WE have some wonderful views of old York for you today, courtesy of Explore York’s Imagine York archive. How about photograph of the old Colton’s Hospital on Tanner Row (top) for starters?

According to the caption, the hospital was established on this site in 1717, to provide accommodation for eight poor women. The photograph was taken in 1909 - a year before the York Corporation bought the site to enable improvements to be made to Rougier Street and the hospital was moved to Shipton Street.

It’s a wonderful photo of a York building that is gone forever. The advertising posters plastered across the face of the building illustrate what was considered by many to be one of the real problems of the day (the defacement of building by advertising hoardings) - but they make fascinating reading. There are a series of what look like election posters (Plump for Birch and true economy: Plump for Birch and low rates); adverts for excursions to London; and a Great Northern and North Eastern Railways poster promoting services to Lincoln for the races.

Next up is an early photograph of Queen Anne Grammar School, taken in 1911 (the school opened in 1910). The photographer has actually identified the school as ‘Council School on Love Lane’, and has added: ‘Ashes only on road. Observe water standing. Photo taken 18 hours after rainfall.’ We particularly like the neatly-dressed man, sporting a Homberg hat and stick, who is peering intently into the entrance to an alleyway on the right side of the photo. What on Earth was he looking at? His dog, standing obediently behind him, is looking in the same direction.

York Press:

The 'council school on Love Lane', aka Queen Anne Grammar School, in about 1910

Other old views of York today include:

Holgate Hill in 1910, with a tram heading up the hill towards the cameraman:

York Press:

Holgate Hill in 1910

Micklegate Bar some time between 1910 and 1916, with the Fulford to Dringhouses tram in the centre of the photo:

York Press:

Micklegate Bar between 1910 and 1916

Children playing on Broadway Grove, just off Broadway, in 1957: 

York Press:

Broadway Grove, 1957

To finish with, we have a couple of group photos. One shows the South Bank Amateur Football Club team for the year 1916-1917. The photograph was taken on Knavesmire - Albemarle Road can be seen in the background.

York Press:

South Bank Amateur Football Team, 1916-17

The other shows the wedding of Sgt Percy Lewis Jones (in uniform) and Jessie Field on October 31, 1917. The boy on the left is Robert Field, who was about 10 years old, and the man on the right is John Greenwood Field. The couple married at St Thomas’s Church on Lowther Street.

York Press:

The wedding of Sgt Percy Lewis Jones

According to York Press reader Don Marshall, Sgt Jones was a sergeant in the Royal Artillery - the clue is in the cap badge, the white lanyard on the left shoulder, and the three stripes with the gun above on his arm. 

  • All these photos are held on Explore York’s wonderful Imagine York archive. You can browse it yourself for free just by visiting imagineyork.co.uk/ 

York Press: