We spent several days camping just south of York. The campsite was right on the river, so one day we took the water taxi (in the picture below) into town. Not the fastest way to get there, but quite enjoyable. We took a tour of York and learned about the Roman history, York Minster and the shambles.

York is built on the river Ouse which was a major trading route in Roman times. It still serves as a major recreational site for the area. We saw lots of big cruisers which we were told have big drunken parties on weekends. Keep me out of there!

On the left here is what remains of a wall originally built in Roman times. The red line delineates the low part as being Roman (about 71-306 AD). Later, the wall was further built upon, up to the arches built in mideval times.

There is a beautiful big church, the York Minster. It was currently undergoing a cleaning and repair job, so it wasn’t very attractive from the outside. But from the inside, the window of the 5 Sisters showed the grandeur of the place.

The shambles is the old part of town, some of the buildings still standing after 500 plus years (though they do tend to lean a lot). There are a lot of little alley ways, wending their way through the buildings, so part of the fun is exploring.

After York, we headed over to Harrogate to the FIM Motocamp. Hundreds of motorcycles and people all camping at the fairgrounds. Not too bad until the French (or was it the Italians?) started singing at 2 in the morning! The next night the party animals took their parties elsewhere, thank goodness. 

We went out on a ride with a group through the Yorkshire Dales. It was just like “All Creatures,” including the old stone barns and fences. The rolling hills were covered with heather and provided a lovely day’s ride over hill and dale (even if it was overcast and drizzly). This is open range country, and we saw many sheep along side the road, much like the one just right of the last motorbike.

Toward the end of the ride we stopped at a town along the river where Roger & Chris took this picture of us, overlooking the town.

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