A day in York

Yesterday, after that dreadful day's driving on Thursday, I crawled back into bed after I'd made the early morning cup of tea, and stayed there until 11 am. Not like me, but I just couldn't function after that drive. So it was 2 pm before we got going. John was also feeling under the weather, so I just went for a walk into the local village, Ulleskelf where John's great great grandmother said she was born.

She was baptised in the church in the neighbouring village, Kirkby Wharfe (on the Wharfe River which flows into the River Ouse at York) and married Isaac Moxon from Silkstone there. We don't know how on earth they met, because each place is a long way from the other. Did she have relatives in Silkstone? There were some Middletons' there, and one married a Robinson which is also a family connection. We will probably never know.

Whilst investigating the village, to my surprise I found that the railway station was wheelchair friendly, so I suggested that we catch the morning train to York today. Whilst it is 17 miles away by windy road, it is much closer by train. And that's what we did, without a hitch. The trains carry ramps, which is what they should do on all trains in NSW.

York is a very interesting city and having been in small villages and towns for so many weeks, we weren't quite prepared for the crowds. It was race day, and being another glorious day there were many locals out and about as well as seemingly thousands of tourists like us. The school children have had a mid-term break so lots of English families too. Many groups of German and French tourists. As well as university students and serious looking academic types.

We spent about four hours wandering around looking at the York Minster, the gardens by the River Ouse, the Shambles and the large Saturday markets. Then back to Ulleskelf by train and a drive to Kirkby Wharfe and then to Ryther - both extremely small villages - to see the two churches where the Middletons were baptised and married from at least the late 1600s to the 1850s. John's ancestor Sarah Middleton was born there in 1804 and married from there in 1836. We couldn't find any gravestones unfortunately.

So another long and interesting day. I topped it off by going to the bar at the caravan park (it is located with a house that has a inn licence) for a gin and tonic - just one, whilst John had an early night. It is now nearly 10 pm and I have a long day's drive to Holyhead tomorrow so better finish up. Till next time.

It's been great to get your comments. We won't have broadband in Ireland unless we go to Northern Ireland (June 3-18) so we may not be able to blog. We'll see.