I’D heard so much about York from my girlfriend Kate, who fell in love with the stunning cathedral city when her brother and his wife lived there. But nothing she said prepared me for how utterly gorgeous it was when I whisked her back there for the weekend. 4 The medieval Shambles in York 4 Gareth had heard all about the city from his girlfriend so they decided to visit I obviously knew certain things before arriving, like the world famous narrow cobbled streets of The Shambles, supposedly used as inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies .
I say supposedly! I’d seen pictures of the vast York Minster cathedral, heard about the influence of the Vikings, and knew that chocolate companies Rowntree’s and Terry’s started there and that it was also Guy Fawkes’ birthplace. But the city’s reverence for cats was one thing I had no idea about — Kate hadn’t let that secret out of the bag! It all stems from York being the place where the Romans introduced them 2,000 years ago and one of the many ways they pay homage to the pets is with a Cat Hunt. READ MORE IN TRAVEL CAMPING CHAOS ‘You're not welcome’ cry locals as NC500 wild campers 'invade' tiny village 'BUCKET LIST' Tourists from across the world take part in ever search for Nessie Originally cat statues were placed around the city in a bid to ward off rats , which could carry plague and bring about death .
But most of them have now rotted away. In their place stand 22 small commemorative creatures, .
