100 years ago

ERMYSTED'S Grammar School was selling the Dockyard in Skipton Canal Basin to the council, but it insisted on a clause in the sale forbidding the council from ever using it as a cattle market. The governors thought it was too close to the school for such purposes. The council agreed to the condition.

There was concern at the delay in accepting a grant of £3,000 from American millionaire Carnegie to build a library. The town had to raise £1,700 of the cost itself, but the Herald thought this was a reasonable bargain and wondered why there was still no word on accepting the Carnegie proposal.

After lying idle for more than 25 years, Ingleton mill was to come back into use. JP Middleditch, who formerly ran a hemp mill at Bentham, was starting hemp production in Ingleton making hose and canvas. There would be 20 jobs initially, which would be a boost in the village as there was nothing but domestic service to employ young girls.

50 years ago

A NEW levy on Sunday seats in cinemas was agreed by West Riding County Council despite fierce opposition. The council agreed to charge one penny per seat at every Sunday performance in the cinemas with proceeds going to charity. The council was accused of trying to stop cinemas showing films on Sunday by stealth.

In many churches prayers were offered for better weather, which was playing havoc with the hay crop. Many Irish casual workers were due to finish their month's contract without having been able to cut the crop. Meanwhile a Skipton Cricket Club official, pondering another afternoon stuck in the pavilion, had an explanation for the dismal weather: "It hasn't stopped raining since the grammar school put on that production of Noah!" he complained.

Sam West retired after 32 years as postman for the Clapham area, during which time he had walked and cycled more than 200,000 miles. A Cockney by birth, his son-in-law, Stanley Kay, was taking over his round.

25 years ago

JUST a few weeks after the Skipton floods, there was still a scene of devastation, said the Craven Herald. Streams and becks were strewn with tree trunks, branches and litter which would all block the watercourses during heavy rain. The district council said that responsibility for clearing watercourses lay with the owners of the land, but the Herald said it seemed no lessons had been learned.

Robert Heseltine stormed out of a Yorkshire Dales National Park meeting loudly declaring that committee members appointed by the Government should not be able to over-rule those who lived locally. The protest came after the committee turned down a three bedroom house on Skirethorns Lane. Coun Heseltine, backed by Coun Ronald Bray, of Buckden, wanted to give approval because the applicant had lived in the village for a long time and wanted the house for his own use. Coun Heseltine said elected members were accountable to the public and had to face them.

Una Stubbs, who played Alf Garnett's daughter in Till Death Us Do Part was the celebrity who opened Ingleton Gala. Barnoldswick Round Table meanwhile announced that it had secured the services of comedian Frank Carson to open its gala after Little and Large had to pull out

Hellifield residents complained about the state of their water supply. It had always been somewhat murky, but now was worse than ever, leaving brown stains on washing. People from the water board had been out to inspect, but had returned to the office saying they would "report back".

10 years ago

CRAVEN breathed a sigh of relief after a 14-year-old nicknamed "Blip Boy" because wherever he went there was a sudden rise in the crime figures, was moved out of Burnside House to a secure unit in Shropshire. Local councillors had waged a campaign to have the boy taken out of Skipton and the police had assigned officers to follow him around permanently.

Pupils from Aireville School were given a standing ovation at the Royal Theatre in London for their production of "Launching PTL". It was one of six winners from 200 entries for a competition to find the best youth theatre. Afterwards the children were pictured with Sir Ian McKellen ("Gandalf" in Lord of the Rings) and received their award from Alan Rickman, who played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the film Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. Mr Rickman promised he would return to Skipton to speak to the school about drama.

Plans to put speed bumps on the Horse Close estate in Skipton were given the go-ahead. A residents' survey showed that 85 per cent of people living on the estate were in favour of the measures to slow down traffic.

Dry weather prompted national park officers to close Barden and Embsay Moors to the public.