As I drove down Poppleton Road a few days ago I was astonished to see that a long stretch of wall outside numbers 11, 12 and 13 had been demolished, presumably as a result of some accident.

My sister was able to fill me in on the details and supply me with a cutting from the Evening Press containing two photographs of the incident (April 19) which I had missed while I was away from York for a few days.

I hope that the insurers will have maximum pressure exerted upon them to restore the stretch of wall and railings as far as possible to their condition before the accident. For that short stretch of housing is important as far as the history of Holgate is concerned.

The houses, up to and including number 16, were built in the early 1870s and, apart from the cosmetic treatment which all such buildings need, they and their accompanying walls and railings have stood largely untouched for more than 120 years.

They were among the first houses to be built as Holgate began its expansion westwards from the junction at the Fox in the latter half of the last century.

On the whole, the 'terrace' has maintained its mid-Victorian aspect and it would be a pity to see this further encroached upon, particularly as the area has been thrown into greater prominence by the removal of the workshops across the road which for some hundred years dominated the scene.

One must be especially grateful that no loss of life was involved but, at the same time, bricks and mortar have a part to play in our heritage and one must hope that the damage is put right as speedily and as satisfactorily as possible.

Geoffrey H Hodgson,

Maythorpe,

Rufforth,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.