Cats Feature on BBC Radio York
Alison Hanson • January 1, 2010
One from the Archive, an interview on Radio York
If you’re just tuning in from BBC Radio York, hello and welcome to the site!
I’ve just been on the wireless chatting to Al Ross, who, incidentally, I used to listen to on University Radio York when I was at uni! I’m just listening back to the show – as we’re no longer in York, I tend not to tune in normally!
It seems a lot of people have wondered about the two cats on Low Ousegate – our lovely cats #5 and #6. One story we heard said that the cats were put there to scare the pigeons or mice away from stock.
When we started researching the cats for this website, back in 2005, we spent some time looking through archives at York City Library (now Explore York). We found a small item in a copy of the York Evening Press from 1962 that mentioned the cats. It tells of a TV crew filming for a programme called “Discover Your City” that included a Mr. Robert Patterson of York Castle Museum talking about “many little-known corners and unusual trades in the city.”
The item continues:
“Two other York curiosities were the model cats which cling to the wall of a well-known provision shop in Low Ousegate. Mr Patterson was able to tell the visitors from AR-TV that they were put there in about 1920 on the orders of Sir Stephen Aitcheson, owner of the firm, who thought they would be attractive especially to customers’ children.”
Mr Patterson retired from the Museum in 1974 and unfortunately we haven’t been able to track him down.
Transmission date is unknown.
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We’re over the moon to announce that one of the oldest cat statuettes in York has been returned to its rightful place on Low Ousegate. In August 2008, we heard the sad news that the black cat statuette above Johnson’s Dry Cleaning on Low Ousegate (Cat #12) had to be taken down in July over concerns for public safety. This cat statuette, along with the ginger cat on the window sill of the building next door (Cat #13), are the oldest cat statuettes in York, dating at least as far back as the 1920s. We thought it would be a real shame to lose such an important piece of York’s vibrant history. Since then, we have remained in touch with the City of York Council about the cat and their talks with the property owner about reinstalling him. Finally, earlier this month, we got the news that the little critter is back home! We are very grateful to and thankful for the support of Cllr. Keith Hyman, who has been keeping us up to date with news about the missing cat. Keith is the proud owner of Jonathan Newdick’s first bronze cat, which sits happily in his lounge!
We’ve been quiet for some time now, for which we apologise – sorry site! We’re no longer based in York and it’s been a busy time just lately, which basically adds up to not a lot of time for updating this site. But I’m here to change that – at least, for the moment. Look ma! We’re on the telly! It was a little while back now, but we were quite excited to be contacted by a television production company who were filming for ITV.com. They wanted to feature the Cats in York website on an episode of Web Lives, ITV’s first ever online series. This particular episode followed a lady called Pip on a date in York. Pip suffered with a brain haemorrhage 12 years ago, which changed her life. This year she has been using online dating to get some romance back into her life. Her date, Jez, took Pip around the streets of York following our very own Cat Hunt! Watch the episode on ITV.com to see for yourself: Web Lives: Episode 14. Ghost cats? Last year we were also contacted about a feature on Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns Live in York, which ran from Friday, January 27th 2006 to Monday, January 30th 2006. We’re not sure if the cats were mentioned or not, but if you saw the programme and remember seeing something mentioned, please let us know! New cats Many thanks to those people who have e-mailed in to tell us about new stone cats they have seen in the York area. We’ve got some new photos to add to the site, so we’ll update the Cat Directory very soon! That’s all for now. Hope everyone’s had a lovely summer!
Earlier in the year, we were contacted by a Flickr user who told us about a photo they had found of a decorative cat on a building in Amsterdam – thank you, G. We knew of a stone cat on a building in Brighton, so we decided to take more of a look around Flickr to see what else we could find. We found quite a few and posted links to loads more photos in our Flickr discussion board – take a look if you like! If you’re a Flickr user and you have photos of some of the York cats, please feel free to join the Cats in York Flickr group and add your photos to the pool. We ask that you do not post photos from anywhere outside of York, as we would like to keep the group limited to the York cats. However, please feel free to contribute to our list of links to cats outside of York!
Chris Titley at the Evening Press in York has done a write-up on the Cats in York website and it featured in today’s York Evening Press Diary. Chris has allowed us to republish the article here for our visitors to read. Enjoy! ‘Mad cat person’ logs on, by Chris Titley YORK’S cats have been catalogued. The many moggies that can be found perched on rooftops or crawling up office walls are now listed on a new website, www.catsinyork.org.uk This is the brainchild of Jon Gibbins, 25, and “mad cat person” Jo Barrett, 24, who first came to York in 1999 to take degrees in electronic engineering with music technology at the university. In the course of their courtship they became fascinated by the cat statuettes dotted around the city – and frustrated by the lack of a guide to them. So they made their own. “No one knows the origins of all the cat statues, some of which may have been put in place as far back as the early 19th century,” their website explains. “Some may have been intended to attract people to a shop or simply to amuse children. Others may be to scare pigeons.” The site goes on to detail the more recent additions, the signature of city architect Tom Adams. You can even download a “cat hunt” – a walking guide to all York’s feline high spots. Jon and Jo have discovered 22 statuettes, but note that some others may have fallen victim to cat burglars over the years. Now they’d like your help. “We’d love to hear from people to improve on the information we already have,” Jon told the Diary. “We have holes in the research, so if anyone who stumbles across the site is able to help, then that’s great.” His favourite? “The kitten seen scaling the wall of a house on St Andrewgate.” Oh, and their own cat statuette, which they intend to install on their new house – which is in Devon, as they have moved to Jon’s hometown. Fabulous cat facts tomorrow. Taken from ‘Mad cat person’ logs on by Chris Titley, archived on the York Press website. ‘Fabulous cat facts’ were published as part of the next day’s article, Brief encounter in York studio. Tom Adams was ‘delighted’ to see our site mentioned in the Evening Press Diary in a later article, When Scottie gave us a ring.
