Murder, Materials and a Military Museum

Day Thirty – York

Another sleepless night, another grey day! Things seem to have settled into something of a pattern. No matter who shares with who at night we have a restless one. In an attempt to find some rest Jenni shared with Anna and I shared with James. For my pains I got a good couple of thumps and none of us got much sleep.

Despite that we still got out and about and had a good day. First up we went and bought some packing materials for the SILLY amount of guidebooks, postcards and other paper rubbish we need to send home. I can already see myself standing in the post office with my fingers in my ears and singing "la-la-la-la-la!" while the lady behind the counter tells me how much the postage home will be. ;-)

After that we dashed home for a quick bite and then went out for some sight-seeing. Jenni took the kids to York Dungeon, a kind of harum-scarum "indoor theme park" designed to entertain and frighten you at the same time. It certainly had the latter affect on Anna who was unnerved enough that they only made it through the first ¼ of the place before they had to bail.

I went off on my own to see the York Military Museum which houses the regimental museums of both the Royal Dragoon Guards and the Prince of Wales' Own Regiment of Yorkshire. This is an absolute MUST if you are into military history and at two quid a go is easily amongst the value things I've seen. Not only is it a really well set out museum, it is absolutely CHOCKERS with really cool stuff for the military anorak.

Amongst the best stuff was a jacket worn by Capt. W.F. Browne as he led the centre squadron of the Iniskilling Dragoons in the charge of the Union Brigade at Waterloo. Browne had his horse shot from under him and was subsequently stabbed seven times by French Lancers but lived to tell the tale. There is also a pile of swords and other regalia brought back from Egypt during the Sudan War and a very healthy collection of VCs (plus literally hundreds of other medals). There really is too much stuff to mention.

After I finished up I was wandering round looking for a bookshop when I ran into Jenni and the kids in a cafe (see above for why!). We all stopped for afternoon tea together and then headed off to see the Roman Baths underneath a pub. Yes, really. That didn't take long to check out even if it was pretty tidy. When done Jenni set off to see the Quilt Museum (patchwork anoraks?) while I took the kids back to our apartment. Over to Jenni...

York Dungeon was a kind of historical tour of some of England's more gruesome history set in a dark dungeon. Actors play the part of grisly characters like a doctors assistant (cheking you for plague) and witches about to be hung. We only got through the first two rooms when something mechanical jumped out at Anna and me, making me yelp and Anna started crying. We had to leave. But we went down to the gift shop and purchased the photo of James chopping my head off that was taken at the start of the 'tour'. You'll have to wait until we're back to see that one as it was printed out for us.

I promised Anna a milkshake to cheer her up and as we were ordering, Mike showed up.

So after our quick stop at the Roman bath, Mike took the kids back to the flat while I went off on my own to the quilt museum and gallery. I wish we had one of these back in Australia (maybe we do, I'll have to look into it). It's a permanent fixture in a historical Hall where the quilter's Guild members of York also hold their meetings.

The current historic exhibition was one of Canadian Red Cross gift quilts from the second world war. The quilts themselves are not all that fancy, but the materials within them and the stories surrounding them are terrific. There was one quilt that had 'V for Victory' novelty material, and another that had little spitfire planes printed on it. The stitching wasn't perfect, but each quilt was obviously made with love and then given to needy families affected by the blitz, who greatly appreciated them (you can tell by the well worn state of the quilts). There was also a dress made from fabric rescue maps that were smuggled into prisoners of war, and a quilt which had a backing made from surplus red cross bandages sewn together in large triangles (as fabric was so scarce).

In two other (smaller) rooms, were exhibitions of contemporary quilts that made me want to get my sewing machine out when we get back. Back to Mike...

And that was pretty much it for the day. I cooked a roast dinner and the kids went to bed early, hopefully for a decent night's sleep. Jenni and I are not far away either. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us tomorrow for once. I really would like to see the sky.

Cheers,

Millsy