100 years ago

CHEERED on by a special train excursion of 350 supporters, Skipton won rugby union's Yorkshire Cup, thus righting an injustice from the previous year when they had drawn with Castleford in the final, but their opponents had refused to replay. The union ruled that Skipton could not call themselves "winners" of the cup but could be termed "holders". A try in the last few minutes by Skipton centre Anderton secured a 3-0 win over Mytholmroyd. The team returned to Skipton and travelled by charabanc past cheering crowds to a reception at the town hall.

There was a tragedy at the Pendle Forest and Craven Hunt point-to-point races at Gisburn when a jockey, Thomas Horsfall, son of the late owner of the Midland Hotel in Skipton, was killed. His horse, Starlight, crashed into a tree and Mr Horsfall's head struck the trunk. He was taken to the Ribblesdale Arms in a state of unconsciousness and died some 36 hours later.

Bentham and Ingleton Parish Councils joined forces to protest at the expense of building an isolation hospital for infectious diseases at Austwick. The two villages pointed out that Settle Rural District Council had already built a workhouse for 300 at Giggleswick that had never been occupied by more than 70.

The death was reported of a well-known Skiptonian, Stephen Welch. He had fought in the Crimean War and then come to Skipton as gatekeeper at the Castle. It was his role to take visitors round the Castle and explain its history.

50 years ago

REACH For The Sky, the story of RAF hero Douglas Bader, was the most popular book in Skipton library. There was a waiting list of 22 people wanting the book. Second most popular book was Ascent of Everest.

British Rail abruptly announced it was stopping all passenger services on the Wensleydale branch line to Hawes due to lack of passengers. The announcement that the service was stopping on Monday was reported in Friday's paper.

A 19-year-old, Valerie Dawe, of Brook Street, Skipton, was rescued from a cliff face in Cornwall after being cut off by the incoming tide. She and a companion were rescued by firemen after climbing 60 feet up the cliff to escape the water. She did not mention the incident in a postcard home to her parents, but a neighbour showed them a report of the incident in a national newspaper. Miss Dawe was a talented violinist studying at the Royal Academy of Music.

25 years ago

CRAVEN District Council was going to enter the computer age. A council meeting voted to buy a computer to streamline its rate collection service. But the council refused to disclose how much the computer would cost.

Good Easter weather brought the crowds to the Dales, though why they bothered in the pre-Skipton bypass days is a mystery. Tailbacks stretched as far back as Farnhill and Gargrave as traffic crawled through the town.

The general election, however, dominated the Herald news with in-depth answers to questions on policy. The BBC had singled Skipton out as a key marginal and the Daily Telegraph had devoted a page lead article to a story headlined 'The Liberal whirlwind roars with menace down the Tory Dales'. The Liberal rooms in Castle Street were packed with activists who predicted that their candidate Claire Brooks would win a landslide. Conservative candidate John Watson, however, claimed that Labour was doing better than expected and while he did not predict they would finish second, he was sure they would do better than in the 1974 election.

10 years ago

BEDS giant Silentnight announced it was to close its Sutton factory, switching production to the Barnoldswick site. Around 170 jobs would be lost at Sutton, but 80 created at Barnoldswick. The firm had been operating in Sutton for 22 years producing headboards and drawer divans for Silentnight.

Skipton firm CAP Publishing was bought by the magazine giant Emap netting joint owners John Procter and John Nolan £17.9 million. They had set up a book of used car values to assist dealers in 1975 and their CAP Black Book became the motor traders' bible. They were based in Carleton Road, Skipton but it was not long before the new owners closed the Skipton operation and moved to Leeds.

A death sentence was delivered on Settle magistrates' court despite opposition in the town. Defendants and witnesses would have to travel to Skipton or Ingleton for the local administration of justice (although Ingleton was not long to avoid the "efficiency" drive from the Lord Chancellor's department).

Cross Hills police station was finally reopened just months after it was almost lost for good. It had been closed since January 1993 and police said it could be closed to raise cash. But a rethink was prompted by a 2,000 signature petition

A pub crawl around Skipton was literally that for charity. The 11 drinkers from the Red Lion had to get on their hands and knees as they went across the town visiting 14 pubs and raising £1,200 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.