Whilst strolling around York yesterday afternoon, on a dull St Valentine’s Day, I took the opportunity to get some pictures of St Mary’s a ruined Benedictine Abbey [Wikipedia reference], in the grounds of the Yorkshire Museum, the photo above is of the west wall and the return with the open arch on the north elevation. The weather turned sour and I put my camera away as I hurried back to the car, thus missing out on the opportunity to take a decent shot of the Sir Edwin Lutyens designed war memorial adjacent to the former North Eastern Railways Headquarters. The memorial is less impressive than the more famous work by him of the Cenotaph, Whitehall, however what struck me was that the memorial was commissioned by NER and commemorates the loss of over 2,300 soldiers during the First World War, all of whom were NER (North Eastern Railways Company) employees. A horrific reminder of the tragedy of war, this on the second day of our increased assault in Helmund, Afghanistan more destruction, all very distressing.