View of York Minster from Clifford's Tower

We decided to make use of our English Heritage membership and visit the newly refurbished and recently reopened Clifford's Tower. It has been transformed from an empty quatrefoil stone shell into a future proofed ruin with a timber roof deck and suspended walkways at first floor level.

Previously to see the view you had to shuffle single file around the narrow wall walk at the top. Passing people was a squeeze so nobody lingered long to admire the 360° view of York. The roof deck is now wonderfully spacious with lots of seating allowing folk to take in the view at their leisure. You can also now visit the garderobe built for Henry lll complete with flushing system! 

One end of the Minster is rather spoiled by scaffolding. There is usually some somewhere, in fact in the 20+ years that I've lived in York I don't think I've ever seen it completely scaffold free. It's a never ending job! 

The building in the foreground also undergoing restoration and also hidden by scaffolding is Fairfax House, a Georgian townhouse built in the 1740s. 

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