop of York Minster, Thomas of Bayeux (1070-1100).

James I dined once at Grays Court with Edmond, Lord Sheffield, the Lord President of the North, and knighted eight nobleman in the house’s Long Gallery one evening.

Guests will find breakfast is served in a large open room with good views of the garden, and the wait staff is pleasant and accommodating. In the evening you can curl up on one of the large comfy sofas with a book and a glass of wine in the Long Gallery, or try the quiet Library to relax in.

Located on Chapter House Street, York. www.grayscourtyork.com.

For more information about the city of York, go to www.visityork.org.

Manchester, UK: City of Change

By Don Heimburger
Photos by the author

Manchester, in the United Kingdom, was the first industrialized city in the world, born of cotton. It was here that the Industrial Revolution took hold, and Manchester was the most productive center for cotton processing in the world. Later it was the world’s largest marketplace for cotton. During the Victorian era it was dubbed “Cottonopolis.”

Times have changed. Now this metropolitan area of nearly half a million people, one of the largest urban areas in the United Kingdom outside of London and Edinburgh, is associated with its interesting architecture, culture, music scene, and scientific and engineering endeavors. And its sports teams such as the Manchester United Football Club, the world’s most famous soccer team, is a constant reminder that Manchester is a highly diversified city, and is looking to the future.

Over the years, the city has reinvented itself from a technological standpoint, but remaining are many of the old historic buildings that attract thousands of tourists each year.

An example is the iconic four-star Midland Hotel on Peter Street, overlooking St. Peter’s Square. This impressive building, built in 1903 by the Midland Railway to serve Manchester Central railway station, stands right in the heart of Manchester city center. Over the course of its 100-year-old history, the hotel has played host to kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and rock stars, including Winston Churchill, Princess Margaret, the Duchess of York, and the actress Sarah Bernhardt and Jeremy Brett (who played Sherlock Holmes), as well as the Sultan of Zanzibar, who arrived with an entourage of 60 people.

It’s in this 312-room hotel that Charles Rolls met Henry Royce in 1904 to form Rolls Royce. The French Restaurant in the hotel is one of the most important restaurants in the city, and also where a number of films have been shot.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry, located at the site of the oldest surviving railway station in the world, is a family-friendly museum with lots to offer. The museum features everything from the first steam-powered mill and to the microcomputer, with lots of hands-on exhibits. There’s a large collection of vintage vehicles and historic working machinery, especially since the Industrial Revolution started in Manchester. You can even take a train ride behind a replica steam locomotive.

The John Rylands Library is less a library in the usual sense and more of a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture: it looks more like a castle or cathedral. Rylands, who died in 1888, was one of Manchester’s most successful industrialists and had a large fortune. This world class collection includes the oldest known piece of the New Testament, the St. John Fragment. Other treasures here include illuminated medieval manuscripts and a 1476 William Caxton edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

MANCHESTER ART GALLERY
The Manchester Art Gallery on Mosley Street has one of the country’s finest art collections in spectacular Victorian and contemporary surroundings. The gallery’s recent $53 million transformation has enabled the collection to be presented to visitors in new ways. Highlights include outstanding pre-Raphaelite paintings, craft and design, and early 20th century British art. Exhibits are always changing, but I saw a display of French and British Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, along with some splendid Victorian paintings.

The Gothic-style Manchester Cathedral, in the center of the city and built between 1441-1882, is a medieval church occupied by the Bishop of Manchester. Its official name is the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St. Mary, St. Denys and St. George in Manchester. It was extensively refaced, restored and extended in the Victorian period, and then again following severe bomb damage in the 20th century; it contains many precious artifacts.

MANCHESTER TOWN HALL
A guided tour of Manchester Town Hall is an activity worth doing while here. The hall was designed in Victorian Gothic style by Alfred Waterhouse and opened in 1877. Among its treasures are the Ford Maddox Brown murals which are a monument to the ideas of Victorian Manchester, portraying the science, invention, education, trade and textile industry. Among the impressive rooms is the Sculpture Hall, containing statues of notable Manchester figures from the past, and the Great Hall, featuring a glazed skylight inscribed with the names of every mayor, lord mayor and chair of the town council since 1838. Be sure you see the mosaic pattern of bees on the floor outside the Great Hall. The bee symbolizes Manchester’s industry and is featured on the city’s coat of arms.

After dark, try out one of Manchester’s “real ale” pubs, or check out Matt & Phred’s Jazz Club, a nightclub where you can hear great jazz from some of the best performers, including Wynton Marsalis. Other clubs include Band on the Wall and Night and Day.

For food, try the Damson, a neighborhood restaurant in Heaton Moor, the relaxed San Carlo Cicchetti’s with delicious small dishes, and the French brasserie called Aubaine, on the top floor of Selfridges, which also offers a great view of Manchester.

The Romans were known to inhabit the area around Manchester as early as 79 A.D., and the 19th century cotton trade brought great change to this city. Now with new glass buildings and a new development in the northern downtown core where the Industrial Revolution first took root, Manchester keeps re-inventing itself. Visitors will enjoy the mixing of old and new into a masterful blend.

For more information, go to www.visitmanchester.com and www.qhotels.co.uk.

Discover the Beatles’ Old Stomping Grounds in Liverpool, England

Fans of the Fab Four can immerse themselves in Beatlemania on a visit to Liverpool, a historic port city that gleams with a revitalized downtown waterfront.

Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr; Liverpool, England, is proud to be the birthplace of the best band in the world, and Beatles fans making a pilgrimage to the city won’t be disappointed. Visit Liverpool

By Randy Mink
Photos by author unless noted

Most pop culture icons come and ago, but some seem to live forever. Take the Beatles, for instance.

The band broke up in 1970, but 45 years later the Fab Four’s songs are heard everywhere, and their legacy continues to be a huge tourist draw in Liverpool, their hometown in northwest England.

Decades after Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr took the music world by storm, their fans from the 1960s descend on Liverpool as if it were a religious pilgrimage site.

I recall Beatlemania from my high school days, and though I wasn’t totally wrapped up in it, recently I made my way to Liverpool with Beatle sites at the top of my to-see list.

The Magical Mystery Tour bus excursion and The Beatles Story Museum brought back memories and had me humming Beatles tunes for the next week. While I encountered plenty of nostalgia-hungry tourists of my generation, I was surprised to see so many young people eager to know about the mop-haired group that belted out “Twist and Shout” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

Most of those taking the self-guided audio tour of The Beatles Story the day I visited, in fact, were a third my age. The tour, which follows the boys from their humble beginnings in working-class Liverpool to fame and fortune, has 36 stops and features recorded comments from family members, fans, business associates and the Beatles themselves. Artifacts range from guitars to stage outfits.

The exhibition includes black and white film clips of the Beatles and their adoring female fans, plus glimpses of their movies like “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help!” and “Yellow Submarine.” I was especially interested in the re-telling of their first American tour and how they captivated U.S. teens. When the four lads appeared for the first time on TV’s Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, 40% of the country was watching.

A Beatles tribute show at the Cavern Club, the famous Liverpool music club where the Fab Four performed prior to their worldwide fame.

Visitors to The Beatles Story also see a re-creation of the Cavern Club, the Liverpool nightspot where the group performed early in their careers. Though the club was demolished in 1973, it was rebuilt with the same bricks to the same dimensions at the same Mathew Street location. Today the Cavern Club plays host to hundreds of bands, but tourists are most interested in the Beatles connection. I attended a Saturday night Beatles tribute show that featured Beatles impersonators who sang a string of hits—“Love Me Do,” “Day Tripper” and “I Saw Her Standing There,” to name a few.

Many older fans were singing along or mouthing the words. One group was celebrating a woman’s 70th birthday. But most in the standing-room-only crowd were born long after the Beatles disbanded.

Music blares out of other bars on pedestrianized Mathew Street, the entertainment hotspot of central Liverpool. Nearby, statues of the Fab Four adorn the Hard Day’s Night Hotel, the only Beatles-themed hotel. Its public areas are filled with Beatles memorabilia. Souvenir stores in the Cavern Quarter abound with Beatles items, from bobbleheads to snow globes.

Adjacent to the Mathew Street corridor is Liverpool ONE, a 42-acre, car-free development that has revitalized downtown. To tell the truth, I wasn’t expecting to find something so glitzy in this old port city. Outdoor escalators connect three levels of stores, which include familiar names like Disney, Toys R Us and Forever 21. Festivals enliven its plazas.

Liverpool ONE is right across the road from the spiffed-up Mersey River waterfront. Albert Dock, a nautically-themed collection of converted 19th century port buildings, houses museums, shops and eateries. The Beatles Story is one of its tenants. Also occupying the red-brick warehouses are the Merseyside Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum.

(left to right) Albert Dock, a collection of renovated warehouses on the Liverpool waterfront, abounds with shops, eateries and tourist attractions, including The Beatles Story Museum.;
The Pump House, in a former pumping station, is one of many restaurants at Albert Dock in Liverpool.

For lunch one day I visited the Pump House, the old pumping station at Albert Dock, and chowed down on steak and ale pie with mashed potatoes and peas. Dessert was also very British—sticky toffee pudding, a warm square of toffee-flavored sponge cake drizzled with toffee sauce and swimming in a bowl of custard sauce. For dinner I feasted on Indian cuisine at The Spice Lounge, an Albert Dock restaurant around the corner from The Beatles Story. The butter chicken—chunks of chicken bathed in a mild tomato gravy and served over rice—was a culinary highlight of my whole trip to England.

If I had time for another Albert Dock restaurant, I would have chosen Circo and enjoyed circus acts with my meal. Also on the waterfront is the state-of-the-art Museum of Liverpool, a free-admission national museum that tells the story of Liverpool through interactive exhibits. Don’t miss the immersive, 360-degree Beatles film. And there’s a branch of The Beatles Story at Pier Head, the Mersey River ferry terminal. Now showing is the excellent GRAMMY Museum exhibition “The British Invasion: How 1960s Beat Groups Conquered America.” It showcases groups like the Rolling Stones and Dave Clark Five as well as the Beatles.

For a relaxing introduction to Liverpool, take a River Explorer Cruise aboard Mersey Ferries. The narrated 50-minute cruise begins and ends to the strains of “Ferry ’Cross the Mersey,” the 1960s hit by another British pop group, Gerry and the Pacemakers.

The Magical Mystery Tour visits Liverpool sites that inspired Beatles tunes. *Visit Liverpool*

Perhaps the highlight of my brief visit to Liverpool was the Magical Mystery Tour, a two-hour bus circuit that spotlights places where the Beatles spent their early days in working-class neighborhoods. Filled with revealing tidbits about their lives and how they met each other, the tour visits locations that inspired songs such as “Penny Lane” (a street) and “Strawberry Fields” (an orphanage).

The humble birthplace of George Harrison is a stop on the Magical Mystery Tour, a bus tour to sites associated with the Beatles.

Besides those two spots, we had photo stops at Paul’s family home (where John and Paul wrote 100 songs) and George’s birthplace, a humble brick rowhouse that’s now a private residence. Paul’s place is owned by the National Trust and open for tours. Our guide pointed out the primary school that George and John attended, the church where John met Paul in 1959, John’s house (a National Trust property) and massive Liverpool Cathedral, where Paul auditioned for the choir but didn’t get accepted.

Beatles tunes were interspersed with the Magical Mystical Tour commentary. Passengers on the bus were all ages and from all over the world.

For sheer pampering in Liverpool, I would recommend 2 Blackburne Place, a chic bed and breakfast inside an 1826 Georgian house that’s been divided into six town homes. Run by Glenn Whitter, a former musician and interior designer, and his wife Sarah, a former teacher, it’s an oasis of calm just a few blocks from Liverpool Cathedral and a 15-minute walk from the city center.

The word “plush” best describes 2 Blackburne Place. Think plush towels, plush bathrobes and thick-thick rugs. The deep tub and heated bathroom floor also will spoil you. My room, done in beige and blues, was decorated with original artwork, art objects (including a Chinese vase) and six framed black-and-white photos of the Cathedral. Waiting for me after a day of sightseeing was a special treat—a plate of macarons and a crystal decanter of sloe gin.

At breakfast, serenaded by classical music while seated at a gorgeous, purple lacquered table in a dining room with a built-in bookcase, I appreciated all the helpful tips our guide Sarah gave me for making the most of my time in Liverpool. Cocooned in such comfort, though, I didn’t want to leave.

The Whitters can serve smoked salmon or kippers (smoked herring), but I chose a typical English breakfast of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and baked beans with minced onions and tomatoes. That was after the yogurt course with plump blueberries and slices of kiwi and watermelon. For the toast I had many choices of spreads—from French lavender honey to passion fruit/lemon curd.

Touches of luxury also awaited me the next day at the sleek Epic Apart Hotel on Seel Street, just minutes from the city center. I had a whole apartment, complete with kitchen, living and dining areas and a giant flat-screen TV. Contemporary in design and loaded with upscale amenities, Epic makes the ideal “home” in Liverpool. The friendly people at the front desk, staffed 24 hours a day, were attentive to my needs and had all the answers to my questions about getting around Liverpool. I appreciated their warmth and cheerfulness on the blustery, rainy day. After some soggy sightseeing, the hot chocolate packets I found in the kitchen really revved my spirits, and it was nice to relax on the comfy couch in front of the giant, flat-screen TV.

The kitchen had an oven, microwave, refrigerator and toaster, along with a full range of dishware and utensils. I also liked the oversized rain shower with dual shower heads and the premium towels. Bed linens were Egyptian cotton. Accommodations at Epic Apart Hotel range from studios to two-and three-bedroom apartments.

From the gritty to the luxurious, Liverpool provides a great look at English urban life outside of London.

For more info, go to visitliverpool.com