FOR years, Peggy Sterriker kept a collection of old postcards tucked away in a corner of her house.

Now aged 91, she recently moved into a care home in Kexby. And while her daughter Patricia Emmett was clearing out her mum’s house, she came across the card collection. She thought her mum would be delighted if, we were able to share some of the postcards with readers. So that’s exactly what we plan to do.

It is a fascinating collection, including 30-odd old views of York, plus more of Scarborough and Filey. Many seem to date from the turn of the last century. Mrs Sterriker was born Cecily Holmes in 1925 in Peckitt Street. Patricia believes her mum’s father, Cecil Holmes, might well have written some of the cards. He was chief engineer at the City Hospital in York until he retired, and served with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during the First World War.

The young Cecily Holmes (she is always known as Peggy now, Patricia says) worked as a secretary at York station and then married Patricia’s father, Harold Sterriker, who was from a farming family near Stockton-on-the-Forest. She lived nearly all her life in York.

“The cards mainly seem to have been sent by my grandfather or by relatives of his and this is probably why they were kept,” says Patricia, who is a room guide at both Fairfax House and Treasurer’s House. “She would love to know that other people are enjoying seeing her collection.”

We plan to dip into Mrs Sterriker’s collection several times over the next few weeks. But here is a sample just for starters:

St Helen’s Square, York (top). From the sorting office stamp on the back, this card seems to have been posted in July 1904. It’s almost impossible to make out the writing on the back, sadly, but the photograph on the front is remarkable enough. It shows a St Helen’s Square that is both the same as and yet very different from the square we all know today. The building on the left is recognisable as the one which houses Harker’s Bar today. Just beyond it is the building which was Terry’s chocolate shop, and in the distance you can see Stonegate, with the Minster looming above. But what is the building on the right? The lettering in the window looks as though it says Titterton’s, but we’d love to hear from any readers who can shed more light.

Clifford Street and the Grand Opera House. There’s no date on this card, but it looks as though it may well date from about the same period as the St Helen’s Square photo, about the turn of the last century. The street appears to be cobbled or paved, and tramlines run down the centre. The tram in the foreground must be horse-drawn, because there’s no sign anywhere of electric cabling.

York Press:

Clifford Street and the Grand Opera House, turn of the nineteenth century. Peggy Sterriker collection

Bishopthorpe Road, York. Again, there’s no date, but judging by the clothes, this too could have been taken in Edwardian times. We’d love to know what the children were doing.

York Press:

Bishopthorpe Road, York, probably Edwardian era. From the Peggy Sterriker collection

Coney Street, York. The sorting office stamp on the back is dated 1933, so this provides a glimpse of the street before the infamous bombs which fell during the York Blitz. Leak & Thorp, the outfitters, is visible on the left.

We’ll return to this wonderful collection again in future weeks. For now, many thanks to Peggy and Patricia for sharing the cards with us.

York Press:

Coney Street, 1933. From the Peggy Sterriker collection