IT was the decade that brought us bell bottoms, massive collars, midi skirts and maxi dresses. Punk snarled its way on stage, making glam rock and heavy metal look suddenly old hat. In politics, it was the era of Ted Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, and the Winter of Discontent which gave us Margaret Thatcher.

And in York... well, in York in the 1970s life went on, pretty much as it always has done. The city got a bypass; there were archaeological digs; a Saxon key was found beneath a car park in Bishophill Senior; and council tenants in Foxwood protested over what they said were exorbitant heating bills.

We came across a folder of random photographs from the Seventies while rummaging through an outdated electronic archive at The Press. And guessing that some of our readers might remember the decade as though it were only yesterday, we thought we'd publish a selection of them, in the hope they might bring back a few memories.

The photos all have brief captions - but they're not always very informative. So if anyone knows any more about what's going on in the pictures on these pages, we'd love to hear from you...

1. No, this isn't the set of a science fiction film: it is the A64 bridge - part of the York bypass - which was completed in 1976. The bridge was actually built as two separate carriageways across the River Ouse - hence this extraordinary split image. We assume the suited and booted men (plus a very few women and children) standing in the bridge's shadow are there to celebrate its official opening...

2. The original caption to this photograph was extremely unhelpful. It just said 'construction and maintenance, 1975'. The photo clearly shows one of York's major bars, but which one? Look carefully at the pub sign just visible beneath the left hand arch, and all becomes clear. 'Bootham Bar Hotel', it says. So we know which bar this is. We're less sure about precisely what the workmen were doing digging up the surface of the road beneath it...

3. Protesters outside York City Council offices, March 21, 1977. "Angry, placard-waving housewives from the Foxwood Lane estate occupied a room at the city council housing services department today in protest over massive electricity bills," says the caption to this photograph. The placards themselves make no secret of the size of the bills: '£140 a quarter', claims one - which does seem pretty exorbitant for the Seventies. We don't know what the outcome of this protest was - but perhaps there are readers who do? The building in the background looks like St Leonard's Place.

4. "Police move into position behind a security cordon at York Crown Court, in front of Clifford's Tower, during the Hull Prison trial," says the caption to this January 19, 1979 photograph. We assume the trial referred to was that of twelve prison officers who were accused of conducting revenge attacks on prisoners following the 1976 Hull Prison riots. But it is an extraordinary photograph, with the police officers sharply outlined against a snow-covered ground, and the black, vertical slash of the steps leading up to Clifford's Tower in the background.

5. This is a great photo, and one we've never seen before. It shows visitors standing around the edge of a York Archaeological Trust dig on the corner of Lendal and Museum Street, on August 23, 1974. Does anyone remember this dig, or what was found?

6. Speaking of archaeology, how about this photo from January 11, 1974: It shows Jim Spriggs holding up a Saxon key found during an archaeological dig at the Bishophill Senior car park. We assume the key would once have opened a door in a Saxon church on the site, but we stand to be corrected...

7. And finally, we have a wonderful photograph of the Guildhall council chamber, back in the days when it really was a proper debating chamber and the beating heart of local democracy in York. We believe the photograph was taken in the 1970s, although the caption doesn't actually say so. Do any of the councillors look familiar?

Stephen Lewis