Vinyl still Alive and Kicking in York

Yesterday, the annual four day St Nicholas Fayre began in York. Amid all the festive fun, visitors should look beyond the market stalls and check out some great independent stores, offering great friendly and knowledgeable service in the historic city all year round.

Take Attic Records, where two young entrepreneurs who spotted a gap in the market started to sell vinyl records from an attic shop in York, just three months ago.

Gareth Hesketh, 27, and Alex Fox, 28, sell a wide range of records from Attic Records, which is based at 1 Patrick Pool, in York.

Alex told me that "Record shops died out. There are still lots of people who enjoying listening to vinyl. Many of our customers like the idea of having something tangible that they can collect. People always seem interested in York as a place, so this seemed like a good place to open a business."

The duo’s enthusiasm and knowledge of records and the music scene are obvious. There’s a record player where shoppers can put a tune on and try before they buy.

Records by bands like the Rolling Stones and Beatles are popular with Attic’s growing legion of customers. Alex pointed out that the shop is trying not "to be too specialist. We get new releases, usually once a month of more recent music, like indie records. We stock the largest collection of 7"'s anywhere in York."

Customers can also purchase tickets for local gigs and t-shirts (like the popular i heart y t-shirt) in store, too.

Alex and Gareth have good links with local bands and venues. Some bands have even performed in the shop itself to great acclaim. To find out about the latest happenings in the world of vinyl join Attic Records' Facebook page.

You can follow Attic Records on Twitter @atticyork. Walk Talk Tours is @WalkTalkTours on Twitter. Come and join the conversation.


Visitors can discover York’s rich heritage with their own audio downloadable walking guide. The Best of York audio tour is composed of commentary points (like tracks on a CD) and listeners can stop and start as they see fit. The tour concludes at the magnificent York Minster.

Visitors can also hire the tour from the De Grey Rooms Tourist Information Centre on a preloaded MP3 player, neck-phones and a copy of the tour plan are provided.