EVEN before the coronavirus forced us unwillingly into lockdown, Coney Street had lost some of its lustre. Empty shop-fronts gaped like missing teeth, and the plethora of mobile phone outlets and chain stores made it much like any other high street.

But it hasn’t always been that way. There was a time when its fashion houses, its small individual retailers, and the Mansion House and Guildhall which graced one end of the street, marked it out as something special.

In fact, it was once known as 'York’s golden half mile'. Fashionably dressed women would parade up and down; the street was home to a daily newspaper (The Yorkshire Evening Press); and the Lord Mayor of York lived in the Mansion House at one end, and entertained kings and prime ministers there.

Our photo today, which comes from Explore York's digital image archive, was taken in about 1920 and captures something of the street's lost splendour. It's good to be reminded...

Stephen Lewis