Whilst the world began to prepare for the Christmas season, I decided to jump on the train (in the middle of a train strike) and take a solo adventure to the North East of England, ticking more cathedrals off my list.

York

I set up a base in York for my week in the North, at a hostel nearby to the center. York has a lot to offer, being good for shopping, historic walks and interesting attractions. I spent my afternoons there wondering the streets that were used for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley, which now have wand shops, and novelty potion brewers. As well as a great shopping offer throughout the historic city, you can also walk the entire length of the historic roman walls, this walk takes less than a few hours but it does give you spectacular views of the city and the splendid York Minster.

York Minster is the cathedral for the area and the largest gothic cathedral in North Europe. It is dated from 1200s onwards and is a very important venue to the church of England and the English monarchy. The space inside is huge and features a huge rose window with significant symbols of white and red roses relating to the symbols of past monarchs.

York’s castle and museum is also well worth a visit. The museum has very visual exhibitions, split between the old prison, a sixties exhibit, and a unique victorian street that looks straight out of Oliver Twist! Definitely a fun place to visit!

Going further North

One of the days in the week, I headed further North to Newcastle with a stop in Durham on the way back.

Newcastle was a whistle stop tour with a historic cathedral, the actually castle that the town is named after, which is today in some ruins, and I even found a beautiful historic gallery and library close to the train station on my way back. The library is still open to the public but is a great photo stop!

On the return journey, I stopped in Durham, which is a beautiful university city, to see what is thought of by many, as one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the UK. I can see why!

The windows and stonework are beautiful, and the cathedral even has a gorgeous medieval clock. It is next to university buildings and so you cannot help but be jealous of the students that get to live and study in the amazing surroundings.

Finally, I took a half day stop in Bradford in order to visit the small cathedral there, which turned out to be a pretty building to see, and was smack in the middle of a thriving town center and Christmas light display.

I am slowly getting there with my quest to see all the Cathedrals of England! A bit more than a few still to go though!