We carried a series of photos of the old gasworks at Heworth in Yesterday Once More a few weeks ago. And we have found another brilliant one to kick off our latest spread of old photos this week.

The photograph (photograph 1) comes from the collection of the Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society (YAYAS) and shows the curve of the River Foss between Monk and Layerthorpe Bridges, with the frames of huge gas containers dominating the skyline on both sides. We have no date for the photograph, sadly: but it shows the sheer scale of the gasworks in its heyday, and gives a glimpse of an industrial York that is largely gone, today.

That gave us the theme for today's spread of photos: a look back at York's industrial and commercial past.

All our photographs today come from the wonderful Evelyn Collection of historic photographs of York kept by YAYAS. The other photographs show:

2. A view from Foss Islands Road dominated by the gigantic Leethams’ Mills in the background. The oldest part of the mills was built in 1895 and they were at one time the largest flour mills in Europe. In the foreground is the works yard of York Corporation Highways Department.

3. Derelict mills and warehouses on Skeldergate, probably in the early 1900s. Most of the buildings on the right had a frontage onto the Ouse and have long since been demolished and replaced by much sort after riverside apartments. The two storey building with the Dutch style gable ends originates from the 17th century and was probably used by wine merchants.

4. Residents view a flooded Skeldergate - including some of the same warehouses seen in photo 3 - some time in the early 1900s. The warehouses and industrial buildings between Skeldergate and the Ouse were all demolished in the last century to be replaced by desirable (and expensive) riverside apartments.

5. A view along Tanner Row with the chimneys of Rowntree’s Cocoa works just visible and partly obscuring York Minster. This view, photographed in the late 1800s or early 1900s, can no longer be seen. The eight-storey York offices of the North Eastern Railway were built in 1904, totally blocking any sight of the Minster from this point. The street owes its name to the medieval tanning industry that previously dominated the area, nothing of which remains today. The building to the left was once the waiting rooms and booking hall of York’s first permanent railway station, built in 1841 and designed by the North of England’s leading railway architect George Townsend Andrews. York’s main railway station moved to its present site outside the city walls in 1877.

6. A wooden spoke-wheeled wagon belonging to Thomas Boyman of 15 Aldwark awaits collection in Deangate. Judging by the coupling, it was waiting to be hauled by some form of mechanised transport, rather than by horses. A small poster attached to the fence nearby reads ‘From war to peace, employers notify your vacancies at once’. Presumably, therefore, the photo dates from just after the end of the First World war - al;though we stand to be corrected on this...

7. Tram tracks and wires in evidence in a view of The Grand Ballroom, Clarence Street. The picture presumably dates from between 1910 and the mid 1930s, when York's electric tram system was in operation. The tracks, wires and all the buildings in this photograph no longer exist: Clarence Street coach and car park now occupy the site.

Stephen Lewis

The Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society (YAYAS) has been promoting and protecting the history, heritage and architecture of York and Yorkshire since 1842. You can find out more about the organisation by visiting www.yayas.org.uk