York and Newcastle September 23, 2026

This morning we left Coventry and headed further north to York, England's most complete medieval city. 

Next to our hotel last night was an Aldi store. I like shopping there in Wisconsin, so I had to check it out. Many of the items were very different from home.

We drove through more rural countryside today with lots of farm fields, sheep and cows. 

York is a city that was occupied by many civilizations including the Romans, Vikings, Saxons and Norman kings. It was the main city of the northern area for all of these groups.

This is the original Norman castle, Clifford's Tower. It has a tragic history as the entire Jewish population of York was killed there in 1190.

William the Conqueror reinforced the walls the Romans had built around the city. Four large gates allow access to the old city. 

Look closely at the dark groove to see the wooden spiked gate that still exists 

Narrow steps lead up to the top of the gated archway where you can walk on top of the wall surrounding the city. 

In 1220, construction was begun on York Minster, an Anglican cathedral, taking 250 years to complete. 

The Rose Window is covered for repairs

Gargoyle statue 

Stone mason working on restoration projects 

View of cathedral from top of wall with hotel and outdoor cafe in front

During construction next to the cathedral, Roman temple ruins were discovered in the 1990s. One of those Roman columns stands in the plaza. Also, a statue of the Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, is there. His father died when they were visiting York, so Constantine was crowned emperor in York in AD 306 instead of in Rome. 

Many of the streets are cobblestone with stone paver sidewalks. The narrow street below is called Shambles. Notice how the tops of the timber framed buildings lean towards each other.  This was done intentionally for more shade.

In current times, York is known for manufacturing Kit Kat bars. Nestle has a factory on the outskirts of the walled city that employs over 2,000 people. Our tour guide got us all a sample. It was very tasty freshly made! 

Tonight we stay in Newcastle.  Kevin likes Newcastle brown beer that used to be brewed here. The locals call it an export beer, and don't think much of it. 🤣

We had dinner at Mother Hubbard's Fish and Chips. The fish was delicious. The chips were more like steak fries.  

So many buildings throughout England are quite old and have large chimneys on top. I keep expecting to see Dick Van Dyke dancing on the roof with a broom 😂

Tomorrow we enter into Scotland.