March

A heartbroken York mum flew out alone to Turkey to identify the body of her son – who had died suddenly at the start of what was to have been a dream holiday.

Andy Eveleigh, 34, had been 'really excited' when he flew out for a holiday at the luxury Lake & River Side Hotel in Side, Antalya.

But when he didn't call his mum Elaine to confirm he had arrived, she grew worried.

The next morning she managed to contact the hotel and asked them to check on him - only to be told he had been found dead in his bedroom.

Elaine, from New Earswick, flew to Turkey to identify him and arrange for his body to be returned home. And the chapel at York Cemetery was packed in April for the funeral of a ‘'popular lad' who had loved his family and his friends - and also ‘loved having a laugh’.

In a story that will have brought an ironic smile to the faces of some, a company which organises stag and hen dos warned that York could be facing a ‘stag party drought’ .

Last Night of Freedom said booking data revealed that while hens were flocking to York in their droves, stags were largely staying away.

The boss of the Tyneside company, Matt Mavir, said: “Brides love York, but the data suggests it is a bit of a stag party ghost town.’

There was good news when Naburn CE Primary School confirmed that it had been saved from the threat of closure.

The school – which has a history dating back 150 years - had been struggling for several years due to falling pupil numbers and was told it could be closed if an academy chain sponsor could not be found to take it over.

But in March headteacher Jonathan Green confirmed that the school would become part of The Education Alliance from the East Riding (TEAL) academy chain – meaning the threat of closure was lifted.

City council leader Keith Aspden announced that he would not be standing for re-election – and that he would be standing down as council leader before the May local elections.

And veteran Press chief reporter Mike Laycock put down his pen and notebook for the final time, after 38 years with the newspaper.

In the last of a series of farewell articles, he described his first day at the newspaper, on December 10, 1984. “That's when it all began for me, as I walked through the front door of what was then The Yorkshire Evening Press and is now the Waterstones' store in Coney Street," he wrote.

"Past a row of receptionists, down a dingy corridor, up some stairs and into the nicotine-stained newsroom, filled with the clatter of typewriters and chatter of reporters and smoke from burning cigarettes.”

April

April saw TV cameras arrive in York – and also two important visits.

King Charles attended his first Royal Maundy service at York Minster, and distributed commemorative coins to 74 men and 74 women who had made a difference to their communities. The number 74 represents the age of the monarch.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak also visited York – although his appearance was much more low key.

The PM dropped into the Lord Nelson pub in Poppleton to chat to locals after doing some door-knocking ahead of the May local elections.

Pub landlord Tom Brown said: ““He walked around the pub and talked to a few customers. There was a few who wanted to talk to him.”

And the PM’s tipple of choice? A glass of lemonade.

As to those TV cameras: there was excitement in York when TV crews arrived to film scenes for Netflix hit The Crown – York Minster was actually closed to visitors for a while to allow the filming to go ahead.

Less happily, River Trust data revealed just how polluted York’s two rivers are.

The data, published in April, revealed that in 2022 alone water companies had dumped raw sewage into York’s two rivers no fewer than 2,023 times A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said that the team were ‘determined to tackle this issue’ and ‘do their bit for river health’.