01st March 2020

Remembering old Nunnery Lane and Clementhorpe: a new local history hub

Nunnery Lane around 1900 (Geoff Shearsmith)

Following the success of our first two books (Bishy Road: a York shopping street in time and Shadows in the Bricks: the old shops of South Bank in York), we're starting work on our third book. It’s going to be about the old shops (and pubs) of Nunnery Lane and Clementhorpe.

We'll be including the streets to the south of Nunnery Lane, from Clement St up to Dale St, as well as the streets in Clementhorpe behind Bishopthorpe Road, leading to the river. Most of these had a shop or two, often general grocers or off-licences, or traders dealing with coal and milk for example. (Researchers in our group have already carried out an exploration of the old industries in Clementhorpe, follow this link for details).

Sarah and Phil at the Trafalgar Bay on Nunnery Lane have agreed to be our 'local history hub'. They're very enthusiastic about this new community activity for the pub, as a lot of their customers are interested in the history of Nunnery Lane. We're going to have a regular monthly afternoon session there, with a display panel next to the bar.

The idea is to attract people who might know a bit about Nunnery Lane history, and have memories to share, and also people who can help with researching trade directories for example. Using the pub may be a good way to reach people who don't normally come along to our talks, but who have a lot to contribute.

We’re also going to be drawing upon work done some years ago by the Cygnet Group, and using other oral histories of the area.

The first session will be on Tuesday 17 March at 2.15 pm. Please come if you’re interested in this, either with memories, photos or information to share, or because you would like to help with the research.  If you need any more information please contact us on 01904 466086 or email enquiries@clementshall.org.uk.