WELL, here's an offer that doesn't come along every day. 'Free insurance against all fatal accidents', boasts a Yorkshire Gazette banner above a stand at the 1921 Yorkshire Agricultural Show held at Knavesmire.

Quite what the Gazette, today a sister paper of The Press, was doing offering fatal accident insurance, free or otherwise, we don't know. Perhaps it regarded the agricultural show as a particularly dangerous event?

Whatever, our first photograph today is a wonderful image. Like the other photos of Knavesmire on these pages, it comes from Explore York's Imagine York archive. And the caption gives some intriguing detail about what can be seen. "The sign to the right of the frame indicates that a Ford 1 ton waggon with detachable sheep hecks can be bought for £220 from W. Annison Bull of Otley," the caption says. "The gentleman second from the left is Alfred Humphries. He was the head gardener at Backhouse Nurseries in Acomb. He was born on 5th May 1869 and died on 21st August 1952. He married Elsie Preston - her father, Thomas Preston, had been head gardener before him."

Our other photos today show:

2. A glimpse of what might have been, perhaps, in the form of a York airport? The photograph shows children playing with an aeroplane on the Knavesmire, probably in the late 1920s. "The aircraft is a Handley Page W8 Airliner - the W8 was the mainstay of Imperial Airways fleet until 1927," the caption informs us. "It was operated by Imperial Airways from London airport at Croydon. The military version of this aircraft was the Handley Page Hyderabad Night Bomber which was in service from 1925 to 1930."

3. The five shilling stand at York Racecourse on May 19, 1910. The stand was being tested with sandbags giving a load of two hundredweight per foot by J & T Biscomb and Son

4. The Lord Mayor of London's coach at the Great Yorkshire Show in July 1924. He was the guest of the Lord Mayor of York

5. The Lord Mayor of London Alderman Todd (centre) with Lord Deramore (left) and the Lord Mayor of York, Alderman Will Dobbie (right) at the Great Yorkshire Show held on the Knavesmire from July 23-25, 1924. The man behind in the wig is Percy Spalding, the Town Clerk. The 1924 show was described as 'the biggest and best County Agricultural Show the country has known'.

6. The bandstand on the Knavesmire in June 1913. The bandstand was situated to the west of the Knavesmire gates and the metal railings of Tadcaster Road can be seen in the background. The metal chairs for the next performance are in the foreground of the photograph

7. Cows grazing on the Knavesmire in the early 1900s.

Stephen Lewis

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