On Tour: York, Day 1

Welcome to the first in a series of blogs about my visit to the historic city of York, this past weekend.

Eboracum was originally founded in AD 71, by the Roman Ninth Legion who had conquered the Brigantes Tribe. On its founding it became the Roman capital for Britannia inferior. 

Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain it became the capital of the kingdoms of Deira, Northumbria, and Scandinavian York.

During the Middle Ages, AD 735, York became the centre for the northern England ecclesiastical province, covering the northern third of England and the Isle of Man, consisting of 14 dioceses.

During the nineteenth century York became a major railway hub and a centre for the manufacturing of confectionery.

Today, York is a bustling Cathedral City covering an area of 33.7 km2 (13.0 sq mi). To put this into context, my hometown of Watford has an area of 21.5 km2 (8.3 sq mi), while London has an area of 1,572 km2 (607 sq mi). It is home to many historical buildings, streets and the Minster.

For the long weekend of Friday March 6 to Monday March 9, York would be where Emma and myself would be staying, as it was a place that neither of had visited. Our friend Steve was looking after Erin and Keilyn, at our house, for the weekend.

Friday March 6, 2026.

We left Watford via Watford Junction, taking a National Rail train to Euston. From there we walked the short distance to King's Cross station, stopping to grab some food from the Market on King's Cross Square.

We then made our way into the station and waited for the platform allocation to be announced, before heading through the ticket barriers to platform 3. After stowing our luggage we took our reserved seats and sat back and enjoyed the smooth ride to North Yorkshire.

Arriving at York station we left the train and made our way across beneath the train lines to the station exit. We then made the short walk through the city to the Premier Inn at Layerthorpe. 

After checking in we relaxed for a few minutes in our room, before heading out. We made a trip to the local 'Morrisons' to ensure that we had drinks and snacks in the hotel room. After dropping the purchases in the room we headed out to explore the city.

Our first visit was to the historic street called 'Shambles'. This street consists of cobbled stones and preserved buildings, some of which date to the fourteenth century. It was once called the Great Flesh Shambles, reflecting the butcher shops that once lined both sides. Many of these timber-framed buildings have overhanging first floors, which stopped the sun from damaging the meats on sale in the shop windows below. 

Today it is home to gift shops, coin dealers, sweet shops, bakeries, a tavern, chocolatiers, jewellery shops, tea rooms, clothing shops, the Shrine of Saint Margaret Clitherow, candle shops and a Christmas Shop. Then there is the Society of Alchemists, the Potions Cauldron and the Shop That Must Not Be Named, the latter of which is cashing in on the Harry Potter trend. 'Shambles' is said to be the inspiration for 'Diagon Alley', in the 'Harry Potter' films. Almost all of the buildings, along 'Shambles', are Grade listed.

We then visited 'Shambles Market'. The market was created in the 1950s and is open 7 days a week, with stalls moving to different locations, throughout the market, depending on the day. This gives the market a fresh feel on every visit. Here there were stalls selling everything from trinkets to clothing, collectables to flowers, artwork to crafts and much more. After a good peruse a few items were purchased, before we stopped for a hot drink.

On leaving the market we wandered around the paved streets, heaving with people, looking for somewhere to eat. After weighing up the many options we decided to visit 'Pizza Hut', as it had been a long time since we had tried one.

Suitably full we made our way back to the hotel, with me delighting in the fact that Ireland had beaten Wales in the Men's 6 Nations Championship, while we were eating.

The rest of the evening was spent in the hotel, watching TV and preparing for our first Saturday in York.