SIGHT of this huge vessel moving up the Ouse with water up to its gunwales must have struck alarm in passers-by.

Our main photo (also below) dates from April 1978 and shows the well known dredging barge Reklaw moving through the river water en route to York building' merchants' yard J H Walker with a load of sand.

York Press: April 1978 - Despite the appearance this vessel on the River Ouse is not sinking. It is the well known dredging barge Reklaw, with water up to its gunwales as it takes a load of river sand to a York builders merchants' yard. YEP PICApril 1978 - Despite the appearance this vessel on the River Ouse is not sinking. It is the well known dredging barge Reklaw, with water up to its gunwales as it takes a load of river sand to a York builders merchants' yard. YEP PIC (Image: NQ)

Readers have been sharing memories of Walker's and the Reklaw in our nostalgia group on Facebook (Why We Love York - Memories (WWLYM) /www.facebook.com/groups/yorknostalgia).

Reklaw - Walker spelled back to front - was a well-known sight in York for at least half a century.

York Press: May 1956 - the barge Reklaw glides slowly under Laytherthorpe Bridge. The Reklaw was a sand dredger operated by coal, sand and gravel merchant J H Walker.May 1956 - the barge Reklaw glides slowly under Laytherthorpe Bridge. The Reklaw was a sand dredger operated by coal, sand and gravel merchant J H Walker. (Image: Supplied)

Elaine Kennedy has been posting images of the barge and the building merchant's yard in WWLYM - sparking recollections from readers.

Brian Carlyle recalls getting up to high jinks. He posted: "We used to climb on their barge whenever we could, great stuff!"

We've dipped into our archive and that of the city council's bank of Explore York images to find more photos of the barge and the Walker's sites - and to recall their stories.

J H Walker was one of the city's oldest and most respected businesses. It was established in 1906 both as a supplier of building materials and as a coal merchant.

In 1925, the company commissioned the building of its sand dredger Reklaw which was a familiar site on the River Ouse for more than 50 years.

The company moved from its original site in Layerthorpe to Foss Islands Road, and ceased trading as a coal merchant to concentrate on supplying building materials.

York Press: Walker's Yard in its original location at Layerthorpe Bridge, Foss Islands Road. Photo: The PressWalker's Yard in its original location at Layerthorpe Bridge, Foss Islands Road. Photo: The Press

In December 2004, more than an acre of the building merchant's Foss-side yard in Foss Islands Road was sold for an undisclosed sum to Travis Perkins, one of the biggest suppliers in Britain to the building and construction market.

Walker's 17 staff were unaffected by the sale and its former managing director, Phil Daggett, was to stay on for two years to advise the new branch manager, Kevin Mitchell.

The deal followed another acquisition in York the previous August, when Travis Perkins took over Yorkshire Sheet and Slate (YSS) on Clifton Moor industrial estate.

J H Walker was a prestigious business. Under Mr Daggett, who was the only working director, Walker's became the first builders' merchants in the city to be awarded the coveted BS5750 British Standard. It was also the first to boast a fully computerised stock control system and pioneered the use of vehicles with "brick-grab" cranes on the back.

In York's floods in 2000, the firm kept a running supply of sand for sandbags to prevent further damage to the city.

Share your memories

For more old photos of York, do visit the city council's Explore York archive (images.exploreyork.org.uk).

If you love looking at old photos of York, make sure to buy The Press every Wednesday for our weekly nostalgia supplement and join us in our Facebook group, Why We Love York - Memories. Join us at www.facebook.com/groups/yorknostalgia/.