For this week’s nostalgic look back, take a look at these ten images of Bishopthorpe's Bosun's Line Leisure and Holiday Complex, with its licensed restaurant, boats, car and camp site on the bank of the River Ouse.
In 1972, the complex opened its new £20,000 restaurant, called the L'Octogone, because of its eight sides, six of which looked out on to the river.
The restaurant offered business lunches from 11.30am to 2.30pm, and a full dinner menu from 6pm onwards. The walls were brown vinyl veneered board, with a plain wood ceiling and exposed roof rafters. And the bar, which formed the base of the tower, was furnished in light polished wood with deep buttoned black upholstery.
Many York residents will of course remember the riverside Bosun's Chair, a floating barge cafe, serving afternoon tea, ices and sweets. And for the children, motorised cars, swings and a miniature railway.
1975: Bosun’s Line leisure and holiday complex with its licensed restaurant, boats, car, camp, and garden site.
1968: Up for sale, Bosun’s Chair, Bishopthorpe’s popular riverboat cafe, together with boats marquees and over two acres of land.
1972: The ‘Bosun’s Janet’ moored at King Staith, York.
1972: The eight-sided L’Octogone restaurant, six of which looked out on to the river.
A 1974 riverside improvement scheme at Ferry Lane, Bishopthorpe, included provisions for several floating pontoons and a concrete slipway.
A great attraction for the little ones, the Bosun’s Line miniature railway, 1972.
Available for hire from Bishopthorpe’s Bosun’s line, an attractive cruiser.
L’Octogone’s new licensed bar, July 1972, furnished in light polished wood with deep-buttoned black upholstery.
On the bank of the River Ouse at Ferry Field, Bishopthorpe, the new L’Octogone restaurant, July 1972.
Pictured here, April 1972, a new tourist attraction for York, a £14,000 water bus named Bosun’s Sue.
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