Another time we went to the Christmas market in York and it was the first Christmas market that I’d ever been to. It was actually the last time that I saw my little Nana and it was really nice because there were four generations in the same room and we had lovely lemon cakes, and also some birthday cake. Me and my mam and my granny went to Betty’s for lunch and bought a four pack of little lemon cakes, and then got a train to Durham to see my Little Nana (great-grandmother). Once I went on a big long journey from Manchester to York to meet my granny for my birthday. We also saw some fighting demonstrations from the people from Jorvik so that was really cool.

One time we went at the same time as some kind of Viking festival and although we never did get to go to Jorvik we did get to see a couple of Viking longboats on the river, and taste some (disgusting) fish broth on the riverside. But that was a sweet little thing that he did. They’re on my bookcase at my parents house and one of them is missing an ear now. There was also a pottery shop nearby there and my brother (maybe even the same day) bought me two little clay bunnies, one slightly larger than the other because he’s older than me. She’s actually on my bookshelf at uni right now, though the keyring is gone now, as is the wood shop. It was ‘The Enchanted Horse’ by Magdalen Nabb. I still have it, it’s called Bella because of a book about a magical wooden horse that I was reading at the time. I remember that there used to be a wood-carving shop in the Shambles and I bought a wooden horse head keyring from there. I have a lot of nice memories of trains and the Shambles and York in general. It was always in the ten days between my mum’s and my birthday so it was always a nice little trip. I’ve always loved York because when I was a child my mother and I, and sometimes my brother too, would go to York for a day in the Easter holidays. Anyway, there isn’t too much to write about this week, but I do want to write about my trip to York. I no longer have a dog sitting next to me while I write.

Okay, I wrote that last little bit while I was still there and now I’m home. There were also dogs that I was allowed to hug whenever they would let me. It has been a really really nice week, I met a lot of people, and had a lot of fun. I went away for the week and I’m going back home today.

The enchanted horse by magdalen nabb