ANYONE who works here at The Press knows about Isaac Poad & Sons. It was a big corn and potato merchant with its head offices and warehouse on Walmgate. The Press is now based in a building that dates from those days, and which is still known colloquially as Poads.

Isaac Poad also had a shop on Pavement, however - near the York market. And as can be seen from the photograph above, the shop sold more than just corn and potatoes. Clover, turnip and mangold seeds were also on offer, as were Yorkshire ham and bacon.

This photograph - which, like the others below, comes from Explore York's wonderful Imagine York archive - dates from the early 1900s. The buildings which it shows were demolished to make way for the extension of Piccadilly, which was completed in 1911.

Other photographs from Imagine York which we include today show:

Pavement and All Saints Church in about 1880 to 1885

York Press:

This is a busy scene with horses and carts, handcarts and pedestrians. On the left hand side the businesses are: W.H. Gainforth, a grocer who left the business in March 1885; W. Cooper, a wine and spirit merchant; the Golden Fleece Hotel; and Walter Wilson, a furniture broker who began trading in 1880. On the right are E. Snowden, a leather merchant; Gustavus Wilson, a boot and shoe merchant; and William Hill's ironmongers.

Davygate in the 1890s

York Press:

The photographer in this quite unusual 1890s view is actually standing in Davygate and looking towards the market (which can be dimly made out) in Parliament Street

Monkgate in the 1890s

York Press:

The photographer is standing looking towards the city (the top of Monk Bar can just about be made out towards the left of the photograph). The church is St Maurice's, which was demolished in the 1960s. The sign on Monk Bar Drug Stores, on the corner with Lord Mayor's Walk, indicates that this was a "depot for Shillito's bronchial elixir". What, not Bile Beans?

Goodramgate in the 1900s

York Press:

"Try our noted hams and bacon" says the sign above the shop in whose doorway a small cluster of people is standing.

The Black Swan Inn on Peasholme Green in the 1880s

York Press:

The licensee at the time was William Briggs, according to the sign over the pub door. The cobbled surface of the street can clearly be seen.

Bedern Chapel in the 1910s

York Press:

'City ---ery', says the lettering on the doors where two small boys are standing. Would this be city bakery? City livery? Any thoughts, anyone?

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