Knocking on Heaven's Door

This is the door knocker of All Saints’ church on Pavement. It is thought to date from the 12 century and is known as a Doom. It shows a man being swallowed whole by a beast. Anyone being pursued by the authorities could claim sanctuary by holding on to the ring of the door knocker….. it does look well-used!

Walk on the Walled Side

This is a portion of the city walls close to the Red Tower. The Walls are a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade 1 listed building. Defensive walls were first built around York in Roman times, although the walls that still surround the city today date mainly from the 13^th century. It is still possible to walk on almost two miles of the remaining walls including this section.

Who is that Masked Rider?

The second annual York Cycling City Cycle Races took place on August 11^th 2011. This was the first event, the Brompton Team Challenge for folding bicycles. Each of the riders had a different coloured folding cycle. The circuit included Blake Street, St Sampson’s Square and Goodramgate, with a finishing sprint past the Minster into Duncombe Place. I fear one of the riders may have come to grief as the next vehicle to pass down this street was an ambulance.

Now you see it.......................

Most of Roman York  is buried under the modern city, and nowhere is this better illustrated than in the Museum Gardens. Here is the Multangular Tower dating from the time of Constantine (declared Roman Emperor in York in AD 306). The lower part of the tower consisting of small bricks is entirely Roman, the upper part of large blocks is 14th century. 

Until 1831 when it was 're-discovered' by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society the medieval windows were at ground level with the Roman tower buried under centuries of accumulated debris.

Mad Bad and Dangerous to know?

Lund’s Court or Mad Alice Lane is a ginnel linking Low Petergate to Swinegate. There are a number of stories around about who Mad Alice might have been. They include a woman called Alice Smith who was hanged in 1825 for the ‘crime’ of insanity, or a woman hanged in 1823 for poisoning her husband. Her unquiet spirit is said to still roam the dark narrow alleyway. I suspect in reality she was an eccentric local character who led a fairly blameless life. There are no colourful tales about who Lund was. This photo shows the Low Petergate entrance to the ginnel.

The Yorkshire Rose

The white rose is both a symbol of the City of York and the County of Yorkshire. The origins of the emblem are thought to be in the 14th century with Edmund of Langley the first Duke of York. After the Battle of Minden on August 1st 1759, Yorkshiremen of the 51st regiment picked white roses as a tribute to their fallen comrades. Yorkshire Day is celebrated on this date each year. This White Rose can be found on one of the gates to the city walls. It seemed an appropriate image to start a daily photo blog of York.