Lift Up Your Eyes 1

York is very much like a lot of other cities in the UK with lots of shopping streets in the centre, you'll find the majority of the multiple shops around plus one or two home grown ones. In fact you could be excused for thinking that you could be in any town in the UK. However, I have said it fairly often be prepared to look at buildings above the ground floor level and you get beyond that boring sameness of the major Multiples and large flat plate glass windows.

To start this series off we are in Parliament Street home of the plain modernistic stone and glass facade of HSBC. Look around though and lift your eyes up to find the gems that are walked past everyday. This fine ornate example stands above a shop called Claire's. The details have been picked out in a contrasting blue and white almost a reverse Wedgewood effect. I think this shop is about where a John Smith's pub called "The Clock" used to stand. This may well be the decorative housing for the clock. I'll have to see if I can find some old photos of this area. See photo below for a contextual setting of the ornamentation including the complexity of the windows.