Way we were

100 years ago

Messrs Boots, cash chemists, who had recently opened a branch shop at the corner of Nicholas Street and Newborough, Scarborough, had conferred a great boon on the public by erecting a magnificent clock at the corner of their building and had just set it going. With the exception of the railway station clock, this was the only one in the main street, and to excursionists particularly, hurrying to catch their trains, the presence of this clock would be greatly appreciated. It had been constructed and erected by Cope Brothers, Nottingham.

50 years ago

Subtopia - a name for the social disease that was eating away our unspoilt rural acres, erasing character and individuality from our towns and cities, was happening in York. It was a frightening and depressing vision of the architectural mess that our island was fast becoming, according to the "Architectural Review's" special edition. This 20th century phenomenon, was "the mean and middle state, neither town nor country, an even spread of abandoned aerodromes, traffic roundabouts, gratuitous notice boards, car parks, and things in fields." The report aimed to show that, in a Britain supporting twice its reasonable population, not only was "real countryside" already scarce but by the end of the century, if the existing trends continued, there might be literally nothing of it left worth looking at. We would, in short, be faced with a landscape in which: "The end of Southampton will look like the beginning of Carlisle; the parts in between will look like the end of Carlisle or the beginning of Southampton."

25 years ago

The new Stonegate Arcade in York was a step nearer completion. The first batch of plans for some of the windows and fronts of the 19 shops had been submitted to York City Council. They included putting a display cabinet in the arcade for York Archaeological Trust exhibits. New windows and a door might give an existing jeweller's shop a frontage on the arcade. Like the arcade itself, the first of its six shop fronts had been designed by Tom Adams Design Associates of York, and like the shop units, they were all different. "The aim has been to produce a shopping hubbub," said Mr Adams. The shops were made of traditional materials, but they were treated differently because the merchandise of each was different. "We wanted to introduce variety in the appearance and more moulding to the facades than normal because it was a covered arcade." Though each shop front was different some could have ledges, hanging baskets and flower boxes, and several included "a variety of brick arch forms".

Updated: 12:10 Tuesday, August 30, 2005