YOU may well have seen photographs of the great fire which tore through the Boyes store on Ouse Bridge in December 1910 before.

But do you know what happened afterwards?

No, neither did we - until we came across a remarkable series of photographs on Explore York’s wonderful Imagine York website, that is.

The photographs date from June 1912 - so 18 months after the fire - and show workmen rebuilding the store.

The photographs of the fire itself were arresting enough. We reproduce one of them above - an extraordinary image supplied by Press reader Bryan Thornton a few years ago showing the huge crowds that gathered on the bridge to watch as the flames took hold.

The fire apparently began in the toy department when Christmas decorations came into contact with gas lamps on December 8.

It took the combined forces of the Rowntree and York Corporation fire brigades six hours to bring the flames under control: and after all that effort, the building was so badly damaged it eventually had to be pulled down.

Mr Thornton's photo captures all that drama.

But it is the photographs from Imagine York showing the rebuilding of the store that we’re particularly interested in this time.

York Press:

Workmen rebuilding the Boyes store in June, 1912. Photo: Imagine York

The photographs were taken by the city engineer - in itself a sign of how important that project was. And the detail they show is amazing.

One shows some of the men responsible for the project - they don’t look like workmen, judging by their clothes, so perhaps they were engineers or architects - standing on the balcony of the restored building.

It is the huge pile of bricks in the foreground (used, apparently, to test the load-bearing strength of the new building) which first catches the eye.

York Press:

1912: Engineers on the balcony of the restored Boyes building overlooking the Ouse. Photo: Imagine York

But look into the upper left corner of the photograph and you can see in the background the River Ouse, with working boats moored on Queens Staith. It’s a wonderful glimpse of York’s wharves in the days when they were genuinely busy.

That same huge pile of bricks (or one very like it) features in all the other Imagine York photos. Several show figures standing on the bricks striking dramatic poses for the camera - so clearly ensuring the building was strong was a key priority.

York Press:

Supervisors and engineers pose while standing on the bricks used to test the strength of the restored building. Photo: Imagine York

Usually the figures in the photos are men in smart suits and bowler hats. But we’re glad to see there are a few of working men in flat caps, too - their sleeves rolled up as they get on with the job of actually rebuilding the store. Taken together the photographs are a wonderful record of a building project that was clearly hugely important at the time...

York Press:

A gang of workers pose on the pile of bricks. Photo: Imagine York

  • Explore York’s wonderful Imagine York archive contains thousands of historic photographs of York. You can browse it yourself for free just by visiting imagineyork.co.uk/

Use the search box to look for images of your street or area, or for any events such as parades or street parties you remember from childhood.