Victorian streets, Towers, and Vikings*

Hi everyone,
Today I went to the York Castle Museum. It's not a castle though; it's located on the site where the castle used to be. Instead it houses a collection of historical artifacts, and recreations of what daily life would have been like from the middle ages through modern times. They are well known for an elaborate recreation of a Victorian street.

An indoor replica of a Victorian Street, with storefronts, cobblestones, and streetlamps. A black, horsedrawn carriage is visible on the right half of the photo.

They also have a fascinating exhibit about World War I, including a recreated bunker.

From there I went to the only existing portion of the York Castle, the Clifford Tower. It offers an amazing view of the city.

The Clifford tower, a circular stone tower without a roof, on top of a small grassy hill. Several tourist are climbing a stairway up the hill to the tower.


Interior of the Clifford tower. A curved stone wall with five archways, three on the lower level and two on the upper level. Inside the archways are small narrow windows. Along the top of the wall two tourists peer over a metal railing.

Author at the top of the Clifford tower with a view of the city in the background. The Yorkminster Cathedral is a prominent feature of the cityscape, and is much taller and lighter than the reddish orange roofs of the city buildings that surround it. The roofs stand out against the gray stone wall of the Clifford tower.


Then I had lunch at a haunted pub called the Golden Fleece. I had an interesting companion at the bar for lunch, but I think I may have bored him to death. ;)

The author sitting to the right of a realistic looking human skeleton inside a pub. The dark wooden beams of the pub ceiling are visible in the background.


I went to the Jorvik Viking Center. York was settled by Vikings in the late 800's, and many interesting artifacts have been found during archeological excavations.

The author standing next to an actor dressed as a Viking. He is wearing a light blue tunic, with red trim, a necklace of wooden beads and animal teeth, and a brown woolen hat. He has a full beard, and is carrying a spear.


I visited a historical house from the 1400's called Barley Hall, and went to a museum dedicated to Richard III inside one of the towers along the York wall. It still contains the original wooden portcullis.

The streets of York have retained much of their medieval and Victorian character, with winding lanes, cobblestone streets, and original shop fronts. I usually ignore street performers, but I had to take my picture with one I saw today. How lucky that I was wearing my purple shirt!

The author posing next to a street performer known as the purple man. He pretends to be a statue. He is wearing a bowler hat, glasses, a long coat, and a tie. He is sitting on a bicycle, which has a basket on the handlebars, and a fake dog in the basket. His coat and tie are stiff, and formed to look like they are flying behind him as he rides the bicycle. He is entirely purple, including face makeup. The author is also wearing several purple items of clothing, a hat, scarf, shirt, purse, and shoes.


I also took a video of the bells ringing at the Yorkminster. It's a little windy!



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