Grand Old York

Earlier this month we made a long-overdue weekend trip to Yorkshire for a spot of tourism, and to visit Jo's friend Shel. York is a couple of hours by train from London, and we got some cheap tickets that got us in late on Friday night. Jo and Shel were delighted to see each other again after 3 years, while for me it was lovely to finally meet someone I had heard so much about.

While York is of course known for its heritage and its long and rich history (more on that soon), we spent most of the Saturday at a slightly less traditional tourist spot : Flamingo Land, a theme park/zoo hybrid. Shel had spent many childhood holidays there and highly recommended it to us, and it was an excellent choice, as we all had a great time. I had previously never been to a theme park or ridden a rollercoaster, so now I can cross those off the list.

The highlight for me was riding the Mumbo Jumbo, which holds the record for the world's steepest rollercoaster with its 112 degrees drop.

And here is Jo and Shel, thoroughly soaked after the Lost River Ride, a boat ride that goes through the animal enclosures before taking a 60 foot drop at the end.

Sunday was spent taking in York's historical sites, wandering around the city walls and the old streets of the town before having a delightful picnic amongst the ruins in the museum gardens.

Shel and I survey the invading armies from the ramparts.

This history lover is clearly delighted to be amongst the ruins.

A glorious day for a glorious picnic in a glorious location.

We also spent some time in one of the best pubs I've come across in the UK, thanks to another excellent tip from Shel, and had some wonderful beers. All too soon though, it was time for us to go home. We had a fabulous time in York, and we will be looking to get back there as soon as possible. Shel was the perfect host and we are very excited that she will be down in London again soon.

Finally, here is a bonus silly picture of us on the train home.

Fulham Palace Cemetery

As Jo mentioned in the last post, we now live next to a cemetery, just behind the houses on the other side of our street. Fulham Palace Cemetery is sometimes aptly known as 'Fulham Old', as it is the oldest cemetery in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, opening in 1865. Last weekend we went there for some wandering.


There are two major features of the cemetery. Firstly, the layout isn't very structured and for the most part the graves tend to be scattered around, strewn around the fields and amongst the trees rather than in any kind of rows. I think it is quite a nice way of having it.

The other notable thing is how old and run-down most of the place is. The cemetery has been closed to new burials for a long time, and most of the graves were around a hundred years old. Parts of the cemetery are badly neglected and overgrown, and many of the headstones are falling apart. In some places there are piles of ruined headstones that have had all their details worn away.



Also, the place is full of holes in the ground everywhere. Rabbits, foxes, badgers, or something more mysterious?



There are some some really lovely parts of the cemetery too, like some of the statues.




And there is one section that is well-kept, with a few rows of clean, looked-after World War II memorials.


P.S. Sorry for the lack of updates lately, one of us will write about York soon, I promise.