York, England and village of Lastingham

Every family has their black sheep of the family--I guess every country does too!!
This is the Parish church of St. Mary in Lastingham
As you stroll around the church property you do so with the sheep who are grazing all around the church among the gravestones.


Each church seems to have something different that identifies it as unique. For this church it was the brickwork.

This is the Blacksmiths Arms Pub just across the street from the church, which seems to be where the pubs are often located.

Here is the telephone booth and post office box. You see, we have a church, a pub, and post office, so we now have a village. Remember those are the 3 things needed to make a village.

This plaque found on the church we should all take seriously.

Here we are in the city of York and Jane has found a few shoppes to explore.

This is so often the sight we see. We are standing in a small village and looming above it is a church or cathedral. You turn the corner and see a sight like this and it just takes you so by surprise. It is so nice to have the shopping areas totally cut off from all vehicle traffic. It makes for a much more relaxing event.

These are some shots taken inside the York Minster. The detail is incredible and there is no way to capture it on film there is just so much.

By the time you leave the inside of the church, your neck is killing you!!!

The detail on the ceiling is something to behold.

These are ceiling tacks and if you zoom in on them you can see the detail that goes into hundreds of these on the ceiling.

In the catacombs.

For those of you interested in the history of England a good read is Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. It's fictional and follows several families through time. It really makes history come alive.

York Minster is huge, these photos only show a small part of it.

The Treasure's House

Jane pointed out that the initials indicate who was reigning at the time the post office box was put in. In this case George reigns.

Sights in downtown York

Then you come across a church like this and it can get totally overlooked when the York Minster is right behind it.

We toured the city and the York Minster one day and then returned another day so Lee could walk the wall around the city.

Jane and Jim following Lee the stone wall enthusiast.

Lee and Jim probably waiting for Jane and I to check out a vendor.

Pretty historic spot to stand

On the way home from York, we stopped at the Lavender farm. Earlier in the week the four of us had tried out some Lavender scones. You know, there are some things that lavender doesn't go well with--scones is one of them. I think it's better if they stick to sachets, perfumes etc.

I'd like to sign off for today with a picture of what's called a "Kissing Gate".

York was a beautiful city to visit and the York Minster almost too much to take in. The ride there was beautiful and Jim continues to amaze us with his driving skills.