Our Last Full Day in York!
We again got up at 8:00AM to meet our 9:00AM breakfast reservation in the hotel’s dining room.
Returning to the room we got ourselves ready for our last full day in York, leaving the hotel at 9:45. Our destination this morning: an 11:00 tour of the York Coldwar Bunker – sounds fascinating. This was an activity included on the York Pass, but our 3-day York Pass ran out yesterday so this was a cash expense of £10 each.
The Cold War Bunker turned out to be further away than we thought, involving a walk (or in my case, limp) of almost an hour and a half outside central York. On the way out of York we passed through the Mickelgate Bar. Micklegate Bar was the most important of York’s four main medieval gateways and the focus for grand events. It was the main entrance to the city for anyone arriving from the South. The lower section of the bar dates from the 12th century, the top two storeys from the 14th. The building was inhabited from 1196:
The York Cold War Bunker
The York Cold War Bunker is a two-storey, semi-subterranean, Cold War bunker built in 1961 to monitor nuclear explosions and fallout in Yorkshire, in the event of nuclear war.
One of about 30 around the United Kingdom, the building was used throughout its operational existence as the regional headquarters and control centre for the Royal Observer Corps No. 20 Group between 1961 and 1991. It has become an English Heritage Scheduled Monument and was opened in 2006 by English Heritage as a tourist attraction.
During its Cold War operational period, the building could have supported 60 local volunteer members of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC). They would have collated details of nuclear bombs exploded within the UK and tracked radioactive fallout across the Yorkshire region, warning the public of its approach. This example of an ROC control building is the only one preserved in its operational condition. The others stand derelict or have either been demolished or sold.
It was quite a long hike out to the bunker but I stumped along with my cane and limp nonetheless. We reached the Bunker in time for our tour and were greeted by our host, Jake. We entered with our group and were presented with an hour-long delivery of how the bunker used to function when it was operational. Not the most uplifting subject matter, but all quite fascinating:
Ah, but my personal favourite in the Bunker was this poster I saw on the way out. I thought it was brilliant and hilarious… no one else did though…
The tour finished and we left the Bunker, beginning the long walk back into central York. It was getting on lunch time so we were keeping an eye out for a promising café. Once back inside the Micklegate Bar (the stone gate of the original York wall), there was a better choice of cafes: we settled on a cozy-looking one called Café Fleur and took a seat. Talk about good vibes… it was so warm and welcoming here, and the staff were wonderful. Our initial intent there was just to have coffee and tea, but it was 12:40 at this point so we placed our lunch order, consisting of an English Breakfast tea and a grilled sandwich for both of us. The food arrived and it was absolutely delicious!! What a fantastic little restaurant/café.
National Railway Museum
We left the cozy café at about 1:30 and continued our walk back into central York. On the way we realized we were in fairly close proximity to the National Railway Museum. We had wanted to see this attraction originally, so we decided to continue walking in that direction. After a considerable distance we reached the Railway Museum, which was free to enter. We spend the next couple of hours going through the displays and checking out the massive engines from different time periods. An amazing, and very detailed, place. It was an enjoyable experience:
Leaving the National Railway Museum we continued our walk back to the Queens Hotel, reaching it at about 4:00PM. We still had a couple of hours before our dinner reservation at Enoteca, (Vince had booked this earlier in the week when we’d eaten there; we were so impressed). We napped and rested for the next hour and a half, then got ready and went to the restaurant, which was just around the corner from the hotel. We had a delicious meal (of course!); it’s very busy/popular there, and I can understand why.
Vince was wearing his “Vancouver” t-shirt which always seems to draw attention from other Canadians who are also visiting Europe. On our way out of the restaurant we were stopped by a lovely couple from Victoria, B.C., who spotted and commented on Vince’s t-shirt. We highly recommended the restaurant to them, so in they went.
We returned to our hotel room at about 7:15 and spent the remainder of the evening reading, resting and just generally taking it easy.
It’s our last night in York! Tomorrow we return to London for one last night before heading home. Off to bed at 9:15.
Today’s step count: 17,271
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