York: England's great city alive with layers of history

Ducking into cover, I share my concerns with barman Steve. He reassures me: “You cannot just kill Scotsmen with a crossbow anymore, what sort of people do you think we are?” Then he smiles: “Wait, is this a Tuesday?”

The spoiler alert is I’m alive to tell this tale but beyond these bizarre local legends, I find York really is a city alive with layers of history, many of them intertwined with rivalries and conflict. This is a strategic hub – roughly halfway between Edinburgh and London – that has often been on a faultline between the two nations.

My arrival is a suitably grand, Scottish one. I’ve come down on the Highland Chieftain LNER train. I’ve arrived with reinforcements, armed with Thurso’s Reids of Caithness biscuits from the train. Walking out of York’s impressive Victorian station, I’m instantly in amongst it as an old section of city wall looms ahead.

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That York still has sections of ancient wall – you can walk some parts, and I suggest you do – speaks of its historic credentials. They needed those walls, as York was a fulcrum used for forays of English armies into Scotland, with the threat of counter-attacks hanging in the air. Indeed, in the summer of 1298, Edward I made York his de facto English capital, a base for striking out at Scotland. And a potential target.

Those days are clearly past now, and everywhere I head, I enjoy a warm welcome. Indeed, in a riverfront cafe, I chat to Claire. I’d heard Scotland at one point sacked York and offer my apologies. She laughs and replies: “Scotland never did trounce our walled city despite what they make out in Braveheart.”

The Victorian station brings you right into the heart of York

I feel even more at home when I learn about the existence of the St Andrew Society of York, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2019. A member tells me: “Our highlights are the obvious ones like a St Andrew’s Night dinner and a wild Burns Night, but we do loads of other things, including ceilidhs to celebrate our connections with and love of Scotland.”

I wander through the historic core, more relaxed now. I’m drawn to the historic Shambles, a tight medieval street dating to the 14th century that echoes Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and, for me, is as atmospheric.

All roads in York lead to one place, though, and without really planning, I find myself standing right outside one of the finest ecclesiastic buildings in Europe. York Minster is spellbinding, a voluminous cathedral that soars 72m into the heavens, is replete with 36 bells and has roots as far back as 637AD.

Another great way to appreciate York’s grandeur is out on the notoriously flood-prone River Ouse. I join the ducks and swans on a trip with the award-winning City Cruises York. I learn how York prospered as an inland port with goods pouring in from all across the globe, including the cocoa beans that propelled York’s famous chocolate industry. This is, after all, the home of KitKat.

The River Ouse is the perfect place for a boat tour

You can find decent chocolate in York today, and I check out the York’s Chocolate Story attraction. The city boasts a swathe of great places to eat and drink. We’re talking cosy riverside pubs where local ales abound – including tasty options from York Brewery, which first started brewing within the city walls in 1996 – through to more traditional haunts serving roast dinners with obscenely large Yorkshire puddings.

These days there are an increasing number of more sophisticated restaurants that bring out the best in the bountiful local produce too.

I dine well on local lamb at my York base, the swish Malmaison (www.malmaison.com), a boutique hotel with a Scottish connection, as the chain was first set up by legendary Scottish hotelier Ken McCulloch.

Roots is sublime too, a Michelin-starred restaurant from Tommy Banks, down by the river, that focuses on “farm to table” cuisine.

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I keep finding more layers. There is York Castle Museum, where you delve through four centuries of history, and the Jorvik Viking Centre, where I meet Scotland’s old Norse foes.

I don’t even make it to the National Rail Museum, where I’d planned to find out more about the trains that have ploughed the route of the Flying Scotsman from London to Edinburgh. The actual Flying Scotsman locomotive enjoys its 100th anniversary in 2023, so it won’t be back in York much, but look out for appearances around Scotland.

I head for York’s station, still asking people about the crossbow legend, and no one seems to know the reality of where the story came from.

Then I talk to a member of the train crew, who flips it on its head, joking: “I heard you could only kill a Scotsman if they were caught after midnight armed with a bow and arrow, so you could say Scotland started it.”

Like all things in York, the rich web of history is always more complex than it first appears. Next time, however, I might just leave the kilt at home, just in case.

lLNER (www.lner.co.uk) runs trains from a number of Scottish destinations.

lYork Tourism - www.visityork.org