Neglected, she is in one of York’s best parks
Did Queen Victoria have a downer on York? That was always the rumour. It’s said that she felt slighted by the city and deliberately shunned it for all of her long reign.
The truth is more complicated. She first visited York as a princess, spending a week in the city for the York Music Festival in 1835. Then, as she became the first monarch to embrace the railway age, she would regularly pass through York on the East Coast Main Line on her way to Balmoral, her Scottish retreat. In 1849, she left the royal carriage to hear a loyal address from the lord mayor of York before partaking in luncheon at the Banqueting Room at the railway station. Some residents objected to the city forking out for Her Majesty’s lunch, and it was said that the Queen took offence at this and vowed never to return.
Info
Address West Bank Park, Acomb Road, York YO24 4NS, +44 01904 551550, www.westbankpark.org, ycc@york.gov.uk | Public Transport Car park off James Backhouse Place. Closest bus stops: Hamilton Drive and Acomb Road | Hours 24/7| Tip The park is a good place to go after visiting the nearby attractions of the Holgate Windmill (see p. 116) and the Cold War Bunker (see p. 62).
In fact, Victoria did come back, albeit fleetingly; York historian Hugh Murray discovered she passed through the city 18 times, was seen by the public on 15 of those occasions, and set foot on York soil – no further than the station – 10 times.
After she died, in 1901, a fund was set up to pay for a statue of Victoria. The finished artwork was placed in the Exhibition Buildings – now demolished – in 1912, and moved to West Bank Park, in Holgate, in 1955. The statue has seen better days. Vandals knocked her nose off with a stone – the replacement is clearly visible. But it is still well worth a visit. West Bank Park has other merits, as well. Spread across 20 acres, it includes 20 woodland walks, a meadow picnic spot, and two children’s play areas.
Now there are exciting plans to transform the old park-keeper’s lodge into a heritage centre and cafe, celebrating the fact that the world-famous James Backhouse Plant Nurseries were here until 1955. The nursery specialised in the breeding of alpine plants, several of which were named after the Backhouse family.
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