York

Part 1

In November 2024 I received an email, telling me I was shortlisted for the York Book Award. My book, The Stitchwort Curse, had only been out for a few weeks, and I couldn't believe it! I was invited to visit York, speak at the schools involved, and meet the students. I was honoured and delighted to say yes!

York is quite a long way from Devon, and a bit complicated on the trains, so lovely Mr Dawe took time off work to drive us up. We left Devon at 5am, and were in York in time for lunch, and sightseeing!

If you ever have chance to go to York definitely go, it's beautiful. We only had a few hours to look around, there's so much more to see! We'll be back!

York was full of roadworks when we arrived, so navigating was a bit stressful. There is a park and ride outside the town, which might be easier if you're just there for a day. We were staying in a hotel, and had overnight bags, so we found a 24 hour space at the station car park.

As soon as we'd parked we immediately headed to The Shambles to visit the York Ghost Merchants. I've seen York described as the most haunted city in England, the most haunted city in Europe, and even the most haunted city in the world! The York Ghost Merchants certainly lives up to the 'city of a thousand ghosts' reputation, if you look up at the first floor window above the shop front you can see row upon row of ghosts!

One of my teenagers had come along for the trip, so we excitedly joined the queue. We were very lucky, the queue can reach 3 hours long, but on a weekday afternoon, outside of school holidays, it was just 20 minutes.

The shop is amazing, it's so hard to choose a ghost as they're all completely charming. There are also peepholes to look through, cabinets to open, and when you've made your selection you can photograph your ghosts in this little scene. The staff are lovely too!

The York Ghost Merchants  https://www.yorkghostmerchants.com/

Mission Ghost accomplished we explored the rest of the Shambles, including the market and street food.

As we only had an afternoon for sightseeing we decided not to try and rush through a visit to York Minster, but visit again and do it properly! There's so much to learn about the minster I'd rather do some research beforehand, so that I don't miss anything.

Hidden Wonders of York Minster - Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hidden-wonders-of-york-minster

I'm not usually a big fan of shopping, unless it's a bookshop. As we were exploring my teenager said how so many of the shops in York were an 'experience', and I think that's why we enjoyed it so much. I've wanted to visit the Imaginarium ever since they first exhibited some of Mr Finch's work, and I was so happy to see some giant spiders on the ceiling!

The Imaginarium (@imaginariumyork)https://www.instagram.com/imaginariumyork/

We walked into what we assumed was a cake shop, but no. It was soap! The Yorkshire Soap Company was another amazing shop, with candy pink carousel horses, and a terrifying velour mannequin. If Willy Wonka ran a soap shop instead of a chocolate factory...

The Yorkshire Soap Company https://yorkshiresoap.co.uk/

It was time to go and check into our hotel, and grab some dinner. Then we were back out for a Ghost Walk!

The stories were the perfect blend of history and spookiness, all while surrounded by the ancient buildings where it all happened!

Then it was time to head to bed with a book, and hope our hotel room wasn't haunted...

Part 2 coming soon... (that was a lie, I'm rubbish at doing things quickly! Hopefully this month!)