Stonegate, 1940s/50s (Photo: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

Stonegate is to be repaved, with work starting in the New Year, as announced in a council press release this week: Paving the way for a new Stonegate. It’s going to cost ‘around £500,000′ (but as is standard, this is phrased as ‘investing’ around £500,000).

When that kind of money was spent on controversial repaving work in King’s Square there was at least a consultation — has there been one on this, I wonder, beyond the businesses on the street? I’ve not been able to invest as much time on York things recently, so may have missed something.

Anyway, as is standard, it’s all presented in a very positive light, in the press release, for local media to use and quote.

For the first time in a generation, City of York Council is completely repaving Stonegate.

The scheme will enhance the street’s appearance and character, creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment, attracting more people into the area and improving access for pedestrians.
— CYC press release

Whether paving is seen as an interesting thing is perhaps to do with age, agility, or perhaps to do with being a council tax payer.

I was interested in the detail of the proposals. Looking at the available information, and the further detail provided, including an FAQ section (below main press release), I’m seeing some information which appears to contradict the media-targeted statements.

This statement in particular stood out:

‘For the first time in a generation, we are completely reconstructing Stonegate’

Reconstructing? Completely? All the shops and everything?
But seriously, that’s quite a striking statement, and it doesn’t appear to fit with the detail in the supporting information/FAQs, which states

The works only include the highway, not the footway.

and also that

all of the cobbled sections of the highway, running adjacent to the footways and the middle of the highway, will be retained on Stonegate.

So is it a ‘complete reconstruction’, or not?

Over on Twitter I’ve seen quite a lot of discussion, and interesting points made, on the proposed repaving and particularly on whether there should be kerbs (or curbs, alternative spelling), or not, because of accessibility issues.

The council does have a series of documents, prepared some years back, to guide how changes/improvements to the streetscape should be designed and implemented, a streetscape strategy. All available on this link I think.

They include reports on accessibility, from a range of different perspectives — see the Access and Mobility documents in the list on this page. I assume these streetscape strategy documents have been used to inform the plans for the changes on Stonegate. (Well, I hope so, otherwise time and money wasted getting the reports compiled and published.)

I hope we don’t get into the whole ‘historically authentic’ thing again, regarding the paving. Regular readers might remember that a few years back I wrote a piece about the paving in Stonegate, after there had been quite a lot of local concern at paving slabs being removed and the paving being patched up with inferior materials. Looking through archive photos showed that the street’s surface had changed a few times, and that the paving seen as historic wasn’t as historic as it appeared to be, in that particular setting.

For more on paving (I’ve written about it a lot, including the groovy old paving in the back alleys in the Victorian terraced streets of the suburbs) see all pages tagged ‘paving’.

. . .

This page is tagged ‘December Daily‘, and is number 19 of those. I hope you’ve found it of interest. Virtual coffees keep it going and sustain many hundreds of other pages on here (not all about paving).

The post Stories in the stones … Stonegate paving plans appeared first on York Stories.

Stonegate in the 1940s/50s. Photo: Explore York Libraries and Archives

In recent days there has been angry reaction to the rather patchy state of the paving in Stonegate, and a petition has been set up. It’s reminding me, in some respects, of another paving-related controversy in 2013.

Then, as is so often the case, it was enlightening and interesting to look back at images from the archives. So I thought we could do that again, with some images of Stonegate, in times past. They’re all from the online collection at Explore York Libraries and Archives.

Specifically, I’m trying to draw attention to the changes in the surface of the street.

It looks rather ‘earthy’ and cobbley in the late nineteenth century. By the mid twentieth century the road surface appears to be tarmac/asphalt.

Many of the comments on the petition and elsewhere online regarding the removal of slabs (broken, apparently, and so needing to be replaced) make it clear that some people are upset, outraged even, at what is seen as our history being destroyed. I don’t like to see people being upset and outraged, so let’s stand back and calmly consider the issue.

Here’s another photo of Stonegate, in the late nineteenth century:

Stonegate, 1880s (Photo: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

And another, from 1904:

Stonegate, 1904. (Photo: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

Another from the mid twentieth-century:

Stonegate, 1940s/50s (Photo: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

And one from a little later, early 1970s perhaps?

Stonegate, early 1970s? (Photo: Explore York Libraries and Archives)

No stone slabs across the roadway, from the 1880s to as late as the 1970s, according to this photographic evidence.

Fact is, these stone slabs in Stonegate are a relatively recent addition. Some sources say that they date from the 1970s, others the 1980s.

Clearly the actual stone, being natural stone, is in itself old and venerable, but its arrangement here as a surface for the roadway is quite recent history. As was the case with the cobbles and cart tracks in Kings Square.

Though a relatively recent addition the stone slabs are clearly accepted as somehow fitting with what we think a street called Stonegate should look like. But let’s not assume that there’s something historically accurate and ‘authentic’ about it.

‘York stone’ is a widely accepted term we tend to use without thinking about it. I know I have. We tend to use the word to refer to any natural stone in slabs. In this particular paving controversy the name seems to have been taken as a sign that this stone somehow ‘belongs’ to York, as if there’s a quarry for it somewhere in the city or its outskirts.

The Stonegate slabs are apparently English Pennine sandstone, so they’re coming from some distance away. And they’re very expensive. And, according to the Streetscape Strategy not the best road surface:

Streets with stone setts and cobbles should be conserved and maintained. The exception is Stonegate, unusually surfaced in riven English Pennine sandstone flags in the 1970s. As a carriageway material this has proved to be a dramatic failure and requires expensive and continual maintenance due to the impact of heavy delivery traffic.

Source (PDF)

I guess what we’re seeing at present is part of that ‘expensive and continual maintenance’. In a footnote it continues:

There will be challenges to this view because there is a perception that the stone flags are an authentic expression of the streets historic roots

Discussion of authenticity and history is one thing, but the bottom line is that just now it looks a mess. Despite the council apparently having a strategy for the streetscape it doesn’t seem to have worked well in this case, does it. When I first saw photos online I thought the patching was just in one area, but there are blobby bits of black patching all the way along, as I realised when I walked along Stonegate yesterday.

Perhaps some warning might have helped, a council press release explaining what they’ve attempted to explain since. Seems odd that anyone could think that so many slabs could be removed and patched in such a central and important street without people noticing.

And, like I said, it brings back bad memories of the time the council’s paving work close to another much-loved York street brought us to the attention of the Daily Mail, and much angry and outraged tweeting followed, with councillors and council staff then having to deal with the flak. I remember spending much of that Friday evening writing this page about it — one of my most-visited.

Meanwhile, beyond the touristy bits, old stones and irreplaceable stable paviours are often lifted and lost, or covered with tarmac/asphalt, and barely anyone notices or cares. If someone started a petition or campaign to protect the hexagonal loveliness of some of the city’s back alleys I’d sign that, but as far as Stonegate goes, I’m sure the council will reinstate it all pretty sharpish, and no doubt spend a lot of money doing so.

More information/update (16 May)

In response to some queries and discussion on Twitter, I’ve done a bit more research.

According to Patrick Nuttgens in York: the continuing city Stonegate was paved in 1975, after being pedestrianised in 1971. As the book was first published in 1976 I guess we can assume that this date is accurate. (I have the later edition, 1989, which includes a photo of Stonegate with its slabs.)

My earlier piece on the Stonegate Arcade included a link to an article about Eric Pearson, former City Planning Officer. It says: ‘Mr Pearson masterminded the scheme to make Stonegate a pedestrianised area. His policy included using second-hand paving stones and creating characteristic entrances to highlight adjoining streets.’

. . . . .

If you’re interested in York’s paving, old and new, there are many pages on this site on the subject. See the related pages links below or try this link.

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The ‘reinvigoration’ of King’s Square was rather controversial. In particular its repaving. Apparently less controversial, indeed barely noticed or mentioned as far as I can see, is the repaving work recently completed in Exhibition Square.

Though I didn’t like the idea of Etty being shunted off to the side of the square, as one of the proposed schemes had suggested, I wasn’t too bothered about what the paved part and bus part looked like. But the change is interesting, now it’s in place.

The square now appears bigger and flatter and paler, like King’s Square. I guess it’s supposed to look like another ‘world class space’. The same type of stone has been used as in King’s Square, to extend out from the existing slabs, most of which have been retained, though the smaller setts have been replaced.

I’ve taken a few photos of the square over the course of this year, when passing. As the proposed changes focused my mind on the place I thought I’d focus my camera on it too. Here are a few ‘before and after’ photos.

Here’s how it looked on a rainy day in May.

I was standing by the gate to King’s Manor. Small rectangular setts with the shabby remnants of double yellow lines marked the access road into King’s Manor. I guess that these setts, like the King’s Square ones, were laid in relatively recent decades, perhaps the 1970s. Photos of the square over the course of its history show various changes.

Now, in this 2014 remodeling, the ‘road’ and its kerb have been lost, merged into a flat surface, with the roadway indicated more subtly, as in King’s Square, and using the same type of stone setts:

I’m sorry these photos are rather gloomy and not exactly sharp. Difficult at this time of the year to get brightly lit conditions. Here’s a photo from October, showing the same bit of roadway under construction:

Walking across this area is much more pleasant now, and presumably more widely accessible to everyone, as the step of kerb has been lost and these new setts are completely flat and smooth.

And moving outwards towards the road, St Leonard’s Place … again, a photo from May this year:

And in late November:

Illustrating the way the bus pull-in has been reduced. It doesn’t really make sense to me, that the space for buses seems to have shrunk, rather than increasing. Presumably it works better and they know what they’re doing. I’m not a bus driver or someone who catches buses here so I can’t comment. I only notice the pedestrian perspective. Which is that it’s nice and smooth to walk on.

Moving round, facing across to the De Grey Rooms opposite, in May, as it was:

And now, repaved:

So, as a pedestrian I like it, to look at I like it, but also liked what was there before. I also realise that it’s not quite finished. I assume we’re awaiting bus shelters and the other things mentioned in the information signs surrounding the site while the work was taking place:

Oh yes, that reminds me, there’s a cycle lane too, indicated with new road markings on the tarmac rather than road widening.

The information sign also answered the question of how much all this cost. Well, kind of.

Thoughts welcome, as always.

And the plans for the other part of the square, Etty and the fountain? I don’t know. They’re both staying, I hope. Personally I’m not convinced that the fountain is destroying Etty, and even if it is, maybe we should just let that happen. Let him fade, naturally eroded. And photograph the two of them at regular intervals and turn it into some kind of art project, and put it in the gallery behind him. He might like that.

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‘Some of the paving is cracked already’ is one of the complaints about the new ‘Shambles Market‘. I thought I’d wade into this (being careful not to trip).

Do we mean here? The paving to the right of this photo, by the lorry, is, as far as I can see, the same paving as it was before the work started. That is, old, not new. Earlier photos show there were already a few cracked slabs. This photo shows that there are more cracked slabs. This is perhaps because this area, being older paving, has been used to park on/dump heavy stuff on. Maybe someone nearer who saw the work on a daily basis can confirm. Perhaps the plan was to replace these last. But everything’s taken longer than expected. Doesn’t it always.

Next to the cracked old bit, in this photo taken earlier this month, there are some new slabs, then there’s some temporary tarmac patching, then some more new paving. In front of it are the stone setts, also I think there before and not replaced.

I had a wander through yesterday, and admittedly it was dusk by then, and I didn’t crawl about on my hands and knees under the market stalls, but these cracked slabs were the only cracked slabs I could see. If you know otherwise, please add a comment.

Elsewhere, particularly along the new and rather wider ‘avenue’ between the run of stalls, the paving is really very nice. Looks to be the same stone slabs used in King’s Square.

The paving appears to be another successful mix of old and new, as we saw at the edge of the King’s Square work, where they ended up leaving more of the old cart tracks and setts than it appeared they intended to originally. Here in the market area, and assuming that they’re not going to rip it all up later, it seems that they’ve decided to keep a lot of the old setts on the ‘road’ parts. Which makes complete sense, and shows evidence of listening to public concerns. Isn’t that nice.

As illustrated here, more clearly.  A section of new paving right at the edge of the reinvigoration zone, on Newgate itself. It’s the area following on from the photo at the top of the page, to the left of that. There’s a section of the new slabs, neatly joining those old cart tracks and setts we demonstrated concerns about in King’s Square. They daren’t touch the cart tracks and setts in case Michelle hears about it.

So, isn’t that good.

Wet leaves, smooth paving, slippy shoe issues

While we’re on the subject of paving, let’s have a wander into nearby King’s Square.

Have a seat here on Paul Woosey’s bench, and please listen carefully as I provide a Public Safety Announcement.

One morning a couple of weeks back I went to sit in King’s Square to do some traffic-watching (more on that story later) and people watching and general city centre sunny morning appreciating, on my way to buy some veg from the market. And took a few photos, like that one. You’re probably looking at the nice blue sky, the Minster, maybe the man in his nice hat in the centre, maybe that big green van. Maybe that massive great clunking box on a trike thing Chocolate Story are still plonking by the tree in the square even though so many people think they shouldn’t.

Can I draw your attention instead to the smooth new paving to the right, which as you can see is wet in parts. There are also a few fallen leaves.

If you ever see this combination of things, slow down and tread carefully. Avoid the leaves, avoid the area entirely if you can.

When the old/new paving in this square was being hotly debated last year I said I couldn’t really see how all the alleged falling over on paving was occurring. Some said the old paving was a hazard. When the new paving went in other people said that would be a hazard. I couldn’t really see any of these hazards, until this particular morning when a woman fell over in the square right in front of me.

I’d been thinking what a lovely city scene it all was, when the woman, walking across that bit of the square perfectly normally was suddenly lying on the floor. Only briefly, thankfully. She got up pretty sharpish. People nearby gathered round and checked she was okay.

She wasn’t frail and elderly, she was probably in her fifties. She’d been striding along confidently when, I assume, she’d trodden on a wet leaf on that smooth natural stone. Because she slid, rather than tripping. Quite unlucky, as there were only a few leaves about for her to slip on.

I thought about mentioning it on Twitter at the time, but then in the current mood, and with so many people so annoyed at the King’s Square changes, I wasn’t sure I could cope with it if it all kicked off into ‘I told you so’ paving-related debate.

I’m mentioning it now because it’s that time of the year when there are a lot of leaves about, and because it made me think about ‘hazards’ in the urban environment, and whose fault it is if we fall. We could blame the trees, couldn’t we. Being messy, that thing they do of dropping their leaves. We could blame the council for not sweeping all the areas near trees twice daily in the autumn. We could blame the council for putting down that classy but clearly extremely smooth paving rather than more practical rugged tarmac or concrete or something.

The other factor, of course, is shoes. As I know from a slight slidey-not-quite-falling-over-but-looking-a-bit-silly incident on Bootham, with a similar combination of wet leaves on natural stone (old stone in this case, just pointing that out, it isn’t just new and expensive King’s Square paving where this occurs). I was wearing not my usual rugged-treaded footwear but something more like a traditional women’s winter boot. With not much of a tread. I expect there are more slipping incidents involving women, because of women’s more generally dainty and smooth-soled shoes.

So, ladies in particular, watch your step. We don’t want any more people falling in King’s Square or indeed anywhere, or we might end up blaming the trees and chopping even more of them down than we do already. More on that story later.

After that rest on Paul Woosey’s bench, time to wander off to something exciting nearby. Mind those leaves.

The post Paving, part 56: new market, and King’s Square appeared first on York Stories.

King’s Square, new paving

As I’m sure most people know by now, the new paving in King’s Square, phase 1 of it, has recently been revealed. I’ve already written about how it fitted in (or didn’t) from what I could see of the visible edges. Now the main area is also visible.

Photos and comments on social media and letters to the Press suggest that the reaction has been 99% negative.

I thought I’d try to find something positive to say.

The very smooth new surface reflects the light on a wet day, which is always a good thing. The reflection from the shop windows is rather pleasing. (It’s also fair to say that the paving they’ve taken up had similar light-reflecting qualities when wet, and maybe just needed a good clean, and repairing.)

It’s obviously natural stone, and it has been beautifully laid, with great attention to detail. I think we can agree on that?

King’s Square, raised area in foreground, and tarmac patching

Photos on Twitter showed the tarmac patches near the raised area. Obviously a temporary finish, as this is where extra seating is going. They couldn’t leave a hole, as people would have complained, and it would have been dangerous. And they had to do the work in two phases so as not to disrupt Christmas trading. Work will resume early next year.

What struck me most was how it feels underfoot. I was distracted from looking at it, feeling it with my feet. It was like walking on glass. For a blind person, I imagine they’ll know they’ve arrived in King’s Square. Or think they’ve walked onto a mirror.

Textured paving to indicate road edge

This textured edging is also elegant and visually pleasing, and more importantly, presumably useful if you’re blind or partially-sighted, as it indicates the roadway edge.

The main paved area certainly says ‘performance space’. If that’s what it’s saying then that’s good, as that’s what King’s Square is best known for.

Of course very smooth surfaces are also ideal for cafe tables. If that’s what this place is saying then that’s not inspiring at all, and just causes resentment.

Anyone who has followed events in the last year or two will know that the Chocolate Story attraction is keen to have outdoor seating in the square. Has City of York Council remodelled King’s Square for that? Reading online comments and talking to friends it’s clear that many people think so.

The planned programme of paving reinvigoration also seems to many like a shocking waste of money, particularly when essential services are being cut. But the ‘reinvigoration’ will continue, and is planned for other areas. It should perhaps have begun in one of those other areas rather than here. Then we would have been better equipped to know what the end result might look like when we were consulted on the plans for this square.

And of course we were consulted. I wonder how many people knew about that. Not enough, it seems. Many residents feel that they were never consulted, despite the best efforts of the council (and they did, I thought, make a real effort to consult).

But then, after consulting us, they ignored us (and English Heritage) on one particular aspect of the square. Let’s move across the mirror-like smoothness to that particularly controversial part.

Replacement surface for the old cart tracks and setts

The replacement for those old cart tracks and setts.

Which is … awful.

Like I said before, nothing could look as good as that ‘1970s paving’ (laid in the 70s, probably 19th century stonework). But still. Look at it.

I doubt anyone in another forty years will campaign to save this.

I feared this would be nasty when I heard it was to be in three colours, but assumed at least that the blocks would follow the line of the curve in an aesthetically pleasing way. But no. We had a sinuous curve, laid to copy the Newgate paving it joins. Now we have a multi-coloured mess of setts in a weirdly busy pattern.

I’m not going to think about what multi-coloured horrors they’ve got planned for phase 2.

King’s Square partly ‘reinvigorated’

So, let’s run away from that bit and back over to here. Trying to be positive, wasn’t I. So, it’s not finished yet, there’s still a couple of hundred thousand pounds waiting in the kitty to do the rest of the paving and chop the mulberry tree down. Personally I’m more concerned about the imminent demise of a healthy city centre tree than I am about these slabs.

I think at least we can congratulate those who did the actual hard graft on the high standard of work. As anyone who has ever tried to lay paving knows, it’s really difficult. I’ve paved parts of our garden and despite my best efforts never managed to get it properly level.

But then my rather uneven and slightly sloping brick paths fit in well with all the other worn and slightly wonky bits around the back of our Victorian house. Depends I guess whether you want things to fit in or to make a statement.

This place certainly makes a statement. Chris Titley in YorkMix thinks it says ‘Welcome to Milton Keynes’. What does the new look say to you? Comments welcome.

Notes, links

There are many pages on this site on the subject of King’s Square. There’s also an album of photos of the square (about 70 in total) including views of how it used to look.

Note: The photos accompanying Chris Titley’s piece in York Mix show the paving on a dry day, when it looks totally different. Interesting to compare with my photos above.

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I’m annoyed by the angle taken by the national press so I thought I’d add a few points, from someone who has been following this with interest for months … please add a comment if you have further information …

— my understanding is that the square is being repaved for ‘aesthetic’ reasons, not because of issues with disabled access

— this isn’t about the Shambles, though many people commenting online seem to have interpreted it that way. It’s about King’s Square, and King’s Court, nearby. Just as important as the Shambles, but not the Shambles

— the paving can’t really be described as ‘ancient’. In this location, winding round King’s Square, it’s apparently from the previous restoration in the 70s. So if it’s ancient, so am I, so less of the ancient please. It’s certainly part of the ‘historic fabric’, and in many people’s opinion (including mine), should be kept

— it seems likely the paving in question was relaid here after being taken up from some other local street – so it’s probably 19th century like similar examples – I hope an expert in such matters can clarify

— it’s very handsome, and functional, and fits with the ‘York aesthetic’ as it matches other nearby lanes, like the Shambles, and others, as covered on a recent page

This photo from the City of York Council archives, taken in the late 19th century, shows similar cart tracks and setts. It shows clearly that at that time they stopped at the end of Newgate. The Shambles is off to the right, King’s Square, still with its church, is ahead.

All done for ‘the disabled’ — really?

The Mail went for this angle and other papers have/will too.

I’ve read a lot of info about this proposed revamp and my understanding is that it wasn’t for ‘the disabled’. It was about impressing visitors. The ‘disabled access’ appears to be some kind of weird spin put on things.

It’s churned up some nasty prejudice and ignorance in the comments in response, as singling out a group always does. Suddenly the ‘aesthetic’ improvements are the fault of these ‘disabled people’. So let’s blame them then, or health and safety gone mad, or political correctness, or all the other things the story in the Mail churned up.

This group ‘the disabled’: who are they exactly? It’s all of us, we’re all ‘disabled’ by something, I’ve lived long enough to know that. And if we’re not obviously physically disabled now we will end up disabled in some way if we live long enough. Less of the ‘us and them’ would be helpful.

Do they mean the paving is difficult for people with particular mobility or sight difficulties? I never saw massive complaint from these perspectives in the responses to the consultation on the changes.

Not just about paving

Yes, the work in King’s Square is a waste of money, in many people’s opinion. And it is removing something which has character and interest.

King’s Square is full of other things of significance apart from the paving. Personally I’d really like some more detail on other aspects of the work, such as whether the people who paid for plaques on benches have had a proper say on the imminent removal of those benches, and whether anyone also cares about the imminent removal of a healthy tree.

If you have any facts or information to add, please add a comment below.

For previous pages on the paving in particular, see here, and this more recent page including other examples of cart tracks and setts.

View from above

And here’s how it looks today. The paving in the central area has been lifted in recent weeks:

@YorkStories kings square today pic.twitter.com/7L0BhoI3TP

— Gwen Swinburn (@GSwinburn) September 21, 2013

(Thanks to Gwen Swinburn)

Elsewhere on the web

Information on the changes to King’s Square, from City of York Council. Includes image of proposed redesign, as approved by the Cabinet in April, which is now in progress. The work has uncovered the remains of the church.

More on recent archaeological happenings in King’s Square from yorkmix.com

Save York’s ancient history – Facebook group

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