FRIENDS OF YORK WALLS CIO

A section of York’s City Walls walkway between Micklegate Bar and the Station Rise gate will be closed from Monday 20 May for 6 weeks (29th June 2024 ?).   The short section from Barker Tower (at Lendal Bridge) to the Station Rise gate is actually open, BUT there is NO ACCESS beyond that point.

This is for H&S reasons and to allow for the construction of a new retaining wall and rampart following the removal of Queens Street Bridge.

From the CYC Website pages on “York Station Gateway and Queen Street Bridge” =

Activity has been taking place on site. 2 weekend closures in April allowed for the construction of the new temporary road and the removal of parts of Queen Street Bridge. The temporary road is in place while work continues on the project.

For the latest information see CYC web pages = project updates.

Further works

While most of Queen Street Bridge has now been removed, some parts remain in place. The Queen Street approach ramp at the southern end has been left in position, which will act as a piling platform to allow the installation of a contiguous piled retaining wall. This wall will support the embankments and protect the City Walls from any possible movement once the remaining parts of the bridge are removed.

Construction of the piled retaining wall began on Monday 20 May and is expected to take approximately 3  months. At that stage the remainder of the bridge will be removed.

During this time, other parts of the scheme will progress with the contractor Sisk beginning construction of the permanent new road, with improvements to cycling and walking facilities, the new bus interchange and public realm areas.

City walls

Throughout the ongoing Station Gateway works, special care has been taken to monitor and protect the historic City Walls.

The walls and ramparts are designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. This means they are nationally important, and any works which might have an impact on them will need a special permission, called a Scheduled Monument Consent, from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Historic England acts as an advisor to the DCMS. Their specialist team of inspectors and engineers have been working on this project for several years and have reviewed the proposed works well in advance. A Scheduled Monument Consent was submitted to and agreed by DCMS, allowing the works to be carried out.

A key part of this was the installation of a monitoring system, with monitoring targets being attached to the walls and embankments. This allows the council, Historic England and the contractor to monitor the behaviour of the walls before, during and after the works. Advance works has enabled the team to understand typical wall movement throughout the year and develop a plan to mitigate for any movement during or after the works.

During the Queen Street Bridge demolition works, no movement has been recorded to date.

A section of the City Walls walkway between Micklegate Bar and Station Rise will be closed from Monday 20 May for 6 weeks. This is to allow for the construction of a new retaining wall and rampart following the removal of Queens Street Bridge.

Posted on 10th June 2024   AF

Updated on 18th June 2024

Fishergate Postern Tower will be one of the venues for the York Festival of Ideas 2024.

See the full details of all the events at the Visit York Website   HERE

The full program of all the events is available to download   HERE

One of the many events is being run at Fishergate Postern Tower, and will take place on Saturday 1st June and Saturday 8th June.

At Fishergate Postern Tower =

Come and hunt for masons’ marks in the 500-year-old Fishergate Postern Tower.
We know there are at least 68, so why not see how many you can find?  With four
floors, a spiral staircase and an unusually complete Tudor toilet, there’s plenty for
all the family to explore.

OPEN  Saturday 1 June & Saturday 8th June, from 10am to 1pm 
(FREE but pre-bookable every half hour entry times until 12.30pm)
Location Fishergate Postern Tower, Piccadilly
Free tickets:   yorkfestivalofideas.com

THIS IS A FREE but TICKETED EVENT – PLEASE BOOK YOUR TICKETS via the links on the Visit York Website

The Saturday 1st June “fun & explore slots” are intended as Family Activities, whilst
The Saturday 8th June “workshop slots” are intended more for adults (suitable for ages 14 + ! ).

To book tickets visit  HERE   and   HERE

There are 15 places available each half hour slot – so book soon to avoid disappointment.
If the slot you are looking for is FULL then try looking for all other timed slots throughout both dates.  Sorry – NO ADMISSION without a ticket

This event is provided by The Friends of York Walls and is run by its volunteers.

Posted 22nd May 2024  af

NEW – WILDFLOWERS ON THE RAMPARTS

 If you are walking past Fishergate Postern Tower, take a look at the mass of wildflowers appearing on the rampart next to the tower. These have been planted by the Friends of York Walls, with the approval and support of the City of York Council. They are above all pollinator-friendly, but they are also native species, non-invasive, and require no ongoing maintenance. We already have bees on them now.

 The volunteers who do this work meet for an hour and a half every Sunday morning at 10 am.  If you’d like to help, or just watch, see you there.

The flowers you see in this photograph are of Red Campion, which once it is established out-competes the grass and rises above it, returning every year. It lasts for weeks in flower, so it is a real success and we are now planting lots more of it.

Posted  19 May 2024  AF