A Slice of LItes
Bill Lites
Day 7 – Tuesday July 7th
No free breakfast at the Edinburgh Lodges, so it was another Granola bar breakfast for me this morning. First on the list of museum visits today was the North East Aircraft Museum located in Sunderland. This museum had several static display aircraft inside and outside, but they were all in very poor condition and the entire museum was not well-kept. The only exception was their Vulcan Bomber which was outside and in beautifully restored condition.
Next I headed for the city of York to visit the beautiful York Minster Cathedral. I finally found a car park, but when I paid for the “Pay & Display” receipt I used the last of my English pound coins. I thought, “Oh well, I’ll just use my credit card for entrance to the Cathedral and exchange some US dollars for English pound coins a little later in the day.”
But as I started walking toward the Cathedral it started to rain, and I realized that the entrance to the Cathedral was quite a bit farther than I had thought, and I didn’t want to walk that far and back in the rain. Besides, I had toured this beautiful cathedral with DiVoran in 1991 (see “Our Trip to the UK Part 10”). So, I turned around and went back to the car and headed for my next museum. Don’t miss this beautiful cathedral if you are ever in York. It is spectacular and has a very interesting history.
Greta took me to the wrong side of the railroad tracks for access to the National Railroad Museum, also located there in York. After asking directions, I finally was able to find the museum. This museum looked absolutely huge from the outside, and when I stopped to ask one of the museum guides (standing outside) about the possibility of exchanging some US dollars for British pounds (coins for the “Pay & Display” parking ticket) they were unable to help me. From the pictures on the internet, I missed a really good museum.
Many of the aviation museums that I have visited so far in England and Scotland, are located on the sites of WWII British and American air bases. The Yorkshire Air Museum in Evington was one of the best restored RAF base museums that I have come across. The volunteers at this museum have done a wonderful job of restoring both their airplanes and what remains of the base facilities. This gives the visitor a good idea of what they would have looked like during World War II. It took a while to walk around the outside aircraft displays and inside the building memorabilia displays, but it was worth it.
The Breighton Airdrome located in Selby was really hard to find. Greta finally found the location after I re-inputted the SatNav. When I got there, I saw a single car parked outside what I assumed was the museum entrance. The door was open but no one was around. The doors to the single hanger were closed, so if they had aircraft displays inside I couldn’t get to them.
There was only one airplane sitting out on the tarmac, and it looked like it was in flying condition (minus its propeller). I took a picture of the plane and looked around some more for someone to ask about the museum, but no one ever showed up. Other than that, this museum looked like it operated out of this small private airfield.
Next I headed for the Ye Old Red Lion Hotel located just south of York, where I was to spend the evening. It turned out to be one of the nicest accommodations that I’ve had on this trip so far. The Fish & Chips dinner was outstanding and went very well with a pint of Guinness.
—–To Be Continued—–
Yesterday I took a walk in a different town. It wasn’t a good place for walking. The cars zoomed by and eventually the sidewalk ran out. I had a bit more time before I had to go back to where I had started, so I thought I’d keep going. I came to a shady neighborhood street and saw a sign. “Nursery, everything 70% off,” it said.
Old Things R New 