WE feature some interesting views of two of York's famous but long-vanished chocolate factories in the first part of Yesterday Once More today, courtesy of Explore York Libraries and Archives.

To begin with, we have two photographs from 1933 of the old Rowntree factory on Tanner's Moat, looming over the surrounding streets like some grim castle keep. The forbidding appearance of the building makes more sense when you remember that it began life as an iron foundry. It was bought by Henry Isaac Rowntree in 1864, just a couple of years after he had bought out the Tuke family and so founded the Rowntree company that was to last for more than a hundred years. Henry's brother Joseph joined the business five years later, in 1869.

In the 1890s, Rowntree expanded quickly, changing from a small family business to a large-scale manufacturer in response to the increased demand for confectionery. In 1890, to cater for the growing demand, the company bought a 29-acre site at Haxby Road for a big, modern factory. By 1907 Rowntree had transferred all of their manufacturing to the new site, but the old factory continued to loom over other buildings in the North Street area for many years.

The second old chocolate factory that we feature on these pages today was that belonging to Terry's, at Clementhorpe. The site was first leased by Joseph Terry junior in the 1850s, when he began to expand the confectionery business inherited from his father, Joseph senior. The factory was beside the River Ouse, which allowed for easy shipment of raw products up the river from the Humber estuary: at one point a twice-weekly steam ship brought ingredients such as sugar and cocoa, as well as coal to power the steam-powered machinery.

In 1923 the business came into the hands of Frank and Noel Terry. They restructured the company, launched new products - and bought a site for a new factory in Bishopthorpe Road. The art deco factory, with its distinctive clock-tower, opened in 1926. The old factory at Clementhorpe was eventually demolished in 1974-75 - first the chimney, then the factory building itself.

Three of our photographs show the factory from different viewpoints in 1974, shortly before it was pulled down. Two others are street scenes dating from about 1933. One shows Clementhorpe itself, the other Bishopgate Street. In both, the Terry's factory can just be made out in the background, looming over the rooftops: a symbol of just how significant it had been in its heyday.

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/