The uniformed police force at one of Britain’s most historic buildings has featured in a BBC2 documentary, reviewed by Mark Rowe.
A year in the life of York Minster, and the people who work there, is the subject of The Minster, a short series from BBC Yorkshire. The responsibility of keeping the two million visitors a year safe falls to the ten officers of the 800-year-old Minster’s police force. The first episode of the documentary showed first Steve Dawson, on patrol with springer spaniel Binty. The dog has even sniffed out tourists who have been locked in by mistake.
Toy fetish
Steve and another officer were shown gathering the monmey from the collection boxes after hours. Steve said of Binty: “She’s got a bit of a fetish for stuffed toys. If anybody has left a stuffed touy, she will find them,” typically behind chairs. She will carry the toy around for a while, and after ten or 15 minutes – which does not bode well for visitors hoping for their lost property – ‘she starts ripping it up’. As with many dog handlers and their animals, Steve spoke of the relationship between working man and dog: “She keeps me company. She does more work than I do,” he joked. “I just sit back and relax. She can’t carry the money, obviously, from the collection boxes, and can’t answer the phone; otherwise I would be out of a job.” The 21st century officers in modern police-style black uniform marked ‘York Minster Police’ have come a long way from the original, Victorian, force; but then so has the minster and the city. Law and order at the church go back to at least the 13th century. As arguably the second city in the country after London, York Minster had its own magistrates and coroners, in the days when clerics could claim ‘benefit of clergy’ and anyone could – like Julien Assange in the Ecuador embassy today – claim sanctuary in a church. The modern officers do no thave the same powers as police, but it’s their job to uphold the dignity of the place. Hence the documentary went on to show officers checking locks. “It’s so peaceful in the evening,” Steve went on. “I often wander around with me and Binty and sit and just take in the atmosphere. To me it’s the most peaceful building in the world and it’s the best job in the world and I get to bring my best friend with me – Binty.” Other occupations shown in the half-hour programme were stonemasons repairing statues and the vergers who keep the place ticking. While worship dates back centuries, the officers have modern kit such as walkie-talkies. They were in use when another officer, Steven Reid, picked up a report that a woman and two children may have climbed a staircase that could put them in a dangerous part of the cathedral. Steven and a colleague checked that no-one else was going up any stairs, and that no-one came to harm. As Steven put it: “When you fall at York Minster, you die, simple as that.” The alert turned out to be a false alarm.
American
Steven spoke with an American accent and had indeed before his ten years at the Minster served in the American military. “I am just totally committed to this place. I take my responsibilities very seriously. They asked me to look after this place and I am not going to let them down. As a young soldier more than 40 years ago I served in Vietnam in sveral different areas. I was there 15 months. There has been some very dark times, you feel guilty sometimes because you survived and you have friends that didn’t. It’s the first time perhaps since then taht I have felt a real inner peace within myself. I could never give York Minster anything close to what it gives me and what it does for me, as it makes me want to be the best that I can be.”
Hot cross buns
The rest of the half hour was given over to routine in the run-up to Easter, an everyday story of hot cross buns and the head verger going up in a cherry-picker to drape a white cloth over a cross to the television accompaniment of the theme from the TV puppet drama Thunderbirds – not as disrespectful as it might sound as the machine was called Thunderbirds. This was not a dramatic half-hour, then; but did go behind the scenes and showed security people as decent and conscientious, and fitting in with the wider work of a building.
You can view the episode on the BBC iPlayer to May 16 – http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03yvt50/The_Minster_New_Beginnings/
