Craven through the years

AN Addingham grocer appeared in court for selling adulterated preserved peas. Numerous counts of food poisoning had occurred from the food stuff which had contained copper. The case followed a number of similar incidents across the country. The defendant said that as the tin was sealed when he bought it he had no way of knowing what it contained, but the judge said that since peas were a luxury item, he should have been more careful and obtained a warranty from the supplier.

Another strange court case came from a Barnoldswick woman claiming damages after she was hit by a snowball. The snowball had been thrown in retaliation by a man who had been set upon by a number of snowballing youths. Unfortunately the victim was caught in the cross fire and was injured by a stone embedded in a snowball. The court rejected the defendant's claim of self-defence.

A runaway horse smashed through the window of a clothes shop in Keighley Road, Skipton. After escaping from its owner, the horse smashed through the thick plate glass and reduced the wooden window backing to 'matchwood'. Fortunately no-one was injured and the wounded horse survived.

50 years ago

A SETTLE housewife was astonished to find a man under the bed when she went upstairs to check on her ill sister-in-law. The homeless intruder told her that he had felt poorly and wanted a drink, but later admitted he intended to steal a coat. He had not realised the invalid was there and meant no harm to her.

A two-year-old turned up in the classroom of Barnoldswick Infant School. The press were excluded from the ensuing discussion but it appears the child had been admitted to the school on two occasions, while the mother was out of town on important business and unable to find childcare. The headteacher admitted she had made a mistake and that it was never her intention to admit the child permanently.

Craven Pothole Club welcomed Jack Longland to their annual dinner. Mr Longland was a well-known broadcaster and Everest climber.

25 years ago

Grassington residents completely rejected a parish council plan to ban cars from part of the village square. The parish council wanted to ban parking from the bottom end of the square in order to plant trees and flowers to enhance the entrance to the village. But locals voted overwhelmingly against the proposal saying they wanted to park their cars there instead. Of the village's 884 voters, 230 voted in favour of a resolution calling on the council to think again while only 13 wanted to see the ban go ahead.

Attendances at the Craven Museum in Skipton had more than halved after the introduction of admission charges. Before the charges 20,000 visitors had been through the museum in one year - but after charges that figure had fallen to 9,000. In an ominous observation, Coun JW Robinson said the council should charge for parking a car in the town, rather than entering a museum.

The national park's decision to allow a caravan park on the Duke of Devonshire's estate in Strid Woods caused widespread criticism. Ordinary farmers who had similar applications for caravan parks on the grounds that it would spoil the beauty of the countryside were cited.

The Falcon Hotel at Settle seems a snip compared to today's prices, on the market at £95,000.

The England Golf Team captain, Rodney Foster, was chief guest at Skipton Golf Club's annual dinner. Welcoming Mr Foster, guests heard that he had been invited to captain England for a further two years and it was his ambition to represent Great Britain again in the Walker Cup.

10 years ago

NEW league tables for school GCSE and A-level results published by the Government for the first time sparked protest from Craven head teachers. Diana Chambers, head of Skipton Girls' High School called them "raw, crude and meaningless" and other heads added that they did not take into account the selection system, the catchment area and were open to manipulation by the schools.

The Leeds-Liverpool canal sprung a leak in Skipton. The canal was losing the equivalent of a bucket-full of water every few seconds into the Waller Hill culvert. To avoid flooding the town, the canal had to be closed and emptied, from Belmont Bridge to Gallow's Foot Bridge, for repairs.

Work started on a new bypass which would take 6,000 vehicles away from Bolton Bridge over the river Wharfe at Bolton Abbey. Long delays were to be expected while a new bridge was built but the work would save the old traditional bridge which was feeling the strain of holding up such a heavy volume of traffic.