Snickleways of York

Snickleways

The Snickleways of York are famous in York. Revd. John Southgate, the Dean of York “Historic cities are rather like people. It takes a long time to get to know them properly and we never know everything about them.” When people describe York, they often talk about the Minster, the city walls, the railway and Yorvik. But the Snickleways are forgotten (Mark W Jones, 1991) These 'Snickleways' are often seen as alleys and shortcuts; people use them everyday to commute quickly. They weave in and out from the Minster to Shambles to Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate to the city walls. Snickleway: A narrow passageway or alley between walls, fences or buildings.

Mark Jones, the author of “The complete snickleways of York”, the master of these paths suggests starting at Bootham bar. From here he has devised the best route round most of them. It totals to three and a half miles long and covers the Minster, along part of the river Foss, Castle museum, along river Ouse, the Shambles and then finishes back at Bootham Bar. Such an expansive route would take around an hour to walk. With a larger group, and some talk, I would reckon this route would take close to one hour and a half, maybe two hours.

Map of Mark Jones' ideal route of the Snickelways

Main footstreets of York, illustration from book.

I think that by adapting this route, a photowalking opportunity can be made.I hope there will be plenty of stimulus and landmarks also to keep a photographer's eye interested. There are spaces which are more open, as well as tight spaces in the book, such as the Dean's Park behind the Minster or Shambles that are tight.  Also, I  hope there are plenty of opportunities to shoot different subjects, whether it be architecture, nature, people, landscape and street. The variety and quality of locations is important in a photowalking scenario.  People will have different interests and also allow people to experience a different type of photography.