When bored...

Build a den out of your books

University of York - Nice place for a walk

On Sunday afternoon the Mother and I headed up to Heslington to do a spot of geocaching* on the University of York campus while it was a little quieter than usual (or so we hoped). While a university might seem a rather unlikely place to go walking York uni campus is really nice for a stroll. Whenever I've been during the week there have always been loads of people around, not surprising as there are around 13000 students at the university, so if you're after a nice peaceful walk I'd suggest a Saturday. Sunday was surprisingly busy with lots of students dragging suitcases around after a weekend away from campus.

 The vast majority of the buildings on campus are far from picturesque, mostly 1960s concrete monstrosities, however there are a few which redeem it. Heslington Hall, for example, is a beautiful red brick building which, according to the University's website, is a modified  Elizabethan country house, rebuilt in the 20th century. Behind this building is a lovely garden (a hidden gem if you like) called 'The Quiet Place', describe as an area set aside for stillness and quiet. With its large hedges cut into unusual formations it put me in the mind of Alice in Wonderland. It was a shame to see discarded crisp packets and beer cans (and some even more undesirable items) tangled in the bowels of the bushes. Still, a rather mysterious, almost magical place nonetheless.

Hedges in 'The Quiet Place'

Another prominent feature is the lake which is home to several species of wildfowl (beware of droppings on the pavement) and there are boards to help you identify them. There's even a 'Duck of the Day' blog run by the university (http://www.duckoftheday.co.uk/). I found these Barnacle geese particularly charming; they look particularly dainty next to the more common Greylag and Canada geese.

Barnacle Geese at York Uni

Parking at the university is a bit of an issue. If you're lucky you can snag a place on the street near the bus stop by Derwent college where you can park for up to 2hrs Mon - Sat. There is a large pay and display car park at Campus North (around £1 an hour, if memory serves) but during the week it is rather busy. Parking in Heslington is pretty much a no go, but if you drive to the end of the main street and turn right at the mini roundabout there's a small car park for the sports field which seems to be free (I've not been in trouble for parking there to date anyway).

Final note: If you fancy geocaching there are 7 caches on campus and a further 3 in Heslington.

*Geocaching is a global treasure hunt where you use a GPS device to lead you to hidden caches (there are 325 within a 10mile radius of York) where you sign a log and can sometimes swap small items. Official website: www.geocaching.com

York Cemetery (not as morbid as it sounds)

I've been meaning to visit York Cemetery for a while now and today I finally got round to it. The cemetery website site states: 'York Cemetery: A fun place to spend an afternoon, a beautiful place to spend eternity', which I found a rather amusing summary but on reflection fairly accurate I suppose. This was another place that surprised me with its size and you would probably need an hour or so to walk all its paths (if you can work out which you've already been along).

A landscaped part

Unsurprisingly there are rows and rows of graves and the paths lead you up and down these. There's a combination of grassed and wooded areas, and some parts are really overgrown and the gravestones are hidden under tangles of brambles and behind tall grasses, then occasionally among the plant chaos you come across a small clearing where a more recent grave is situated. These overgrown areas don't actually detract from the appearance of the cemetery, well not in my opinion, they actually give it a rather 'Secret Garden' air. In fact the whole place has a rather secluded feel to it, though that could be because it was a rather damp Winter day and no one else was around.

An overgrown section

 Considering it is a 'Garden of Death' there's a lot of life in the cemetery. As well as varied plant life, both the wild, overgrown sections and the nicely landscaped sections, there are lots of birds to be seen flitting between the cemetery's many trees. We spotted some Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Magpies, Blue Tits and Blackbirds although if you look carefully there are probably many more species to be seen. We also spotted a black cat lurking around the gravestones, seemed rather fitting. There were plenty of spring flowers popping up as well, most notably the snowdrops.

Winter Snowdrops

 So despite it's rather depressing nature York Cemetery is a nice place for a quiet walk round. It's not too far from the city centre (probably about 15mins walk) and there's parking close by at Kent Street car park (about £1.20 per hour) near the Barbican Centre.

Official Website: http://www.yorkcemetery.org.uk/index.php

A double church surprise

This is one of York's little hidden gems; off the tourist trail and probably off the locals' trails as well. Located on Lawrence Street (opposite Walmgate Bar, outside the walls) there are two churches in the same yard. The elder of the two was built in the 12th century but was largely demolished in 1881, all except the tower which is maintained by the Churches Conservation Trust. The new church is Victorian and I'm amazed I've never noticed it before because it's so big! The churchyard is fairly unremarkable with the gravestones propped up against its wall, and there's a 'Garden of Remembrance' marked out with wooden posts and covered in a variety of wreaths. There are some spring flowers popping up around the place, most notably a row of yellow crocuses on the path up to the new church door.

St Lawrence Church (old)

St Lawrence Church (new)

Precentor's Court, York

Precentor's Court is one of York's lesser known and less frequented streets, but it offers one of the best view of the Minster that you can get from street level. You can reach it either from the Minster end or by a small passageway called 'Hole in the Wall' which is situated next to a pub by the same name on High Petergate (near Bootham Bar). This is also one of the first points on Mark W. Jones 'A walk around the Snickleways of York', which offers an alternative perspective on York presented in a charming handwritten style; great for tourists and locals alike.

The book is available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/6tv9ar4

Short Review - Spring Espresso, York

I spotted Spring Espresso on Fossgate the other day while visiting a shop across the street and decided to give it a try as soon as I could. Today was the day; a wet, cloudy and generally dreary day. It's a pretty small establishment; a single room with about 5 tables, an assortment of stools and sofas, and bar style seating by the window. You order at the counter at the back of the room where there are blackboards listing food and drinks available, and cakes etc. are on display on the counter. They offer a range of paninis, cold sandwiches, bagels with four different spreads, and a soup option. The cakes included sponge cakes, cheesecakes and a range of biscuits. Unfortunately there was no gluten free cake available for my coeliac mother, but apparently they do have gluten free options available sometimes, though not today. She settled for some Hendersons relish Yorkshire crisps (very nice actually) while I had an extra large portion of roast vegetable and ham soup (there wasn't enough left in the pot for two servings, hence the extra). The soup was lovely, a slight hint of spice and packed full of veg. The coffees were lovely as well (we ordered a cappuccino and a latte), and from what I have gleaned from their laminated newsletter and their twitter page (link below) these people really care about the quality of their coffee.

I got the impression that this is a small coffee shop with loyal customers, based on the number of people who came in and seemed familiar with the barista in the short time we were in there, and given her friendly attitude and the quality of the coffee it's not hard to see why you would want to return. They sell takeaway coffee as well so its easy to pop in on your way to work or if you're just on a quick dash around the city centre. The furniture (tables in particular) is very nice and homely and although things are packed in rather tightly you don't feel too much like a sardine. Even though it was quite quiet inside (I wouldn't pick it as a place to discuss something very private), my mum and I didn't feel like our conversation was disturbing the ambience. In addition to food stuffs, they also sell a small range of tea and coffee 'accessories', e.g. reusable takeaway cups, coffee pots etc. As for reading material, the 'I' newspaper was available and there was a small stack of magazines on one of the tables, as well as a few laminated copies of their newsletter around with short, interesting pieces on the world of coffee.

In conclusion this is a place I'd recommend if you like your coffee and you want a break from shopping away from the hubbub of York's main shopping streets in the quiet and comfortable atmosphere of a small coffee shop.

There's not a great deal on their website but here's the address: http://www.springespresso.co.uk/index.htm

Their twitter account however seems to be updated pretty regularly, every few days at least: https://twitter.com/#!/SpringEspresso

Free tea? Don't mind if I do

While wandering back to the car park from a quick walk around by York Minster my Mum and I were stopped by a lady with a clipboard and talked into doing a tea taste test at York's Central Methodist Church as part of some market research. We sat down at a table with a researcher and got two samples of black tea (with milk and sugar on hand if you wanted it) and asked to say whether we liked them or not, and whether we thought they were the same, similar or different. They were both fairly nice and similar in taste. After answering her questions I was free to go and asked if I could take one of the cups of tea with me (I'd only drunk a small sip, seemed a shame to waste it). The lady seemed a bit bemused but said that would be fine she supposed. Mum also got given two washing powder samples to try (I saw her being given two small packets of white powder, suspicious). Apparently these market research people are there fairly often so if you fancy trying some free stuff then look out for people with clipboards near Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate in York.

The Queen's coming to York

Even I am quite excited at the prospect of Her Majesty coming to York in April. I might even be tempted to join the crowds in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. She's coming up to distribute the Royal Maundy from the Minster. So, if I have my facts right, she'll be giving 85 pensioners, chosen because of their Christian contribution to both church and community, specially minted Maundy silver coins to the value of 85pence in a white leather purse, and a second, red leather purse containing ordinary coinage.

Link to The Press article about the visit:  http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9477340.Queen_to_visit_York/?ref=mr

When bored...

make a crime scene mock up with a dead ladybird you found on your desk

Yey! Books!

Something to aspire towards

This might give me some ideas for some future storage solution for my own growing 'library'

http://bookshelfporn.com/

Pretty frozen things

 Frosty Morning Afternoon

On Saturday 14th Jan I went for a walk in the cow field to have a look at the frozen flood water. Here are some photos I took; some I'm just quite proud of them, and others show the ice intriguingly hanging on halfway up plants. I don't really know how the ice formed so far above the water (unless the flood level dropped dramatically overnight) but I'll endeavour to find out.

'Suspended' ice by the stream

'Suspended' ice

I just think these 3 are pretty

Nessie in North Yorkshire

Nessie Sign

Spotted this on a footpath sign at Sutton Bank and it reminded me of the Loch Ness Monster