And, having found another old video of York on YouTube, it’s time for another Tour of Old York. Alas, the the YouTube video doesn’t seem to be embeddable on any old random website but – in better news – it does seem to be tagged with a permissive licence that allows me to rehost it here…
York in flood during (apparently) the late 70s. At about 30 seconds in there’s a lovely shot of a very wet pre-flood defence Marygate. Later on, at around one minute forty, you get a shot along Wellington Row and across the River – notably showing the build that there before the construction of the General Accident (now Aviva) Building. There are also some nice shots of The Kings Arms and the bottom of the Museum Gardens in flood.
The ‘Mayflower’ steam locomotive changing direction on the turn table at York Station.
I like Steam – the sound, the smell, the sheer force of presence that comes from a visible engine pulling up to the platform you are on – far more than the modern trains I’ve taken for work and for leisure. I do under stand the practical reasons that they needed to be retired, but it still seems something of a loss. Perhaps when autonomous vehicles have destroyed mass transit, the remaining national railways can be converted to heritage lines and Steam can rise again…
I had a good but long weekend. Saturday was, of course, filled with watching England’s hard-fought victory against New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup. Beer was drunk (to excess!) and a good time was has by all.
Sunday was a little more highbrow; I popped up to York and spent a very enjoyable 30 minutes watching two showings of Northern Lights at York Minster – a fantastic laser, lights, and audio installation in York Minster’s Nave. I thoroughly recommend it and would suggest that you either see one of the few remaining shows of this season or jump in early when it (hopefully!) returns next year.
Here’s a short documentary I found about it:
