Hear Time beating on these walls – march forward, forward, forward…
See stones laugh at so many feet – they were building blocks of hills, carried here by Vikings, and humanity is a light burden compared to the sky.
Nature creeps into them.
They protect York’s markets.
They are watched by York’s grandest towers – pause there, for ‘grand’ is a shallow cry in this most mighty of shadows. Few buildings anywhere soar into your spirit like the Minster.
Within it are books close to their 1000th birthday.
Under it were found the bones of the even older Roman building – and the footprints of a dog, running across a Roman roof slate.
The Romans left wolves here, too.
And foxes are enthroned in glass on the great Eastern Window, celebrated in this modern sewing.
The organ notes resound and music echoes with the Minster’s vaulted arches. The tune rolls forward, like Time, like the rolling of the becks in the Vale to the north.
Travel with it, restless under the tempestuous autumn skies.
A Walk with Wildlife 
I like old European towns for the breath of ancient times that you can feel on every street, castle or tavern. However, history of places in BC has a different feel – buried inside deep rain forests or left on beaches of small islands. It feels mystical, unknown and alien to our “civilized” minds. But these places are as old as any other human settlement on Earth, just less visible.
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One aspect of FN history that interests me is the hint of very ancient geological and wildlife observations in their oral records. The eruption that created Crater Lake in the US 7,700 years ago is referenced in local folklore, and some say extinct species like teratorns and mastodons are remembered in myth also.
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A wonderful post, Adele … it’s hard to pick out favourites … I especially like the loophole with the ivy coming in, and the view of the town, below. These two despite my sensitivity to out-of-plumb verticals, LOL. And the Book, naturally, has me in thrall … that lovely, disciplined humanist bookhand, marching (to a drumbeat, I reckon) across the vellum, and The Minster, with its window for God’s eyes. And the last, which is, somehow, first: the stream with it’s incredible lighting, so well-shot. Thank you.
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Thank you – York is a special town and it was a privilege to explore it last week. I gather that ancient book was inscribed in Canterbury in 990AD. It’s sobering to think of it being carefully transported hundreds of miles through the dangers and hardships of medieval England, and yet whoever was entrusted with it carried out their duty well.
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Your reference to the Minster reminded me of an extended piece on the telly about the original foundation of the place, and all the work done to replace the original logs, which were well-rotted and underwater. Quite an engineering feat!
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All the building work that’s happened there – ancient and modern – is astonishing. There are probably more surprises underneath the Minster, too. It was only a few years back that they found Viking burial sites and coins.
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Adele, great post! As you usually do, you have tuned my mind to all that grand history with wonderful images!
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Thanks Robin! I had a wonderful time exploring York. Should be going back there soon for another look!
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