York Stories was put online to represent ‘a resident’s record of York and its changes’. It started in early 2004 as ‘York Walks’. It’s a carefully curated mix of observations, photographs, history, memory, ephemera, psychogeographic wanderings, musings and opinions.
The main aim of its pages has been to represent the city of York from a resident’s point of view. The real city of York, this diverse and expanding place with all its multi-layered stories and histories, all its details, and its streetscapes and vistas, its grubby corners and its glories. A ‘deep topography’, perhaps.
More information on the history of this site
It was founded and is maintained by one person. I started it as a labour of love, and enthusiasm, and continue it from a feeling of civic duty, and occasional enthusiasm.
The aim isn’t just to write about my impressions of the changes but to promote understanding of and engagement with the things we can perhaps influence, as the city changes, as planning applications threaten existing buildings (or perhaps promise to enhance them), as major consultations take place on, for example, York Central.
In late 2015 into early 2016 it became obvious from the visitor numbers, massively increased during the floods, that there are many people looking for the kind of information these pages provide, and perhaps for information not provided here yet, which could be. So it’s continuing, despite the fact that it takes a lot of time to make and maintain, and isn’t financially rewarding.
We are sailing on regardless, occasionally powered by a gust of enthusiasm, though sometimes going ashore for a while to do something more interesting/profitable/rewarding. But if you’d like to support it, please see this page.
There are hundreds and hundreds of pages on here. You can browse the content via most recent, via categories, or tags, and there’s also an archive (partial, 2011 to the present). For what other people think of this vast rambling collection of York-related things, see the responses to a survey in 2014.
And me?
I was born in York in the late 1960s and have lived here all my life, apart from three years away at university. I’ve lived in the Clifton/Bootham area for more than 25 years. The perspectives on these pages are those of a ‘York born and bred’ person who has seen many changes over that time.
I hope you enjoy your perusal of these pages.
Lisa