What’s on in York: Sight and Seeing event on Friday + “Meet your vet”.

Explore Clifton Library. Fri 3 Jun 11.30am – 12.30pm : Free

 June 3_S&SMeet Maisie, listen to her owner talk about life with her. Try reading a Braille book. Choose an audio book. Make a Braille card and other crafts. There are lots of games and colourings.

Refreshments are available. All ages are welcome

.For any information or to book call at any library or phone Clifton 01904 552662 or clifton@exploreyork.org.uk.

A free event but donations to guide dogs gratefully received.

Meet Your Vet

Date: Mon 27 Jun
Time: 3.45pm – 4.45pm
Venue: Strensall Library
Cost: Free

Learn about the role of your local vet and the animals that they treat! More

 

What’s on in York: Eboracum Roman Festival at York Explore Library

 

Date: Thu 2 Jun – Sat 4 Jun
Time: 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Venue: York Explore Library
Cost: Vary

Romans in Huntington: Excavating the marching camps at Monks Cross, York

York Explore Library : Thu 2 Jun : 4.00pm – 5.00pm : £6 each (or £5 with a Yorkcard)

Romans In HuntingtonIn 2015 York Archaeological Trust ran a successful community archaeology project at the former Ryedale Stadium in Huntington, York as part of City of York Council’s Community Stadium initiative.

Join Project Supervisor Arran Johnson as he explains how the local population got involved in the archaeological process, and learn more about the Roman temporary marching camps that they uncovered.

For more information please call York Explore Library on (01904) 552800 or archives@exploreyork.org.uk.

This event will take place in the Marriott Room.

To book ticket please visit www.visityork.org

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The Pompeii of the North: Exploring Roman Binchester

York Explore Library : Fri 3 Jun : 2.00pm – 3.00pm £6 or £5 with a York Card

Jun 3_BinchesterExploring the archaeology of the Roman fort at Binchester (County Durham), where recent research has revealed some of the best preserved Roman remains in Britain

The Roman fort at Binchester was a major military site on the road between York and Hadrian’s Wall. In recent years a major campaign of archaeological excavation has uncovered the remains of an impressively preserved Roman bath-house, as well as parts of barracks, shops and latrines.

This talk by Dr David Petts (Durham University), leader of the team of archaeological research team, explores what these remains can tell us about day to day life for soldiers and civilians on the Roman frontier, and looks at plans for more work on the site.

Tickets are available from Visit York and there are a maximum of 60 tickets.

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An Introduction to the History and Archaeology of Roman York with Patrick Ottaway

York Explore Library: Sat 4 Jun : 1.30pm – 2.30pm : £6 (£5 with a York card)

June 4_Patrick OttawayCome discover Eboracum as never before with archaeologist Patrick Ottaway as he introduces the citizens of today to life in Roman York.

York (Roman Eboracum) was unique in Roman Britain in being both a military base and important urban centre for more than 350 years. Its remains are largely buried below the modern city, but archaeological investigations have revealed many of its secrets, including buildings and streets and details of the daily lives of its people.

This lecture will present an outline of the history and layout of Roman York using literary sources, inscriptions and archaeology. Some of the more significant excavations will be discussed.

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Stories in Stones – tales of Roman Britain

York Explore Library : Sat 4 Jun : 3.00pm – 4.00pm £6.00 (£5.00 with a YorkCard)

Jun 4_Stories In Stone _Ruth Downie_Ruth Downie is the author of the New York Times bestselling MEDICUS series featuring Roman Legionary medic Ruso and his British partner Tilla. Her fifth book, Semper Fidelis, is set in Eboracum. “Downie has a rare talent for combining great writing, razor wit and detailed historical research” (Lynne Patrick, Hey there’s a dead guy in the living room)

Come and discover bizarre Roman medical cures, find out why archaeology is like criminal investigation and why nobody can tell you a good Ancient British joke.

Ruth Downie left university with an English degree, a head full of Jane Austen and a plan to get married and live happily ever after.  As a backup she learned typing and shorthand, in the mistaken belief that people would always need secretaries and that she might be quite good at it.

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What’s on in York: Balance bike sessions for tots

riding-clipart-kids-riding-bikes-clipart-25232Young children in York can get into gear at special balance bike sessions for tots at the traffic free York Sport Village.

The City of York Council hosted sessions are aimed at three to five year olds and are run by nationally qualified Bikeability instructors.

The 45 minute sessions are specifically designed to prepare children aged three – five years with the balance and co-ordination skills required to progress to a pedal bicycle.  By learning through games and activities the sessions provide youngsters with a positive early experience of being on two wheels which can help the transition to pedal bike without a need for stabilisers.
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What’s on in York: The Secret Life of Shoes

Fairfax House : Thu 26  May : 7.00pm – 9.00pm approx :

£14.00 (Members & Friends £12.00), the price includes a glass of wine.

The Secret Life Of Shoes 26 MayIn this talk, Dr. Ceri Houlbrook will explore the theory that shoes were employed as protective devices, concealed within homes to protect the inhabitants from evil forces.

Within walls, up chimneybreasts, and under floorboards are just some of the strange places in which shoes have been found. Accidental loss cannot account for their locations; they must have been deliberately secreted away with no intention of retrieval. This custom of concealment was evidently popular throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, with almost 2000 concealed shoes on record, but it remains a mystery to us. Why were such shoes concealed? What were their concealers hoping to achieve? In this talk, Dr. Ceri Houlbrook will consider possible answers to these questions.

Ceri Houlbrook is a historic ethnographer and archaeologist, whose primary interests include the materiality of post-medieval magic and ritual, and contemporary folkloric practices. She attained her doctorate in Archaeology from the University of Manchester in 2014, having written her thesis on the British custom of coin-trees, and is currently a postdoctoral research assistant on the ‘Inner Lives’ project, University of Hertfordshire. This role sees her mapping concealed deposits across the British Isles and engaging with their contemporary finders.

For more information or to discuss your requirements, please contact us on 01904 655543, email info@fairfaxhouse.co.uk, or visit our website at http://www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk/.

What’s on in York: The York Mystery Plays: Then and Now

York Explore Library : Tue 24 May : 6.15pm – 7.45pm :

£6 each (or £5 with a Yorkcard)

May _24 YMP

This talk explores the modern tradition of York’s Mystery Plays with reference to their medieval counterparts. These devotional plays were suppressed in the late sixteenth century, revived in 1951 for the Festival of Britain, and are still a drawcard in 2016.

Do they remain ‘devotional’ plays? What place do they have in our ‘secular’ world? Margaret Rogerson will discuss the ‘then’ and ‘now’ of this form of theatre, drawing on primary sources, both medieval and modern, to answer these and other questions and explain the allure of the Mysteries for audiences past and present.

The earliest record of York’s Mystery Plays is dated 1377. Their last ‘medieval’ production was in 1569. In 1951, almost four hundred years later, was there another public showing­ – and since then the ‘show’ has gone on.

This lecture explores the modern tradition with reference to the medieval prototype. Many questions can be asked as we consider differences and similarities between ‘then’ and ‘now’ and ponder the value of these originally devotional plays in our ‘secular’ world.

Any play fits into and responds to its performance space.  Medieval performance was on moveable wagons in the narrow streets of York, and it worked effectively. Modern directors have shaped their shows to fit different spaces: the Museum Gardens, the Theatre Royal and the Minster as well as the modern wagon stages, which still use the streets but in ways that do not replicate their medieval counterparts.

Who first wrote the plays? How did medieval actors prepare? How did original audiences react? These questions can be answered from the surviving documents from York in the period of the plays’ first flowering and from recent academic research.

Aspects of the modern history of the York Mysteries have their own fascination, for example, the roll call of famous and up-and-coming directors and professional actors, including York lass Judi Dench, who played the Virgin Mary in 1957 and Robson Green, who was a not-so-popular Jesus in 1992. But this is a theatre that belongs to the York community and we must not overlook the dedication of local people, who have raised the necessary money, performed in the plays, directed them, made the costumes and props, and done so many other things to keep the tradition alive.

Bring your own questions to this event in the lead up to the Minster production that opens on 26 May.

There are 100 places available.  For booking information www.yortime.org.uk.