MICKEGATE BAR, on a busy day some time in the 1910s or 1920s. There are not one but two traffic policemen on duty, overseeing the cars and electric trams which are turning from Queen Street into Blossom Street. One is standing in the foreground, watching a car which seems to be swaying as it drives up Blossom Street. The second, in the middle distance, is sandwiched between a car and a tram turning into Blossom Street.

It is a wonderful photograph, full of movement and life - from the cars and trams themselves to the pedestrians lined up on the pavement and the smartly-dressed businessman striding briskly across the road to the left of the photograph. The tramlines running down Blossom Street are clearly visible set into the road's surface.

This photo, like the others on these pages, comes from the wonderful archive of historical images held by the Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society (YAYAS), which is 175 years old this month.

There is no date on the photograph. But since electric trams only operated in York between 1910 and 1935, it must have been taken some time during that period. Judging from the clothing and the cars, we'd estimate it was probably taken in the late 1910s or 1920s - though we'll be happy to be proven wrong, if any readers know otherwise.

Trams or tramlines feature in several of the photographs on these pages today, most of which probably date from the 1910s or 1920s. One shows a tram trundling past York Railway Station, while what look like early horseless cabs stand waiting for fares in front of the station building. Another shows the view from the city walls looking down at the front of the station, with this time several trams running past. A third shows Duncombe Place, looking oddly different with tramlines laid into the surface of the road.

There's also a view of a beautifully snowy Station Road. No tramlines here, but there is a horse drawn cart plodding steadily up the road, with Lendal Bridge and the Minster visible in the background.

The last photograph shows Exhibition Square, with a very new-looking statue of William Etty looking out watchfully across the square towards the Minster. A horse-drawn carriage stands across the way. The Etty statue was unveiled in February 1911 - so we suspect this photograph dates from not long after that...

Stephen Lewis

BLOB The Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society (YAYAS) has been promoting and protecting the history, heritage and architecture of York and Yorkshire since 1842. You can find out more about the organisation by visiting www.yayas.org.uk