100 years ago

A DEPUTATION from Thornton-in-Craven Parish Council met members of the rural district council to complain that their communications and requests were not receiving enough attention. What transpired at the meeting appeared to be unknown to the Herald who reported the parish council 'came away having gained little by their venture.'

The railway bridge at Niffany, between Skipton and Broughton was reported as being in a very bad state indeed. Pedestrians could not pass over it without mud getting over the top of their boots. Complaints had been coming in to the council for three months and it seemed nothing had been done.

A man pulled a bottle of whisky from his pocket and asked the policeman who stopped him for being drunk and disorderly to have a drink with him. The defendant remarked in court that it was the first policeman he had come across to refuse a drink and therefore must be a gentleman.

50 years ago

WORKERS at two Barnoldswick factories walked out twice in one day - firstly because it was too cold, then because it was too hot. The first downing of tools came when temperatures were only 47 degrees Fahrenheit at A&G Carr's factory and 52 degrees at Albert Hartley's. When they returned the thermometer climbed steadily until it reached 79 degrees, when the workers again walked out for a short period. Union officials pointed out that the workers had put up with the freezing temperatures for almost two hours before taking their action.

Cononley was celebrating the arrival of its new electric street lamps. Only five of the 26 lamps remained on gas, and they would be converted before the summer said the parish council.

The Horse and Hounds at Lothersdale was put up for auction by owner Mrs G Killingbeck. When the hammer finally fell, the pub had been sold to Webster's Brewery, Halifax, for £4,950.

Clapham Cricket Club was reforming. In the 1870s and 1880s it had been one of the best teams in the area with its ground undoubtedly one of the finest.

25 years ago

SETTLE station was being spruced up for the centenary of the Settle to Carlisle railway. Stationmaster Mr Middleton was busy clearing up flower beds and planting bulbs. Highlight of the centenary was a banquet for 500. Of these, 300 would be arriving in Settle by steam train, which would wait in the town for three hours before heading for Carlisle. The menu, to be served in a special marquee, was the same as that served to first class passengers at Normanton for the first train leaving St Pancras for Scotland via Settle on May 1 1876.

Last week this column noted the opening of Gargrave's new school, this week it's Glusburn's turn. The school, with 165 pupils, was due to open the Easter term but headmistress Mrs W Harrison said she didn't want much fuss, merely a coffee morning.

Skipton was to lose its lecture hall in the building now known as Craven College. The sloping hall, with tiered seating and a large screen, was similar to the one used by the Royal Society and was an asset to groups such as Craven Naturalists and Skipton History Society, who bemoaned its passing. It was to be divided into two classrooms.

10 years ago

A policeman was called to Bradley School to arrest a male teacher who turned up to give the morning assembly dressed up as a woman. Children were astonished as PC Martin slapped the cuffs on John Smith - but it was all quite innocent. For it was Red Nose Day and the stunt raised £81 from the school for Comic Relief.

Craven's Planning Committee took 40 minutes to decide whether or not to hold its meeting 30 minutes earlier. A close vote decided to bring the start time forward to 1.30pm. Coun Beth Graham said: "I find it amazing that every single member of the planning committee feels it necessary to speak on every single item. It's as though they've got a virus!"

Three teachers were condemned for their "suicidal" action. Together with two youngsters in their care they set off walking from Chapel le Dale to Horton in Ribblesdale, where their minibus was parked, at 6pm as night was falling. They set off over Ingleborough without maps, torches or compass and the Cave Rescue Organisation had to be called into action. The five were found at 5.15am.

The landlord of the Fountaine Inn at Linton, Hanson Hayes, lost his battle against cancer at the age of 49.