After watching the Colour and Light display, Katharine and I had a wander around York city centre. One street that looks good day and night is Shambles, with its timber framed buildings and a long and interesting history.
For a long time, Shambles was the street of butchers, from the Anglo-Saxon word fleshammel which refers to the wooden shelves on which the butchers displayed their meat; some still survive in the street, along with beams and hooks used in hanging meat.
It must have been an unpleasant place, since the slaughter of animals took place to the rear of the buildings, and butchers washed offal out of their premises, allowing a river of blood to run down the cobbled channel in the centre of the street.
Despite this, the picturesque qualities of the narrow street with its timber-framed jettied houses have been appreciated for centuries; the Shambles is mentioned in 19th-century gazetteers and guide books as one of the key sights in the city.
Today it has become associated with Harry Potter and Diagon Alley, and during the day it is full of visitors, many being Harry Potter fans.
Beautiful area and story. Years ago I was very keen to visit York each time I came to spend a few days with my sons' family at Stoke-on-Trent where he worked as a specialist doctor in a recently opened hospital for phsychiatric care . Sadly I never made it to York but then a young lady friend visited York and got me a book about the Shambles which I still cherish after so many years.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
York is a fascinating place to explore, with so much to see by day or night, and Shambles has become one of the best known streets in York.
Ian