Bootham

I hopped off my bike to take this shot a few months back, a typical York street scene.

Independent Trading

Many visitors to York come to visit the small independent shops that still exist. This antiquarian bookshop and bespoke tailor which can be found next to each other on Bootham, are a good example.

Fancy Sign

Still on Bootham this great old tiled sign forms part of a shop front. I love the way some letters span four tiles, it must have made producing the tiles interesting.

Busy Bootham

This is the business end of Bootham on a busy Saturday morning as it nears the city centre. As you can see it is only a short distance from York Minster.

Confetti

I took this photo in the garden of one of the buildings on Bootham. It is now used as York Registry Office and is the scene of many civil weddings each day, hence the confetti in the garden. Remember the cobbles from earlier views of the street? Not easy to negotiate in high heeled wedding shoes!

J is for Joseph Rowntree

This house on Bootham was the childhood home of Quaker philanthropist Joseph Rowntree (1836-1925). That elegant cobweb arch above the door is typical of buildings of this period in York. 
Early in the last century the Rowntree company was one of Britain's best known firms, both for its commercial success and in the field of industrial welfare. Joseph Rowntree cared about the quality of life of his employees. A female welfare worker was appointed in 1891, and in 1900 a welfare officer was appointed for boys and men. Sick and provident funds followed, then a doctor's surgery. A savings scheme was set up in 1905; a pension scheme in 1906; and a sick benefit scheme in 1910.
Rowntree's most lasting philanthropic act was to use half of his fortune to create three trusts. He stated that he did not want his children to lead the idle life often associated with large inheritances.  The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust was created to support adult education, social research, and the Society of Friends. The Joseph Rowntree Social Trust concentrated on social and political activities, and the Joseph Rowntree Village (now Housing) Trust was given responsibility for building affordable working-class housing. By the time Joseph Rowntree died in 1925 the model village of New Earswick contained almost 400 homes, as well as community and educational facilities. The Trusts and the village still flourish.
Taking part in ABC Wednesday

Old and New

One of the pleasures of walking around York is discovering the old beside the new. St Mary's Tower on Bootham is a corner tower of the wall surrounding St Mary's Abbey. Now a ruin St Mary's was once one of the wealthiest Benedictine Abbeys in the country. The faded white sign on the Tower reads 'The Hamlet of St Marys'. The Tower sustained significant damage in the civil war siege of York in 1644 hence the portion of the wall that stands out at the left hand side.

W H Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden was born in this house at 54 Bootham York on  21st February 1907. The following year his family moved to Birmingham so his links with York are at best tenuous. That did not stop the York tourism office persuading some local cab drivers to learn one of his works by heart and recite them at passengers to celebrate the centenary of his birth in 2007. Although I note they chose the beautifully rhythmic The Night Mail rather than the better known Funeral Blues. Perhaps they thought 'Stop all the clocks' did not set the right tone in a taxi!

Penn House

Mo commented yesterday that the houses on Bootham might be expensive to buy. This is Penn House on the corner of Bootham and St Mary's, and was recently for sale with an asking price of £1.5 million. It was last used as part of Bootham School so will need quite a bit more spending on it if it is to be made into a home again. 
The house was built around 1852 and was called Top House as it is at the top of St Mary's. It was was built for Joseph Rowntree's father, Joseph senior, a grocer and prominent Quaker, who, with Samuel Tuke, established the Quaker Bootham and Mount schools. His widow, Sarah,  lived at Top House until her death in 1888. Joseph junior lived in the house on and off until 1905. From 1905-20 his son the social reformer Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree continued to use Top House as an office. In 1920 Joseph donated the house to Bootham School, when it became known as Penn House.
 

Bootham Town Houses

These elegant town houses on Bootham are mostly built of pale brick which makes the warm brickwork of Hudson House on the right stand out all the more. Between the pavement proper and the road is a width of cobbles down each side of the road with trees planted at intervals. Many of the houses along here are four or five story buildings with the basement below pavement level. Some are now divided into apartments and others used as offices. One or two remain as very desirable single residences.

A walk down Bootham

I though we might take a walk down Bootham towards the city centre over the next few days. This road runs N.W from the city and follows the route of one of the main Roman roads into the city. Today it is a wide tree lined street with some very imposing buildings. The name may derive from the 'place of the booths' as St Mary's Abbeys had the right to hold a weekly market along here. 
The building on the left is Ingram House built in the 1630s, we'll take a closer look at that arched doorway tomorrow which looks rather older.....