April in York: the cruellest month, but also a time of new beginnings

That's not always the case - but it certainly was for the nuns of York's Bar Convent 81 years ago following the Baedeker Raid of April 29, 1942.

The raid had a devastating impact on York. By some counts, 94 men, women and children were killed, and an estimated 9,500 buildings destroyed or damaged - among them the Guildhall, St Martins Church,York Railway Station and the Rowntrees factory in North Street. Several schools, including Poppleton Road, St Peter’s, Queen Anne’s, Nunthorpe and Bootham, were hit.

But it is the Bar Convent (which was also a school) that we're focussing on today. We found some amazing photos in Explore York's digital archive (images.exploreyork.org.uk/) showing the aftermath of the raid - and revealing the extensive damage caused.

Photo showing damage to a wing of the Bar Convent in 1942 (Image: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

The captions also bring home the awful human cost of that night. Five nuns were killed: the caption to one photo names them as Mother Vincent (the headmistress), Mother Patricia, Sister Brandon, Mother Agnes and Mother Gerard.

It is thought that some of the women had gone to the aid of an older nun who had become trapped,when the building received a direct hit.Thankfully, children boarding at the school had already been taken to safety and none were harmed.

Photos such as these ensure those who died that night will not forgotten.

April is not always such an awful month, however.

It is traditionally the time of year when York begins to wake from its winter slumber - and so it's a month where you often find public unveilings or opening ceremonies. We feature a few today, also from Explore York.

Bricklaying ceremony for the York Central Mission in Swinegate, April 23, 1910 (Image: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

They show the bricklaying ceremony for the York Central Mission in Swinegate on April 23, 1910; a ceremony to mark the freeing of Skeldergate Bridge from tolls on April 1, 1914; and the unveiling of the statue of George Leeman on April 13, 1885.

There's also a wonderful series of photos from April 1950 showing the Lord Mayor John Bowes Morrell and his Sheriff, Arthur Sykes Rymer, preparing for a visit to the United States and Canada.

There's a real air of pomp and ceremony to the photo of the procession from the Station Hotel to the railway station ahead of the delegation's departure...

civic procession from the Station Hotel to the railway station, April 1950 (Image: Explore York Libraries and Archives)