A GCSE geography project became

The confluence of the rivers Foss and Ouse

Where history flows The industries of the River Foss in York gave Timothy Wynn-Werninck the confidence to write a history book about York’s other river...

Much written history is academic but this does not have to be the case. My quest to write history became an adventure that threw up many challenges.

My hope is others will be inspired to try something they find tough. It became a personal challenge to keep believing I could write a history book. Here are extracts of the book I wrote.

Arriving in York in 1987, I needed more qualifications and enrolled for a GCSE in geography. I had to do a project and stumbled across the River Foss. The project went down well and my tutor suggested it would make a good book. There have been a few books on the Foss but nothing new since 1982

City ofYork Council over the years has had to clear areas of industrial wasteland and come up with a plan of how the city and the river should look.

The Foss still contributes to the welfare of the city. It has also acted as an economic barometer showing how the city was doing through its history. What slowed the development of industries was that the River Foss was away from York’s old industrial sites. Many potential sites for needed to be changed from marsh land. The development of the river was further slowed due to much of the river being on the edge of the city’s first markets.

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Stillington Mill

The mill was a family operation and you can still see the arved initials of millers through the ages. In 1919, the last miller, Ned Gibson, had no one to carry on the business and the mill was taken over by Arthur and Dora Shepherd, who kept going till 1935.The mill did suffer from the lack of water in the Foss.At times a stationary flywheel had to call on an alternative source of power. The mill was converted into a house in 1968.

In 2005 the mill became a self-catering holiday let with a hard tennis court and a solar-powered heated swimming pool.As the mill changed its role, that part of the river started to silt up.

Strensall Tannery

Located eight miles from York.The Village Street Directory of 1844 shows there were small cottage industries such as joiners who worked in local agriculture and construction.

It also gives details of the tannery which was opened in 1806, taking advantage of the River Foss navigation system to dispatch local lime and bark lime and finished goods. When the tannery got into trouble, it still had unsold bags and shoes. A boiler house had a Byworth 6000lb ph. of steam engine. There were three gas boilers.The last one came in 1976 from the Ripon leather works that arrived by horse and cart.

There were attempts to save the tannery with smaller specialised orders with more modern machinery and attempts to cut expenditure.

It was first discovered that the navigation would struggle to survive as early as 1809. The Victoria County History outlines that the company accounts were full of high amounts of the mismanagement of money and general overspending.

Layerthorpe

Straight over the river running east you can see Layerthorpe with all the industries involved with the motor trade, everything from scrapyards and exhaust centers to showrooms with new cars.

Another famous site on this stretch of the river was J.H Walker Building Merchants that used the river to dig out river sand from the River Ouse.

The Recklaw sailed to the builders’ merchants which is now Travis Perkins, where it was unloaded by crane. There was an art then as today to find the right balance of products to sell. Though J.H Walker continued to dredge for river sand in the Ouse, in 1965 dredging 65 tons.

Old industry needed updating and, in most cases, it was cheaper to relocate to purpose-built sites on the edge of the city, and being located close to major roads. Successful companies took advantage of the canalisation and the profitable section of the River Foss from the city boundary.These companies boosted the economy and added wealth to the city.

Vickers Instruments

The original company was called Cooke, Troughton & Simms and they made scientific instruments in Bishophill from

as early as 1756: microscopes suitable for students to advanced ones for the Army and industry. In 1924 Vickers took over the company, later closing in 1988, ending the traditional skills of optic mechanics.

Canalisation

The River Foss navigation nearly missed out on having a canal system altogether as York was more gripped by railway mania and the spirit of George Hudson.

It was surprising the river did not see wider use as it sits in the centre of the Yorkshire Canal System. More investment could have seen it join the port of Hull and the Leeds in the West.

The first canalisation of the river had been done by the Romans.York had always relied on trade of the Ouse to bring in goods as the river was tidal there seemed to be no need redevelop the Foss.

York needed to develop and gain back its industrial markets lost since medieval times. It was important that it was done to bring York into the modern era.York had the disadvantage of being on the northern edge of the canal mania.

It was often written that York was slow to embrace the building of canals as in the south of England. Parliament

was inundated with fledgling companies wanting to build canals. Elsewhere profits could be made easier with the transportation of larger coal deposits and pottery to large industrial markets.

Navigation systems were still expensive to maintain. It was not long before individuals lost the will to invest their money and the river started to fall into decline.

Brtitish Buttons

On the opposite side of the river is the new housing estate the bowling green court, built by Bushgate Properties. This use to be the site of British Buttons.

This company was started in 1930 by Jacob Gans, who sold his button business in the Netherlands and moved to York. Rowntree, seeing the drawbacks to York becoming too dependent on confectionery, offered Gans a large storage depot to convert into a factory.

At first, he traded as a company called Gansolite until, in 1981 he merged with Brandoid Products to form British Buttons.The factory produced buttons, toggles, buckles, and counters for board games and also supplied the British garment industry. Between five and six million buttons were produced each week mostly for the British market, plus exports to Poland.

The Flood Barrier

In 1982 engineers decided the best way to protect the city from flooding was to construct a flood barrier to prevent the water in the River Ouse backing up the Foss, and a pumping station was built to divert the water from the Foss.

Looking down the Foss basin now you can see the barrier guarding the lower reaches of the river. It is an imposing modern construction a transparent glass top and brick clad concrete towers.The barrier is lowered by steel ropes, wound in the side of the towers by an electric motor, with standby power. In the event of a power failure, the gate can be lowered manually

When the gate is lowered the steel section fits into a concrete chill preventing the water of the Ouse backing up the Foss and at the same time stopping the flow of the Foss directly into the Ouse. Any surplus water on the Foss side of the barrier is pumped, via the pumping station, in a controlled way around the side of the barrier.

27 The Industries of the River Foss by Timothy Wynn-Werninck is published on Amazon for Kindle (£4.71)