W H Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden was born in this house at 54 Bootham York on  21st February 1907. The following year his family moved to Birmingham so his links with York are at best tenuous. That did not stop the York tourism office persuading some local cab drivers to learn one of his works by heart and recite them at passengers to celebrate the centenary of his birth in 2007. Although I note they chose the beautifully rhythmic The Night Mail rather than the better known Funeral Blues. Perhaps they thought 'Stop all the clocks' did not set the right tone in a taxi!