[2020]
[Friday 21 August 2020]
York
Hilton York
11:00 Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
12:30 Bella Italia
15:10 River cruise
17:20 Toni & Guy
…Today was [Janet’s] “pig-out” day (her day off from calorie-counting and dieting), so she’d proposed to the staff “8.00am” for breakfast today, as opposed to “9.00am” for the other days; and was out of bed before 7am. After she vacated the bathroom, I shaved as best as I could in the not-very-bright light there, and showered. I discovered that I couldn’t get into the safe. I tried hitting adjacent numbers in case I’d accidentally done that in my restricted ability to see them when setting the combination, but eventually I wasn’t allowed any more tries. We went for breakfast. Cereal in individual
Kellogg’s boxes — I had Rice Krispies — was self-serve; but the “English” breakfast buffet-items were dispensed by a staff member. I had sausage, bacon and baked beans. I also had orange juice, pre-poured in glasses in a cabinet, and black coffee, served on request in a pot. I reported at reception that I needed help to get into the safe, and
ca.9.15am an affable young man knocked on the door. After unscrewing things with an Allen key, he got the safe door open. After we tried all the combinations of switches possible, he concluded that the light above the bathroom door, which should have
inter alia provided illumination for the safe, was indeed not working, and said he’d come back and fix that.
It was still windy, though sufficiently warm, when we set out for our 11am appointment at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, turning left then left again along Castlegate, right along Coppergate, and right again into Piccadilly. We had a little less than ½-hour to spare so went for a drink to the “Rehab Piccadilly Café – Bar”, 7–9, Piccadilly — with the now-usual waiting to be given entry and be shown to a table by staff. It seemed, though, after we were seated, that people wanting take-away items just walked in and got served before we did. Anyway, the server, who was having to try to do three things at once, eventually came to us; I had an
americano coffee and Janet a Fanta orange soda-pop. We arrived at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall a few minutes before 11 o’clock; our guide ticked us off her list, and sent us to have a brief look around the garden till the rest of our party would arrive.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:01:32
River Foss at the southern end of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:01:48
Garden of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:02:44
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:03:40
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:06:02
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:06:46
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall Photograph by Jeremy Philips www.theyorkcompany.co.uk
There were perhaps four others in the party. The “hugely enthusiastic young lady who clearly loved her job” (to quote
Janet’s journal) led us around the side of the building and into the entrance at the back, into a room where we paid for the guided tour (we were “concessions”) and bought a guide-book; then as part of the tour we went first to the Undercroft, before exploring the rooms, especially the Great Hall, upstairs.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:09:08
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: entrance on the east side
The Ancient Guild Hall of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York: title page
The Ancient Guild Hall of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York: page 2
(For the rest of the book, you’ll have to visit and buy your own.)
The Undercroft was used as an almshouse for many centuries. The guide showed us scorch marks from candles on one of the arch-braces.
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: “The Undercroft” www.merchantshallyork.org
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:18:50
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Undercroft
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:19:44
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Undercroft
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:21:06
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: entrance to the Chapel
The Chapel was added to the ca.1357 building in 1420.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:21:36
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Chapel
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:23:24
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: painted coat of arms on the Chapel wall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:24:36
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Chapel
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:25:02
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: painted coat of arms and statue of the Holy Trinity on the chapel walls
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:25:58
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: “Statue of the Holy Trinity”
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:26:30
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: statue of the Holy Trinity on the Chapel wall
She was at a loss to explain why one would later construct four fireplaces towards the opposite end of the Undercroft from the Chapel. She pointed out niches under the windows there, used perhaps to store inmates’ belongings.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:30:30
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: two of a group of four seemingly needless fireplaces in the Undercroft
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:30:58
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: one of the windows in the Undercroft with a niche below it
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:31:18
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: one of the painted banners hanging in the Undercroft: this is the Merchant Adventurers’ coat of arms
After that we went upstairs, first to the “First Anteroom” (the three anterooms were added just before 1600)—
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:32:34
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: back in the Reception Area, about to ascend to the First Anteroom
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:36:32
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: ascending to the First Anteroom
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:37:32
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the First Anteroom
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:48:00
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: Charter in the First Anteroom, explanatory plaque
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:47:06
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: in the First Anteroom: “Charter incorporating the Mercers of York as Merchant Adventurers, 23 Elizabeth (1581)”
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:38:30
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: in the First Anteroom: “Charter incorporating the Mercers of York as Merchant Adventurers, 23 Elizabeth (1581)”
—then to the Great Hall (1357–1361), constructed in two naves, of green wood (that’s why everywhere became so warped, as the wood dried out).
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: “Restoration of the Great Hall 1937” www.merchantshallyork.org
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:39:18
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Great Hall
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: “The Great Hall” www.merchantshallyork.org
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:39:56
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Great Hall
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: “The Great Hall” www.merchantshallyork.org
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:41:24
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Great Hall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:42:12
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Great Hall
Then we were left to explore. I looked in the three Anterooms, and the room at the end of them, the Governor’s Parlour, added as late as the 1950s (though the furnishings are earlier,
e.g. a late 16th-century mantlepiece).
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:44:04
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: Anterooms
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:44:30
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: “Governor’s Parlour”
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:43:32
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: the Governor’s Parlour
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:44:40
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: stained glass window in the Governor’s Parlour
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:44:54
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: stained glass window in the Governor’s Parlour
I went to look in the Committee Room at one corner of the Great Hall.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:49:20
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: Committee Room
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:49:56
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: Committee Room
Saturday 22 August 2020, 11:50:28
The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall: Committee Room
Before the end of the visit, we gathered together again. I asked whether the roof would be originally tiled, as now, or thatched. The guide thought it might be thatched.
From there we went to Bella Italia in Low Petergate for our 12.30pm-booked lunch. We turned right into Piccadilly, and right into Pavement. Going along the Shambles yesterday had been somewhat disquieting, dodging its crowds of the
COVID-careless, so we turned left into the street beyond that, Colliergate, which brought us to the same King’s Square as yesterday.
Janet decided to look in “York’s Chocolate Story” there, so I waited in the square.
I’m not sure when we first noticed the phenomenon of young women in groups in the streets, in large gangs even, just about everywhere we went, dressed like tarts. Low-cut dresses, short skirts, bright colours. “Is it fancy dress?” I quipped.… I suppose it just might have been deemed appropriate as evening attire — but this was broad daylight, the early afternoon! I found myself singing, to the tune of Queen’s
Bicycle Race:
- You look just like a prostitute,
You’re dressed just like a whore!
Most of them appeared to be late teens or early twenties; but there were also pre-teen girls in the mix. “Child prostitutes!”
Going back to today’s story: As I waited, there were some spots of rain, but the rain didn’t come down in earnest till just after
Janet came out; and fortunately Bella Italia was only three or four doors along Low Petergate. I had a glass of prosecco as an
aperativo, and a large glass of the house red wine as an accompaniment to the food. I didn’t have my customary pizza. The option — “‘Classic’, hand-stretched with a touch of sourdough; ‘Roma’, hand-stretched further for a thinner and crispier base” — wasn’t given this time; and I didn’t want to spoil an appetite for dinner. So I had a Caesar salad with added chicken and pancetta.
Janet had a pasta dish. By coincidence, we were located at the same table as last time we came; and the server was the same one also.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 13:25:20
Bella Italia, 89 Low Petergate, York
At Bennett’s yesterday, Janet had liked the look of some of the dessert items on show, so we went there. I just had coffee;
Janet had hot chocolate, with “a large, very crunchy and very gingery biscuit, plus a scrumptious lemon curd tart.” Again, we were fortunate, because there was very heavy rain while we were in there, which stopped by the time we left.
I’d changed my mind about buying the two Bibles, so we visited the Minster shop and I bought them (14:26), using my
Yorkshire Bank “pocket money”.
 
Then we went back to the hotel, by a somewhat circuitous route because I lost my sense of direction, to deposit my purchase. “Housekeeping” hadn’t been in to tidy the room, replenish coffee and sugar, supply toilet rolls, and make the beds. We left
ca.2.45pm and hurried to Lendal Bridge Landing (going along Clifford Street, Spurriergate, Coney Street, Lendal…) for our 15:10-booked river cruise. There was a queue before the steps down to the landing, and we waited there for a bit; but realising that these people didn’t have prior bookings as we did, we broke ranks and went to the girl who was dealing with them. She looked at the document I’d printed, and issued us with a ticket (14:59).
A table was indicated to us, at which we sat. Before we cast off, a crew member came round counting everyone, repeatedly because there was a discrepancy: two people with prior bookings had got aboard without checking in and being issued with a ticket. “A few minutes after we’d boarded the heavens opened again. Talk about being lucky! Thus far, anyway! The rain soon stopped and the sun emerged again.” I went aloft, and took photos, as I’d done last year. The route was the same: upstream, then turning back before Clifton Bridge; downstream to just beyond the outlet of the River Foss; then back upstream to Lendal Bridge Landing. This time, there was no stop at King’s Staith. (Last year, we got off there.)
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:21:42
Aboard the river-cruise boat
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:24:06
River cruise: looking back at the Scarborough Railway Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:25:04
River cruise: River Ouse
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:28:22
River cruise: River Ouse
This time, when York Minster came into view, there was no attempt to etymologise “minster” as being akin to “minister” (when it’s really akin to “monastery”).
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:32:10
River cruise: York Minster, glimpsed through a gap in the trees
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:32:42
River cruise: York Minster, glimpsed through a gap in the trees
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:36:32
River cruise: the Scarborough Railway Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:37:02
River cruise: house on the port side with outer garden wall and second, inner flood-defence wall
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:37:50
River cruise: Water Tower, at the end of the extension of the city walls around St. Mary’s Abbey
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:38:56
River cruise: Lendal Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:39:26
River cruise: Barker Tower
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:41:00
River cruise: Ouse Bridge
New this time, was the story of the construction of the present Ouse Bridge: that the former 1565 bridge (portrayed, incidentally, in the stained-glass window at “11:44:40”) wasn’t dismantled and was therefore still in use till half of the present bridge adjacent to it was constructed; then the other half was constructed, leaving a seam between the two halves.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:42:04
River cruise: underside of Ouse Bridge, with a seam evincing its construction in two stages, the first while the former bridge was still usable, the second after it was dismantled
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:42:44
River cruise: King’s Staith on the port side
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:42:54
River cruise: Queen’s Staith on the starboard side
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:43:06
River cruise: King’s Staith on the port side
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:43:56
River cruise: Skeldergate Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:44:08
River cruise: “The Bonding Warehouse” on the starboard side
In front of the blue footbridge across the Foss, a temporary scaffolding bridge had been erected.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:47:00
River cruise: confluence of the River Foss on the port side
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:47:20
River cruise: confluence of the River Foss on the port side
I don’t remember seeing the Millennium foot and cycle-bridge the last time we were here. We turned back well before it.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:49:06
River cruise: the Millennium Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:51:26
River cruise: confluence of the River Foss now on the starboard side
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:53:16
River cruise: Skeldergate Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:53:30
River cruise: moored houseboat on the port side: “Morgenster”
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:53:40
River cruise: moored houseboat on the port side: “Till”
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:54:32
River cruise: west arch of Skeldergate Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:54:40
River cruise: formerly openable east arch of Skeldergate Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:56:00
River cruise: Davy Tower on the starboard side, where a short stretch of the York city wall terminates
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:56:14
River cruise: Clifford’s Tower, glimpsed beyond Davy Tower
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:57:40
River cruise: King’s Staith on the starboard side
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:58:12
River cruise: Ouse Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 15:59:50
River cruise: Lendal Bridge
Saturday 22 August 2020, 16:01:04
River cruise: Aviva Building on the port side, built in a style to harmonise…
Saturday 22 August 2020, 16:01:12
River cruise: …with the Guildhall on the starboard side
We moored up back at Lendal Bridge Landing ca.4.10pm.
Janet had a 17:20 appointment at the Toni & Guy hairdressers’; so before this we went to
Ye Olde Starre Inne, and this time I had a pint of Theakston’s Old Peculier, 5.6% a.b.v., a strong, sweetish-flavoured stout.
Saturday 22 August 2020, 16:37:12
At “Ye Olde Starre Inne”
Saturday 22 August 2020, 16:38:06
At “Ye Olde Starre Inne”
Saturday 22 August 2020, 16:38:06 (detail)
Detail with Caravaggian chiaroscuro, presumably caused by light from the phone
“At 5.10pm,” Janet wrote, “I headed off to the hairdressers’ and [John] returned to the hotel… The young man who did my hair was the manager, and amazingly enough he asked if he’d done my hair last year — I didn’t say [before he asked, that] I’d been before.” I’d have made myself a cup of coffee if “housekeeping” had been in to do the room and the stocks had been replenished. Transferred 74 photos from the camera’s
SD card to the WD Elements HDD (17:47). Viewed them in Windows Photo Viewer, and rotated four that needed it (17:53–17:54).
Janet wrote: “I was annoyed to find our room hadn’t been done. So I went to reception. We’d misunderstood the situation.” It seems that in these
COVID-19 times, housekeeping was something we could opt for, but wasn’t provided automatically. This was perhaps what the receptionist told us when we arrived, when I couldn’t hear a word she said, and hoped that
Janet could at least hear enough of it. Anyway, it was agreed that our room would be done while we were at dinner. (Did I understand correctly? “Housekeeping” had gone off duty, but one of the reception team would do it.)
“At 6.30pm we went for dinner,” Janet wrote. “There was a large group of noisy tarts celebrating something. (We’d seen quite a few tarts around during the day inappropriately dressed and wondered what was happening!) They were so noisy! It was deafening. Fortunately, there weren’t there (in the bar) long, so we had our dinner in peace.” In fact, my memory of this is that they were occupying the dining area just beyond the bar, and as a result, the staff seated us in what I would deem part of the bar. But it was a not unsuitable location in which to have dinner, so there was no need to move us on into the dining area proper when the noisy riff-raff left. I had the soup again, but because the pizza had been too filling I had lamb shank with a mix of quinoa and something else. So at the end I was comfortable, not over-filled. To drink I had
Stella Artois.
When we got back, the room still hadn’t been done. I couldn’t stand the stress of it, and decided to go out for a walk. I don’t know why I don’t have the courage to face difficult or problematic situations, and deal with them calmly and assertively.
Janet was supportive, saying that she could handle it, and that I was good at other things which she couldn’t handle. I went to look at the section of wall that we missed on the last visit, a stretch of some 70 yards from just south-west of Clifford’s Tower to the river. I found that an iron gate gave access to a passage within the wall, passing the garden gates of the houses along there, and terminating at the back door of the upper storey of the Davy Tower. So I was able to explore along there, as well as walking along the other side in Tower Gardens. Having thus walked to the end of the wall and back twice,
i.e. once within and once without; I strode out along the diagonal path through Tower Gardens, passing under the arch of Skeldergate Bridge and continuing along the riverside avenue. There were many wood-pigeons loudly calling in the trees, especially at the River Foss end of the avenue, which elevated my mood completely. I crossed the scaffolding bridge over the River Foss, a distance of about a third of a mile from the far corner of Tower Gardens. Although the double-leaf bascule Blue Bridge was fenced off, there was no apparent reason for doing so; but I assume that work is to be done on it that has not yet started.
When I got back, the room had been done. Janet made us both coffee, now that the stocks had been replenished. We went to bed,
ca.9.30pm. At 1.10pm, I was disturbed by a parent and a very noisy child arriving at their hotel room nearby.
[Sunday 23 August 2020]
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