THERE'S something about old petrol filling stations that touches a nostalgic nerve amongst those of a certain age.

It's something about the shape of those old petrol pumps, perhaps, standing lined up at the roadside like robots at attention. Or was it the brick-built garages, with their often ornate frontages and the word 'garage' on a sign somewhere just so you knew? Perhaps it is just the fact that filling up in the old days was a much more personal thing: you even had a petrol pump attendant who'd come out and operate the pump for you.

Or perhaps it's just a reminder of how much more fun driving was then. Yes, it was all a bit seat-of-your pants. The cars weren't very reliable and they probably weren't very comfortable. They were cranky in the cold and required copious use of the choke just to get them going. But they smelled of something real - unlike the antiseptic, vastly more comfortable and efficient cars of today. And everything just seemed on a much more manageable scale, somehow. The cars were smaller; the garages were smaller (none of the giant, soulless forecourts of today); and there were fewer cars on the road, so the queues were shorter.

Whatever the reason, here - courtesy of Explore York Libraries and Archives - is a selection of photos of old garages and filling stations in York, guaranteed to remind you of the days when minis were small and Ford Anglias were the height of luxury. Enjoy...

1: Monk Bridge Filling Station on 1st December 1953. It was renamed Haw's Garage, Petrol and Service Station in 1957 and demolished in the early 1960s to be replaced by a larger garage

2: Bristow's Garage on Fulford Road, probably in the early 1950s

3: Ankers Garage in Gillygate, which was the sole agent for the 'James Van'. This was very popular as it was cheaper to tax than a car because it had the chassis of a motorbike and ran on three wheels. Reo Young is sitting in the driver's seat in this photo taken in the 1930s

4 &5: Clifton Garage in 1952. This garage is mentioned as early as 1929

6&7: Foxton's Garage, which was on Piccadilly from the early 1930s to 1975, in about 1938-9

8: Shearsmiths Garage at 41 Blossom Street on October 21, 1973

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 at imagineyork.co.uk/