The Foss is one of York’s best kept secrets. Bubbling up in the Howardian Hills, this little river meanders across the Vale of York. Slow moving, you’d almost say pleasantly lazy, by the time it reaches the Viking city of Yorvik, the water is barely flowing. The Foss’ destiny is the North Sea via the Humber and the Ouse, but first, it has an appointment with an Impressionist masterpiece. Drifting through some willows, the river reaches its yellow water lily meadow. The canary coloured flowers daub the scene; the familiar lily pads pave the surface so thickly that you feel you could use them for stepping stones. If Claude Monet was passing this way, he’d fall to his knees with joy. An alternative name for the yellow water lily is the water cabbage, quite simply beca