Brian Holden: York leaves grand old impression

The And Another Thing team is now back home after its six-week global excursion.

Having come from a late spring in Europe to winter here, with the dark evenings it's going to take a week or two to settle in, not to mention the crippling jet lag that always hits Kiwi travellers worse on their homeward journey.

A special thanks goes to those who held the fort for us while we were away. Column writing certainly helps pay the bills, but with a $600 "pay now" quarterly rates demand to greet us on walking in the door, reality dictates that it will be back to "the coalface" straight away.

The city of York and its location certainly left a great impression on us. Those who remember the nursery rhyme, The Grand Old Duke of York, may ask if there was such a person. Well it appears there was, but which one actually marched his 10,000 men up a hill and back down again, is unclear. It's been narrowed down to three possible dukes apparently, with the most likely candidate being somewhat of a dimwit.

To keep him occupied, the story goes that the king gave the man a group of soldiers to march around the district. With the strong possibility that the occasional hill had to be negotiated on the way, the story is confirmed - but by no means complete. With better things for historical researchers to do, it's unlikely that we'll ever really know.

While Britain with all its history would seem a great place to live, the people with whom I have spoken are not as enthusiastic as they were 20 years ago. There is a lot of bad feeling about the country's immigration policies and the preferential treatment immigrants get over those who are born there.

While having my hair trimmed by a British barber, I felt a little uneasy as he waved about his scissors and razor in anger as he voiced his disapproval on the topic.

With Britain's population of just over 63 million, the number of immigrants has just hit the seven million mark. Disproportionate or not? You decide. I must say that I was staggered by the number of gold domes I saw as we flew over London to land. For the record the number of mosques in the city is 354.

In my last column I mentioned the country's overzealous PC restrictions. There we were, buying lunch in a quaint little village store way out in the Yorkshire Dales. Our request to have our Cornish pasties to be heated was declined. Cooking the pasties is okay but, giving them a further 60 second burst in the microwave later in the day is not permitted "due to health and safety reasons".

Holiday best value: Our guided tour of the magnificent York Minster for around £8, after which you can worship, stroll around and take photos for as long as you wish. Tea was served on the day we were there, along with homemade sandwiches and delicious cakes for next-to-nothing prices. The National Railway Museum and Fountains Abbey also a must see.

Holiday worst value: Boat trip in Honfleur, France, where we decided to do a 1 hour harbour trip "faire en bateau" which allows a nice leisurely view of the scenery as you float past. That's if you like looking at half a dozen cranes, distant factories with belching smokestacks on the sky line and the like. Although going under the massive new Pont du Normandie bridge was spectacular. Shame though that we spent half an hour of that time stuck in a lock to get out of the harbour and then get back in again.