100 years ago

THE medical officer painted a bleak picture of Austwick and called for action to improve the sanitary state of the village. It had a population of 464 people living in 111 houses. There were no back to back homes, nor cases of overcrowding, but 29 houses had no back door, some were defectively ventilated, 13 had unsound roofs and there were 28 cases of damp. In addition, there was no proper system of main sewerage with only nine water closets in the whole village.

The Christmas window dressing competition run by the Skipton Traders' Association had produced attractive displays. There were 27 entries in seven classes. The classes gave a good insight into the diverse range of local businesses. They were: drapers, milliners, baby linen, dryers and cleaners; tailors and clothiers, hatters, bootmakers and saddlers; grocers, spirit merchants, confectioners, flour and corn merchants, sweet shops, tea shops and druggists; jewellers and china merchants; stationers and toy shops; ironmongers, furniture dealers, plumbers, tinners and tubbers and picture dealers; greengrocers, butchers and fruitiers.

50 years ago

IT was a miserable Christmas weather wise as more than an inch of rain fell on Christmas Day. Boxing Day was a little better - half an inch fell. Meanwhile at the Post Office there was a general decrease in the amount of mail handled, in line with the rest of the country.

The busiest day was on December 20 when 51,000 items of mail were handled. The previous year on the busiest day 60,000 items went through the post. The decline was put down to the rise in the cost of a stamp.

A Barnoldswick woman retired after working as a weaver from the age of 12 to 60. Mrs FJ Howarth finished her career at Wellhouse Mill for James Slater. Having lost her husband in World War One, she had decided to retire to Blackpool.

25 years ago

THE first housing development to be built by Craven District Council was officially opened at Clifford Court on Broughton Road, Skipton, on land reclaimed from the demolition of 32 back to back houses. First tenants to move in were Jill and Keith Procter, who moved from a flat in Grassington. The development had cost £199,000.

Winifred Lowcock retired as deputy head at Greatwood School, where she had been since it first opened. She had served under three heads, Mr Rawson, Mr Middlemiss and Jack Cross and during her time there 1,430 children had passed through the school.

A thousand cavers and cave scientists from all over the world were due to head to Craven for the Seventh International Speleological Congress. The congress involved a visit to Gaping Ghyll and other caves in the Horton-in-Ribblesdale area.

10 years ago

A MAN died in the heavy rain and floods over Christmas. The man was trying to rescue a canoe which had become lodged on an island at Ghaistrill's Strid near Grassington. Police said a rope had been fixed across the river and the deceased had used it to get to the canoe but had got into difficulties on the way back.

A crowd estimated at between six and seven hundred attended an "acid house" party at Linton camp. They started arriving at 2am for the third such event in as many weeks. Their vehicles blocked the Grassington to Burnsall road and while police were called, no arrests were made. There were fears that lives could be lost as the camp was a dangerous building.

An Earby man rescued his 11-month-old son from a house fire in his bedroom. John Hawthorn was at home in Victoria Street when he was alerted by his son's screams. He opened the door to be met by a sheet of flame but he rushed in and carried his son, James, to safety. The baby suffered burns to arms and legs but they were described as superficial.

Earby cricketer Glen Chapple signed to play for Lancashire from July of the next year - just as soon as he had completed his college exams.He signed just before flying out with England under-19s to tour Pakistan.