Stephen Rees's blog

This is a photo I took nearly a year ago. York Minster the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe. Built on much older structures, the remains of which can be seen in the crypt.

It would have been really easy to post pictures of totem poles just like the original challenge. But that’s not my heritage. That’s not my story.

I happened to have the pictures from York open and for some reason the ones that I took then did not get uploaded to Flickr (until now), unlike most of the photos I have used in these challenges previously. So I am going to indulge in some multiple picture posting for this one, as it allows me to discuss more about my heritage.

Although I am now an atheist that was not always the case. My mother was a member of the Church of England, although we did not go to church very often. At home there were only the usual almost – but not quite – secular celebrations of Christmas and Easter. School was different. In England then the law was that there had to be a religious assembly in schools every day, and religious instruction was one of two compulsory subjects. (The other was Physical Training.) The Church of England is still the Established Church, and the Queen is still its head. English history is full of religious disputes and battles – and everyone has heard of Henry VIII and his six wives and how the CofE came to be.

 On the day we were there, final rehearsals were underway for the Mystery Plays. These go back to the 1300s. Tickets were, of course, sold out long before we thought about attending.

So yes there is a lot of history and heritage in York. You can still walk the walls of the city. When I listen to the news today about how it’s Montreal’s 375th birthday, I find it just a little bit hard to be impressed by that.