Curiosities of York

A collection of weird and wonderful tales from York's long and colourful history.

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York, founded by the Romans as Eboracum, the capital of Britannia Inferior, is considered one of Europe's best-loved cities. It boasts a wealth of ancient buildings and historic associations. But although the city has a number of attractions of terrific significance, Curiosities of York concentrates on the street furniture and oddities that are easily overlooked when perambulating around its streets. A discursive and idiosyncratic A to Z, the book will introduce residents - and maybe a few locals - to such local secrets as York's labyrinth of snickelways, its twenty medieval churches, and its innumerable public houses. Father-and-son team David and Ed Brandon tour the bar walls, looking for ghosts and unusual street names, and on the way they run into Minerva, Frankie Howerd and the Devil himself. They tell the stories of York's best-known malefactors Dick Turpin and Guy Fawkes, and explore the legacy of rival railway men George Leeman and George Hudson. York is almost 2,000 years old, so no single history can hope to be exhaustive, but Curiosities of York is nevertheless brimming with unexpected treasures. Illustrated with a selection of artful black-and-white photographs, it offers a new perspective on a beloved city.