Iona goes to Jorvik

Trip 11: August 2022, York Sports Ground.

We head north to the York Sports ground this trip. We have been here before and it is a great walk along the river Ouse into York. This year we have just learnt that there is a county cricket match on the day we arrive. Yorkshire v Northampton in the 50 over match.

Apart from the Cricket 🏏 match on the day we get there, another game against Lancashire is a couple of days later. Add these to our plan to walk the city walls and we should have an interesting stay.

We got a great pitch near the front where the water taps are. We soon had the gazebo up and today we put the carpet down because the grass is quite long where a caravan has been parked.

After lunch we went to see the cricket match which was Yorkshire v Northamptonshire. We saw Yorkshire’s last over while batting and after a break Northants came into bat. We stayed for the full 45 overs, although Sue did go back to Iona to get me a beer and a gin for herself. Yorkshire won by 31 runs and the match finished at 18.39. We made our way back to the van.

A great afternoon without having to pay the £36 entrance fee. I was really impressed that Sue got involved and wanted to stay to the end.

Tea tonight is Spaghetti bolognese which Sue had prepared before we left so just the pasta to cook.

Day 2:

Today we left Iona at about 10:10 to walk into York. We walked 1.5 miles along the river into the City.

There were a few rowers on the river today. York rowing club has a large following.

We found the trail to the city walls. We walked around the entire wall although in places there is no wall left standing so we followed the signs until another part of the wall was available. It really is worth doing even if you only have time for the section around York Minister.

It took us a couple of hours and it was well worth the walk. We eventually ended back at the start point and we joined the path along the river.

We did a short detour to look at an impressive building which turned out to be a Michelin Star restaurant called Roots. We also found a pub but it was closed.

There was a plaque on a Minster wall that explained the wooden doors on the battlements that were to protect archers in times gone by but I forgot to take a picture.

We continued on our way home and arrived back at Iona after 18000 steps or 7.6 miles. We spent the afternoon with our feet up in the sun trying to recover before tonight’s BBQ.

Day 3:

Today there is another county cricket match on so we got ready early and walked the 500 yards to the stands and got ourselves settled half an hour before the start.

There are far more people here today with Yorkshire taking on Lancashire. We sat behind four elderly men who talked about everything apart from cricket for the entire first innings.

Sue and I had had enough by lunchtime with sore bums from the stand seats and earache from nearby spectators, so we retired back to the motorhome for bacon sandwiches. It is doubtful if we could get a seat if we went back but we did wander over later just to see how Yorkshire are doing.

We found a seat at a picnic table and watched the last 20 overs. Lancashire we’re doing well and eventually won with 7 wickets to spare. Great people watching and good cricket.

Tonight we had Steak & chips for tea. Then we sat out until 21.00 with a glass obviously.

Day 4:

We walked into York along the river. Once we got to the city we headed for The Shambles and walked around the market.

We found a Cornish pasty shop and bought two original pasties we then made our way to the park where we sat on the grass and ate them before walking home.

On the way home we got accosted by a Sutrans member and we had to listen to him go on about bicycles and cycleways. I asked him if he was part of the group that sat down on motorways, no was his answer. We declined his offer to becoming members for £10 a month and we carried on our walk home.

This afternoon the heavens opened and we had very heavy showers. Luckily for me they finished at 18.15 so I could cook BBQ tea outside. Another light shower came after we had finished washing up so we put the chairs and table away ready for tomorrow morning’s departure.

Day 5:

Home day but Iona’s battery was flat so we had to use the emergency starter pack. Once running it was fine. The sat nav took us the wrong way at first, I think it was trying to avoid motorways but I need to investigate after I have sorted the main battery out. Otherwise a great break in York.