The Knowhere Guide

Best and Worst in York, North Yorkshire*

York, North Yorkshire Triumphs and Tragedies

Favourite Building

• The Minster is the most beautiful building in the world. If you're into architecture you can always go and have a cup of coffee on the top floor of Borders book shop.
• Cliffords Tower lying down outside beneath the east bit of the minster so as it looks like a star destroyer 73 Monkgate - a place of pilgrimage for all
• The minster
• C AND A CAR PARK/ GET GREAT CHASES OF SUCURITY GUARDS
• There are many beautiful buildings in the city, just take a look in the Shambles, very historic and all that. Clifford's tower is nice when it's not flooded with tourists.
• Minster. Very old but seriously cool. Shame about the scaffolding though.
• The little church building off Goodramgate. If you can find it - a fine spot to spend some time getting out of it in your lunch hour.
• brubakers pub
• The Minster really is stupendous.
• There are too many!!!. York Minster is the most overpowering piece of architechture in the city. Try climbing up the tower (not recommended for those with a weak heart), or exploring its depths to see the Roman foundations etc. Take a look at the city walls themselves, and the walls of St Mary's Abbey. Look at the Roman corner tower in the grounds of St Mary's next to the library. Look inside all the small churches within the city walls.

Demolish It Now Building

• Ryedale Building, Piccadilly. Stonebow House
• The uni has some horrible sixties concrete buildings.
• Victoria House is an eyesore as is Presto's across the road. When will they do something with those buildings?
• Huntington School, so long as all teachers past and present were on site at the same time.
• The entire tech college ( further and hihger education) campus and the Knavesmire stand at York racecourse
• The Moat House Hotel
• the whole of Micklegate
• BARBICAN COS ITS CRAP
• The Barbican - what were they thinking of?
• Central hall on the university campus. It's horrible.
• Stonebow. If you ever see this abomination to archtecture, you'll understand why.
• That ugly eyesore known as the pound shop opposite bella pasta
• minster or nestle chocolate factory
• Stonebow House...........70's carbuncle.......
• The mock-Tudor bus-stop opposite the railway station.
• Stonebow House - unbelievably horrid.
• That one on Stonebow that houses the employment service. Can't remember what it's called now.

The Best Things

• Its really a very friendly city. I enjoy that friendly northern rudeness which has a likeable edge and doesn't really imply dislike. its just a test of character!
• feel good atmosphere+ freindly faces
• The 2nd best university (Daily Telegraph) in the U.K.
• The architecture, pubs, people.
• South Bank If you are moving to York, the best area is South Bank, which is near to Rowntree's Park, the new Millenium Bridge also close to the Racecourse (the Knavesmire) and the A64 and motorways. You can walk to the Railway Station and Town. Good schools, and walking distance to the River Ouse and greenbelt area. The property's are a little expensive. but worth it. Best of luck
• It's not Leeds.
• The history
• The city is pedestrianised so you don't have to worry about getting run over as much.....(damn I'm trying!!!)
• Lots of cool places to sit around in the city and watch people. Behind some of the ruins in Museum gardens - very peaceful and not too many tourists at times surprisingly.
• The beer.
• The footpath/cycleway along the river through Fishergate. Can't be a better way of avoiding traffic and getting into the heart of the city.
• The lack of cars in the city centre, which makes it great for relaxing without fearing for your life. If your a car driver who doesn't like this then get on your bike. During the summer chill out on the green at the back of the minster.
• York is Britain's number one cycling city with 20% of Commuter Journeys made by cycle. The City Council is leading the way in the UK on traffic calming, cycling facilities and Green Transport initiatives. Other Councils look to York for examples of best practice in these areas.
• Most of the city centre is pedestianized
• Coppergate and the friendly pubs along the river. My husband & I (Americans) went off season and loved the friendly people, pubs, and York Minister. If we had started our trip here instead of Portsmouth, we would never had left England. Everyone we met were wonderful; we look forward to renewing our friendships.
• Depth Charge, The Wellington pub (back street off Fulford Road opposite the police station), the 17.37 transpennine service to Manchester.
• Tourists or non-tourists should check out the "Guide Friday" bus tour system for getting around the city. One price for a full-day ticket gets you unlimited on/off transport around and about the city centre, both inside and outside the walls. The route stops at all of the main places - train station, tourist spots, race track, as well as having regular bus stops. Definitely the best way to navigate the city. Have used GF in other UK cities, and definitely the best organised and most friendly help. Other city GF hype for tips and pitch the other GF tours, York did not. It is a beautiful and clean city, and tourists or not, the "regular folk" are warm, funny and the best of the British. If you think that you would like to have "tea" as an event, Betty's is good, but expensive and crowded during the summer months. Sunday evening, as supper, was very bearable.
• What about Guy Fawkes (born in York) the only person to enter parliament with honourable intention (to paraphrase Dennis Skinner, MP)!! Where was Guy when Thatch the Snatch was ripping the shit out of Health, Education, Local Government, Employment and stock-piling arms for the bloody Yanks?
• 366 (at last count) pubs inside city walls.
• Purpose built baby changing areas in City centre
• YORK is the home of KIT KAT!!! Lots of other sweetie goodies are made here - All by Nestle - Come smell the air: one day POLO mints, the next day it could be Aero!
• Brilliant shopping, with all the large chains and pedestrian city centre.
• Excellent train station, direct to Leeds/London/Edinburgh.
• 20 minutes drive to North Yorkshire Moors or the Dales.
• Within easy reach of Leeds/Bradford conurbation and the NE coast Scarborough/Whitby.
• Very attractive city, mediaeval walls/castle, museums and art gallery.
• Twelve screen Warner Bros cinema on the Clifton Moor industrial estate.
• The city is beautiful, I feel privileged to live here!

The Worst Things

• THE BOUNCERS ON GALLERY! THEY SHOULD SMILE ONCE IN A WHILE, WE ALL KNOW THEY'RE THERE TO DO A JOB BUT SERVICE WITH A SMILE WOULD BE NICE.
• THE TOWNIES
• The arrogance of the City Council in that it thinks it doesn't need to listen to the citizens of York.
• Tang Hall W.M.C - this is not an advertisement
• All the roads in and out except the A64 from Leeds. The A1237 outer ring road is a bag of shite that should have been dual carraigeway and is in danger of becoming a car park from Acomb to Earswick.
• York uni, clubs, lack of slappers, cyclists
• townies!!
• Needs better clubs, although Leeds is only 20 mins by train.
• Actually I would like to stick up for that area called Tang Hall, I have lived here for 3 years thankyou very much, and it isn't all bad. If you want real narrow minded thugs try Haxby-especially the Red Lion. I grew up in haxby so i know what I am talking about, middle class white trash ghetto.......
• You see that bit about Tang Hall? PLEASE believe it. Etty Avenue is renowned over the whole city, and I lived there for a year. You want kids lighting fires in the street? You want 4-year-olds breaking into your house (allegedly), and the law not being able to touch them? That's the sort of thing you can expect from Tang Hall.
• Pathetic public transport
• Jacksons store on Bishopthorpe road, The queue is always long and the service is mega slow especially when you get old biddies thumbling in their purse and stating that they can get something 1p cheaper at another store. Sopping in york is anightmareish RIP OFF.
• an estate called Tang Hall it is an absouloute HELL HOLE, enter at your own risk. York racecourse
• This city is out of date and the public transport is a joke. The local paper insists in putting pictures of miserable people in and is next to useless for information and news.
• The townies & the tourists
• The night-life (apart from the many pubs) is fairly crap. Not really any live music venues, and the clubs are generally bad.
• The nightlife is crap. The bouncers who think they're dead smart.
• The rednecks.
• That fountain in the middle of Parliament Street.
• lack of decent professional jobs forcing me to move away.
• York is heavily polluted by motor traffic. Recent official figures have shown that one location in York is the second worst polluted site of all monitored sites in the UK (Nitrogen Oxides). Most of York is likely to become one of the government's "Air Action Zones" in 2005. The Council will be legally obliged to remedy the situation. Their support for cycling, walking and public transport is laying the foundations for a less polluted future.
• The stinking diesel buses choking the place
• the ring road
• There is no talent whatsover. This is hard to belive considering the 2 Universities, the law college and the army barracks but never the less the truth. If you want talent go to Beverley.
• Hull Road is the 'turf' of a gang of pimply would-be ruffians who bomb around in a white Cortina trying to be tough and generally making a nuisance of themselves.
• York may well be aesthetically pleasing to some but the high proportion of squaddies, young farmers and small town inbreds means it's not the safest please for an evening stroll.
• The nightclubs are shit, tourists (all of them!) and somebody should do something about the pavements.
• All the bloody tourists (especially the Americans) and all the crap that goes with them.
• House prices are very high, as are rent prices. There is plenty of student accommodation but most of it is pretty crud.
• Correction: How dare you describe my team (York City) as totally crap? Please reserve that description for the likes of Scarboro, Hull City and Doncaster Rovers.
• Totally crap football team.
• Speed bumps. In recent years the city has been covered in speed bumps, little roundabouts and other speed restrictions. Very frustrating.
• Summer and Christmas are a nightmare of tourists. Millions of them descend on York and the city becomes very busy.
• Public transport is fairly hopeless, consisting of little hopper buses for the most part.
• Terrible city for car drivers as huge chunks of the city centre are pedestrian only, and there are many baffling one way systems. Not much in the way of city centre parking, but there is a park & ride scheme in operation.

The Knowhere Guide started out as a list of places to skateboard in the UK. It is a compilation of (unedited) information and views supplied by users like yourself. It is not a conventional tourist guide!

In most cases, the information in each section has been submitted by more than one contributor (the credits at the bottom of the page list some, but not all, of the contributors) and some of it dates back to the 1970s.

We make no claims as to the accuracy of the information in the Guide - our only purpose is to provide a forum for users to share their knowledge and opinions. So please keep a large bag of salt handy and be prepared to read between the lines!

If you disagree with a comment, or information is out of date, please submit an update! The contributors come from all walks of life, and their opinions are bound to be subjective, so if your view isn't represented, please speak up and contribute to the balance of the Guide. See below in the 'Have Your Say' section for how to add your voice.

If we have helped you out or made you laugh you can buy us a pint.

Have Your Say...

You can tell us more about York. This is also the method to use if you want to correct some of the information already here. (But please remember you're not mailing the person who actually wrote whatever-it-is.)

You can use the add an event form to tell us about events happening in York.

Or, if you'd just like to leave a message for other users of this site, take a look at The Knowhere Board (handy if you're just trying to get in touch with someone).

Credits

Last updated: 2007-06-15