Iona goes to York

Trip 11 :

Yesterday we drove to Sleaford and filled up with auto-gas and diesel and then went to the Mountain Transport depot to use the public weighbridge. Our previous post tells of how we got on and we have payload to spare.

This morning we rang the THS at York RUFC to check if they had any space and the stewards said they could fit us on and get us level. So feeling better we packed the last few bits and after waiting for the postie to move his van we set off. The majority of the trip was on the A1 followed by the A64, both of which are dual carriageways. We drove around the York ringroad and headed into the city before turning into the Sports complex.

The THS is on a rugby pitch and by the time we arrived there were several spaces on the flat ground. The steward showed us to a pitch and we were nearly level. In fact I tried the ramps and we were worse, mainly because we were set up on some slightly raised ground. The ramps were packed away and the next hour was spent setting up, including the gazebo.

The sun is out and it is hot, so a chill afternoon by the van today and if the clouds come tomorrow we can walk into the city along the river. We had an early bar-b-que so I could watch the football. I joined Sue outside and we stayed out until about 10pm.

Day 2:

Someone had stolen the sun this morning so we did our jobs and walked into York along the river. We did a bit of tourist sightseeing around the Cathedral and the remains of the old monastery. In the centre of the city there was loud music, so intrigued we walked further and found a Big Band playing, they were a swing band based in Doncaster and they were called EKS Big Band. We listened to them play three or four tunes. Sue nearly bought a cd.

We continued drifting around the city, we walked down the Shambles which is a well known medieval street and a Mecca for tourists. There was a market so we wandered around that, I nearly bought another hat to replace the one that is a little small. In the end we didn’t buy anything and joined the tourists walking towards the Minister. Alongside the Minister was a pop up bar in a tee pee with a steak grill come bar-b-que.

York Minster

Constantine the Great

The War Memorial 

We left the Minister and headed to another park where some men were showing birds of prey, for £3 you could hold one of the birds, it was very popular and there was a group of school children queuing to have a go. We left them and walked past the museum but we made a decision to visit it when the weather was not so good.

The Monastery

After leaving the museum we walked around the remains of a monastery that had very ornate stonework on the walls that were still standing. We continued on our walk and ended up near to where we started, there was a convenient Sainsbury’s so we got some more beer and some dark fruit cider to top up the fridge. The  Dark Fruit cider is very pleasant but  I have lost it to Sue.

We walked back home along the river, by which time the sun was out and it got extremely hot very quickly. So much for the 20 minute walk into the city, it took us over 3/4 hr to walk home. When we eventually sat down we had done 14000 steps about six miles.

The rest of the day was spent around the van, reading and chilling. 

Day 3:

The site is nearly full now and we are going to spend most of the day around the van, tomorrow is forecast to be a bit cooler so we may walk into the city again.

After lunch our neighbours started putting up their Quest Gazebo but they were struggling so I went to help. It was only the second time they had put it up and they had it upside down. After giving them some help they were soon sat in it. 

The sky became a bit cloudy so we went for a walk along the floodbank and somehow came across a church. However when we got to it the Church had been converted to a NHS orthopaedic centre. We continued past the ‘church’ and eventually found the floodbank and the cycle path back to the campsite.

The Minster from the flood plain

With only 4000 steps on the pedometer we continued towards York, once we reached the river we followed it away from the city and then cut back across the flood plain and home. 7000 steps achieved we sat down to relax but by now the sun had gone and was replaced with thick cloud, but it was still warm.

Tonight it is my turn to cook so the Cadac is coming out. The forecast is for it to brighten up which should help, in the meantime I found some beer that I bought from Aldi, ‘Wild Bill’s IPA’ , yeehaa.

Day 4:

Another warm day, we sat around the van for a couple of hours and then walked into York via the main road. The intention was to get a bottle of lemonade and walk back. The weather was so good we decided to carry on walking into York. There must have been a service at The Minister because we met scores of students, teachers and parents walking back to the school that we passed earlier.

We walked into the city but it was heaving with people so we walked through the park to the river and then walked home along the cycle way. Once back at the van we had lunch and read, ducking in and out of the gazebo as the heat increased. At 4.00pm the sky clouded but it remained very hot.

We will put this venue on our list for next year.

Trip 11: 201 miles, 28.8 mpg, 43 mph, 4hr 36m.