Museum Gardens, or Judy Dench Walk

Mick very kindly offered to head out to Hobby Craft at Monk’s Cross for me today in search of green paper. At the same retail park is a big Sainsburys, we’d been considering getting a delivery, but had missed out on the days our pass covers us for. So instead me made out a shopping list to last us quite a few days and off he went with his bus pass.

I got on with painting some panto glazing. Messages kept coming through from Hobbycraft several different shades of green A4 paper to choose from. In the end I opted for two, Emerald and Jewel Green. By the time I’d finished my glazing Mick had returned with all the shopping.

After lunch Mick made himself scarce again, I’d suggested the Railway Museum, he headed off to hear a talk about how steam engines worked and walk round the familiar displays of trains and engines. A few halls were closed but there was still enough to keep him busy.

This morning I’d heard a steam engine’s whistle, sticking my head out of the hatch to catch the long line of carriages headed for Scarborough. During the summer months a steam train heads from Carnforth to Scarborough four times, (it used to be twice a week!) and this was it. I’d mentioned it to Mick at lunchtime so he managed to be stood on Scarborough Bridge for it’s return westbound.

All day the wind had been blowing, we’d forgotten about the wind and what it does on the moorings in York. It picks up dried silty sand and fills your boat with it. Every surface covered with it, we’ll have to get the big hoover out!

For my walk today I decided to see if I could find more houses from my past. I walked down to the railway bridge and then followed it whist walking up Bootham Terrace. One doorway caught my eye straight away for it’s tiled surround. But as I stopped to take it’s photo I then noticed the heads carved in the key stones. Built between 1860 and 70 the row of terraced houses was built speculatively, each one that bit different from the next. Sadly, I can’t find any reference as to who had the heads added to No 10 or why.

On the other side of Bootham I headed to find where Han my boyfriend from the sixth form used to live with his mum Barbara, sadly neither of them are alive today. Far smaller terraced houses are tucked away from the posh houses on Bootham. I was glad to see the current occupiers were displaying a rainbow flag in their window.

Round a few street corners, Bootham Terrace Football ground now a mass of houses. I stood outside an old family friend’s flat, I’ve not heard from Alex for a few years, he was in his 80’s, and it looked like his flat was in the process of being renovated.

Across the other side of Bootham I walked down a road one side filled with buildings part of St Peter’s school. If you want a good project and have a fair amount of spare cash this house could be ideal for you. Down onto the river bank and back along to Oleanna.

York was getting busier as the evening progressed. We’ve been aware of a few boats that loiter around the city, whilst we’ve been loitering ourselves, but I suspect they are continuous loiterers! There’s the big wooden cruiser that moves between Lendal Bridge and Millenium Bridge, a fire pit on its bow as it moves around in the dark and early hours. There’s the boat we’ve seen somewhere before, a strange craft that the local ‘Do you know who I am?’ film director dislikes as it’s an eye sore, (we still don’t know who he is!).

Then there is Orchid, a large cruiser with an even larger sound system on board!. Last weekend and this you could hear it coming from about a mile away, music BLASTING out. This evening their weekend was starting early as they passed with the elder chap stood at the bow recreating Titanic, he seemed to be loving the attention he was attracting. We just wished hey’d go away taking their loud music with them.

They did for a while, only to return and tie up on the water point/trip boat mooring, the captive audience at The Star in The City being bombarded with music. The decibels grew, we soon realised Orchid wasn’t the only noise we could hear. Eventually when the cruiser moved away one of the bars on Coney Street could be heard, the crowd singing along to the music. We think we’ll move tomorrow, not wanting to be in the centre of York on a Friday night and hopefully further away from Orchid.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 sheets of green, 1 Tornado, 1 very gritty boat, 2.8 miles, 48 minutes briskly, 1 deafening evening.

In the Fund Britain’s Waterways flotilla news, Yesterday 14 narrowboats crossed The Wash from Boston to Wisbech. A little choppy at times, one broken down boat that needed towing for the second half of the crossing, but everyone made it. What a day for it.