I waited literally years for the right moment to visit York, and by chance the moment came just a week after visiting Beauvais. The contrast between French and English gothic could not have been made more stark. York, of course, was until the industrial revolution the second city of England, if not always by population, then by prestige. It has an archbishop to match Canterbury, gave its name to New York, and was at times the seat of the Council Of The North and, briefly, the royal court.

York Minster is certainly one of England's greatest cathedrals, with substantial perpendicular work over the earlier nave and chapter house. The west front is, to my mind, unparalleled in England. The nave was designed by one Master Simon, the west towers by Thomas Pak and William Hyndeley, and the quire by Hugh Hedon.
The Merchant Adventurers' Hall is a guild hall in the style of those found in the City of London, dating from the 1350s. The Merchant Adventurers were granted a charter by Henry VI in 1430.
York is also the home of the National Railway Museum, but unfortunately when I visited the famous Mallard was elsewhere.