Day 8 - Touring York and the Beverly Ringers
Today began with a walk through the streets of York to York Minster - easily one the most beautiful places I've ever scene. York is a charming city. Walking through the streets of the city center feels as if you've traveled back in time - narrow streets lined with cafes and shops. Again pictures can not do it justice - but I've posted a few to try to give you a sense of everything.
At York Minster we broke into two groups for guided tours and a history lesson on the Minster, the architecture and the amazing stained glass windows - including a very cool "bellmaker's window". After about a 90 minute tour, we were on our own for lunch and independent time in York. Some stayed at the Minster to explore the lower crypts or the towers. Others went in search of pieces of the ancient walls surrounding the city. Many explored the shops in the area. I'm getting tons of pictures from everyone - its taking me a little time to sort through them all, but I'll post what I can.
By 3:30 PM we were back on the bus and headed to the small town of Beverly and St. Margaret's Church where we were met by members of the Beverly Ringers. They of course had tea, coffee and biscuits waiting for us. After a short break we unloaded our equipment to set up for a short rehearsal (in preparation of Thursday's concert at St. Paul's Cathedral).
Before we started the rehearsal we were treated to a quick tour of St. Margaret's. One of their key points of interest is a sculpture of a white rabbit in coat tails that is the inspiration for the drawings in Lewis Carrol's "Alice in Wonderland". Several of us then climbed the 80 steps up a very narrow spiral staircase to the bell tower ringing room where we received a quick lesson on tower change ringing - fascinating! A few more steps up and we were in the tower r
oom with the actual bells. A few more steps (130 in total) and we were on the roof of the bell tower.
The problem with going up is that you have to come all the way back down - a little scary on the narrow spiral staircase with a few dark spaces!
After rehearsing a little more than an hour, we had the best treat of the trip so far - the Beverly Ringers performed for us in the traditional Yorkshire style of off-the-table ringing. Several of us took video that we will try to post to YouTube soon. I'll let you know when it's up. What an amazing sight! None of us had ever seen anything like it. They were wonderful! I'm trying to think how to describe in a way that will make sense to you - but I'm not coming up with anything. You'll just have to wait until we have a chance to post the video - sorry.
Next - we joined the Beverly Ringers at the Tiger Inn for dinner, drinks and social time before making the drive back to York for the night.
All in all, a very good day!
More to add - Gillian Penn has started a trend of 'self portrait' photos. The photo below is one I took of Gillian showing David her technique on the roof of the Bell Tour in Beverly. You can see by the photo that we were all having fun with this. We've also become very good at loading and unloading the truck for rehearsals and performances. Another photo (left) shows our "bass train" on its way to be loaded back in the truck.
Today began with a walk through the streets of York to York Minster - easily one the most beautiful places I've ever scene. York is a charming city. Walking through the streets of the city center feels as if you've traveled back in time - narrow streets lined with cafes and shops. Again pictures can not do it justice - but I've posted a few to try to give you a sense of everything.
At York Minster we broke into two groups for guided tours and a history lesson on the Minster, the architecture and the amazing stained glass windows - including a very cool "bellmaker's window". After about a 90 minute tour, we were on our own for lunch and independent time in York. Some stayed at the Minster to explore the lower crypts or the towers. Others went in search of pieces of the ancient walls surrounding the city. Many explored the shops in the area. I'm getting tons of pictures from everyone - its taking me a little time to sort through them all, but I'll post what I can.
By 3:30 PM we were back on the bus and headed to the small town of Beverly and St. Margaret's Church where we were met by members of the Beverly Ringers. They of course had tea, coffee and biscuits waiting for us. After a short break we unloaded our equipment to set up for a short rehearsal (in preparation of Thursday's concert at St. Paul's Cathedral).
Before we started the rehearsal we were treated to a quick tour of St. Margaret's. One of their key points of interest is a sculpture of a white rabbit in coat tails that is the inspiration for the drawings in Lewis Carrol's "Alice in Wonderland". Several of us then climbed the 80 steps up a very narrow spiral staircase to the bell tower ringing room where we received a quick lesson on tower change ringing - fascinating! A few more steps up and we were in the tower r
oom with the actual bells. A few more steps (130 in total) and we were on the roof of the bell tower.
The problem with going up is that you have to come all the way back down - a little scary on the narrow spiral staircase with a few dark spaces!
After rehearsing a little more than an hour, we had the best treat of the trip so far - the Beverly Ringers performed for us in the traditional Yorkshire style of off-the-table ringing. Several of us took video that we will try to post to YouTube soon. I'll let you know when it's up. What an amazing sight! None of us had ever seen anything like it. They were wonderful! I'm trying to think how to describe in a way that will make sense to you - but I'm not coming up with anything. You'll just have to wait until we have a chance to post the video - sorry.
Next - we joined the Beverly Ringers at the Tiger Inn for dinner, drinks and social time before making the drive back to York for the night.
All in all, a very good day! 
2 comments:
Hi All! I am SOOO JEALOUS! Wish I could be there, experiencing all the concerts in all those fantastic venues!
I'm not familiar with "blog etiquette" but could you list folks' names & states?
Have a fun, safe trip! Hugs to David & all! See you at Seminar and in New Bern!
SUSAN N.
Please give Janet Harner a big"hello" and hug from her friends at Jefferson County Schools. We miss you being here!!
Marsha & Joyce
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