Keep your eyes open when walking around the city and you will often see narrow gaps between buildings, though they are easy to miss.

These are known locally as snickelways. It's a Yorkie word from three local names for little back streets: snicket + ginnel + alleyway.

These tiny streets originated in medieval times and, being ancient rights-of-way, remain accessible to the present day.

They're only for people on foot, useful shortcuts and protected from building. Superimposed on the street map, they disappear in zig-zag fashion off busy streets filled with people, and can lead to surprising places and views in a quiet world lost in time.

Some are the proud bearers of old names, like Lund's Court (formerly Mad Alice Lane), Grape Lane, Hole-in-the-Wall, Bedern Passage, Nether Hornpot Lane. Others are nameless (like the in-and-out snickelways between Shambles and the market.)

Five Snickelways to check out: