28 Friday 7 - Monday 10 August York

I always intended to introduce Simon to youth hostelling and from the restricted choice available chose York as the most viable option for a long weekend. The surprise element was that my wife Julie, not known for her love of youth hostels, chose to accompany us.

We set off mid-morning in order to get to the Nutty Butty van in order to repay the debt from Saturday. Julie ordered a double cheeseburger, imagining they were the same size as Burger King and couldn't finish it. We moved on to Heptonstall where we walked the history trail ( last walked with Patrick Brennan on 10th June 1978 ).

Simon took Julie to see the view over Hebden Bridge from the playground.

We moved on to the trail including the ruins of the old church.

We moved on to the new graveyard where we found the grave of Sylvia Plath. This isn't mentioned in the history trail despite it being published some years after her death. Perhaps they felt emotions were a little too raw to include this piece of recent history. Noting that the grave is now marked by a number of pens, Julie planted one from her handbag there.

When we go to the Cross Inn, we had a break for refreshment, much needed in the heat. We then took in the last sights of the trail, the oldest continuously-used Methodist church in the world and the village dungeon.

We then drove on to York via Halifax and Leeds stopping only at a garage to buy some drinks. We found the hostel without much difficulty.

We were given an 8-bed room because it was cooler. Julie conceded it was quite nice. We booked breakfast for the next morning. Simon and I went for a walk up the road to look for some takeaway options. I realised then that we were quite close to the football stadium. Eventually, we found a pizza shop just outside the city walls and bought three for us when two would probably have sufficed. We ate them on the outside tables and chatted with the other families staying there. Simon found a large xylophone in the trees and provided some musical entertainment.

We had breakfast outside too, over-priced bacon butties and juice. We then walked alongside the river into the city itself.

We set off on a circuit of the city walls, initially the wrong way ( Covid regulations have made it one-way ). We stopped at Walmgate Bar , now home to a cafe where we were able to sit on the roof. After that, we completed the circuit.

After that we nipped into St Wilfrid's church where Simon and I took the opportunity to go to confession. After that we headed for the Minster but couldn't get in because we hadn't booked.. We moved into the shopping area and had a rather expensive lunch at a pub called Harkers..

Simon and I then went into HMV where I bought him a David Gilmour CD and a cut-price T-shirt which he changed into shortly afterwards. We then walked to the railway museum but that too was pre-booked visits only. After a fruitless round of phone calls, we realised that we needed to have planned our visit a bit better. We spent the rest of the afternoon mooching around the park and the river until it was time to return to the hostel. We got some groceries at the nearby Spar before the hostel re-opened. We ordered some KFC for supper. Simon entertained an Italian lady on the xylophone and befriended a girl called Emmie.

The next day we were better prepared. We had breakfast at Witherspoon's then went to an immersive Van Gogh exhibition in a converted church. We then had a milk shake in a cafe before our pre-booked visit to the Jorvik Centre. After that we had a gap before a pre-boked visit to York Dungeons which we spent in the park again.

Julie didn't fancy the Dungeons so she took a sightseeing bus round the city instead. I was a bit disappointed by how similar the experience was to Blackpool with many of the same jokes .We met up afterwards and returned to Witherspoons for tea. We then returned to the hostel where Simon befriended another girl called Maisie at the xylophone.

The warden said we could remain parked there until 2pm so we had time for another visit to the city. Simon made friends with a couple of girls outside just before we left the hostel and their family accompanied us on the walk into the city. We had breakfast at Witherspoon's before a pre-booked visit to Clifford's Tower. Julie initially refused the stairs to the wall top but Simon later persuaded her to go up with him. A nice guide called Dale was very helpful with Simon's questions.