100 years ago

THIRTY householders, known as "passive resisters" appeared in Skipton court for refusing to pay part of the rates for educational purposes. They did not mind paying the rates in general, but did resent some of the money being used to provide an education in the Anglican religion. Among them was the Primitive Methodist minister for Skipton. Magistrates refused to let them argue on the merits of their case and issued warrants to obtain the money.

A man who obtained three pints of beer from the Boar's Head in Long Preston claiming that he was in partnership with a well-known Hellifield man who was on his way to pay for the drinks, appeared before Settle magistrates. The Hellifield man said he had never met the drinker and the magistrates sent the reveller to prison for three weeks, a week for each pint.

50 years ago

TRINITY Methodist Church opened its new building, a Sunday School, in Westmoreland Street, Skipton. Plans had been drawn up in 1936, but the outbreak of war had delayed construction. It replaced a church which had opened in 1889. The biggest single contribution to the funds came from the merger of Trinity Methodists with the Mount Hermon church on Castle Street. The Castle Street building had been sold to the Salvation Army.

The West Riding Agricultural Committee stepped up its war on rabbits by giving a demonstration of a machine which pumped cyanide gas into their burrows at three sites near Settle. The arrival of myxamotisis in England had meant people had stopped eating rabbits bringing a virtual end to snaring and shooting.

Kilnsey Show went ahead after an emergency meeting to decide whether it would be prudent to cancel. August's excessive rainfall had delayed haytime, but the decision to go ahead was made and turned out to be justified in the end. Meanwhile Gargrave Show reported that it had lost £370 because of the wet weather.

A 17-year-old Settle youth was fined £2 for using bad language in Settle cinema. He had uttered an obscenity in response to a screen appeal for support for the RSPCA.

25 years ago

FIFTY firemen battled a blaze at the Woolworth's store in Skipton. The store was quickly evacuated and no-one was hurt. Woolworth's had been due to close a week later for a refurbishment and firemen said that the seat of a fire appeared to be just above a spot where workmen had been using cutting torches.

A meeting of Craven District Council discussed the June flooding which had claimed the life of a Skipton pensioner. Chief technical officer F Moulden said such a flood was a once in 100 years occurrence and blocked culverts had contributed to the flood. Coun Eric Wallace expressed his concern at the amount of rubbish dumped in streams by the public. This had been washed down by the heavy flow and added to the blockage.

Yorkshire Water Authority told Craven District Council that it would object to any houses being built in Stirton until its drainage was improved. They said that pollution from septic tanks of houses in the village was draining into local watercourses.

Tributes were paid to the chief executive of Craven District Council, Eric Gilbert Sharp, who collapsed and died while cutting the hedge at his Skipton home just a month after he had retired.

10 years ago

RAIL chiefs launched an inquiry after two quarry trains were derailed on the same day. First 11 of 20 brand new wagons were tipped over on the line just outside Skipton, spilling their load of aggregate on to the track and disrupting main line services between Leeds and Carlisle. Workmen spent all day getting the line back in operation, only for three more wagons to tip over as they were pulled clear by a locomotive. A union member blamed the double derailment on cutbacks in maintenance.

A successful Skipton business, CAP, which produced the guide to second hand car prices, was looking to leave the town where it had been born and blossomed. The business had been sold to publishing giant Emap for £17 million earlier in the year, but the new owners said the premises, on Carleton Road, were not big enough.

Settle Carnival, which had given up the ghost several years previously, was to be reinstated. A committee announced its plans to resurrect the carnival in July 1995.

Shopkeepers were ignoring pleas to remove A-boards advertising their wares in Skipton, even though they risked fines of up to £4,000. The town council said that its polite requests had been ignored and tougher action had to be taken. The county council confirmed that it had written to traders reminding them they were cutting an offence by creating a potential hazard on the pavements.

Residents of Sough, between Earby and Kelbrook, was finally on the map. Road signs were put up to mark where the community started and ended. Initially Pendle Council had said Sough was a part of Earby and not a place in its own right - but that was a red rag to a bull for Sough residents and led by parish councillor Shirley Oldfield, they finally got their recognition.