Short Review - Coffee Culture, York

I 'discovered' this coffee shop, located on Goodramgate, sometime in Summer 2010 after it was recommended by a friend. It was love at first sight. Downstairs there are a few stools and a small bar against the wall, but the room is dominated by the counter, coffee machines and food preparation areas. So you head off up a steep narrow staircase to find yourself somewhere to sit. (Important note at this stage: delightful though this place is it's not suitable for pushchairs, disabled people, or those with an irrational fear of steep, narrow staircases).

So, you've made it up the stairs and you find yourself facing a wall that's covered in posters advertising all sorts of stuff in going on in York, from music gigs, to yoga sessions. Look to your right and you'll find 4 tables set out along a narrow room. The first two are standard table and chairs, but the other two are high tables with a chair on one side and the coveted window seat on the other. This is my favourite place to sit for a coffee in York; you can prop yourself up on cushion and spy on the people in the street below (might need your coat if it's chilly mind, I'm pretty sure its single glazing).

If there are no seats on this floor you can head up another set of steep narrow stairs to the next floor. This is a snug little room with a nice squigy sofa, 1 table and chair set up, and 1 corner seat. If there's still no room in here, and if it's open, there is another room up an even more steep and narrow staircase. You find yourself in the loft with a choice of two tables and a view down the alley behind the building towards the Bedern area, or if you lie on the floor you can look through the front window at the street (it's rather low down).

I love the coffee they serve here, not too strong, but not really mild either, and they make a very nice cappuccino (unlike some places where it comes out more like a latte that someone's spat on). The food is good, not an enormous range, but enough to satisfy most tastes. I enjoyed a bacon and brie panini on my last visit while mum had the soup. There's also a fairly large range of non-coffee drinks, and they stock Teapigs tea, which my mum, who likes all sorts of odd tea, is a big fan of. I've even bought a single teabag from this shop to take home for her to try once. They only take cash, but according to their menu there's a cash machine just down the street, yey.


So conclusion: Best coffee shop in York; great coffee, tasty food, friendly staff, bags of character.


Where to find it: 41 Goodramgate, York YO1 7LS

Looks like they're on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/41Goodramgate?sk=wall

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