It's been too long since I took out my cameras (Canon and Samsung S23 phone) on a full exploration but this one was a special one. Back when I lived in South Africa, I was introduced to the medieval historical novels of Sharon Penman. The first was The Sunne in Splendour, an epic story of the Wars of the Roses from just before the battle of Wakefield to the end of the Medieval era at Bosworth Field and Richard III's fall. Ever since reading Sunne, and her other historical novels, I have wanted to visit the places associated with this history. This year, I finally made a list of places and I can finally tick a few off the list including York.
I've been in the UK for 17years, and have never managed to explore York, until now. Having a rare weekend off, which included a free Friday, I chose to drive up to York on Friday afternoon, stay overnight and explore York on Saturday. The main plan was to walk the wall and visit a few key historical places. I decided, since it was a Saturday, to get into the city centre early enough to avoid the tourists and crowds. This also meant I could drive home on Saturday afternoon before any traffic build up.
I arrived in the centre around 7:15 when only a small number of people were around stocking up shops or setting up their stalls. A perfect quiet start to what would turn into a busy day. The Shambles was first on my list. I wanted photos without tourists and I'm glad I did this as when I went through it later in the afternoon, it was heaving with Harry Potter fans visiting the shops and not caring for the history of the street. Such a shame this medieval road has become no more than a film location for so many.
A little alley to the outdoor Shambles market. Everyone was still setting up.
When I returned later in the afternoon, there were long queues for this Harry Potter themed shop. Love the name of the shop. Didn't even try to get in.
2nd on my list was the medieval walls surrounding most of the city. The gates open at 8am every morning so I took a slow walk towards my entry point and stopped at a few points of interest.
This is one of the many many MANY old churches scattered around York. It seemed to be "Pigeon Date Day" as I call it on TreeTop News on Twitter, sorry X and the Wordpress blog (@TreetopNews; bythebirds.wordpress.com).
Just a strange tree coming out of the ground.
Didn't go down here as it was the the wrong way.
Love the mix of old and new here.
The pigeons gave us few spectators a rare glimpse of their practise for the coming flying display season.
Another church. I think if I went to York just to visit all the churches, I wouldn't get through all of them in one day even using the hop on, hop off buses.
I love little old alleyways especially when there are no crowds dictating your movements.
Think this is the same church from the photo above.
The most poignant place in York for many Wars of the Roses Yorkist fans, and Sharon Penman readers, might just be Micklegate Bar. It's the main gate that dignitaries would have entered through. Edward IV once entered through Micklegate Bar after his successful battle at Mortimer's Cross. However, his enemy, the wife of Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, left him a nasty gift. Edward's father, the duke of York had recently lost his life at the battle of Wakefield, as did Edward's younger brother Edmund, who was just 17 - the story goes he was murdered after the battle by Lord Clifford. Margaret had both York and Edmund's head spiked on the gate before fleeing the city. So when Edward as an 18-year-old arrived, any joy he had from his victory was quenched when he saw the heads of his father and brother, rotting and probably already having been attacked by birds, looking down at him. Standing at this old entrance to York, I couldn't help but think about this dark moment in Edward's early days.
I started this Blog back in 2024. As I write this, is it the beginning of August 2025. What follows are the rest of the photos probably with less commentary than I would like.
After reaching Micklegate Bar, I took to the wall, and enjoyed the many views it presented.
My first detour from the wall was York Minster and the 275 steps to the top of the tower.
The castle was my next destination.
One of my favourite places to find as a photographer was the ruins of St Mary's Abbey.
Definitely need to go back to York but next time I hope to spend a week in Yorkshire exploring the Wars of the Roses battlefields and places of interest. Maybe next year.
