Do you remember York's 'swaying walkway' beside the River Ouse?

IT is a truth universally acknowledged that a bit of decent English weather brings out an irresistible urge to go for a gentle riverside stroll.

York is lucky in having two rivers, both very strollable.

While leafing through a file of old photographs labelled 'River Ouse: Riverside Walk', however, our attention was struck by a series of pictures showing one particular stretch of riverside walk - that which runs from Ouse Bridge past the Park Inn by Radisson (once the Viking Hotel) and on to North Street Gardens.

This 100-yard walk was built in the early 1970s, apparently in two separate sections, at a total cost of £6,000. These sections were then linked together to create the full walk.

The captions to the photographs are a bit confusing, so it isn't possible to piece together the precise sequence of what happened. But certainly part of the walkway, linking up with an older walkway at the back of Boyes store and running along towards the Viking Hotel, had been completed by August 1971. Press photographers were on the scene on August 9 to get a picture of two women strolling along the new walkway on the day it opened.

Subsequent photographs show a 'bridge' section of walkway which was opened the following year, as well as work underway to link the two sections.

What is notable about the photographs is the optimism that was clearly felt back then about opening up York's riverside.

When completed, the full 100-yard walkway would 'give a fine view of York's historic Guildhall, said the caption to one photograph. And that wasn't all. "Eventually, York will have twin riverside walks joining Ouse and Lendal Bridges on each side of the river as part of a long-term plan to improve the city's amenities," said the caption to another. Lovely idea, that... but sadly, we're still waiting almost 50 years later...

Construction of the riverside walkway clearly wasn't without its problems, either. In December 1984, 12 years after it opened, the walkway had to be closed for repairs after members of the public reported that it had been 'swaying'.

Deputy city engineer Mike Stroud said a structural survey revealed that while there were signs of movement, there was no danger of collapse.

Nevertheless, the walkway was closed for several days for repairs.

And the reasons for the swaying?

The walkway was supported by columns, Mr Stroud said: but one end, near the Viking Hotel, ran on for a short distance after the last column. It was this 'free end' which had been swaying around, Mr Stroud explained. It was fixed in place by a bracket attached to the Viking Hotel...

The rest of our photos today don't directly relate to the 'new' walkway beside the Viking Hotel: they're just very pleasant riverside scenes. Perhaps the most atmospheric of them is that taken for The Press by a young John Giles in September 1971. It shows the slipway down to the River Ouse between Lendal Bridge and the Museum Gardens. It's a late-night photograph, with the illumination coming from city lights which gleam off the cobbles. Discarded newspapers in the foreground give a feeling of abandonment. "Quiet now, this cobbled street down to the river by Lendal Bridge was, a few hours earlier, thronged with visitors," says the caption.

Precisely. You can somehow sense the presence of those vanished crowds in Mr Giles' photograph. It's a very still, quiet scene, hushed with absent footsteps...

Stephen Lewis