The shot that I posted yesterday was taken from the city walls above the arch, looking towards Queen Street bridge. This shot is taken from the Queen Street bridge looking towards the arch created in the city walls to allow the railway access to a railway station. I fact, today's shot shows an interesting example of Victorian vandalism.
Before the coming of the railways, there would have been a large earth bank across this scene, reaching almost to the top of the arch, with the walls built on top. This arch, and a second arch off the right of the shot, were one of numerous examples of changes made to the walls, both at that time and since then.
Through the arch can be seen the brick faced apartment blocks recently built on the site of a demolished late 1960s concrete office block. Beyond that and out of sight is the original railway station and station hotel buildings, which have recently been refurbished and are now the offices of York City Council.
Just in front and to the left of the arch is a small brick building with a tall chimney, partly obscured by the cycle sheds. This rather insignificant building was originally one of the signal boxes controlling the railway route into the old station.
The original railway station, opened around 1840, was soon too small as the railways were extended to the north and east of York quite soon afterwards. It was also a dead-end station, making departures to the north a rather complicated shunting operation. Less that 40 years after it was built it was replaced by a through station outside the city walls, off to the left of this shot, though the old station was still used for railway purposes until quite recently, and the tracks into the old station were not removed until around 1969.
And if they had got their way we would be without our famous and magnificent walls and Bars. I believe Clifford’s Tower also. Thanks to William Etty, Sir Walter Scott and fellow campaigners.
Beautiful capture and angle. It is a choice, very difficult to make, whether to conserve the heritage of the city or to improve the life of people. Even our cities have been breached to make way for transport. Unfortunately we cannot go back in years when life was much easier to live.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
As Jesika ( @jesika2 ) points out, there were those in Victorian times who wanted to completely demolish the city walls, rather than just put a few holes in them. Fortunately most of the walls survived, which is a good thing. Tourism is a significant part of the economy in York, with many jobs dependant on it, so looking after the heritage is of great important, as is resolving the conflicting demands of heritage with the functioning of a modern city.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
As Jesika ( @jesika2 ) points out, there were those in Victorian times who wanted to completely demolish the city walls, rather than just put a few holes in them. Fortunately most of the walls survived, which is a good thing. Tourism is a significant part of the economy in York, with many jobs dependant on it, so looking after the heritage is of great important, as is resolving the conflicting demands of heritage with the functioning of a modern city.
Ian
Thank you Vesna.
Ian