A Few Hours In York With My Sister

It was the third day of meeting up with my sister and her husband, this time the location was York. Otherwise though the day was a bit disappointing, the weather wasn't very nice, cold and dark...terrible for photography; the Castle Museum, which we wanted to visit was closed and there was scaffolding covering the minster and several other buildings.

We went on a guided walking tour of York, going to some areas of the city I'd not seen before - the guide was very good, but the weather spoiled it - Della and Mitch live in subtropical Queensland in Australia and were struggling with the cold weather.

Della wanted to go for lunch to a pub with a real log fire and the guide was able to suggest somewhere - Mitch spent a lot of time standing right in front of the fire.

Because the Castle Museum was closed we decided to go to the Yorkshire Museum...and it was a boring, bland, patronising and uninspiring experience.

Della and Mitch had made plans for later so we said goodbye. I didn't fancy walking the streets of York for the rest of the day so I caught the next train to Doncaster.

Visiting My Sister And Her Husband In Liverpool - Day Two

Well, unlike yesterday, everything went according to plan today. It started with breakfast in the hotel at 0715 with Della and Mitch, and lingering until it got light outside. We said our goodbyes but we're planning to meet up again tomorrow in York.. 

I then immediately walked down to the River Mersey to take same photographs in the early morning sunshine; there was only myself and a few joggers. I was really impressed with this area of Liverpool and if it had been warmer I would have stayed for longer.

Unfortunately some areas were blocked off because of building work and the museums were closed. The Walker Art Gallery and the museums in the city centre were also closed, as many such establishments now are on Mondays.

The journey home on the train was much more pleasant today; I arrived back in Doncaster only twenty minutes late.

 

Visiting My Sister And Her Husband In Liverpool - Day One

I've already mentioned in an earlier post from a few days ago that my sister and her husband are visiting from Australia. This is a report from our first day together, at Liverpool.

My journey to Liverpool was the worst one I've ever experienced using public transport. With it being a Sunday I had to first catch the local train; it was ten minutes late but shouldn't have been a problem. There was definitely a problem at Sheffield though; all trains going across to Manchester and beyond had beed cancelled because of overrunning engineering work and so I had to wait over half an hour for a replacement coach to take us over the Woodhead Pass to Manchester Picaadilly Station.When I got there I was told that there were still no trains going to Liverpool from there and I'd have to make my way to Manchester Victoria Station where there was still a service operating. I used the free City Centre bus to get there and yet again, the first available train going to Liverpool was cancelled; I had to wait an hour for the next one and it was so crowded that many people were left on the platform. It was very uncomfortable and I felt quite ill.

A few weeks ago Della mentioned going on a boat trip on the River Mersey but that didn't happen - I was nearly three hours late arriving in Liverpool. We had enough time to walk down to the Riverside to board our doubledecker bus for our The Beatles themed tour of Liverpool.

The tour was very enjoyable and the guide was very knowledgable and funny.

We went to the hotal to get me checked in for the night, just as it was getting dark. We then went for a meal in the early evening; both myself and Mitch chose to have scouse, which we both thought was basically the same as a beef casserolle - it was delicious though. We then went to the Cavern Pub, which isn't the same as The Cavern Club; we enjoyed a singalong session with the other customers and the live singer.

We reyrned to the hotel quite early because Della was suffering from jet lag.

Review of 2025

This year has been the first year I've returned to something like full strength in my legs after my accident a couple of years ago when I tripped up over the vacuum cleaner hose, fell down a few steps and damaged my tendons or ligaments. I don't think I took full advantage of this return to health though, I've not been anywhere new walking or out with my support worker. Hulley's Coaches, the Baslow-based local bus company which would usually experiment with bus services going out to different areas of the Peak District went bankrupt this year and so I think there will be fewer opportunities now.

2026 is scheduled to get off to a good start; I'll be meeting my sister and her husband at Liverpool and York...they're coming over from Australia. I've just checked the National Lottery Heritage Open Days for any suitable properties which will be open in March for free admission but none are listed yet. There'll be the Open Gardens in the summer months, which I'll have to attend on my own because Siobhan, my support worker, struggles with uneven ground and the amount of walking required - there should be several villages within range as usual though.

Finally, at the end of September there's the National Heritage Open Week when more propeertiies will be offering free admission - if there's a stately home not too far away Siobhan will defintely be up for that.

Looking Forward To The First Week In 2026

My sister and her husband are coming over to visit from Australia at the beginning of January and I'll be spending several days with them, so there'll be plenty to post on the blog. The itinerary as I know it at the moment as that I'm going to stay overnight in a hotel at Liverpool; on the first day we're going for a short boat trip on the Mersey and then taking The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour coach tour and finishing off at the Cavern Club where I think there's always a Beatles tribite act playing. I'm not a particular Beatles fan, but I don't mind them, they're alright. 

The two of them are making an early start the next day to drive to York, there'll be no room for me in the car though because they're travelling back to Australia by sea and it takes six weeks so they need to pack a lot of clothes. So I'll have the day to myself; I've never been to Liverpool before and so I don't know where to go - I think I'll go to the Royal Albert Docks if the weather is nice, it looks to be quite interesting. I'll have to check online about the museums for if it's raining.

We now get to the Tuesday when the plan is I go up to York to spend another day with them; my brother might join us, but he probably won't....he literally said "I'll not bother, I've been to York plenty of times before." I'm not staying overnight at York, I shall get a late train back to Doncaster.

I think they're going to Whitby on the Wednesday and finally we'll all meet up for a family meal at one of the local pubs, which I'm assuming both my brother and my dad will be attending.