100 years ago

MILL Style at Kirkby Malham, a notoriously steep hill 200 to 300 yards from the village, claimed another cycling fatality. The coroner stated that a noticeboard should be erected to warn cyclists of the sharp descent to avoid any more deaths.

The practice of kissing the Bible at court was being eschewed by local police officers in favour of raising their hand. Ordinary witnesses continued to swear their oath by kissing the book however - a practise which drew close attention by the watching public to see if the lips met the cloth or whether they would place their thumb between the two.

Lord Hothfield, from Skipton Castle, made a gift of a "beautifully situated" piece of land to be used as a recreational ground for the Middletown area of Skipton. This would accommodate around three-quarters of the juveniles in the area.

50 years ago

TORRENTIAL rain flooded both Ingleborough Cave, at Clapham and Ingleton's White Scar Cave. It was only the third time in living memory that the first had flooded. At Clapham the owners of the caf were stranded for two hours until rescuers came to carry them over the water. Considerable damage was done to both caves.

Skipton Library had just over 31 percent of the town's population on their list which was recorded as encouragingly high. A total of 598 books a day were being read in the town and there was a growing need for more space in the building.

25 years ago

THE names might have changed but a feature on Kettlewell could appear in the paper this week with little change. The Herald sent a reporter to the picturesque village where locals claimed they were being crowded out by tourists and second home owners.

Mildred Cutliffe-Hyne had lived in Kettlewell since 1902 and said people who were buying homes did not live in the village and had no intention of doing so. She felt sorry for youngsters trying to start out in life. James Wiseman had lived in the village for 70 years and said he used to know everyone in the village but now when he went in the pub for a drink he barely knew anyone.

Vicar's wife Betty Potter said Kettlewell had little to offer youngsters and tourism was "a disease which broke down the community as we know it".

The list of solutions also seems curiously familiar: build more homes for locals only and make second home owners pay more in their rates.

The new extension for Skipton Building Society (now occupied by Homeloan Management) was opened. The site of the original building society offices in Providence Place were obliterated to make way for the new and, dare we say it, decidedly new building.

In 1978 the society employed 200 staff, had 32 branches and its top four positions were all occupied by Ermysted's old boys.

Divers found a missing link in a 6,000 feet long underwater tunnel connecting two Ingleton caves. Oliver Statham and Geoff Yeadon, both of Skipton, had taken up the challenge to find the route from the West Kingsdale Master Cave to Keld Head.

Rosina Wade, headmistress of the new Brooklands School, Burnside, retired after 50 years of working with children with special needs. In this time she had opened four new establishments to cater for special education provision.

10 years ago

CRAVEN residents were firmly against proposals to abolish North Yorkshire County Council and replace it with a Harrogate-Craven authority. Instead objectors wanted to see a Craven unitary authority which brought in more areas of South and West Craven.

New Age Travellers - a contentious topic in Craven - had their chance to speak out in a special feature in the Herald. A family of travellers spoke about being hounded by the police, their desire to be left alone to settle down, and told the story of an elderly lady who had come to visit them to see if they had two heads!

An amusing tale came out of Skipton magistrates court. A poll tax defaulter failed to appear to explain why he had not paid his bill when a court official intervened to say he was outside cleaning the windows of the court house. A 14 day prison sentence was imposed but by the time the police had arrived to arrest the offender, he had "done a runner" complete with ladders.

Upper Wharfedale School made an elite list of Britain's best schools as chosen by parents, the only school in Craven to appear. Head teacher the late Roger Kennedy said he was glad the school had been recognised because the selective system in Craven meant Upper Wharfedale was under-estimated and its pupils under-valued.

Meanwhile some well-known teachers were retiring. Roger Haslam, head at Settle High, left after 13 years, and Settle High's food technology teacher Muriel Waddington was going after 24 years. At Ermysted's history teacher George Varley ended his 27 years at the school, Muriel Waddington left Greatwood after 19 years and Helen Clayton, head at Arncliffe School, left to take over as head at Grassington Primary.