I then gave them a walking tour of York from the walls
We’d just been hosted by Naz’ and his colleagues, in my favourite Indian restaurant in York…. It sits on the main road, just outside of Monk Bar…. Our taste buds are still singing and the conversation amongst us, is filled with vivid descriptions of the food that we had just consumed.
Andy had drunk four Kingfisher beers, and was on the verge of being ‘nissed as a pewt’. Anne had eaten too much naan bread and felt ready to pop, Georgina delighted in her first taste of chicken tikka…. The comments and remarks buzzed through the group.
It would be dark in a few minutes and because the doors leading onto the city walls would close at dark, I hurried them across the road and towards the gate. In the North of England a ‘bar’ is a gate ( barrier) and a gate is a road ( ie Stanegate). The low stone ceiling was no hindrance as we climbed and at the top I stepped onto Yorks famous wall….’Yes!!!’ I shouted.
Everyone clambered up towards me and I then gave them a walking tour of York from the walls… very ad hoc but fun!… as we looked down into the city.
I covered subjects like the English Civil War, Wars of the Roses, Cathedral building and WW2 from the lofty vantage point that we gained.
Everyone was cheery, well fed and well watered, so we took our time.
In the gatehouse that is Bootham Bar, I told the romantic but solemn story of Canadian servicemen using their knives to cut a sliver of the wooden portcullis and taking it to France as a good luck token, but also as a keepsake for their parachute descent into Normandy….. Many of those young men had fallen in love during their two years in training, but many would never see their lovers again……it brought the mood down a little, but it’s good information and a lovely story, as the wooden portcullis eventually collapsed because so much had been whittled away.
Stepping down onto the street we huddled together and walked the last 200 yards to our hotel….
Anyone for a gin and tonic? I asked
All hands went up!………. We chatted on into the night, full of curry…… and tales of local characters and historic events.