The trials and tribulations of the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the
Vikings, the Normans, and finally, the York City football club are written into the
streets of ancient York. Home to the famed “snickelways,” tight, narrow alleyways that
weave in and out of the city streets, and to some of England’s most notorious ghost
stories and scandals, York is kooky in its own medieval way. The well-named Shambles,
York’s most famous antiquated street is a mess of narrow, creaky old buildings that look
like they’re about to fall over as they hover clumsily over the street. Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma
Gate wins the prize for York’s shortest street with the longest name, the meaning of which
remains disputed. Some claim this was the place where dogs, or people were publicly
whipped, while others argue that the expression was a medieval saying for “You call this a
street?!”