Frequently Asked Questions

Why did you write this book?

Lady Peckett's Yard, York

I moved to York in September 2004, because I had fallen in love with the city and its history during a holiday. I soon discovered the dozens of books written about York and I read them all. None of them could really satisfy my curiosity about how York’s streets had come into being over time.

That’s when I decided to write my own book. It was to have lots of pictures and clear maps, which I hoped would help the reader visualising the different periods of York’s history, by looking at the modern streets and buildings.

 How long did it take?

I started writing and taking pictures in the spring of 2005 and finished the book about a year later. It was eventually published in November 2007.

 Did you take the pictures yourself?

Yes, all of them except one, which was taken by my father when he and my mother visited me one summer. My father also made the drawings.

Why aren’t there any people in your pictures?

I tried on purpose to take pictures without people, as I wanted to show the buildings and streets of York to explain the history of it to the reader. In that case I found people to be too distracting, so I did my best to take pictures of empty streets.

York Minster, York

York is a popular tourist destination and has two universities, so the only time I was actually able to take pictures of empty streets was in the summer, very early on Sunday mornings - after the drunk students had gone home, but before the street cleaners and tourists appeared.

I loved roaming the empty streets of York. It felt like the whole city belonged to me.