1 week Ago
On this day in 2024, The letter reads as follows. I struggle to understand Gordon Campbell-Thomas’ objection to the presence of a sign above a shop on Our Lady’s Row on Goodramgate ( ). The facades of buildings change over the years.
As the Press’ own photo article on February 5 showed, Our Lady’s Row looked completely different in the past, at one time showing exposed timber framing (now covered over with plaster). Sometimes signs were fixed to the first floor frontage, sometimes not. So? York isn’t a museum, it is a living city.
The many small independent businesses that line its historic streets are part of its charm, providing an income for its residents and a reason to visit for outsiders. What matters surely is that the buildings, however quirky, are still here and still in use. When I was a child there was a business selling loose biscuits on Our Lady’s Row.
That business went years ago but the shops are still here, and in use centuries after they were built. I don’t see why our own age should be invisible. We are as vibrant and varied as the past and can also leave our eclectic mark on our city, as our forebears have done.
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