TAKING shape in the shadow of Walmgate bar is the first York City Council housing development within the city walls for many years.

When completed in late 1972, the site would include 49 dwellings, 36 flats and 13 houses, each with its own garage.

Looking at the archive photo, dated October 1971, most of the project consisted of single flats within a three-storey building.

Mr Peter Popely, the surveyor for Claxton and Garland Ltd., of Lawrence Street, York, which had 20 to 30 men working on the site, said the houses should be ready for their occupiers in October next year.

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The development was in line with suggestions made in the Esher Report, which aimed to bring more people to live within the city walls.

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