New Beginnings The Minster

York Minster is a marvel of the Medieval age,

a testament to human faith and the worship of God.

But looking after this 800-year-old building is no easy task.

The staff and volunteers go to extraordinary lengths

-to maintain its Gothic splendour.

-It's pretty hairy.

Everything will be moving in different directions.

This is the story of one year in the life of the Minster,

and for the people who work here, it's much more than a job.

It's a calling.

It's the beginning of February

and the Christmas celebrations at York Minster are coming to an end.

The Nativity scene needs clearing away

and head verger Alex Carberry is on the case.

Right. If you want to get the Virgin Mary, Bill.

We've had this set up since just before Christmas.

In fact, the Christ child goes in on Christmas Eve at our crib service.

We've just got to the feast of Candlemas, which is on February 2nd.

And that's the day that now the church

finishes its celebration of the Christmas season.

So it's in order that we take away the Crib figures,

dismantle the Crib and put it away for another year.

They were made in Brussels, probably in the early 20th century,

and very fine pieces, it has to be said.

It's an Italianate background of the Crib but, of course, you know,

a building this size, it needs to be in proportion, so somewhat larger

than the normal Crib you'd find in most parish churches.

But not every statue is a delicate work of art.

We've got Sunday school and meet every week, and I think it was

one of the children had left it behind, and we just thought...

A little spark of inspiration came to us

and we thought, "We can actually utilise this in the crib."

We've got a Father Ted moment.

We've got the large ox that we have at the front of the crib but we've

got a very small cow that we put at the back because it's far, far away.

The vergers are the ones who make the Minster tick.

They're the odd job team,

working every nook and cranny of the building.

BELL TOLLS

An automated system rings the Minster bells every 15 minutes,

but at certain times, human intervention is needed.

The idea is is that we have the 12:30 service,

and the idea of ringing the bell is as a kind of traditional call

to prayer, so it's kind of making people aware of the service.

It's a 10¾ tonne bell that is very heavy to try and get ringing.

It normally takes about eight or more pulls of this.

It certainly keeps you fit.

BELL TOLLS

There's a bellringing rota for the vergers

and it's not good form to be late.

We have a three-minute warning time that's the chimes on the clock

that's in the north transept.

And it kind of gets to that point where you sort of go,

"Oh, need to get going to ring the bell!"

And I have kind of run up the spiral staircase,

just as it's been striking 12 and things like that.

There's a technique to all of this

but Iain has a way of getting the most out of his bellringing duties.

Now, there is one bit of this that is quite fun,

but you might want to stand back.

It's one of those things where you kind of see it in the TV

adverts and things, don't you?

And Iain's not the only one who's enjoyed hanging out in the Belfry.

What you've got here is various different names of different

members of staff that have joined the teams over the recent years.

We have got a number of names over on the wall over there

from kind of late 19th-century and things like that.

So it is really a long tradition.

And again, it links people in with kind of what's gone

here before, with the people that's gone before and that

tradition of being here and working here and being part of its history.

You've got myself there.

I was brought up when I was a Minster host and inscribed my name.

And then, when I became a verger, they added my name to it.

It's that thought, isn't it,

that we're only here for a very small portion of the time?

With the Minster, it's been here long before us

and it's going to go on long after we've been here.

And it's nice to know you've made your mark on the Minster

and your name, hopefully, will be here for quite a while.

From every angle, the Minster dominates the city of York.

With more than 2 million visitors, it's a big responsibility

keeping the Minster and everyone inside it safe.

They might look like security guards,

but this is the Minster's very own police force.

There are 10 officers and tonight, Steve Dawson is on patrol,

and he's not on his own.

Steve's springer spaniel, Bindi, is a Minster legend

with a keen nose for trouble.

She's even sniffed out tourists who've been

locked in the Minster by accident.

Tonight, Steve and his colleague, Kadir Turkan, are cashing up.

They're collecting money from the donation boxes

but it seems Bindi's mind is on other matters.

She's got a bit of a fetish for stuffed toys.

If anyone's left a stuffed toy around, she'll find them, no matter

where they are, stuffed down back of radiators, under chairs,

she'll find them.

And we used to have an array of stuffed toys

all the way around the police cabin. But, yeah.

She ends up carrying it around for a while and then if she's had

it for more than 10, 15 minutes, she starts ripping it up to bits.

I start at six o'clock and finish at six o'clock in the morning.

So me and Bindi and she keeps me company.

And she spots everything I miss. Bind. Come here.

She's like the 11th policeman. She does more work than I do! Yeah.

I just sit back and relax. She does all the work.

She can't carry the money, obviously, from the collection boxes

and she can't answer the phone, otherwise I'd be out of a job!

Steve's following a long line of Minster policeman.

In you come. In you come.

The force started in the Victorian era but security and law and order

at the Minster goes back much further than that.

In the 13th century, the Minster had its own legal system,

including magistrates and coroners.

These days, the Minster police might not have the same powers

as bobbies on the beat, but they do provide security

and make sure the dignity of the Minster is upheld.

I couldn't ask for a better place to work.

So peaceful in the evening, especially when you're on nights.

So I often wander around, just me

and Bindi, wandering around and sit and just take in the atmosphere.

It's a funny building.

One minute, it's really peaceful, and the next minute, it's eerie.

To me, it's the most beautiful building in the world.

And it's the best job in the world.

And I get to bring my best friend with me, Bindi.

Come on, Bindi. Come on.

Come on.

It's the start of Holy Week,

the seven days running up to Easter Sunday.

It might be spring but it doesn't feel like it.

The temperature has plummeted but work at the Minster doesn't stop.

The stonemasons are a hardy lot and the work continues come rain,

shine or snow.

The masons' lodge is an outdoor workspace where the public

can see the masons at work.

It's all traditional tools here, the kind of equipment that

craftsmen from the Middle Ages would recognise.

And just because it's cold, well, that's no excuse to stop work.

The chill factor this week was supposed to be about minus 9

or something, but actually, it's two degrees, I think.

I've got my sets of thermals, three T-shirts, wool jumper and gloves.

I'm all right. Good boots, socks.

And after a day working outside in arctic temperatures,

even stonemasons start to dream.

Hot bath and a meal. And the Costa Brava.

With a building that's eight centuries old,

there are plenty of repairs to be done.

The work's carried out

by the Minster's crack team of master craftsmen.

It's a painstaking process.

From the stained glass to the gargoyles and grotesques,

each piece is a work of art.

The big project is the £20 million restoration of the east end

of the Minster.

Behind 16 miles of scaffolding, the stonework

and windows are slowly being replaced.

All eyes are now on this weathered figure sitting

high above the East Window.

Centuries of exposure to the elements mean it's now

so badly eroded, there's now a debate about who it once was

and what its replacement should be.

It could have been, potentially, Archbishop Thoresby,

Christ in Majesty or St Peter.

It was a pretty unanimous decision that where this figure is

and because of the detail in the Great East Window

and the iconography there that this would most likely be St Peter.

So from there,

we've had lots of really helpful experts helping us

get the right modelling in place

so that we can apply for permission to update and change this figure.

The model of what St Peter should look like is quite

advanced but it's still being tweaked.

His hat will have to be a bit taller

and some of his curly locks will have to go.

In her office at the stone yard,

Rebecca is hoping they get the sign-off soon

so that work can start.

I think, at one point, he was thought to look a little bit grumpy

but I think that was updated and everyone's been happy with his face.

We're nearly there.

And I think everybody likes the figure and agrees with the changes

that have been made and, you know, the Dean and Chapter are happy.

And so, it's just the final consultations taking place.

We're just a dot in the history of the Minster

but this is such an iconic figure that it will be remembered.

We will be a part of that history.

Three tonnes of limestone from Poitiers in France

has arrived in the stone yard but until the design is signed off,

the carving can't begin.

Back inside the Minster, there's no let-up in the Easter schedule.

It's a hectic time for the staff.

The Minster will be the epicentre for a host of services

and Alex Carberry and his team of vergers are rushed off their feet.

Ask Stan to fill one of the radio mics.

We're going to need that underneath the Central Tower... Morning.

-..for the first part of the service, OK?

-The vergers' HQ is the vestry.

From here, operations are directed and supplies dispatched.

-You all right?

-Big plastic jugs for orange squash.

-Are they not in there?

-Can't see them in there.

-Right, OK. I'll go and find some.

I will find some. OK?

There's no time to stand still as Alex racks up

the miles around the Minster.

There's a lot of activity to start with on...

Well, any day where we've got major services.

And basically, we like to try

and get as much done early on as we possibly can

because it's during the last half an hour before a service that the

questions start cropping up, you know. What are we doing?

Where do we need to be? Etc, etc.

So a lot of activity but it's organised.

We know what we're doing and we're all calm.

So you're on my left. You're holding the book.

So we begin with the choir singing from over there,

then I do the greeting, introduction, Blessing of Palms.

It's a well rehearsed routine but on Palm Sunday,

the pressure is suddenly increased.

The Easter schedule has been months in the planning

but the cold weather has forced a change.

Unfortunately, because of the weather, it's so cold,

we felt it to be unfair for the children in the choir to be

stood out there in cassocks and surpluses that we decided

we'd scrap the idea of processing through the streets of York.

We'd actually start the service here in the Minster.

But that decision was made very late on.

The service is about commemorating Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and you

can't really commemorate that unless you actually walk into the building.

But we're doing our best, given the cold weather.

Well, you'll be pleased to hear you've not got to go outside today.

You're staying inside. It's like a duck.

The feet are going underwater but, you know, you've got this demeanour.

The order of service? Are we not doing that now?

-Have we not started doing that already?

-No, I haven't.

-Ah, right.

We need to do that. Right. We really need to do that.

I think, if the stewards can start handing them

out now to the people who are already in, and then, as people come in,

we just have to keep handing them.

-Right.

-Along with the Palm crosses.

There we are. Can I give you one of those?

Oh, you've got one.

'I think I'm just about at that point where we've done as much as we can.'

'It's just a case of now waiting for this service to start,'

and making sure everybody knows what they're doing.

So I think we can just...

Not rest easy but we can relax a little.

With a new plan in place, the congregation

and clergy are spared a chilly march around the streets of York

and process around the vast interior of the Minster instead.

Grant that we may follow the example of his patience and

humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection.

Through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

-One God, now and for ever.

-Amen.

With Palm Sunday now back on track, there's just the rest

of the Easter schedule for Alex and the Minster team to work through.

Easter is the most significant festival in the church calendar

but it's also the busiest and a time for some unusual deliveries.

It's 5am in the small town of Helmsley,

20 miles to the north of York.

A local bakery has devoted part of its production line to

making 600 hot cross buns for the Minster.

They're a traditional Easter treat with the central white cross

symbolising the crucifixion.

It's early in the morning but there's still a deadline to meet.

These buns have to be at the Minster by 9am

so they can be handed out after the Maundy Thursday service.

A small army of volunteers is waiting to get to work

on the buns and there's one topic on everyone's lips - it's the weather.

It's been exceptionally cold, and the Minster is always cold.

This time last year, we were basking in sunshine at 20-odd degrees.

The ladies waste no time in getting stuck in,

as does their only male helper.

-David!

-Waste not, want not!

We're really going!

One of the big problems with mass catering is that you can get

a severe case of butterer's elbow!

The Maundy Thursday service is over

and there's nothing that brings the church together like tea and cake.

And for the volunteers, it's another job well done.

It might seem that everything moves at a sedate pace at the Minster,

-but there can be drama, too.

-'..With those two boys.

'I'm just wondering if anybody said they could go.'

Come and join us, if you don't mind.

Minster policeman Steven Reid is following a report that a woman

and two children may have climbed a staircase, taking them

to a potentially dangerous part of the Minster.

I'll stand here, Kadir.

While his colleague checks it out,

-Steven stands guard to make sure no-one else can follow.

-OK.

People, they come in and try doors. They think it's OK.

There'll be somebody who thinks...

They're allowed to go up there if it's unlocked.

A fall from up above, especially the woman and a couple of children,

it'd be devastating. We need to get them down.

It's a tense wait and Steven's hoping no-one else is up there.

When you fall at York Minster, you die.

-Simple as that.

-Steven's seen his fair share of emergencies.

Before his 10 years with the Minster police,

he served with the American military.

I'm just totally committed to this place.

I take my responsibilities very seriously here.

They asked me to look after this place

and I'm not going to let them down.

After an extensive search, there's no sign of any intruders.

-It's all clear, Steven.

-Oh, thanks, Kadir. Cheers, mate.

Thankfully, it's been a false alarm.

Steven has done his duty today and kept the building

and its visitors safe, but in many ways,

the Minster has become his own sanctuary following traumatic

events as a young soldier more than 40 years ago.

I served in Vietnam, several different areas.

I was there 15 months. There's been some very dark times, yes.

You feel guilty, sometimes, because you survived and, you know,

you have friends that didn't.

You feel an unfairness about what's happened.

It's the first time, probably,

since then that I've ever felt real inner peace within myself.

I could never give York Minster nothing close to what it gives me

and what it does for me is just...

makes me want to be the best I can be.

It seems the Minster is a place of refuge,

even for those who work there every day.

Holy Week is reaching its climax and it's Easter Saturday.

The vergers are on the final stretch,

preparing for the highly symbolic Easter vigil. It's a big event.

The Archbishop of York will be taking the service.

But first, for head verger Alex Carberry,

there's going to be a severe test of his nerve.

He's about to perform his least favourite task of the year,

which involves draping a white cloth over a giant crucifix

suspended from the Central Tower.

It's not so bad going up if you're changing things like the lights

and suchlike up here, which we do use that hoist for because then,

you're against a pillar, so you do feel there's an element of

if the thing was to rock forward, there's something to stop it.

Up there, if it was to move in any direction,

you actually can just be coming crashing down.

Not that it would do because, of course,

all the safety features are there to help secure it.

MUSIC: "Thunderbirds" by The Barry Gray Orchestra

It's pretty hairy.

You sort of feel very exposed

and this hoist does move slightly at this height.

In a moment, when I throw this over the cross,

the cross will actually start to swing as well

and that will be a very strange sensation

because everything will be moving in different directions.

But here goes.

While Alex grapples with his fear of heights,

his vergers look on from the safety of the Minster floor.

The cross is moving, which, as I say, is very odd.

Every year, I think, I ought to get on my colleagues to do this,

and every year, I forget to ask them.

Cos they're younger than me. I'm sure they could cope.

They probably like the thrill and excitement.

-Where's his Hi Viz jacket?

-He should have a Hi Viz cassock.

I used to be really, really good, really confident at heights,

but as I've got a bit older, that confidence has started to wane.

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.

The Central Tower of the Minster is a cavernous space.

It's so big, the Leaning Tower of Pisa could fit inside.

Does it look effective? Does it want to be further across?

-That's all right, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, that looks better.

-Good.

I'm coming down.

If I can turn round.

I'm not going back up.

That looks all right, doesn't it?

-Yup.

-Yeah. Yes. We'll go with that.

Thank you all very much for your support and your assistance in that.

-You know you appreciate it.

-Oh, dear. Right.

Well, that's that for another year, I'm pleased to say.

Next year, it'll be someone else's turn.

With Alex safely back on terra firma and the drape in place,

preparations for the Easter vigil continue.

The building's empty at the moment, so we're working whilst it's quiet,

so it'll be for about the next hour or so. We'll be

getting all set up and ready and then we'll crack on with

the service and no-one will know that we've been working.

It's going to be a complicated evening.

Not only is the Archbishop of York taking the Easter vigil,

he's conducting baptisms, too.

Do you want to just check that you're OK going up those

steps that we've put there with it?

For the vergers, preparation is everything, and even the smallest

details are checked, down to the temperature of the baptism water.

It's red hot when it comes out of the tap but it'll be cool enough

by the time we come to the baptism in about an hour and 20 minutes or so

so no-one gets burns or they're not too... It's not freezing, either.

This font is Medieval but interestingly, you can

say this is the very heart of the Minster.

The first church here was started for a baptism of King Edwin

in the year 627 in order for him

to be baptised to marry Queen Ethelburga from Kent.

Now, we don't know if this is the exact spot but for him

to be a Christian, he would have to be baptised,

so a little church was built.

So symbolically, this is the very heart of the place.

..While a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

# Oh Christ, the Morning Star, has risen in the morning. #

And today, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.

The Easter vigil is one of the most significant

events in the church calendar.

Lent is coming to an end and tomorrow is Easter Sunday.

For Christians, it's a highly important festival as it marks

the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross on Good Friday.

The lighting of the fire bowl and the passing of the flame between

the worshippers symbolises the end of darkness and a return to light.

It's a time for many to renew their faith

and for others to join the church.

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ,

from the dead, remember that through the Paschal mystery,

we have died and been buried with him in baptism.

I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son...

-..and of the Holy Spirit.

-Amen.

Remember your baptism into Christ's death and resurrection.

The Dean as well.

THEY LAUGH

So I invite you to just welcome Rebecca Caitlin, most warmly,

in the body of Christ.

THEY CLAP

The Easter festival is now well under way

and the celebrations can begin but the staff can't afford to relax.

Next time at the Minster, there's an amazing discovery,

-deep underneath the building.

-This is very special, actually.

It's such an important part of York's story.

And will the choristers hit the right note

as they prepare to fly solo?