100 years ago

CONTROLLING drinkers in Earby was "no easy matter" and the Herald applauded Skipton Magistrates' decision not to allow pubs in the village to open for an extra hour. As the bulk of the population was of the "operative class" and included a fair percentage of "itinerants who were calculated to do a large amount of drinking in a very short time" it was thought best to leave the closing time at 10pm.

A ceremony to lay the foundations for the Liberal Club in Bentham took place. The new club rooms were to be built on a prominent site on the road leading from the railway station to the village. Mr TP Ford, vice-president of the Skipton Liberal Association presided over the ceremony.

Settle parish council was pursuing its rights over the market place. Its clerk had applied to the Public Record Office and found reference to a market held weekly on Tuesday in the manor of Settle as far back as 1249.

50 years ago

A gunman who shot and seriously injured a Skipton woman was still at large despite an extensive police hunt. There appeared to be no motive for the shooting and police admitted they were no closer to catching the culprit. The victim had two bullet wounds to the stomach. An intensive house to house inquiry had been conducted and thousands of statements were taken.

A gift of a seat from Glusburn women's institute to the parish council went missing the same day it was formally accepted. It was thought that someone had unofficially taken it indoors for the winter but no one could understand why as the seat had been made of material that could withstand any weather.

Gargrave was once again in full possession of a full-blown drama society and gave its first performance. It had previously only had a class but this had now blossomed into something more adventurous and permanent. They performed "Home at Seven" in the village institute. And also making a dramatic debut were Sutton Baptist Recreational Club Dramatic Society with a three-act comedy "The Wishing Well."

Linton Feast Sports were held on the village green. After the sports a tea was provided for the children in the village hall.

As a sign of how people are living longer the paper reported that Skipton's oldest resident, Harry Stowe, had died at the age of 95. Mr Stowe had lived in Skipton for over 60 years.

25 years ago

THE editor of the Craven Herald, Reg Waterhouse, died - three weeks before he was due to retire on his 70th birthday. He had joined the Craven Herald in 1925 and was still there 52 years later.

Dacre, Son and Hartley opened newly extended offices in Sheep Street. They had moved into the shop, previously occupied by jewellers J Birdsall and Son, 12 years earlier but had been in the town since before the war. Two fresh faced young men, John Padgett and Michael Westlake, were pictured happy to help customers.

A murder trial opened at Preston Crown Court after a body was dug up on a derelict farm at Clapham Woods. Richard Fawcett, a Clapham man had been puzzled by the disturbed earth and called in the police who discovered the body of a Liverpool man, allegedly murdered by a rival for his affections for a divorcee and buried in the isolated spot.

Three Airton children, Stephen, Andrew and Julie Rawlin received a reply from Denmark to a message they had left in a bottle thrown in the sea at Whitby more than a year previously.

10 years ago

SKIPTONIANS rallied to the cause of sacked postman Allan Ripley. After 26 years unblemished service he had been dismissed for delivering personal and business mail on his first round and leaving junk mail at the office until he came back to do a second round. While the Herald said he deserved a medal and most people would have been happy if he had set fire to the junk mail, the Post Office said there was no such thing as junk mail.

Settle firm Ingfield Coaches was taken to court by a football team from Halifax after the drivers dumped them and their supporters at a hotel on their pre-season tour of Germany. The coach firm won its case after telling the judge about the drunken behaviour on a "non-stop binge" and claiming their first match was postponed because the players were drunk - the footballers claimed it was too hot to play.

Residents complained that they could no longer park outside their homes in Gargrave Road because the council had painted double yellow lines on the road. He said there was no problem except when the buses stopped to pick up pupils at the two grammar schools. They said the school should create a layby on its land for buses or double yellow lines should be painted outside all the teachers' houses.

Glusburn Institute celebrated 100 years since its opening - or rather it didn't celebrate. The occasion passed without any indication whatsoever of the building's important landmark.