Blog

Clifford’s Tower, York

English Heritage have enhanced the visitor experience at Clifford’s Tower in York.  You get views from their new walkway right across the Vale of York to Drax Power Station, the Kilburn White Horse and the Yorkshire Wolds.  York Minster, so dominant in the walled city, looks good from this higher elevation too. The walkway is sited where a roof over the castle keep would have been originally,... Read more

Yorkshire’s Mountains

I imagine that, should you be asked to think of the mountainous areas of Britain, your immediate thoughts would turn to the Lake District, the Peak District and areas of Wales and Scotland. But did you realise we have mountains in Yorkshire too? Indeed, following the huge success of 2014’s Le Grand Depart (for anyone who missed it, this was the staging of the first part of the Tour de France –... Read more

A real treasure in York – the Treasurer’s House

Tucked away at the back of York Minster is the National Trust owned Treasurer’s House. The Treasurer of York Minster was a highly sought after and lucrative position being responsible for all financial matters relating to the Minster. It was only fitting that the Treasurer should reside in an opulent building befitting his status. Although some sections of the building date back to the... Read more

A Right Royal Yomp through Yorkshire

“The history of York is the history of England,” said King George VI, and it was in York where his grandson, King Charles III, revealed the first statue of our late Queen to be unveiled since her death in September 2022.  The King entered the city from the south by way of Micklegate Bar, and requested permission to enter the city from the Lord Mayor, as half a dozen monarchs have done before... Read more

Isabella Bird Bishop – A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains

The life and adventures of Isabella Bird Bishop has been recently brought into the public consciousness through BBC2’s ‘Trailblazers – A Rocky Mountain Trip’.  A 3-part series televised in December 2022 following Ruby Wax, Mel B. and Emily Atack as they follow in the footsteps of this extraordinary Yorkshirewoman. Born in 1831, at Boroughbridge Hall, Isabella was the daughter of the local vicar... Read more