Craven through the years

WIGGLESWORTH and Long Preston schools had to close 100 years ago this week due to an outbreak of mumps and whooping cough.

A fire broke out at Slingsby's Mills in Carleton. The fire started in the cotton mixing room and ignited two large bins of loose cotton. Workers at the mills managed to quench the flames using buckets of water and contraptions describd as fire "extincteurs".

West Riding Police issued a stern notice to boys and youths roaming hillsides and woods in the fine weather to stay away from birds nests and not steal the eggs.

A woman who had impersonated a man for 40 years and married a lady's maid was imprisoned for obtaining money through false pretences.

Meanwhile, a 63-year-old man charged with being drunk and disorderly caused a stir when he appeared in court - he was eight feet two inches tall and proportionally broad. Apparently the constables who had arrested him were diminutive in size.

50 years ago

A suggestion from a Craven Herald reader for the Festival of Britain was the revival of village cricket. The demise of the game and the quality of the pitches in Craven were lamented by the Herald and it was felt that some encouragement was needed to get local lads back on the green.

Farmers in 1951 were reported as suffering "bleak futures" after continuous wet weather meant the sheep were in poor condition just before lambing. The Herald noted that a lot of the sheep in the district had a "dull black look".

Boys at Silsden Secondary (Modern) School surprised county and district councillors by their enjoyment of new domestic science lessons. One boy had already decided to be a chef and a lot of the boys seemed to enjoy cooking and baking.

A public meeting was held in Grassington to discuss whether the village's Main Street should be covered with tarmac instead of cobbles because of their unsatisfactory condition.

25 years ago

CAR parking remained free in Skipton town centre after Craven District Council proposed not to apply national guidelines on parking charges. It was felt that as it was, Skipton did not have the type of shops and facilities to attract enough tourists into the area and free car parking was one of the town's main attractions (try telling that to the council these days!). The Craven Herald endorsed the decision, arguing that it was unfair to charge local rate payers for car parking and discouraged people from visiting the town after the building of the two new bypasses.

Gargrave school pupils returned after half-term to new premises in Neville Road. Some 160 infant and junior pupils enjoyed an extra two days attached to their holidays while teachers moved all the furniture across from the previous two schools on Broughton Road and Skipton Road. The first cutting of the sod had been in October 1974 and the opening showed the fruition of one-and-half-years of work to build the Gargrave CE (VC) Primary School. The original schools reverted back to the church.

A Barnoldswick factory received an unusually large delivery in the form of a 72 feet long, 26 ton solvent recovery plant, which was delivered by police escort. Gissing and Lonsdale Ltd of Wellhouse Road, bought the plant after it was sold off from a company down south.

10 years ago

BRAVE steeplejacks mounted a 220 feet mill chimney at Kingsley Cards, Skipton to stick a huge red nose on it for Comic Relief. The nose could be seen towering above the roof tops and church spires. There was even talk of flood lights so that it could be seen in the dark.

The head of a local school and the manager of a bank swapped jobs for the day. Diana Chambers, headmistress at Skipton Girls' High School, learnt how to manage a bank while Alan Huck, manager of Barclays, learnt to control school children. The idea was to foster links between industry and schools.

Meanwhile pupils from Settle Middle School joined David Bellamy at Rochdale to celebrate the planting of a million trees by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. The children joined pupils from nine other schools in Lancashire and Yorkshire to plant a new woodland and watch Dr Bellamy plant the one millionth tree.

Children at Parish Church School in Skipton entertained family and friends using large papier-mache puppets of Jesus and characters from the Bible. The puppets, which were larger than some of the children, were manipulated by rods and the event raised money for the charity World Vision, which helps children by sponsorship of their educational or health needs.