York Trip, December 2013

We arrived in York city centre after a long drive up from Essex. It’s the longest journey we have ever driven ourselves, or at least my husband, since passing his test in May this year.

The light had already gone down by the time we put our bags indoors and walked into the city centre, so we missed much of what was to be seen.

We went to York as it was my birthday on 5^th December and decided a nice trip up to see my sister and her husband would be a treat. Rob, my husband had never been up to York before so this was a mini-venture for him.

York is lovely at Christmas. That said I seem to have only ever visited in the colder months! As a student-dominated town, York is great for bargains. There is an outlet a short drive from the outskirts of York that is great for Christmas shopping.

Now, I love independent businesses and boutiques. Whilst armed with a student discount card used in most high street stores, I do prefer the quirky styling of boutiques in period buildings, with creaky floorboards and hand-written price tags. It’s quite alluring and a world away from any shopping experience I’ve had locally.

I asked my sister if after six or so years of living in York, if she ever stumbled across anything previously un-noticed? The answer was yes, she did find more things each year to enjoy about her now home-town.

The Attic Gallery Coffee Bar

After walking into town from my sisters’ house, we decided to sit down for a moment and have a drink. As I was walking down the street, I was talking with Rob, about how I hoped we could find a café that wasn’t part of a conglomerate chain.

Precisely as I said this, Rob pointed upwards to a sign reading “Independent Coffee House”. Perfect. After a gentle creep up a couple of flights of stairs, there was this lovely, warming coffee room. After we sat down in the cosy leather arm chair, the server came over and took our order. The food on the menu was locally sourced, and lovely.

After walking about town on Friday night by ourselves for a couple of hours, having met the geese by the river and walked up the Shambles (also known as Diagon Alley from Harry Potter) I met with my sister and we had lunch in a somewhat crooked tudor building for a pub dinner. We sat in a candle-lit low-beam window watching passers’ by. It held a very Charles Dickens feel to it.

Going for a short walk afterwards to see The Players at the Old White Swan, my sister pointed out some various points of interest, such as a haunted pub called the Golden Fleece, featured on television program Most Haunted and some unusual carved wooden statues found on some of the buildings’ roofing and stoops. One such building had video footage streaming in the front window of the shop, to capture any ghostly activity. Needless to say, there was a rather antiquated Holy Bible chained to the entrance…

On an entirely different note, York would make a lovely place to get married, as there would be plenty of places to hold your reception and there are many churches to hold the ceremony. I think there was a church for every other street! All the boutiques make for a unique collection of wedding gifts and all the furnishings needed for the big day, some of which I will mention in this blog.

Speaking of weddings, what about the entertainment? I visited the Old White Swan to see a live band play. They are called The Players, and consist of four band-members; three male musicians and a female singer who has a very unique and emotive tone to her voice.
The Players are available for a variety of events but for those who enjoy live music, they are more than happy for you to discuss requirements for your day. They can also be found on Twitter most weeks, tweeting along with me during #WeddingHour. For a taster, why not pop along to the Old White Swan on the first Friday each month, to hear them play live?
We could only stay for the first half, but what we heard was very good and they displayed a variety of songs from different artists, such as Fleetwood Mac and Adele.

On Saturday (7^th December), we walked into York city centre after taking Dita for a walk. Dita is a ten-month-old black Cocker Spaniel puppy owned by my sister and brother in law. She is adorably bonkers.

As we were approaching the city gates, you could hear the bells chiming in the Minster. The previous night we heard the carol singing inside. We didn’t get to go into the minster on this occasion to see the crypt, nor did we see the Roman baths but hopefully next time, I’ll have other things to write about and more pictures to add to Pinterest. Keep an eye on it!

Petergate Entrance to the City

The first shop we visited was Blossom and Walker, a very feminine shop selling printed wrapping papers, handmade soaps, decorative household objects and other vintage or hand-made items. This shop began in the 1950’s and has survived numerous credit crunches. Their stock was reasonably priced and I couldn’t decide what to buy! One object I loved was the displays of little jars with old-fashioned paper drinking straws inside. Luckily, they have their own website so I had more time to decide, rather than walk away completely empty handed!

We, my sister and I, let the boys roam about in Evil Eye, a medieval bar (at the back) and a shop at the front. We went into the Sue Ryder charity shop as there was a vintage section upstairs. Most of the wares were just a pound, so if you’re into vintage and live locally, make the most of the stock whilst it’s there! I tried on some rather charming vintage pill hats, for fun.

We popped into some other boutiques along this street as well, taking in views of vintage jewellery and independently owned boutiques with some stunningly original and unusual wares for sale. Much of it is very reasonably priced and so different from your average mass produced high street items, which are generally not designed to last longer than the current fashion season.

This is when I thought back to my online shop. The prices are competitive as it is based purely on an hourly wage and the materials used; so profit is minimal but worth the end result for the customer, who then owns a beautiful, unique piece of jewellery that can be worn again. I hope that in 2014, a lot of my jewellery will be featured in boutiques and gift shops across the country.

Going back to our York trip, the boys got in the queue for Betty’s Tea Rooms whilst my sister and I carried on looking in some quirky boutiques. We liked all the Art Deco jewellery and diamond rings in the York Antiques Centre. There is also a vintage fashion gallery on one of their many floors which I hope to visit next time.

I went into Molly Browns boutique, which had lovely subtle tones on display, including lace jackets and faux fur coats. There was some lovely bridesmaid dresses at the back, with sparkly shoes and light-up pearly garlands and pretty photo frames. The clothing was quite pricy for a student budget, with one draped viscose dress priced at £129.00.

The boys called and told us they had moved up in the queue, so we went to meet them. When we finally got inside Betty’s, we were greeted by a kindly, suited gentleman who took us to our seats. My sister and I both ordered the afternoon tea, which consists of a three-tier cake stand, filled with sweet delights and crust-less sandwiches. On the second tier was a scone with fresh clotted cream and strawberry jam. On the top, was a pistachio macaroon, a dark chocolate fancy and a berry tartlet with fresh custard. I ate the lot! I managed almost three full cups from my loose-leaf tea pot, which was a perfect amount.

The smoked salmon with cream cheese and the chicken are the best ones. The other two are egg and cress mayonnaise or ham. Afternoon tea for one is rather pricy at £18.50, considering most people are waiting outside for a table for up to an hour at peak times. Although, I assume you are paying for the novelty and this is precisely why the queue outside is so long.

Because the rooms are bustling all day, it doesn’t quite feel like a tea room you’d see on Downton Abbey, but Betty’s is not a modern band-wagon vintage company; they were established in 1919 in Harrogate and have maintained their style throughout the years, opening a tea and cake shop elsewhere in York city. The tea room has its own shop on the premises, so there are lots of bumps and scrapes getting in and out of the single doorway.

Betty's Tea Rooms began in 1919

After Betty’s, we walked off the calories by venturing into a rather unusual modern-art style boutique, selling unusually styled everyday items, and more unusually, a book entitled “How to Poo at Work” which I found rather amusing, childishly.

There are vintage pop-art style posters on the first floor level, with retro video game trinkets and man-bags. Downstairs on ground level you’ll find pretty wildlife inspired espresso cups and sandwich plates, books and home-office fun.

We missed a lot of things to see in York either because it was so late when we got there and it was too dark to see anything, or because it was so busy and full up that we couldn’t get in. I think that’s Christmas in York for you! Very popular all year round with tourists, however people tend to spend a weekend in York for Christmas Shopping.

We are planning to go back to York in the summer, probably not until a Bank Holiday, where we will be able to enjoy longer sunlight hours and three full days of sights and sounds.