MOST people in York today will remember the most recent 'battle of Union Terrace', which raged in 2011.

The Labour-run City of York Council, under the leadership of James Alexander, wanted to sell the Union Terrace car park to York St John University.

Car parks being in short supply in York, this prompted widespread fury - especially as Union Terrace was also one of the city's major coach parks. Even the then Dean of York, the Very Rev Keith Jones, weighed in, describing the plans as 'risky' for the city's tourism economy.

More than 22,000 people signed a petition against the proposals. But the Labour-led council seemed determined to press ahead - until York St John itself withdrew its offer to buy the car park.

That isn't the battle for Union Terrace that we're interested in today, however. Those with longer memories will remember an earlier battle, one which took place between the late 1960s and early 1970s. This battle wasn't to save the car park at all - it was to prevent it being built in the first place. And like any battle, it had its heroes...

The city council had condemned a whole swathe of properties on Union Terrace, many of which dated back to the 1830s. In about 1967, it issued a compulsory purchase order, so that it could buy the homes, and demolish them to make way for a new car park.

But they don't say the Englishman's home is his castle for nothing. Union Terrace was a genuine York community: a wonderful photograph of a street party to celebrate George V's silver jubilee in 1935 is proof of that. And while the council may have condemned many of the houses, the people living there thought of them as their homes. They didn't want to leave. Most seem to have accepted the inevitable. But some would not...

The Press's archive from the time is incomplete. So we can only piece together what happened from a collection of old photographs from the 1960s and 1970s, some of which have news stories pasted to the back.

In 1967, early in the saga, two neighbours - Elizabeth Brown and Margaret Donkin - let The Press into their homes so that we could see for ourselves how comfortable the houses were.

By January 1969, we were reporting that at least one house had been reprieved - number 90 Union Terrace, which belonged to Mrs Kathleen Holmes. She had appealed against the clearance order to a public inquiry in 1968, on the grounds her property was fit to live in - and in January she learned that she had won. "I'm very pleased," she told The Press. Mrs Holmes herself lived in Markham Street. But she rented out her house on Union Terrace. "The Corporation said the house is not fit to live in," she said. "But I have five young ladies renting it - and they (the council) would not have allowed me to let it unless it was in good condition." The public inquiry clearly agreed.

That was one solitary victory, however. The clearances by and large proceeded - the prospect of making space for a new car park, new nurses' homes and a new entrance to Bootham Hospital were just too tempting.

By February 1972, however, one man was still standing tall. Sixty-nine year-old Francis Timler, who lived at No 33 Union Terrace, refused to budge. As bulldozers moved into the street to begin demolishing 86 houses, he and his wife Helen shut their door against the noise. Contractors warned that unless they moved, the houses all around would be pulled down - leaving the Timlers isolated.

At issue was the amount of compensation they had been offered. Mr and Mrs Timler had lived in the house for 40 years. The council had offered them £1,350 in compensation. "But where could I buy another house like this for that price?" said Mr Timler, a retired tailor. "At my age, I could not get a mortgage, and in York it's impossible to get a terrace house like this for under £2,000.

With the Timlers refusing to move, others living in the street came forward to let it be known that they were still living in their properties.

A block of houses at the end of the road, Nos 93-99, had not been included in the compulsory purchase order. But the people living there were still not clear whether they would be allowed to stay put. "What makes me think that these houses will have to come down is that we can't get an improvement grant," said Mrs Gwyneth Halford, of 95 Union Terrace.

They wanted long-term guarantees that their homes were not at risk - and Mrs Halford even wrote to the Ministry of Health, the York City Engineer and the Leeds Regional Hospital Board for further information.

Sadly, that's where the story told in our scanty archive falls silent. There are no more recent photographs, with news stories pasted to the back of them.

We know what the ultimate outcome was, of course. While some properties do still stand on Union Terrace, many were demolished, to make way for the car park.

But we'd love to know what happened to Mrs Holmes, Mrs Halford, Elizabeth Brown and Margaret Donkin - and, above all, the Timlers, who had proved so resolute in defending their home. If anyone knows, we'd love to hear from you...

Stephen Lewis