York News for Travel Writers/Feature Editors - November 2005

 

Further Info & Photographs From: Kay Hyde, PR Manager or Sarah Lilleyman, PR Assistant, York Tourism Bureau. Tel 01904 554451/554436 Email: kh@york-tourism.co.uk  sl@york-tourism.co.uk

Would you like to visit York on a press trip? If you're interested in writing a travel feature about York we'd be delighted to hear from you. Looking for a different angle? Why not visit our website www.visityork.org/media click on themed fact sheets for ideas.

Main News

Renaissance: Illuminating York

On 29 October 2005, the last evening of British Summer Time, Renaissance: Illuminating York dramatically launched 5 new stunning public art installations; Weather Patterns, Night Window, The Square, Gateway to the Quarter and A Sense of Place, each using the most advanced lighting technologies. In total, approximately 1 million will have been invested in creative and architectural lighting by the summer of 2006, as people will be able to enjoy ancient and modern York from The Merchant Adventurers Hall to Bootham Bar, beautifully enhanced with light in the evenings, as never before. The first phase of the new city centre lighting scheme to be switched on includes Bootham Bar and Micklegate Bar, 2 of the 4 ancient gateways into the walled city, Clifford's Tower, The Merchant Adventurer's Hall, The King's Manor, All Saint's Pavement, The Victorian Gatelodge to the Yorkshire Museum Gardens, Lendal Bridge, the riverside façade of the 14th Century Guildhall, York Art Gallery and Georgian gems Fairfax House, Castlegate House and St Mary's Church, all on Castlegate. The lighting project is part of a wider £1.8 million initiative to create a new 'Evening Vision' of York, with the majority of funding coming from Yorksire Forward. Other elements of the project include investigating better interpretation of the city's medieval walls and an evening events programme in the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens. The lighting schemes will be switched off at midnight each day. For further information contact the Information Line on 01904 621756 or Email: events@visityork.org Press Contact: Rory McCarthy Tel: 01904 554550

York Castle Museum's Kirkgate to get £284,000 Face Lift

York Museums Trust is celebrating after being awarded £187,000 from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to update York Castle Museum's most famous display - Kirkgate - the recreated Victorian street at the heart of the museum which is fondly remembered by thousands of people who visit every year. Visitors will soon be able to step back in time and experience the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian Britain and meet the characters behind the shop doors and discover what life was like in a time that changed the world.

Kirkgate has long been the museum's most popular display, with its cobbles and real shop fronts stocked with fascinating goods from the past. From next Easter it will have new faces, sounds and sights for 21st century visitors to enjoy. The Government grant, from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund 2004/5, together with £97,000 of Trust funds, will mean it can be refurbished and rejuvenated to inspire thousands more visitors in the future. The new look Kirkgate is due for completion in Spring 2006. www.yorkmuseumtrust.org.uk Media Contact: Lee Clark Media Co-ordinator, York Museums Trust. Tel: 01904 687670 Email: lee.clark@ymt.org.uk

Yuletide York 18 November - to New Year

York's Yuletide season runs from 18th November through to the New Year incorporating Christmas markets every weekend on the run up to Christmas, the Early Music Christmas Festival and the Festival of Angels. New for this year is a Children's Christmas Fayre (18-20 November). This new event for York will herald the launch of the city's Christmas activities and also the switch on of York's Christmas lights featuring the spectacular illumination of York Minster. The Yuletide York brochure is available at the Visitor Information Centres from October. Press Contact: Nicola Booth, Tel 01904 554426 Event Line, Tel: 01904 554430 Info Line, Tel: 01904 621756 or visit www.yuletideyork.com

New Artefacts Alive Gallery at JORVIK

The artefacts Gallery at JORVIK currently contains over 400 Viking Age artefacts discovered during the famous Coppergate dig in York. Visitor feedback has shown that the objects are not well understood therefore a series of new installations will aim to enhance the display which will be open to the public in January. The project, "Artefacts Alive", consists of the creation of six new interactive multimedia installations and four talking "Viking Ghosts" which will be installed in the Artefacts Gallery to explain the displays.

The interactive multi-media installations will use 3 dimensional modelling, video excerpts, text, and accessible games, to describe the techniques of archaeological discovery, for example: methods of conservation and research. Viking inventions will also be explored contrasting them with modern day technologies; as well as the Viking use of medicine, diet, crafting techniques and Viking navigational methods. All six installations will use "Find Out More" screens that will allow visitors to find out more in depth information about the work of the York Archaeological Trust. Public Contact: 01904 543403 Press Contact: Heidi Folland, Tel: 01904 527777 Email: heidi@actionmarketing.org.uk Visit: www.jorvik.co.uk

Dig! makes history with Millennium Backing

York Archaeological Trust, the same educational charity who developed the famous attraction JORVIK, have recently been awarded a £750,000 funding grant from the Millennium Commission to develop a new tourist attraction in the centre of York. The Archaeological Resource Centre at St Saviours Church in York will close in July 2005 and will reopen as Dig! in March 2006. JORVIK is currently in its 20th year and has recently welcomed the 14 Millionth visitor - York Archaeological Trust are confident that they can launch another innovative experience that will capture the public's imagination as JORVIK does. Dig! will provide a unique and exciting archaeological experience. St Saviours will be transformed into a simulated archaeological investigation including an excavation, site hut, and science laboratory and research library. Visitors can excavate parts of a Roman fortress, Viking City, Medieval burial site and Victorian workers cottages. Press Contact: Kay Hyde, PR Manager, York Tourism Bureau. Tel: 01904 554436 Email: kh@york-tourism.co.uk

McArthurGlen keeps hearts beating in York

McArthurGlen York has joined forces with the British Heart Foundation - the nation's heart research charity - and invested in a life-saving defibrillator to improve its first aid services for customers. The defibrillator can be operated by fully trained security staff at the centre in the event of someone falling ill. The staff have been trained by EFAS (Essential First Aid Services) to build upon their current first aid knowledge and learn how to use the state-of-the art machines. Ian Rudd, facilities manager at McArthurGlen York, said: "We felt this was a positive move for McArthurGlen as our customers' health and safety is of prime importance to us. More than 270,000 people suffer a heart attack in the UK each year, but around a third die before they've even reached hospital because their heart is starved of oxygen and they haven't received treatment in time." Mrs Pat Le Masurier from the British Heart Foundation added: "We fully support the responsible attitude McArthurGlen has towards customer health and safety. It's a very good idea having access to a defibrillator in such a busy and popular shopping centre. Public Contact: Tel: 01904 682720 Press Contact: Norma Middlemiss, Tel: 01904 682701 www.mcarthurglen.com

York Mystery Plays

The Passion Plays of England are some of the oldest pieces of English literature. The first recorded performance was in 1376. Performances continued every year for 200 years until suppressed by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. The best preserved of these religious pageant performances are those of York which were staged by members of the City Guilds and performed on carts or wagons drawn through the streets. Each craft guild or 'mysterie' would perform its own play as part of an agreed cycle which would take a full day to view at various stations throughout the City. Since 1992 there have been performances of the Plays in the streets of York, both on wagons and as 'processional' plays. The Guilds of York will stage the next quadrennial performance of the Mystery Plays in the City Centre on Sundays, 9th and 16th July 2006, 12noon to 6pm. Launched to coincide with Easter, the 2006 Mystery Plays include a graphic scene of the Crucifixion plus the recreation of twelve of the plays to be staged at four sites around the City and following medieval procedures, the stage sets are built onto wagons. The wagons are pushed through the streets, stopping at several places. Press Contact: Roger Lee, Tel: 01904 653698 Booking Line: Tel: 01904 658338, Event Line: Tel: 01904 607530, www.yorkmysteryplays.co.uk

Jorvik Viking Festival

The streets of York come alive with colour and spectacle from 16th - 26th February at the annual Jorvik Viking Festival. Vikings from around the world come together to celebrate the city's Viking heritage. This year's programme promises to be a thrilling blend of spectacle and culture with many exciting new additions and an international twist to events. Visitors can look forward to battle re-enactments, a two-hundred strong Viking procession through the city, feasting, giant works of art, poetry workshops, lectures, Viking walks, longship racing, and a spectacular, haunting finale in York Minster....plus lots more! The JORVIK Viking Festival is truly an international festival that dominates the city during mid February and it will celebrate its 21st birthday in 2006. Public Contact: 01904 543403 Press Contact: Heidi Folland, Tel: 01904 527777 Email: heidi@actionmarketing.org.uk Visit: www.jorvik.co.uk

Exhibitions

Constantine the Great

On 25 July, 306, in the city of York, a period of Roman history began which was to shape the future of Europe for centuries to come. When Constantine the Great was proclaimed as emperor on that day, it signalled the start of a period which saw Christianity adopted as the main religion of Europe, the unification of the western and eastern halves of the Empire and the creation of a new city which would become Constantinople, now Istanbul. The anniversary of this key world event will be celebrated by York Museums Trust with a major exhibition and accompanying publication in 2006. The exhibition Constantine the Great - York's Roman Emperor will tell the story of the events in York, when Constantine was proclaimed emperor by military supporters of his father, Constantius. The exhibition will bring together a wide range of artefacts to tell these stories from collections across Britain and Europe such as a marble sculpture of Constantine's head, roughly double life size, which was discovered in York city centre in the early 19th century which is believed to be the earliest portrait of him in the Roman world and a mosaic, dating from about 350, showing an image of Christ, which was discovered in a Roman villa in Dorset, at Hinton St Mary. www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk Media Contact: Lee Clark, Media Co-ordinator, York Museums Trust. Tel: 01904 687670 Email: lee.clark@ymt.org.uk

The Ice Age - Yorkshire Museum

Did you know that an ice sheet nearly 2km thick once covered the whole of Yorkshire? That hippopotamuses wallowed in the mud in Leeds? How rocks from Norway found themselves on the beaches of Yorkshire? That Britain could be gripped by another Ice Age in just 500 years? The last two million years of the Great Ice Age has seen Britain become a frozen desert like the Antarctic and then as rich in exotic wildlife as the Serengeti. This exhibition will show the Yorkshire Museum's outstanding collections from the Great Ice Age and will tell the story of how the Ice Age has shaped our landscape, our wildlife, and our own evolution. Discover how the Ice Age is so much bigger than the Mammoth. The Ice Age - 28 May until 31 December 2005. www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk Media Contact: Lee Clark, Media Co-ordinator, York Museums Trust. Tel: 01904 687670 Email: lee.clark@ymt.org.uk

The Flying Scotsman

The National Railway Museum has started work on the first ever exhibition dedicated to the legendary steam locomotive, Flying Scotsman. The £700,000 exhibition backed by Yorkshire Forward and the Heritage Lottery Fund, will be called The Flying Scotsman Story and is due to open for Easter 2006. The permanent new exhibition will tell the remarkable story behind the world's most famous steam locomotive and the prestigious East Coast rail service that made its name. It will also trace Flying Scotsman's extraordinary journeys to the USA and Australia, as well as tackling the biggest question of all.just why is the vintage locomotive so famous? Other key features of the new display will include:

-Personal stories of the people intimately linked with the locomotive and service - from passengers and crews to owners and admirers.

-Visual access to the behind the scenes world of NRM locomotive preparation prior to operating on the main line.

-A sought-after glimpse into Flying Scotsman's footplate when it is on display within the exhibition.

-Guest appearances by other famous locomotives and engines from the route of the Flying Scotsman and held in the national collection.

-A 1930s buffet car illustrating the story of the dining experience for passengers travelling on the Flying Scotsman service over the last 70 years.

-Rare film footage along the Flying Scotsman route and from all the periods of the locomotive's life.

Plans for the exhibition have been informed by the results of research commissioned by the NRM to find out what the public would like to see. It is expected to attract visitors from all over the world keen to find out what makes Flying Scotsman so special. Press Contact: Hazel Clemmits, Tel: 01904 686281 Email: hazel.clemmit@nmsi.ac.uk Public Contact: Tel: 01904 621621 www.nrm.org.uk

Fired Up - York Art Gallery

Three Yorkshire art galleries have joined forces to present a trio of exhibitions celebrating the vast ceramics collection of York Museums Trust, all curated by Lars Tharp (the other two exhibitions are at Scarborough and Wakefield Art Galleries). The Celebrating Ceramics exhibitions have been funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation's Regional Museums Initiative (RMI), which supports museums in providing appealing and important exhibition programmes across the country. Under the RMI, nine exhibitions will take place at fifteen venues between 2004 and 2007. The initiative aims to support museums to play an enhanced role in the cultural life of their region and to ensure an increased and enthusiastic public. The exhibitions will showcase just a fraction of the 13,000 pieces in York Museums Trust's world-class collection, which ranges from prehistoric pots to the outstanding WA Ismay and Milner-White collections of 20th century studio pottery. The exhibits are grouped in non-chronological clusters, along themes of function, appearance or purpose, enhanced by film footage of craftsmen at work. Press Contact: Lee Clark, Tel: 687670 Email: lee.clark@ymt.org.uk Public Contact: 01904 687687 or visit www.york.art.museum

Restaurant News

The Lime House

Adam and Catherine Fisher brought their concept of food and ambience to the Lime House over 3 years ago, creating a special reputation for excellence. They recently won Best Eating Place 2005 at the prestigious York Tourism Awards which took place at the National Railway Museum in November. A number of factors contributed to the restaurant winning this award such as outstanding food and wine, complimented by welcoming staff, a friendly atmosphere, intimate music and candlelight. Cosmopolitan magazine wrote 'Adam is destined to be the next Jamie Oliver and The Lime House was described by one happy visitor as, 'a true culinary experience that made our stay in York more memorable'. Press Contact: Kay Hyde: Tel, 01904 554451 Public Contact: Adam Fisher, Tel: 01904 632734 www.limehouserestaurant-york.co.uk

 

York Tourist Information Centre - For your free guide to where to stay and what to do in York, telephone 01904 550099 email tourism@yorkvic.co.uk or visit the website at www.visityork.org