As 2022 begins, we look back at York in 1922

It is always nice, as a new year dawns, to look back at what York was doing at this time in the past.

Census records from 100 years ago were recently released.

But in York, we don’t need official records to be able to get a glimpse of what life was like in the city 100 years ago.

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say - and one thing York isn’t short of is great photographs from the past.

We’ve pulled together this selection of 1922 photos from various sources: our own archive; pictures contributed by readers; and, of course, Explore York’s wonderful archive of digital images.

Together, the photos give a great snapshot of what life was like in York 100 years ago - from the opening of a golf course at Hob Moor, to the closing of the city’s first public swimming bath in Museum Gardens.

Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth driving off on the first hole at the opening of Hob Moor golf course, July 1922

There are a couple of great photos of transport 1922-style; an amazing photograph of Castle Mills Lock being repaired; and a picture of a York street (Dennis Street) looking as though it has been hit by an earthquake. Many of the houses in this photo were subsequently demolished.

We’ve strayed beyond the confines of York occasionally - one photograph shows the Ryedale Laundry van in 1922.

And there’s at least one real photographic oddity. The photograph showing the three-cornered junction of Acomb Road, Poppleton Road and Holgate Road was taken in about 1931. The reason for including it in this look back at 1922 is that the odd-looking telephone kiosk which is visible is one of the white concrete telephone boxes which were introduced by the GPO in ...1922. They were later to be replaced by the much more famous red kiosks.

The junction of Acomb Road, Poppleton Road and Holgate Road in 1931. The telephone kiosk was of the white concrete type introduced by the GPO in 1922