I spent Christmas in England and Wales and the next week in Paris and Amsterdam, so the next few entries are memories and photos.
Stephen and I landed at Manchester airport after an
uneventful flight – except for hours of searing agony in my restless leg – and immediately
picked up a car, attempted to determine what side of the road to drive on and
set off for York.
The M62 to York took us to the outskirts of Batley, my home town,
so we turned off the motorway and pulled in for a bite at Tesco’s (only the
very best for us). I had long wanted to a look at Batley Beck where it runs
above ground near Iceland. (Not the country, the superstore.) I found that
several short stretches of the beck, inside high walls, ran between the Bus
Station and Branch Road where it meets Bradford Road. If I’d been twenty years younger,
I would have jumped down into the stream bed to follow it into the tunnels, but
I’m not and I didn’t. Much more about Batley Beck to come, I assure you!
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| Batley Beck behind Bus Station |
It was half-past freezing in England. We are both used to the temperate Southern California weather. We knew that Batley, at 53.7 degrees north, would be a little colder but the glacier-like grinding cold dropping down my collar was unprecedented. I’d brought an ancient wool overcoat and a thick scarf. S. had brought a gaberdine and a Russian-style hat with ear flaps and a Tuva badge.
We quickly toured the site of the now-demolished maternity
home on Bradford Road, the now demolished Boston House Flat on Zion Street and council
house on Wilton Street), and the maisonette on Commercial Street, still there.
We passed where my parents’ short-lived businesses were, on the corner of Henrietta
Street, now demolished.
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| My drawing of (now demolished) corner of Henrietta Street and Commercial Street |
Stephen took everything in good humor, even when I insisted
on going to Howie’s Fish and Chip shop, which was undemolished but closed. I have had many a fish and chips twice with bits from Howie's, but we were not able to reprise the event this trip. (And possibly never - there is a tiny 'for sale' sign in the window.) We
had pastries from Charnock’s, not only undemolished but also not closed for the
holidays. English pastries were a
feature of this vacation. Having grown used to American ones, I’d forgotten what
hand-made, reasonably-sweet pastries could be like.
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| Howie's, December 2024 |
We took the car back out on the minuscule one-car-wide roads and drove on to York. We parked in a Park and Ride (and downloaded our first parking app of about thirty), then walked to our creatively hidden hotel in Judges Court (which, once located, was great). We spent the next day in York, which was closed, the Christmas Market having packed up the day before and everything else being just averagely closed.
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| York guardians |
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| York Minster Angel |
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| York Minster Angel |
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| York Minster Queen Elizabeth in stone |
We did all the outside things, though. We went to the city wall and walked around it, to York Minster (closed), took a photo op with Paddington Bear (not sure why he was in York), the various ruins, Cliffords Tower (closed), lunch at a tiny hipster joint whose name I’ve forgotten where we two stout people and our food were allocated four square feet that teetered a few inches from the top of a flight of stairs. We finished with a jolly good walk around the place. We were further fueled by coffee from Caffe Nero, because Stephen warned me off Gregg’s. (Apparently just because it’s ubiquitous, it isn’t always the best…but this means I’ve still never been to a Gregg’s.)
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| York Wall Walk |
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| I think this map of York walls has been here since my last visit in 1965 |
We then hared off to my brother’s near Middlesbrough, a few
more miles on the M62 and then on the A19. Or could have been the A1(M).
British people memorize strings of road numbers and reel them off at the
slightest provocation, but I got out of the habit in the US and it didn’t
really come back to me on this trip.
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| Me and Paddington Bear observe York Minster |
It was nice to have a warm bed and be with family for
Christmas. And boy, was there a lot of family there! I’m not sure how our host
and hostess managed to keep up with everyone, but a great couple of days was
had by all.
More holiday to come...
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