Living and Writing in York

 

Or in Yorkshire.

We retired to York 9 years ago for many non-writing reasons, but basically because we loved the city. However, it wasn't until I got the writing bug and started exploring the area that I realized how remarkable the County was! I mean, ANY county that produces the Bronte sisters, James Herriot, JB. Priestley, WH Auden, Alan Bennett, Val Wood, Kate Atkinson, Laurence Sterne, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Frances Brody, Ava Manelo, Jane Lovering, K LShandwick and Leah Fleming has to have something special going for it.

Of course, in terms of novels actually SET in York, I give you the amazing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, with its very Gothic presentation of the city. Going back in time, Bernard Cornwell had York – or Jorvik, feature in many of his Uhtred novels! York is such a compact city you can walk around the encircling walls in an hour – and many of the streets have changed little over the last thousand years.

No piece discussing Yorkshire and its writers could be complete without mentioning the fabulous Milly Johnson - who was presented with the Rishard Whiteley Award for giving outstanding inspiration to others within the County.

If you are in the mood for Historical fiction (or fact), a walk around the city can give you a host of plot ideas! As can the city pubs! Ghosts abound – as do real-life characters like Guy Fawkes, Dick Turpin and Anne Lister.

Come at the right time of year, and you could find the Romantic Novelists Associationtion hosting an event there too. Recently they have been holding them in the Merchant Taylors Hall. In addition, you may find a writers' conference being held at York University.

Of course, all the attractions bring a downside too. A local paper ran a piece recently entitled "Death by Hen-Party". York being a central transport hub, Friday about 3 pm., the arriving trains start to decant groups of jeunesse dorée all determined to have a good time. To be fair, they are mostly harmless, and there is usually room for everyone.

York's other claim to fame is, of course, chocolate! Terry's and Rountree's were the big players in the chocolate markets of the Victorian era.

Like many chocolate makers of the era, they were Quakers and had a very paternalistic attitude to their workforce. However, they are STILL significant players in the property market. Rowntrees even built a theatre for their workers, and the Joseph Rowntree Theatre is in vibrant and popular use today.

When writer's block strikes, take a stroll, think back and imagine these very stones being trodden by King Richard III. You can literally walk in their footsteps. Towton, Stamford Bridge, Marston Moor and Fulford, some of the most infamous and bloody battles fought in England, have been fought here!

Finally – a word about hedgehogs! Our local ones seem to have gone into hibernation already. This is early but not exceptional. We have at least three who regularly visit us and seem to come back every spring.

Hedgehog Street! A link worth clicking on!

Hedgehogs from earlier this year.

We are STILL putting the food and camera out – just in case. As it happens, we live next door to an old orchard with a large area of the untended garden. Heaven for hedgies – and they have a hedgehog highway through to our garden. My expert advisor for hedgies, Toni Burrell, says they only take about 15% of their food from what we put out – they get the bulk of their diet from what they forage.

Winter is definatly approaching. It is noticably cold at night, and the nights aare drawing in. Hibernating sounds like a good idea (if only!) Take care over the winter, and curl up with several good books. Hopefully, by the time spring comes around they will be joined by one or more of your OWN books!

Change of Seasons

 As I write this, I'm enjoying the final warm days of summer, but I've noticed that the nights are already drawing in and it's dark by nine o'clock.

Although I love the warm summer months (and we've been more than blessed this year!) there is something enticing about autumn. The first whisper of the cold weather to come, closing curtains as the evening falls and curling up with a good book. There are some advantages to living in a country with so many months of long, dark hours when we can be holed up in our homes making our way through a teetering 'to be read' pile.

And I find that what I read changes with the seasons. During the summer I like to read novels that reflect my life at that time, so holidays, sunshine, village fetes and days out. I absolutely love anything involving a coastal location and a big multi-generational family staying in a vast holiday home. I can feel the tension seeping out from between the pages before I've even opened it! I want to be transported somewhere warm with cocktails and sun-loungers and definitely no work - the summer of my dreams, but never my reality!

So, as we move into autumn and the children are going back to school (collective sigh of relief from parents across the country, including myself) I'm looking at my bookcase and putting away the summer novels to start reading something more suitable for the new season.

Whilst I do absolutely love them, I try and save the Christmas books for reading in December (I must stop myself from diving in too early!), so for my autumn reading I turn to darker, slightly mystical books. The sort of slightly spooky, gothic books usually with a historical element or dual timeline that needs to be read in front of a roaring log fire. Just as sitting in the sun adds to the mood when I'm reading a holiday novel, sitting in the dark with the lamp lit, is perfect for reading something atmospheric.

I've pulled out some of the books that are at the top of my 'tbr' pile and I am ready to dive into; I've just finished reading a review copy of Jenni Keer's 'The Legacy of Halesham Hall' so I don't have a copy of that (yet!) but it was brilliant, everything I love in a book for the turn of the seasons - twists and turns, gothic and deliciously dark!

Roll on the autumn nights, my books and I are ready to embrace them!