Hot Air

The Press says that hot air balloons were making emergency landings in my part of the world recently. They were certainly pretty close to the ground in the early morning.

The city's pidgeons - Hard at work.

Smile

Smile: It Confuses People.

God

Sorry for the few days off. I've not been well, I'm still not, but I apparently need to prepare to meet God, and I'm hoping she likes daily city photo blogs.

Constantine

Some guy looks at Emperor Constantine, who began his reign in York back when it was a Roman fortress.

I wander what this guy is thinking.

An Obvious One

An obvious one. York Minster, the war memorial and city centre as seen from the walls. I'm afraid yesterday I took a few of the minster. So we'll no doubt be seeing more of it.

Here Lies...

The grave of Dick Turpin, a notorious highway robber. I found it a while ago. I find it funny that every other grave has been laid down in this graveyard. But the one grave belonging to a hardened criminal is still maintained centuries later.

Bad Bargain Lane

Bad Bargain Lane, York.

I saw this street when I was out doing politics to York yesterday. What a weird street name. I'd love to know the story behind it.

Welcome To York

I found this sign, with a few seats and an abandoned tourist notice behind an abandoned public toilet next to the Barbican Centre.

The Barbican Centre used to be York's main leisure centre, but now it's empty and sad. Obviously the empty sadness has spread to this bit of public land, which has obviously seen better days.

No Teacher

Down an alley, just past the "free sex" messages - Voltaire.

Sorry for the days of no posting, work has been really busy of late.

Banana Warehouse

Mannequins in The Banana Warehouse, whichis one of my favourite shops in York. While being mostly full of furniature, the Banana is one of those shops that stocks all kinds of junk, with the occassional prize.

So far, the only thing I've brought from there is a copy of The Origin of the Species, some postcards that belonged to a dead nun and a signed photo of some 50's music hall singer. But I guess that gives some indication ofthe contents of this place.

Rooftops of York

A view from the city walls, ofthe minster. Two major landmarks at once.

Raggedy Old Flag

I was surprised on moving to York to see how common the Yorkshire flag is.

Flags have been getting more common in England over the last decade, and symbols of Yorkshire identity seem to have become more common in that same time.

I just wish people would take more pride in their symbols. This flag has been through the wars a bit. Maybe they should think about getting a new one.

The Ouse.

I give you: The River Ouse!

I love this river, I really do.

When I was about about nine, my family visited York from the South of England. I don't remember much of it. There was a wall. There was the Jorvik Centre. There was the queue for the Jorvik Centre, and there was the River Ouse.

I remember that in my head York was associated with a northern Kingdom of mountains and wildness, and that, in my head at least, The Ouse carried a bit of those mountains with it.

When I walk over it every day, it reminds me of mountains and this other world that doesn't really exist.

Pretty Pretty

Usually I update this blog in the early morning, so what you get is a photo of yesterday's York.

But this is the view I woke up to this morning.

This is the first time I've seen a sunrise in York on a day when I woke up at a normal time.

Night is closing in, winter is coming. But it is pretty pretty.

The Graves

Old stone graves have been dug up and changed into garden ornaments in the museum gardens. Nobody seems to notice how macabre this is.

Antiques

An antique shop containing a vast selection of Things arranged in no apparant order.

Shambles

I don't recommend enlarging this image. Sorry for the standard. But it's not a picture I'll be able to take again for a while.

This is what The Shambles looks like at around 5:30 AM, before the tourists have all come out to enjoy its rustic Elizabethan authenticity.

The Walls.

Another obligatory York view: This is York city walls. They run around most of the city centre and would probably be neither a liability nor a good defensive measure in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

This dissappoints me.

City Trees

This tree is in a part by the River Ouse. I like the way it has obviously taken damage over the years from the Human obsessive need to stamp its presence onto things, but it is healing its superficial scars slowly. And if you think of it, it's doubtful that it would even exist if humans hadn't planted it in the first place.

Peace and Love

I found a little artist's studio/gallery place in a disused room on top of a furniature shop down Piccadilly.

Some of the stuff was a bit rubbish, some was too political for me, some of the art was awe inspiring. I really liked these peace/love signs.

Castle Howard

This is Castle Howard; a stately home near York. Yesterday there was a Queen tribute act there playing with the English National Orchestra. Hence the crowd.

The manor house is still in use, the family living there was having a party in their own quarters to coincide with the night out. To be honest, I'm not sure I envy them their lifestyle; with all the expences and tourists.

Rail Tracks

Old tram tracks I found by the Millennium Bridge, it seems an old narrow gauge railway was capable of taking people to the River Ouse. I'm not sure how or if it got people across.

Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma

Here is number one and a half Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate, which, at 35 metres long is the smallest street in York. It is smaller than most of the nameless alleyways and seems to have gained a name somewhere along the line, maybe because it used to be where the stocks were, back when they were used as punishment.

The plaque by the street and wikipedia disagree on the origins of the name, and as wikipedia is the sole arbitrator of absolute truth I'll go with their definition: The street used to be called "Whitnourwhatnourgate", meaning "neither one thing nor the other".

The tradition in York place names is to call streets gates, and gates bars.



I took a photo of this lady while I was at the races because she was surrounded by photographers. She was on the front page of the local newspaper this morning. I didn't think to check why, even though I was selling the paper all day.

It is an extreme example of the kind of hats that are being sported all around the race course right now.

The Most Obvious Thing

Obligatory picture of the York Minster: The seat of the Archbishop of York.

It is the second biggest Gothic Cathedral in northern Europe. The current building was built between 1230 and 1472, but there has been a church on this spot since 627.

It's funny, but I've really gotten used to living in the same town as this building. Three months here and I don't even notice it most days anymore.

It is exactly that daily failure of of my capacity for appreciating beauty that has made me decide to take photos again.

Ebor Races

Not my best picture ever, but it is my most recent. This is a scene from Ebor Races, where I was working yesterday.

There were thousands of people getting steadilly drunk. A lot of the rich women wore funny hats. It was one of the most strange and remarkable places that my job has taken me.

I like the facial expressions captured here.

First post. I usually feel that the first post should sum up what a project is about, which here means capturing the essence of York in its most basic form.

So here's a building that's been hit by a tree.