Way we were

100 years ago

The Public Library Committee of the York Corporation, in its monthly report, stated that they had great pleasure in reporting that Mrs W W Morrell had very kindly offered to give the sum of £100, in memory of her late husband, who took a deep interest in the library, to be expended on books for the juvenile section of the library, on condition that the age limit at which persons could borrow books be reduced. It was therefore recommended that the library regulations be amended to include the following words: "Persons above the age of twelve years but under the age of fourteen years, resident in the city, may in like manner obtain a borrower's card, to be known as a juvenile card, entitling the holder to borrow books from the juvenile section only, and during such hours only as may be determined by the Committee."

50 years ago

A review of York's roads in connection with new parking regulations, which would enable motorists to park without lights in certain areas approved by the Chief Constable, was being carried out by the city police. In roads to which the speed limit applied, and in respect of which the Chief Constable had consented, parking without lights would be permitted, provided that the vehicle was parked next to its nearside kerb, with no part of the vehicle more than 25 yards from a lit street lamp, or within 15 yards of a road junction.

25 years ago

One of the most important medieval buildings in York was on the move. Consultant engineers had begun to check foundations, though the property was said to be in no immediate danger of collapse. The timber-framed Sir Thomas Herbert House, Pavement, dating from Tudor times, was likely to need costly structural work. The front of the Grade 1 listed building had slipped forward by fractions of an inch and sunk. Heavy traffic, particularly the weight of buses stopping outside the property, was blamed as a possible cause. Staff in a first-floor office found it difficult to close some doors and windows. Leaded lights were found to have bowed out under the strain. Herbert House, where Charles I once dined as a guest of the Lord Mayor of York, was owned by York Conservation Trust. One of the finest examples of Tudor architecture in the city, it once belonged to a man who attended Charles I on the scaffold. The main tenant on the ground floor was Clark's of York (Footwear) Ltd. "Our first excavation proved the building has slipped forward and much of its weight is supported on eight oak columns at the front of the shop," said Mr Keith Burton, the trust's architect.