DO you remember when there was a Hamleys toy shop in Coney Street in York?

Our photo from today dates from the late 1980s.

Coney Street - once the premier shopping street in the city - has been hit by hard times and lost so many of its big-name shops, like so many other parts of the country.

In recent years we have lost Woolworths, BHS, Jaeger, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, to name but a few.

Other household names have gone from Coney Street too - remember Leak & Thorp?

This week, we reported how an innovative project aims to bring a new lease of live to the empty shops of Coney Street.

Plans are afoot to turn empty shops into a pop-up printing press, museum and gallery as part of efforts to revitalise part of York.

Vacant properties will also be adapted for live and digital performance and heritage activities on Coney Street.

The plans form part of the University of York-led Street Life venture, which scooped £469,765 from the Government’s Community Renewal Fund.

Street Life aims to give Coney Street a vibrant post-pandemic future by repurposing empty units and forging links between retail premises and their heritage.

Don't miss The Press tomorrow - Wednesday - for our new nostalgia supplement, where we will be looking back at how Coney Street has changed over the years.

And if you love nostalgia, please join our Facebook group, Why We Love York - Memories. Click here to join today!