York 800 (not out)

Last week I stayed in the historic City of York going for country treks during the good weather and sightseeing during the bad.

York is a theme park for history junkies. On Wednesday after getting soaked jogging around the City walls, I was trying to decide what to do next when I noticed that a free tour by the Association of
Voluntary Guides (AVG) was on offer.

It was celebrating 800 years of municipal history in York since King John first granted it a City charter in 1212.  While I waited for the tour to begin I read the display boards outside and inside the City Library (meeting point). In some ways the civic problems that York suffered from during medieval times are still about today. There was problems with bad housing, overcrowding, traffic, dirty streets and anti-social behaviour.

Okay, today York doesn't have Pestilence, War or Famine but it was strange to read medieval accounts of husbands and wives being punished for causing drunken noise nuisance and for  householders fined for putting their rubbish out in the street too early. Good to see a connection with East London in the exhibition since York in the 1930's also took in many of the Kindertransport children refugees from Nazi Germany.

 

Due to the on/off rain there was only 4 of us on the tour. The guide was Brilliant! pleasant,  knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his City. I've been visiting York since I was a child but I think I learnt more in that 2 hours than in any other visit. The AVG York 800 tour is Monday and Wednesday 11am and 2pm twice weekly until 26 September. The AVG also do other guided walks (check website)

 

I'll post the pictures from the walk on Facebook later.

 

London Marathon 2012 Week 23: City of York Wall

Now only 3 Sundays to go before the London Marathon 2012. I am resigned to do it but am wondering why on earth am I doing it? For the second time??? The painful after effects of the long training runs remind me exactly why I swore I would never, ever, never run a marathon again after my experience in 2002. I should have known better!

I've got fitter, lost a little bit of weight and I'm raising funds for a very good cause but frankly I think I will stick to a 30 minute jog around Wanstead flats and putting money into charity buckets at railway stations in the future.

Run of the week was on Saturday morning while I was in the City of York for the UNISON International Seminar. In the morning I went around the medieval City walls which are almost still complete. It was a foggy and the picture collage above does not do justice to York which is a breathtakingly beautiful and historic City. This is a fantastic run with lots of ups and down stairs at the numerous City gates.

When I was a child the Gray Clan use to come at Easter to York for camping and caravan holidays. So visits always brings back good memories. The one deeply unpleasant but very important memory I have of York was when visiting the 900 year old Clifford Tower, the old keep of York Castle, (see in collage on right) and slowly realising that this was the site in 1190 of a shameful "pogrom".  150 Jews (men, women and children) living in York at that time, were attacked by a mob and had tried to take refuge in the Royal Castle but were forced to commit mass suicide inside to avoid being tortured and murdered by the mob.  As a history obsessed teenager, very proud of his Country's history and heritage,  the realisation of what had occurred on this very same spot was a complete shock and a never forgotten lesson. A lesson sadly repeated on occasions in future years but never with the same first time chest thumping appalled impact.  

I am running the London Marathon for a charity set up to prevent young people becoming homeless and helping them if they do. Check out "Alone in London". Click here to sponsor me on the Justgiving website.

UNISON International Seminar 2012

The seminar is taking place in York. It actually started Friday evening which I missed due to work commitments. This morning the first presentation was by  local Labour MP Hugh Bayley (former junior minister) on "International Development and the UK Parliament". Isobel McVicar, Community NEC and member of the UNISON international Committee chaired.

Hugh reminded everyone that York itself use to be an Italian and Danish Colony. While he in a former life was a NALGO district and national officer and can remember the "incredibility" he use to face (I suspect he is being polite) when he first tried to get NALGO to take international trade union solidiarity seriously, especially with regard to the staff pension fund and a boycott of investments in Apartite South Africa. Nowadays it is also widely accepted that the purpose of international aid is to eliminate poverty not promote trade. This is a victory for progressives. He remembers the howls of protest by the Tories in the Commons when he first suggested this. It is also a victory that the Tories have agreed to honour the Labour Commitment to 0.7% of GNP to international aid (even if they have cut this with a £1.2 billion delay). You can be cynical that they are just pretending not to be "the nasty party" anymore but there has been a sea change in views. The same with Gay rights.

Hugh sees himself and the Labour Party as very much the "political wing of the wider Labour movement".  Which may I suppose be the reason why he was sacked as Pension minster by Tony Blair!

UNISON National Housing Seminar 2011: City of York

This year the seminar was held in York. I went up last night and this morning before breakfast went for a run (aka slow jog) around it’s almost complete City walls (see picture).

This was quite a fitting start in one way for a housing event since apart from the glorious displays of spring daffodils on the grass banks under the walls, you are acutely aware of the huge range of different types of homes and buildings that exists. From the medieval Shambles to the modern scandinavian style wooden fronted low rise blocks. Small traditional family terraces and the mansions with huge gardens next to the Minster.

The housing stock looked in relatively good condition with no obvious graffiti, vandalism or dumped rubbish. The communal washing lines were even in use and it would appear that residents had left clothes hanging up to dry overnight. I am sure that there are problems with Housing in York (homelessness and affordability?) which are not readily apparent. I did wonder how “sustainable” the new housing units would prove and whether they will still be in use in 500 years time.

There were around 100 branch delegates present at the seminar from Council’s, ALMO’s, DLO’s and Housing associations up and down the Country.

The Chair of the UNISON National Housing Forum Nick Olgard welcomed us and reminded everyone about last year’s seminar when we had the then Labour Housing Minister John Healey present, who he called one of the best ever housing minister’s with Graham Shapps. Then we were worrying about possible Tory Housing polices – now we know.

Our first (keynote) speaker was Heather Wakefield, Head of UNISON Local Government. I’ll post on this next.