York is known for its history, from Romans and Vikings to its enticing medieval streets and walls — but visit the city this year, and there’s a sense of renewal. Quite literally, with a series of restoration projects underway.
Usually visited by tourists from across the world, the stream of international arrivals has dried up for now, thanks to Covid-19.
But that has given specialist workers time to restore some of the city’s key sites, such as Clifford’s Tower, the site of a notorious antisemitic pogrom in the Middle Ages, and the National Rail Museum.
And as a railway city that sits halfway between London and Edinburgh, the train lines that once transported coal across the East Coast are now benefitting the increasing number of people looking for staycations across the UK.
We take the fast train from London (just 1 hour 45 minutes from King’s Cross) directly to York on a journey so comfortable and quick, that we almost miss our stop and continue onto Newcastle.
So, where better to start than with a visit to the free National Railway Museum.
Home to over 100 historical trains and engines, from the royal train that transported Queen Victoria to a 1960s Japanese bullet train and a Eurostar carriage, there’s more than locomotives alone; the world’s biggest collection of railway items includes documents, furniture and station signs.
We stop outside a hospital train that once carried wounded soldiers from the First World War home from the Western Front. My eyes dart to quotes from war poet Siegfried Sassoon, himself of Baghdadi Jewish ancestry.
And as well as spotting an engineer working on restoring an old mechanism, more projects are underway, with plans to develop galleries in conjunction with railway companies to show off the latest technology.
“Our conservation and maintenance teams have taken the opportunity to do all the jobs they could not do when we were open before the pandemic,” explains one member of the museum team, an attraction which welcomed up to 800,000 visitors annually before the pandemic struck. “Now we are open again, 90 per cent of our visitors are from the UK.”
Continuing our theme, we stay The Grand Hotel, an Edwardian building that was originally the headquarters of the North Eastern Railways and which sits close to York Minster and the old city walls.
Top hat-wearing doormen at the front of the hotel greet us with a warm smile, which instantly makes us feel comfortable. There is something traditional about this hotel, without the cold pretence that so many slip into whilst trying to stay “five star”.
Furnishings are modern and luxurious, including USB ports by the bed in our family room and ample storage space, while the art pays homage to the hotel’s railway roots.
On our first break outside London since the pandemic, we also take advantage of the spa facilities, checking out the mood-lit pool, jacuzzi and steam room. It feels good to be back in pampered places. We finally feel like we are on holiday, even if there are post-pandemic changes such as table service only at breakfast in the hotel’s The Rise restaurant.
And from our comfortable base, every site we visit is only a short walk away — the National Railway Museum, York Minster, the Shambles and Jorvik Viking Centre are around 10 minutes wander, even Clifford’s Tower is less than 15 minutes away.
In this walkable city, there is a wealth of independent shops, sites and tearooms too (coffee rooms, really, given the large number of artisan options we find) among historic buildings. Strolling along the Shambles, an ancient street once used by the city’s butchers to display their produce and rebuilt in 1400, we had been led to believe that the cobbled narrow street inspired JK Rowling’s Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter series.
And even though the author has since confirmed that she had never visited, local shops have continued to capitalise on the rumour. Shoppers are invited to enter The Potions Cauldron, located at 9 ¾ Shambles, or to ‘park your broom’ outside The Shop That Must Be Named: novelty touches that can’t fail to raise a smile.
Whilst we are repeatedly told to “go to Betty’s”, the queue circles around the block of the famous Yorkshire café, so we head elsewhere — and I’m not disappointed. At Mannion & Co Kitchen, I asked my husband to grab a cheese sandwich. To my delight, I’m served a grilled halloumi offering with vegetables, olive tapenade and a tomato relish. Bread is baked daily, ingredients are seasonal and local and the desserts here are also divine.
We do take some of the other advice from locals and make our way to Brew & Brownie, which also focuses on artisan bread, local produce and sweet treats, including homemade Berry and Almond Friands, doughnuts, tarts and, of course, an array of brownies that are filled with Oreo, Crunchie, Kinder Bueno or Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
Tucking into a Crunchie brownie, I ask why most of York’s coffee houses and tearooms shut at around 4pm? If they stayed open a little longer, I would come back for dinner. “In York, tea, coffee and cakes are kept for the day; at night it is more alcohol based,” we’re told. “Places like this used to open until 5pm or so, but since Covid there have been issues with staffing and traffic, so it doesn’t make sense to stay open so late.”
There’s more history to find at the Jorvik Viking Centre, built on a former Viking site, where an interactive ride whisks you round to explore life as it would have been. With social-distancing measures in place, we have our own cart to take us around.
Another must-see is the spectacular York Minister, built over 250 years from 1220-1472. After a £2 million renovation, the Grand Organ can be heard once again, while the Minster will be housing a year-long Grinling Gibbons exhibition from August.
It’s also known for its Great East Window, the world’s largest expanse of medieval stained glass, and decorative Gothic nave. Inside, a guide talks to us about the shades of pink stone, a reminder of at least three fires that have hit the Minster over the centuries.
But, for all its intriguing tales, York is also home to a tragic one: Clifford’s Tower, the site of the massacre of York’s Jewish community in the Middle Ages. Here, in 1190, the city’s Jewish inhabitants sought refuge from a pogrom that came with the rise of antisemitic attacks.
Fuelled by antisemitic conspiracy theories and locals indebted to Jewish moneylenders, the community was attacked and their homes were raided.
Inside the then-wooden Norman castle, at least 150 Jewish men, women and children committed suicide, when told to choose between death or enforced baptism. The anniversary is still marked by York’s Liberal community, which has around 60 members.
At the bottom of the tower, a commemorative plaque reads: “On the night of Friday 16 March 1190 some 150 Jews and Jewesses of York having sought protection in the Royal Castle on this site from a mob incited by Richard Malebisse and others chose to die at each other’s hands rather than renounce their faith.”
For now, we cannot venture to the top, as it is closed for an English Heritage restoration project designed to protect Clifford’s Tower and make improvements for future visitors. Set to open again this autumn, conservationists and stonemasons started to work on the tower during the pandemic, repairing the walls, fireplaces and carrying out structural work to its roof.
Once it is finished, the castle’s two spiral staircases will also open to the public after being inaccessible for centuries.
A research project by York University found that the community did recover after the 1190 massacre, with Jewish figures like Aaron of York going on to have homes in the city.
There’s a map and audio tour for the York Jewish History Trail to download from the website for free, which leads visitors to sites like Jewbury cemetery and the former location of a medieval synagogue, now a clothing store on the high street.
With York’s festivals also hoping to restart, including the Jorvik Viking Festival and York Ice Trail in early 2022, when better to venture back and feel restored yourself?
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