Baby York moves to his ‘own city’

2:50pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008

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BABY York has moved near the city where he was conceived and was named after.

The Press reported last year how Dutch couple Cecile Creemers and Sjaak Kastelijn fell in love with York and decided to name their son after the city he was conceived in.

Now the couple have decided to cross the North Sea and bring baby York to York, Yorks, for a permanent stay. Because of their fondness for the city, Sjaak was keeping his eye out for suitable jobs in the area and could not believe his luck when he got a job as the new Museum Gardens manager.

Sjaak said: “We have always been extremely fond of coming to England – we love the countryside, the heritage and the people. But when York brought us the good fortune of our baby son we decided we would really like to move here. When I saw the job offer and got the job it seemed too good to be true. Hopefully we will have even more good fortune now we have moved here. Yorkshire has everything we were looking for – the seaside, the Moors, the Dales, lovely countryside, old preserved towns, lots of historical sites and of course the vibrant city of York.”

Sjaak, Cecile and York, now 17-months-old, are living in Hovingham, between York and Malton. Sjaak said they have settled in well so far and the people of Hovingham had made them very welcome.

He said: “It is also fantastic working in the city in which we were once tourists. It is such an interesting place – I am looking forward to being a part of it.”

The couple were on a four-week tour of England in September 2006 when they spent a night in York at a bed and breakfast. It is there where York was conceived and he was born in June 2007 in Holland. They said at the time: “Next year we’ll definitely return and show our son this most beautiful place on earth.”

Sjaak said he was looking forward to starting his new job. He said: “I am really going to put in my best efforts to make this work and I am very enthusiastic about the gardens. I see a lot of opportunity, potential and challenges here to change this park into an exciting and dynamic garden for tourists and the people of York.”