Doors within the walls 18 - 18 St. Saviourgate

As mentioned yesterday, St. Saviourgate is a honeypot of interesting doors. So, here is another gem from that street.

Doors within the walls 17 - 29 St Saviourgate

St. Saviourgate is a street full of interesting doors yet hardly anybody walks along that street. The closest most tourists will get is to come out of Colliergate or Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate into St. Saviourgate to visit Dig. What a treat they are missing.

In an earlier blog I showed the disused chapel at the junction of Haxby Road, Wiggington Road and Clarence Street, here is a more detailed look at one of the archways leading to the doors of the chapel.

Schoolchildren Crocodile - Goodramgate

At this time of year visitor numbers in York start to increase and we phenomenen of the schoolchildren crocodiles occurs. Crocodile is the local term applied to a long line of chattering schoolchildren on sightseeing trips to the city. Sensibly this crocodile has been broken into two groups. Sometimes if you are coming out of a shop and a crocdile is passing you may have to wait some time for it to pass before you can get out of the shop.

Goodramgate - Mind, Charity Shop

Goodramgate charity shop number 4, the Mind shop, is next to the passageway into Bedern opposite the National Trust shop.

Goodramgate - Save the Children Charity Shop

Here is number 3 in the charity shop series, Save the Children, is located just a few doors from the British Heart Foundation shop shown in yesterday's blog..

Goodramgate - British Heart Foundation Shop

Continuing the theme of charity shops in Goodramgate, her is number 2. The British Heart Foundation shop is just a few doors from the Oxfam shop shown in yesterday's blog. Her you can see two pensioners who have just come out of the shop and are probably heading towards the Oxfam shop looking for bargains.

Goodramgate - Oxfam Shop

In the short stretch of Goodramgate running up to Monk Bar you can find four charity shops including this Oxfam shop on the corner of Aldwark.

Doors within the walls 16 - St. William's College

The entrance to St. William's College has an interesting carved stone archway topped with two shields including the ecclesiastical crossed keys.

At the back of Rohan - Stonegate

This is the back of the Rohan shop in Stonegate. The timbering of the mediaeval building is much more revealead than it is at the front.

Cutting Stone in the Minster Stoneyard

As I was passing the stoneyard I could hear the sound of the saw whirring as it cut through a large chunk of magnesian limestone. This is how the scene unfolded as a chunk was sliced off the end of a large block and was then loaded onto a trolley and taken away.

Blackbird Nest - Chick Hatching

In an earlier post I showed a photo of a blackbird nest that had been built in one of my fuchsia plants. The first egg has now started to hatch, although I was fairly quick the hen bird spotted me as she came back and gave the distinctive chook chook chook alarm call so I had to grab this photo very quickly. Hen bird is now safely ensconced back in the nest.

Canada Geese - Junction Monkgate and Huntington Road

These geese are some of the inhabitants of the small park mentioned in yesterday's blog. Canada geese have become so prolific in the UK that there is an open hunting season on them all year round. This pair came dashing up to me whilst I was taking photographs, no doubt expecting that I had brought them some stale bread to feed them. Sorry guys, no food, just a camera!

River Foss at Junction Huntington Road and Monkgate

This small area of parkland next to the River Foss is by the roundabout junction where Huntington Road meets with Monkgate and Heworth Green. There are several geese that gather in this area indicating that the water quality of the river has improved dramatically since the 1960s. Traffic chaos sometimes happens here when the geese decide to go for a walk across the road and move slowly.

Another Former Chapel - Clarence Street

York seems to be full of former chapels, this one is located at the busy three junction of Clarence Street, Wiggington Road and Haxby Road.

Side View Former Chapel - Bootham Park

This side view shows the spendid architecture of the former chapel in Bootham Park Hospital grounds.

Former Chapel - Bootham Park Hospital

This former chapel in the grounds of Bootham Park Hospital now houses offices for the NHS Phsycology Department.

York St. John's University

York is blessed with two universitys. This is one of the entrances into St. John's on Clarence Street. There has been a lot of building work going on lately. St. John's was a teacher training college and many folk in York still refer to it as St. John's College. In the grounds facing Lord Mayors Walk of the campus is a building now called Holgate which used to house the Archbishop Holgate Grammar School which moved out to Hull road to larger premises.

Bootham Row

At the back of the car park in Bootham Row is a building that used to house Bootham Engineers. When they moved out to bigger premises the building was taken over BBC Radio York the local radio station.

Wandesford House - Bootham

This former almshouse is now a residential care home. Above the door is a bust of Lady Ann wandesford the founder of the former almshouse for widows.

Walls in Marygate

From Marygate Tower the walls continue alongside Marygate down to the river. The walls here mark the boundary of the current Museum Gardens and what was once the boundary of St. Mary's Abbey.

Blackbird Nest in Fuchsia Plant

The other day we noticed that a blackbird was building a nest in one of the pots we have strapped to trellis work on the yard wallwhere we grow fuchsias. The nest was left empty for a few days and then two blue eggs appeared in the nest. The hen bird has now returned and is sitting on the nest. You can only just see her looking out over the rim of the nest.

Quilt Museum and Gallery Opens Tomorrow

Tomorrow, 7th June, sees the opening of the Quilt Museum and Gallery in the medieval guildhall of St Anthony, located in Peaseholme Green opposite the Black Swan Inn. The Quilt Museum and Gallery will become the national headquarters of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles and its world-famous Heritage Collection. After the Borthwick Institute moved out of the building it underwent an extensive refurbishment . Reopening has been long awaited with several setbacks including the main contractor going bankrupt in February. Inside the building the main upper hall is a masterpiece of timber framing with carved wooden bosses. Here is a short preview of the interior taken during early work on the preparation of the displays.

This is a truly magnificent setting for the display of an ancient craft that can be traced back through antiquity to ancient Egypt. The opening exhibition, Quilts in Time: Journey from Bed to Wall, curated by Helen Joseph will show pieces from the guild's own collection as well as contemporary quilts borrowed from members of the guild.

Marygate corner tower

From Exhibition Square along Bootham the city wall runs directly behind a pub and several private properties emerging on the corner of Marygate with a round tower where it turns left and follows the line of Marygate past St. Olave's church down to the River Ouse.

Pullman Bus Company - Exhibition Square

As you emerge from Bootham bar into Exhibition Square you can see where wall has been demolished leaving a small section of wall next to the square tower used by Pullman Bus Copany as an office. At one time Pullman Bus Company used to provide an extensive regular bus service to outlying communities like Linton On Ouse, Wheldrake and Easingwold. When the company's fortunes changed they reduced to doing bus tours and now I think that they only do the city tourist bus.

Timbered Buildings - Petergate

As you approach Bootham Bar from York Minster these timber framed buildings are on the right. They house an assortment of shops.

Doors within the walls 15 - Side door St. Wilfred's

By comparison with the front door, the side door may seem a little plain. However, if it was considered by itself I am sure most would agree that it is in fact a fairly ornate door and out of the ordinary.

Doors within the walls 14 - St. Wilfred's Church

Having shown a photo of St Wilfred's a couple of days ago I had to include a closer look at the ornate doorway into the church.