100 years

PIGS were causing something of a nuisance at Craven Cottages, Settle. The pigs, 17 of them, were so smelly that neighbours reported the owner to the health officer who went along to investigate. He discovered the midden and the sty to be in a dreadful state and the swill bins to be full.

A School inspector's report gave Selside school a glowing report. It said Mr Trodam's teaching was regarded so highly over the past two years that for the first time in the school's history, the maximum grant of £1.6d per head had been obtained. The report said the children were in good order and intelligently taught.

Sewage disposal at Malham and Kirkby Malham was under discussion. At Malham the bulk of sewage was discharged untreated into the River Aire and from Kirkby Malham straight into Kirk Gill Beck, and from there to the River Aire. Skipton Rural District Council held long discussions and decided that because the villages were so small and the people living there were "thoroughly healthy" there was no immediate concern.

Over at Kettlewell, the parish council received permission to erect a maypole on the village green.

50 years

THE official opening of Skipton's Old Folks' Rest Centre (now the Swadford Centre) took place, and was met with much approval. Tribute was paid to Skipton Rotary Club and the local branch of the Old Age Pensioners' Association.

A row began after clerical assistants to the headmasters of Silsden and Barnoldswick modern schools complained they were not allowed to eat school dinners. The view was that everyone who was employed in schools should be allowed to have dinner and the matter was under review. It was reported that the clerical assistants were quite willing to pay for their meals.

There were complaints that shops in the Cross Hills and Glusburn area were not getting their fair share of sweets. The Ministry of Food had been informed by Mr G B Drayson, MP for the Skipton division, that the points system used to supply shops showed that some were getting fewer supplies than others in the country. One shop at Cross Hills had to close for between three and four weeks due to a lack of confectionery.

25 years

SKIPTON court had gone metric! A traffic offence was brought to court by the police, and Chief Inspector A Applebee said he was using metric measurements in a series of traffic and transport cases. Chairman Mr A C Coe exclaimed that they would have to get conversion tables. He said: "We ourselves are not all that familiar with the metric system and some defendants still talk in old money." -- "Real money" commented a colleague, Mrs P A Jerome!

A young Skipton swimmer, Glynis Thornton, was regarded so competent in her sport that her coach said she could reach national or even international standard with training. This prompted her father to apply for exclusive use of Aireville pool in the early mornings. The council granted permission on a trial of six months.

Bantams were born in Skipton. Not a particularly unusual event you may say, but these Bantams were a group of youngsters involved in a new venture by Skipton Rugby Union Football Club. Training sessions were to be organised for boys under 13 years to learn the rules and skills of the game, under the supervision of past and present members of the main rugby club. It was hoped the Bantams would have their own clubhouse under the main rugby stand.

10 years

A TV series written by a Settle solicitor was to be filmed in Craven. Granada Television had bought the home of the late TV presenter, Russell Harty, at Giggleswick, to use as a base. The series was to be called "Capstick's Law", based on the writings of Wilson Goad, of Settle, and script-edited by Jon Finch, of Giggleswick. The story was based on a solicitor and his family during the 50s.

Settle town councillors attacked the Department of Transport, saying it was "refusing to recognise a potential problem by not providing a footbridge for pedestrians to cross the bypass at Giggleswick Station". They added that it appeared more concerned about the safety of animals, with two underpasses built nearby. But the DoT said their prediction of traffic flow would allow plenty of gaps for crossing, and that recent pedestrian counts had found none were infirm. Town councillors argued that weekend summer traffic could be "impossible" and the risk of an accident could be increased with people rushing to catch a train.

The winners of the 1988 Skipton Flower Week were announcd as the Black Horse Hotel and Toynes Furnishing Galleries.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.