Update February 2022:
The planning application for the new public spaces in Castle Gateway and the Eye of York has been submitted. Join us to explore the designs. We have two events coming up – one online and one on the ground in the Castle Gateway area.
The Castle Gateway Plans Online – Facebook Live
16th Febraury, 6-7pm
Join via City of York Council Facebook Page. This link is open to all. You don’t need a facebook account to watch.
Join Andy Kerr, the project-lead for Castle Gateway and Landscape Designer Matthew Costa to explore the Castle Gateway new public spaces designs.
You can interact with the session via facebook or by emailing your throughts and questions to YourQuestions@york.gov.uk
The Castle Gateway Plans On The Ground
19th February
Book here for 12noon walk / Book here for 13.30 walk
Meet on Eye of York
The planning application for the new public spaces in Castle Gateway and the Eye of York has been submitted. Join us to explore the designs.
The My Castle Gateway public conversation has shown that sense of place will be created both through changes in the built environment and through how we all use the new spaces and bring them to life.
In these 1 hour walks, you will be presented with the plans for the new public spaces in the Castle and Eye of York: What are the designs? How do they respond to the My Castle Gateway Open Brief? How will you use the spaces? There will then be a chance to reflect and open up discussion and questions.
From this session you will be in a strong position to be able to contribute comments to the formal planning consultation process and we will ensure everyone feels confident on how to do this following the walk.
Previous Events:
The Foss Riverside
28th May, 5-6pm, online workshop / Book your place
Here is a place which is beside the river but still separated from it by height, and where the views out across the water aren’t of pretty backdrops but to the back of large buildings, sat above sheet piling. It’s a place that is greener but also hard, hinting at buried history and playing with it to create a landscape which in turn invites play. The design process has also demonstrated that getting closer to the river will be difficult and the focus has shifted to creating extended riverside space with its own environment – distinctive and playful.
- If we can’t get close to the water, how can the space give people a different experience to the rest of Castle Gateway, somehow referencing the river?
- How can its linear quality, linking the route from Piccadilly to a very different space behind the Female Prison and on towards the new bridge at Castle Mills, be made into something positive?
- How can the riverside act as a corridor for biodiversity while also being well-used and playful in character?
- How can it be a place which is in some ways inward-looking and contains enough to make it interesting, but also has edges which allow connection with both the Foss and the main open events space?
- How will you use it, and how will it feel at different times of day or year?
The Eye of York: The Legacy of Power
1st June 7-8pm, online workshop / Book your place
The area between the museum buildings and the courts has a very specific character which sets it apart, where architecture and a formal, symmetrical setting has retained an almost oppressive atmosphere. And yet this is also a place of collective, public power too – site of elections and protest and also personal, very human scale stories as evoked so powerfully through the graffiti craved into the stone walls of the prison. It also remains a place that needs to manage formal functions – vehicular access and parking for the courts and the main pedestrian approach to the museum’s current entrance (and potentially a future link to Castle Mills).
- What sort of space might draw you to stay and engage with it?
- What scale and type of landscaping would work in this setting to welcome people while somehow acknowledging the intimidating scale and purpose of the buildings around it?
- How might we interpret power, authority and resistance through the public spaces? What function(s) should the space have in order to allow people to engage with its significance in the present and future?
The Motte and Clifford’s Tower: Ritual and Reflection
2nd June, 7-8pm, online workshop / Book your place
The new public spaces need to enable reflection and ritual. Given the global significance of the massacre of York’s Jews in 1190, the hangings at the Last Drop, and the broad impact on past lives of the exercise of authority, the area around the Motte and Clifford’s Tower needs to enable reflection, prayer and remembrance.
- As places for reflection are created, how will they work and feel and what do they need to have in order to set them apart while maintaining connection to the surrounding spaces?
- How does the space around the Motte provide for the specific remembrance of 1190 – gathering, saying Mourner’s Kaddish, placing stones? What design elements might express a Jewish identity?
- How might the wider area acknowledge the history of executions / deportations / exercise of power (and do so with some sensitive relationship with 1190)?
- How might landscaping and water be used to create enclosure and sound and mood?
- How might places to walk and places to stop be made?
- How does quiet reflection happen in a noisy place? How is activity and sound managed by the design of space?
My Castle Gateway in situ
29th May, 1-3pm / Book your place
My Castle Gateway is running three online events in May and June. However, as the restrictions have eased we are able to run a in real life event that will explore key themes in situ:
- The Foss Riverside
- The Eye of York: The Legacy of Power
- The Motte & Clifford’s Tower: Ritual and Reflection
We will link the themes together through being in those places and using our experiences, the sights and smells to engage the design ideas.
The event will be for limited numbers. We’ll send you an email with requirements around masks and social distancing once you have booked.
My Castle Gateway: An overview of the emerging design ideas, and live Q&A
Thursday 10 June, 5:30-7:00pm
This Facebook livestream will share a video where Andy Kerr, Head of Regeneration at City of York Council, and Matt Costa, Landscape Architect at BPD will present an update and the design thinking so far. They will be joined by Phil Bixby a co-lead of the My Castle Gateway engagement process for a live Q&A session.
he Facebook Live video is public to see even if you don’t have an account, but an account is needed to comment live during the event, or if you prefer, you can pre-submit a question by emailing: YourQuestions@york.gov.uk
Archive of previous events:
16th July, 2-5pm, Drop in.
My Castle Gateway will be working with York Archaeology Trust to bring a bit of the areas history and discussion about the area’s future to Barbeque festivities.
The Arts Barge project, Angel on the Green
My Castle Gateway will be share 20 slides each for 20 seconds on the project, gathering ideas and hopefully grabbing some pizza.
20th July, meet 3pm outside York Castle Museum, meet us from 4pm at Weatherspoons to discuss the area and add your ideas.Do you like taking and sharing photographs of York? Are you interested in the Castle Gateway area and want to share your ideas about the area?In collaboration with York Past and Present, we invite you to join us on an afternoon stroll around the Castle Gateway area to see the beautiful, the ugly, the unexpected and to glimpse the area’s potential. We plan to use the walk to take photographs, generating lots of dfferent perspectives on the area, all to be shared through our My Castle Gateway Flickr page. We will end at Weatherspoons to look at the My Castle Gateway map and to reflect what you think is important about the area and what you – having experienced the area up close – would like to be able to do there in the future.Bring your phone/camera connector so we can upload your photographs to Flickr at the end of the walk.
My Castle Gateway in collaboration with Coaching York
22nd July 2017, from 10.30am
We invite you to join a walk around the Castle area of York, to experience it as it is now and to imagine it differently. To help you do this, the walks are being led by experienced coaches from Coaching York.
For more information and to sign up.
26th July, 6pm-8pm
Mark Gladwin from The River Foss Society will lead a walk exploring the history and ecology of the River Foss. We will end the walk in the Mason’s Arms to discuss the role the river should play in the Castle Gateway regeneration and to identify what kinds of activities people would like to do alongside, and on, the Foss.
Book your free place
29th July, from 9am
Join us for a series of events – with something for all ages – to explore the Castle area of York as it was, as it is now and to imagine it differently. As part of the Stories of Change event, we are also running Opening Up Castle Gateway walks.
For more information and to sign up for sessions.
2nd August 2017, City Screen
My Future York have collaborated with York Central Action and City Screen to put on Citizen Jane: Battle for the City. Jacobs was a writer and a campaigner against ‘slum clearance’ initiatives who had a strong interest in how places are made by interactions between people and built environment. In her now classic book, The Death and Life of American Cities, Jacobs explore the complex social ecology of urban neighbourhoods drawing on her own street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.The film will be followed by a panel discussion reflecting on the issue raised by the film for York. As York faces a variety of regeneration and development projects – not least Castle Gateway and York Central – we will ask what inspiration, warnings or practices might Jacob’s work offer?
For a trailor and to read more.
Tickets via City Screen
10th August, 6-8pm
Meet inside the Tower Street entrance to Tower Gardens
Walk to be led by Alison Sinclair
Book your place
This walk will take in the New Walk part of the Castle Gateway development site. It will cover New Walk as far as Blue Bridge and look at St George’s Field, Browney Dyke and the Foss Basin. It will consider what used to be in these places, what is there now, and what might be there in the future. This is an opportunity to have a say on how these parts of the Castle Gateway area might be developed as part of future proposals for the Castle Gateway site.
15th August, 6pm-8pm
Angel on the Green, 2 Bishopthorpe Rd, York YO23 1JJ
Access information: there is a ramp available. Email Helen Graham, h.graham@leeds.ac.uk if you need flat level access.
The Post It Notes are in – we know what matters and the kinds of things people want to be able to do in Castle Gateway – but now it is time to open up and discuss the underlying issues. We invite anyone to come and think about these challenges with us and to design some amazing public engagement events. You may have performance skills. Or artistic flare. Or you might like big picture thinking. Or know how to tell a good story.
All very welcome – just tell Helen you are coming via h.graham@leeds.ac.uk
More background on the event and its aims.
16th August 2017
Book your place for walks at 9:00pm and midnight
You are welcome to join us for one walk or both.
As part of a series of walks around Castle Gateway, we invite you to join us on a walk after dark, to experience it as it is now and to imagine it differently.
For more information.
My Castle Gateway Challenges Twitter Hour: Public Space
Friday 15th September, 5-6pm
Twitter #MCGPublicSpace
Public space is a big theme in the My Castle Gateway Brief. What makes for a public space where people want to spend time, at different times of day and night and in all seasons? How do buildings and materials, activity and movement make public space work? How can planting and landscaping be designed to make spaces work better? In this twitter hour, we’re going to invite you to think about your favourite places to do things and to linger as we start to refine the Brief for the public spaces of the Castle Gateway.
strong>Look at your city: What makes good public space?
Saturday 16th September, 2-4pm
Meet on Museum Street, outside Museum Gardens
Book your place
Public space is a big theme in the My Castle Gateway Brief. People have said they want to use different parts of the Castle Gateway area to gather for events, celebrate, remember, protest, meet friends, sit and reflect, buy food and drink and to be a part of York where you don’t have to spend money. To help us refine the Brief and to inform the Masterplanners’ options, we invite you and your camera to join us to explore York, and discover which public spaces work best for what, and why? We ask everyone coming to bring thoughts of your own favourite place to hang out in public in York so we can pay it a visit and take its photo! The walk will be a few first steps in gaining a shared view of design and details which make for good, usable public space for Castle Gateway. It’ll take around two hours and we’ll aim to finish somewhere near a café.
Living Well with Water
York’s rivers are crucial to the development of the city. They can be places for walking, quiet moments, picnics as well as being on the river in boats, barges and canoes. The rivers also flood. How do we make the most of our rivers while being prepared for extreme events? We will be work with all the rivers users and potentials as well as the agencies responsible for managing our rivers to develop the Castle Gateway brief.
Come to our Castle Gateway Challenges: Living well with Water event to explore living well with water on 19th September, 6pm, West Offices. Book your place.
Opening Up Castle Gateway, in collaboration with York Blind and Partially Sighted Society
22nd September 2-4pm
Book with Helen Graham
Email: h.graham@leeds.ac.uk / Phone: 07855 790347
The walk will take 1 hour 15 minutes, followed by tea and cake and further discussion.
We invite you to join a walk around the Castle area of York, to experience it as it is now and to imagine it differently.
The City of York Council is currently working towards regenerating this part of the city centre – which includes Fossgate, Walmgate, Piccadilly, Foss Basin and Castle area and Eye of York – and has a collaboration engagement project called My Castle Gateway, to involve lots of different people in this process.
As part of this we are running a walk with York to open up the Castle Gateway area. You will be invited to move slowly along a route from the Eye of York to Tower Gardens around the Foss Basin and back up Piccadilly. You will be asked what the different areas mean to you and what you’d like to be able to do there in the future. An audio recording of the visit and soundscapes will be taken to ensure your ideas and experiences feed into the My Castle Gateway process. If you prefer not be audio recorded, just let us know on the day.
Through taking part you will informing the development of a collaborative ‘statement of significance’ and a collaborative ‘brief’ on which the Council-appointed masterplanners will then work.
Accessibility Information: If you use a wheelchair or would prefer to avoid steps, just let Helen know when you book your place.
My Castle Gateway Challenges Twitter Hour: Living Well with Water
Friday 22nd September, 5-6pm
Twitter #MCGLivingWithWater
In this twitter hour, we’re going to invite you to think about the Foss and Ouse. What do we want do on or near the city’s rivers. How do we make the most of our rivers while being prepared for extreme events? Join us as we start to refine the Brief for the public spaces of the Castle Gateway.
Movement
The Castle Gateway project has the potential for enabling better movement within, across and to the area. How can we deal with car traffic and parking in a way that doesn’t conflict with movement of those on foot and on bike? We invite everyone who wants movement around the area to be a pleasure to help us develop the brief, considering everything from disappearing bike lanes to creating a logical approach to car parking. At a time of change, we’ll also look at how upcoming changes in car use may shape our city.
Come to our Castle Gateway Challenges: Movement event to explore movement on 26th September, 6pm, West Offices. Book your place.
My Castle Gateway Challenges Twitter Hour: Movement
Friday 29th September, 5-6pm
Twitter #MCGMovement
In this twitter hour, we’re going to invite you to think about movement within, across and to the area. We invite everyone who wants movement around the area to be a pleasure to help us develop the brief, considering everything from disappearing bike lanes to creating a logical approach to car parking.
Ownership and Values
Ownership and value underpin how we as a city shape our environment and economy. How do we collectively plan when we collectively only have ownership of parts of the city? How do we measure costs and benefits when changes often have subtle and far-reaching economic impacts? We will explore immediate issues such as car park revenue but will also open up debate about how we take account of the economics of long-term planning. We will seek to understand the long term roles and trends in retail and tourism. and how we consider the roles of retail and tourism. We’ll also look at ways to ensure long term community involvement in, and ownership of, any new development.
Come to our Castle Gateway Challenges: Ownership and Values event to explore ownership and values on 3rd October, 6pm, West Offices. Book your place.
My Castle Gateway Challenges Twitter Hour: Ownership and Values
Friday 6th October, 5-6pm
Twitter #MCGOwnershipValues
Ownership and value underpin how we as a city shape our environment and economy. How do we collectively plan when we collectively only have ownership of parts of the city? In this twitter hour we will explore immediate issues such as car park revenue but will also open up debate about how we take account of the economics of long-term planning. We will seek to understand the long term roles and trends in retail and tourism. We’ll also look at ways to ensure long term community involvement in, and ownership of, any new development.
Look at your city: What makes good public space?
14th October, 2-4pm
Meet outside Museum Gardens / Book Your Place
#MCGPublicSpace
Public space is a big theme in the My Castle Gateway Brief. People have said they want to use different parts of the Castle Gateway area to gather for events, celebrate, remember, protest, meet friends, sit and reflect, buy food and drink and to be a part of York where you don’t have to spend money. To help us refine the Brief and to inform the Masterplanners’ options, we invite you and your camera to join us to explore York, and discover which public spaces work best for what, and why? We ask everyone coming to bring thoughts of your own favourite place to hang out in public in York so we can pay it a visit and take its photo! The walk will be a few first steps in gaining a shared view of design and details which make for good, usable public space for Castle Gateway. It’ll take around two hours and we’ll aim to finish somewhere near a café.
Saturday Night!: Exploring York’s Streets, Rivers and Public Spaces
14th October, 9-11pm
Meet outside Museum Gardens / Book Your Place
#MCGPublicSpace
As part of the My Castle Gateway Public Space Challenge we’re exploring the public spaces York already has at all times of day. How are they used? What makes them work (or not work)? Join us on a tour through the Saturday night crowds from the bright lights and the loud big night out to the calm dark skies of the riverside. Whatever Saturday night usually means for you, come and experience many different versions of York after dark and think about future of evenings and late nights in the Castle Gateway area.
York Blind and Partially Sighted Society My Castle Gateway event
YBPSS Offices, Rougier House, 5 Rougier St, York YO1 6HZ
9th November from 1.30am to 3pm
We will explore the Castle Gateway area and the project for the area’s regeneration- what would you like to be able to do there in the future? And how can we ensure its a useable space for people who are blind and partically sighted. Tea coffee and biscuits available.
If anyone would like to attend they can contact Caroline at YBPSS on 01904 731124 or 01904 636269.
My Castle Gateway: Exploring the Masterplan Ideas Launch Event
25th and 26th November 2017
9.30-5pm. Various locations. A plan of the day and where we will be.
Drop in.
We are now able to share the Masterplan ideas for the future of the Castle Gateway area. Join us for our launch event. We will be moving around each of the areas of Castle Gateway. In each location we will be sharing the ideas and documenting your responses to feedback into the masterplanning process. Your feedback will inform a preferred Castle Gateway masterplan which will go to the City of York Council Executive in February.
Update:My Castle Gateway: Exploring the Masterplan Ideas Launch Event
26th November 2017
9.30-5pm. Various locations. A plan of the day and where we will be.
Drop in.
We are now able to share the Masterplan ideas for the future of the Castle Gateway area. Join us for our launch event. We will be moving around each of the areas of Castle Gateway. In each location we will be sharing the ideas and documenting your responses to feedback into the masterplanning process. Your feedback will inform a preferred Castle Gateway masterplan which will go to the City of York Council Executive in February.
Sunday 26th 9:30 – 12:00
Piccadilly and the Coppergate Centre
Based at Piccadilly outside Spark site
Sunday 26th 12:30 – 5:00pm
The (broadly defined) Eye of York, including Castle car park and Clifford Street
Based in front of the Female Prison part of the Castle Museum
In collaboration with Historic England and York Past and Present
My Castle Gateway Histories: What makes the Eye of York significant?
Sunday 26th November, 12.30-2.30
Book Your Place.
Join Neil Redfern, Principal Inspector of Ancient and Historic Monuments, Historic England to explore the histories of the Eye of York and to debate how the area’s significance can be enhanced and celebrated as part of the Castle Gateway project. You will explore the 2000 years of history in the area from first settlers to Norman Castle through to Prisons and protest. As we launch the Masterplan ideas, we ask: What do these histories mean for the future of Castle Gateway?
My Castle Gateway: Explore the Masterplan Ideas
Come to our drop-in sessions at 29 Castlegate, York (next to Fairfax House)
Tuesday 28th November 2pm–7pm
Thursday 30th November 2pm-7pm
Wednesday 6th December 1pm-5pm
What would make you come and spend time in Tower Gardens? Landscaping ideas
3rd February 2018, 2-4pm
Meet in Tower Gardens
In the Castle Gateway Masterplan Ideas shared for discussion in November and December, one idea for Tower Gardens was to explore different landscaping options. People who responded drew attention to the need for Tower Gardens to recover more quickly from flooding, to shelter park users from traffic noise and for there to be more places to sit down and spend time. Join us to deepen this conversation. We will walk around Tower Gardens to explore further the issues and identify both more immediate and longer term ways forward.
If you would like to come, or can’t come but want to stay in touch with this discussion, let us know at mycastlegateway@gmail.com
Living Well With Water Network Gathering
Environment Agency Community Hub
Wellington Row
17th February 2-4pm
The Castle Masterplan Ideas shared in November and December included lots of ideas for the Foss and the Ouse. Many people responded to these ideas, enriching the ideas with details of how they’d like to use the rivers, asking questions or expressing concerns. Join us to deepen and extend the discussion of York’s rivers. Likely topics will be flood management, wild swimming, boating and improving and enhancing the wildlife in the Foss.
If you would like to come, or can’t come but want to stay in touch with this discussion, let us know at mycastlegateway@gmail.com
#CitizenMedia #York: How can we create a positive democratic culture online?
Organised by My Future York and Coaching York
Thursday, 15th March, 7.30-9.30, Friargate Meeting House, YO1 9RL.
Throughout the Castle Gateway process, we’ve used social media to seek open conversations. Sometimes this has worked well and great ideas and thought-provoking stories have emerged. At other times we’ve not quite known how to respond, or how turn to cynicism, frustration and anger into to constructive discussion. We’ve also met some people who have said they simply don’t engage in debates about York online for fear of personal attacks and sniping. The danger is we all retreat into our own silos of people who think like we do and the sense of a shared public sphere where ideas are shared, debated and exposed to challenge is lost.
We invite you to join us to explore whether there is another way of having debates about York through Facebook, twitter and in the comments on the York Press. How might social media become a space for us as citizens to engaged in debate about our city? How can we shift the emphasis in local debate from what is wrong and what is hated towards people being able to positively contribute what they want to see? How can social media discussion support democratic culture in York and feed into local decision-making?
The objectives of our first workshop are to:
- Explore techniques for engaging well on social media
- Create a community of people prepared to go out there and try some new techniques and then feedback on how it goes, so we can all learn from the experience
Places are limited to 12. To book a place email Helen on h.graham@leeds.ac.uk
Organised by My Future York and Coaching York
Piccadilly: a new kind of street
22nd March, 10am-1pm
Friargate Meeting House
Book your place.
Piccadilly was one of York city centre’s few 20th century streets, we are now exploring through My Castle Gateway process how it can become a street for life in 21st century York. Working with Finlay McNab of Streets Reimagined, we will explore what makes for a successful street and the benefits of increasing footfall and trade. Drawing on the brief set through the public conversations undertaken through My Castle Gateway process, the workshop with a series of exercises to help refine the brief for Piccadilly.
Walking and Cycling in Castle Gateway
19th April, 6.30-8.30pm
Cycle Heaven, Hospital Fields
Book your free place. All welcome.
The masterplan for Castle Gateway is going to the Council Executive in April. In this event we will take a full look at walking and cycling in and through Castle Gateway. This event will:
Explore the brief for walking and cycling developed through My Castle Gateway process;
Look at how ideas have been interpreted in the masterplan with two council officers: Andy Kerr, project lead for Castle Gateway and Andy Vose who is a Transport Planner with responsibility for cycling.
Be clear what has yet to be decided and develop the process for further discussions.
By the end of the session we would hope to have made a plan for when those outstanding issues will be address and how everyone interested can be involved. Time permitting (depending on number of questions about the masterplan) we will also have an initial more creative session taking a look at those outstanding issues as a starting point for this ongoing conversation.
Walk, Talk & Sketch – York Castle Museum redevelopment project workshop
Tue 25 September 2018, 13:00 – 15:00
Join staff from York Castle Museum and the My Castle Gateway team for a creative session that will contribute to York Castle Museum’s architectural brief for redevelopment.
Starting at St Mary’s church, the workshop will begin with a walk around the Castle Museum site followed by a cuppa tea and an ideas realisation session back at St Mary’s. There will be an architect sitting in during the workshop who can help by putting ideas into pictures, and facilitators will help by putting ideas into words. We are particularly interested in the following topics:
Movement – how do people move around the site, both into and out of the museum and all the surrounding amenities and attractions?
Sense of Place – what IS and Was this place, what makes is special at what point in history and to who? And…
Modes of Engagement – text, pictures, talks or objects, what is the best way of engaging all our visitors in the stories we tell?
The York Castle Project
York Castle Museum is one of the country’s most popular museums, regularly winning awards and named as the best paid-for museum in York by TripAdvisor. But York Museums Trust wants to make it better. Remaining true to the vision of its founder, Dr John Lamplugh Kirk, the Trust hopes to build on the success of Kirkgate, its world famous recreated Victorian Street, and create a truly immersive and ground-breaking visitor experience.
To do this the Trust would like to involve visitors and local residents in the early stages of the planning process. The stories that are told, the objects shown and the way they are interpreted are all open to discussion as well as the museum’s position in interpreting the whole Castle area.
York Castle Museum / My Castle Gateway workshops
York Castle Museum: Movement and Meaning (Transport Focus), 3rd October, 6-8pm
York Castle Museum: Movement and Meaning (History and Heritage Focus), 4th October, 5-7pm
York Castle Museum: Movement and Meaning (Rivers Focus), 10th October, 5-7pm
Note: These three workshops (titled York Castle Museum: Movement and Meaning) are broadly similar and we would not expect anyone to attend more than one. While we have given each event a focus – all workshops will tackle the full range of issues.
York Castle Museum is at the heart of a big York story: one that begins with the confluence of the rivers, farming, a fort, a Castle, a Prison, a place of law and now a Museum. It also sits in a part of York that people want to travel to and through as they go about their everyday lives.
In this strand of work – a collaboration between My Castle Gateway and York Castle Museum – we explore how everyday movement (on foot, on bike, in a wheelchair, with a push chair, in a bus or car) and the rich significance of the area and can be combined.
The workshop will combine a walk through the site exploring the key issues of movement and connection with an exploration of key aspects of the history and heritage of the site. We will look at the current buildings, spaces and connections as well as consider the importance of those now gone. Throughout we will be asking: How can movement and meaning be combined in the architecture and public spaces around York Castle Museum?
The workshop – along with a series of other events – will inform an open community brief for the architects working on the development of the York Castle Museum.
The walk and workshop are building on the Open Brief developed for My Castle Gateway. This is a chance to refine this brief for the specific development of the York Castle Museum.
Access: We are committed to making our events accessible to all interested. This particular workshop is based on movement around the site and so understanding barriers to movement will be cruical. If you have any specific requirements that would help you take part (e.g. flat access; slower walking speed) just let us know.
Clifford’s Tower: Exploring why it matters and building an open brief for future development
23rd October 2018, 5-7pm, Meet at Clifford’s Tower Steps at 5pm
Why is Clifford’s Tower important to you? What makes it significant? What do you cherish?
With the visitor building set within the mound at Clifford’s Tower now not set to proceed, English Heritage is keen to re-examine future possibilities in collaboration with the wider community in York, as part of the wider Castle Gateway project. To begin this conversation, we invite you to join us for this walk and workshop to consider the fundamentals. We will ask: What makes Clifford’s Tower important to you? From here we will draw out the core meanings, histories and stories for Clifford’s Tower and the wider Castle and Eye of York. After the event an open document exploring the significance of Clifford’s Tower will be published to help inform the wider My Castle Gateway discussions about the new public spaces, movement and meanings of the wider site
Castle Gateway Project Catch Up
Thornton Room, West Offices
5th February, 6-8pm
Book your place
As we launch the next phase of My Castle Gateway, join Castle Gateway Project Manager Andy Kerr to explore the recent developments in the Castle Gateway project – from the Castle Mills development to the new car park on St George’s Fields – and look ahead to what’s coming up in the next year. We’ll also use this event to collaboratively generate questions and set agendas for future My Castle Gateway events.
Green and the City: Shaping the brief for Piccadilly
Wednesday 13th February, 3-8pm
Drop in, Spark York
Register your interest
Trees, grass, bushes, shrubs…The answer to the question “what makes a pleasant space” is often ‘green’, but what makes green work in a city centre street? Drop in anytime to contribute to the debate, share and explore innovative ideas or join us for walks at 3.30pm and 6.30pm to investigate some of the best examples in York (and to look at what can happen when it all goes wrong). We’ll also be exploring how Piccadilly can connect to the very nearby strip of green which is the Foss and its banks. All the discussions will be used to shape My Castle Gateway public brief for Piccadilly.
Moving and lingering: Getting to and through Piccadilly
Tuesday 19th February, 3-8pm
Drop in, Spark York
Register your interest
A new route along the Foss, a new junction, a new super walking and cycling crossing over the Fishergate Gyratory and a new bridge across the Foss – there will be major changes to movement through the area. In addition, Piccadilly will be reshaped to give less pace to traffic and more to people – but how should that work in practice? All the discussions will be used to shape My Castle Gateway public brief for Piccadilly.
A Gyratory, a junction and a supercrossing: Exploring at the nitty, gritty of Castle Gateway transport planning
Wednesday 20th February, 2-4pm
Workshop, Spark York
Book your place
Take a focused look at the traffic interventions on and across the Fishergate Gyratory. The junction changes will be in the first phase of design so this is a chance to think about what will make it work and to explore how these specific design decisions might respond to and shape the wider context of York and its movement strategy.
A very public-private partnership?: How might businesses use the street and the street use the businesses?
Thursday 21st February, 3-8pm
Drop in, Spark York
Register your interest
Join us to explore what makes a successful – and less successful – street by using the Project for Public Space ‘Power of 10’ checklist. How can a diverse range of activities and attractions combine to make public space that is vibrant and lively, and how can we design space which incorporates this knowledge? Drop in to Spark at any time to contribute to the discussions and join us for Power of 10 walks at 3.30pm and 6.30pm. All the discussions will be used to shape My Castle Gateway public brief for Piccadilly.
What would the best bus stop in York be like?
Tuesday 26th February, 3-8pm
Drop in, Spark York
Register your interest (3pm) / Register your interest (6pm)
Accurate information? Dry? Comfy? Sociable? Piccadilly will be a place for buses and bus stops so come along and help build a brief for the best bus stop in York. Drop into Spark at any time to contribute your ideas or join us for a bus stop tour at 3.00pm and 6.00pm (and if you happen to be on a bus stopping on Merchantgate that day, you might see us anyway!) All the discussions will be used to shape My Castle Gateway public brief for Piccadilly.
In collaboration with York Bus Forum.
The Foss and Piccadilly: How can they be friends?
Wednesday 27th February, 3-8pm
Drop in, Spark York
Register your interest (3pm) / Register your interest (6pm)
Piccadilly for the most part turns away from the Foss – yet in the first phase of My Castle Gateway it was clear that many people want to see this change. They want to catch glimpses of, spend time alongside and see activity on the Foss. Drop into Spark at any time to contribute your ideas or join us for a walk along the Foss to explore potential new views, new uses and new connections at 3.00pm and 6.00pm. All the discussions will be used to shape My Castle Gateway public brief for Piccadilly.
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Let’s Make Piccadilly: Drawing out the My Castle Gateway brief
3rd March, 2-4pm
Spark York
Register your interest
Over the past three weeks we’ve held events exploring Piccadilly from many different angles. We’ve looked at walking, cycling, buses and cars and parking; trees, plants and urban green; reallocation of road space, bridges and connections to the Foss.
Now it is time to make sense of all the disussions! Join us to group, analyse and sift all the contributions and to work collaboratively to draw out the My Castle Gateway public brief for Piccadilly
This will then inform the council’s brief for their architects as they develop proposals for Piccadilly’s public realm. These will be implemented by the developers building between Piccadilly and the Foss as they complete construction on each site.
All welcome! There will be post-its, cake, and lots of tea…
Walking and cycling routes through Castle Gateway
Thu 9th May 18:00-20:00
Cycle Heaven, Hospital Fields Road
One of the key driving ideas behind the Castle Gateway proposals has been the creation of a new walking and cycling route from the south, through Castle Gateway and into the city centre. The initial proposals for Castle Mills apartments and the multi-storey car park on St.George’s Fields highlighted the design challenges in achieving this. It was acknowledged that there were questions still to answer and a wish to work with individuals and groups to ensure this new route works for all.
Join the architects from BDP and technical staff from the council for a workshop to explore and develop the design proposals for the walking and cycling route, including the new bridge across the Foss and improvements to Piccadilly. We will meet in the cafe area at Cycle Heaven – the cafe will be closed but there will be refreshments provided!
St George’s Field Car Park, Castle Mills Apartments and the new bridge: Explore the proposals
16th March Drop in 11-2pm with timed walks: 11.30 / 12.00 / 12.30 / 1.00
Register your interest
20th March Drop in 3-7pm with timed walks: 3.30 / 6.00
Register your interest
At the heart of the Castle Gateway proposals is a new public space replacing the Castle Car Park. To make this possible, a new multi-storey car park is proposed on St George’s Field, funded by the Castle Mills apartments. Another key idea is to create walking and cycling access from St George’s Field towards Piccadilly including a new bridge over the River Foss.
Shaping a new bridge over the Foss
20th March workshop 12:00-2:00pm
Spark:York Community Space
Book your place
One of the key elements of the brief from My Castle Gateway is a new pedestrian and cycle route from the south leading into Piccadilly and the city centre, safely crossing Tower Street and passing through new public space beneath the castle walls before crossing the Foss. Join the My Castle Gateway team and the bridge design team from Witteveen+Bos for a collaborative design workshop looking at the new bridge. We will take the brief produced from the public engagement to date and develop this into design principles for the new foot and cycle bridge, set against some of the technical challenges posed. Looking at examples from around the world, we will explore how the new bridge can reflect this special setting and its heritage, alongside wishes to be able to both move and linger.
Castle Gateway Pre-application exhibition: St George’s Field Car Park, Castle Mills Apartments and new bridge over the River Foss
Saturday 1 June
Drop-in 11am-2pm / Guided walks at 11:30am and 1pm
Spark : York, Piccadilly
Wednesday 5 June
Drop-in 3pm-7pm / Guided walks at 4pm and 6pm
Friends Meeting House, Friargate
At the heart of the Castle Gateway proposals is a new public space replacing the Castle Car Park. To make this possible, a new multi-storey car park is proposed on St George’s Field, funded by apartments at Castle Mills. Another key idea is to create walking and cycling access from St George’s Field towards Piccadilly including a new bridge over the River Foss. Early plans were shared at similar events in March. Come and see the revised plans before they are submitted for planning in June/July.
How can we make a new public space that’s brilliant for families and for play?
We’re visiting different parks and play areas around York talking to parents and children about their favourite places for play and using this to shape the development of the new public space in the Castle and Eye of York. Join the Play Out discussions to explore what makes great places for play!
The first Play Out will be Saturday 29th June, 10am at Acomb Green.
Castle Gateway Project Catch Up
Hudson Board Room, West Offices
1st July 2019, 6-7.30pm
Book your place
As part of our regular catch up sessions – and in advance of the launch weekend for the My Castle Gateway summer programme – join the Project Lead Andy Kerr to explore the recent developments in the Castle Gateway project.
6th and 7th July: Walks and Workshop
Meet outside the Castle Museum entranceSaturday 10am [Book Your Place] / Saturday 11.30am [Book Your Place] / Saturday 1pm Accessible walk, flat access only and pace set by group [Book Your Place] / Saturday 3pm [Book Your Place]
Sunday 10am [Book Your Place] / Sunday 11.30am [Book Your Place] / Sunday 1pm Accessible walk, flat access only and pace set by group [Book Your Place] / Sunday 3pm [Book Your Place]Over this summer My Castle Gateway will be working with any and all interested to refine the open brief for the new public area and to look in more detail at how we create new spaces and new routes which connect Clifford’s Tower, the Eye of York, Tower Gardens and the Castle Museum.To launch a summer of activities join us for focused walks and discussions of the area. We’ll be building upon the original My Castle Gateway Open Brief and masterplan ideas and developing detailed proposals for how the spaces can enable the different activities you said you wanted. We’ll consider the challenges of making room for everything from concerts to quiet contemplation. There will be structured walks around the area, each followed by a workshop hosted in the Castle Museum.
Saturday 13th July 2-4pm
Meet near the ex-fountain on Parliament Street
Book your place
We’ll take a look at how green of all kinds is already used in York. We’ll start in Parliament Street and end in Museum Gardens and take in a number of those examples of plants, trees and grass to talk openness and enclosure, shade, shelter, maintenance and views. We’ll then draw out what questions this raised for the open brief for the new public area in the Castle and Eye of York.
Castle, Eye of York and Prisons: A York Past and Present Photography Walk
20th July, 11-12.30p,
Meet outside York Castle Museum
Book your place
In collaboration with York Past and Present and York Castle Museum, come and explore the hidden nooks and crannies of the Castle area, the Eye of York and the Prisons, from finding interesting views that tell the story of the development of York, looking at specific evidence of how the area has changed to the Padded Cell in the Female Prison and graffiti carved by convicts bound for Australia, the last time they’d have written their name in the country of their birth. Bring your camera, your questions and ideas for the how the future of area can develop!
2pm-4pm, 20th July
Meet outside York Castle Museum
Heritage isn’t fixed, it isn’t just old buildings, it isn’t all about the past – it’s a way of debating what matters to us today and how we value it.
Thursday 25th July 5:30 – 7:30pm
Meet outside York Art Gallery
Book your free place
The Arts Barge, Tower Gardens
Meet outside York Art Gallery
Book your place
12th August, 12noon-1.30pm
Meet outside York Castle Museum entrance
Book your place
As part of My Castle Gateway Gathering Place discussions about the new Castle and Eye of York area, join internationally-acclaimed landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan to explore how landscape, trees and planting can contribute to the new public spaces and the connections to the Foss. How might introducing trees and plants offer focus to the open area, help define routes through the area, create feelings of intimacy while also enhancing crucial views of Clifford’s Tower and the Prison and Court?
Sunday 25th August, 11am – 1pm
Meet at Rowntrees Park, near the swings
Register interest
We’ll conclude a summer-worth of Playing Out sessions at Rowntrees Park. What makes it so popular and makes it a play destination? What can we learn from how families play together – and how the different spaces and activities work together – to add into the open brief for the new public area in the Castle and Eye of York.My Castle Gateway at the Red Tower and Guildhall Ward Residents Barbeque
28th August, 6-8pm
Red Tower, Drop in
What will happen when the Castle Car Park has gone? The big idea for the Castle and Eye of York area is to remove the car park near Clifford’s Tower and make new public spaces and new walking and cycling routes to and through the area. My Castle Gateway will be hanging out at the Red Tower and talking the pasts and futures of the Castle and Eye of York. Come and say hi!
For more information on the Barbeque.
29th August, 6-7.30pm
Book your place
Hearing a lot about the Castle Gateway project but not sure what it’s all about? Join us for the Quick Guide.
The big idea for the Castle and Eye of York area is to remove the car park near Clifford’s Tower and make new public spaces and new walking and cycling routes to and through the area. Join the My Castle Gateway project for a friendly and low key walk around the area to get a quick overview of the main ideas with lots of opportunity for you to share what matters to you about the area and what would draw you to spend time there.Ideas for the Future of York Castle Museum
Sunday, 1st September
Book your place: 10.00am / 12.30pm / 3.00pm
Meet outside the enterance to York Castle Museum (includes a walk around the site and a workshop)
Ideas for the future of York Castle Museum are developing. These ideas have been inspired by discussions over the past two years with people who live and work in York who want to see the area opened up and to make the Castle and Eye of York an area where you feel you’ve arrived somewhere very special. Join Reyahn King, York Museums Trust’s Chief Executive, and Emma Hamlett, York Castle Museum Curator, to explore both the challenges and exciting possibilities for York Castle Museum. We’ll be looking at everything from what makes a brilliant welcome for visitors to how to bring to life the incredible histories of Prisons and the museum collections as well as looking at the serious issues of leaky roofs and financial sustainability.My Castle Gateway at Red Tower Pay as Your Feel Lunch
2nd September, 11.30-2pm
Red Tower, Drop in
What will happen when the Castle Car Park has gone? The big idea for the Castle and Eye of York area is to remove the car park near Clifford’s Tower and make new public spaces and new walking and cycling routes to and through the area. My Castle Gateway will be hanging out at the Red Tower and talking the pasts and futures of the Castle and Eye of York. Come and say hi!
For more information on the lunch.Ideas for the Future of York Castle Museum
Monday, 2nd September, 5.00-6.30
Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, Tempest Anderson Hall (is a more formal presentation and discussion that the walks on Sunday)Book your place
Ideas for the future of York Castle Museum are developing. These ideas have been inspired by discussions over the past two years with people who live and work in York who want to see the area opened up and to make the Castle and Eye of York an area where you feel you’ve arrived somewhere very special. Join Reyahn King, York Museums Trust’s Chief Executive, and Emma Hamlett, York Castle Museum Curator, to explore both the challenges and exciting possibilities for York Castle Museum. We’ll be looking at everything from what makes a brilliant welcome for visitors to how to bring to life the incredible histories of Prisons and the museum collections as well as looking at the serious issues of leaky roofs and financial sustainability.Gathering on the Move: Look at Your City Walk
Saturday 7th September 10am – 12pm
Book your place
Meet outside York Railway Station, specifically outside the York Tap on Tea Room Square
How can we make a place which people find easy to “read”? Join us on our final Look at Your City walk. We’ll be thinking about routes to and through the area, views along the way, signposting, places to stop and rest, how to reconcile cycling and people on foot and how to imbed accessibility and inclusiveness as a first principle.
7th December 2019, Drop In
11am-12noon, The Green Howards and the South African War Memorial, York Army Museum
12noon-5pm, Various events from Hilton Tower RestaurantJoin us on 7th December to delve into the histories of the Castle and Eye of York and to join the conversation about the area’s future.The draft Open Brief for the new Castle Gateway public spaces will soon be live and open for discussion. The Open Brief has been shaped by many different people, of all ages and from across York all responding to two questions: What matters to you about the Castle and the Eye of York? What would you like to be able to do in the area in the future?On 7th December you will be able to explore the area through the eyes of the different people and groups that care for the area. There will be a mix of talks, walks, slideshows and conversations which will open up the area in different ways and create different ways of exploring and commenting on the draft Open Brief.A programme will be published nearer the time but there is confirmed participation from the Green Howards, York Army Museum, York Castle Museum, English Heritage, Historic England, Friends of York Walls, York Georgian Society… with more to be confirmed in due course!
Saturday 12th October 2:00-4:00pm
Central York venue to be confirmed to suit numbers
Register your interest
Over the summer, My Castle Gateway has been exploring the future of the Castle and Eye of York with many different people and seeking to get to grips with the real possibilities and challenges of making new public spaces. It is now time to draw out the Open Brief that will be used by the designers and architects to design the new public spaces.Join us to help in the process of interpreting the summer’s work and crystalizing the issues into a working draft Open Brief, not to mention eating cake. We will then publish the draft Open Brief for a further round of reflection, discussion and debate.
A Speakers’ Corner for the Eye of York
23rd January, 6.30-8.30pm
Friargate Meetng House
Book your place
The Eye of York was a place for elections and has been a site for political gatherings and protest. Throughout the My Castle Gateway process, the history of the Eye of York inspired people to suggest it could be a site for a Speakers’ Corner, like the one in Hyde Park. We’re now calling for people who want to work on bringing this idea to life in the area. Both short term for a trial event and to explore how it might be established long term as a regular feature of the Eye of York.
We especially hope to hear from you if you ever wrote the ‘Speakers’ Corner’ on a post it! All very welcome!
My Castle Gateway: Debating the Open Brief
26th January, 2.30-4.30pm Book your free place
2nd February, 2.30-4.30pm Book your free place
Meet outside Clifford’s Tower, near the steps
There will be around one hour of walking, followed by short workshop.
Explore the different elements of the draft Open Brief for the new public spaces in the Castle Gateway area and contribute your ideas.
We’re creating a new public space in York. What is now the Castle Car Park and the green roundabout we call the Eye of York will become a part of York where we can come together. A new place to gather, explore and enjoy.
Over the summer of 2019, those who live, work and play in York have imagined and discussed what this new space will be. All the ideas and discussions have formed the My Castle Gateway Castle and Eye of York Open Brief.
The Open Brief brings the future to life. It evokes all the different things people will be doing. From paddling to protesting and from listening to music to reflecting in peace.
The Open Brief is still a draft. It is not too late to take part in shaping the future of the Castle and Eye of York. Join us for this walk where the future of the area will be evoked. We will then head in doors to warm up and to collaboratively edit and add to the Open Brief.
Accessibility: All walks will be on the level and can be navigated without having to go up steps.
My Castle Gateway at Red Tower
3rd February 2020, drop in from 11.30 to 1pm; 1.15pm walk around the Castle Gateway area.
10th February 2020, drop in from 11.30 to 1pm; 1.15pm walk around the Castle Gateway area.
Over the summer of 2019, those who live, work and play in York have imagined and discussed what this new space will be. All the ideas and discussions have formed the My Castle Gateway Castle and Eye of York Open Brief.
The Open Brief brings the future to life. It evokes all the different things people will be doing. From paddling to protesting and from listening to music to reflecting in peace.
The Open Brief is still a draft. It is not too late to take part in shaping the future of the Castle and Eye of York. Join us for this walk where the future of the area will be evoked. We will then head in doors to warm up and to collaboratively edit and add to the Open Brief.
New Public Spaces: Reflection, Remembering and Coming Together
Event: 29th March, 7-8pm. Book here.
The Open Brief set out that we want the new public spaces in the Castle and Eye of York to be reflective and playful, enable big events and moments of peace, do justice to the atrocities of the past and create a joyful present and be a place to spend time without spending money and a place for paid for theatre and music events.
As the designers start work on turning the My Castle Gateway Open Brief into design ideas, we use their initial analysis of the brief to open up a conversation which explores the challenges in the brief more concretely.
We have key questions we’ll be exploring:
• The central question of how might the space be designed for large events and enable community events and everyday use?
• Alongside the more technical requirements spelled out in the brief, how can we design the space to ensure we get events that are big and small, and paid for and free?
• How can the 1190 massacre of York’s Jewish community be remembered? How can the need for reflective space and playful, joyous and noisy space be designed for?
• How has the green roundabout area changed over time and what possibilities might this open up for the future?
• How do we manage necessary access of cars, vans and lorries?
• What are our expectations around quality of materials; how might they influence what we can and can’t afford or whether we can experiment?
• How might we connect the new public spaces to the surrounding streets, spaces, and the city beyond in ways which link movement and meaning?
Bringing the Foss Closer
Event: 30th March, 7-8pm. Book here.
The Open Brief said we want the Foss to be a bigger part of our lives. We want to be able to see it, walk and sit nearer to it and even get our feet wet.
Initial analysis by the designers has identified the very real challenges in bringing the Foss closer – these are physical, technical, financial. Before they start design work on this part of Castle Gateway, we want to open up a conversation which explores a full range of creative possibilities, and suggests a range of starting points for design.
So, we’ll be asking:
• How can we get our feet wet – get on the Foss or even swim – given the challenges presented by the current riverside being former prison wall?
• How might we make the Foss more visible, and what role might trees and landscaping play?
• How can we design routes and space to walk and sit closer to the Foss?
• Are there ways of creating access to the river which might help with managing flood risk?
Trees, Ecosystems and Us
Event: 31st March, 5-6pm. Book here.
We want a bit of wildness to the new Castle and Eye of York public spaces. The Open Brief set out that we want to watch birds gather, spot signs of otters, smell wild flowers, hear the sound of the wind in the trees. Alongside all that, we also need a hardwearing space that is easy to maintain and works all year round.
As the designers start work on turning the My Castle Gateway Open Brief into design ideas and have done further research and analysis on the existing trees and landscaping, we open up a conversation to explore the challenges more concretely.
• How can we work with nature to create a vibrant ecosystem?
• How can the Castle and Eye of York be wild and urban?
• Specifically, what do we want trees to do here? How do we use trees in design to help us with framing views, enclosing space and making Castle Gateway easier to navigate?
