A SERIOUS accident occurred on Bramhope Moor at the house of a gamekeeper. The man's wife had just finished giving her son, aged six, a bath, and he was sitting on the rug in front of the fire without his clothes, while his mother went into another room for some article of clothing. A large pan of water was about boiling on the fire. Somehow the lad upset the pan, scalding himself very severely on the neck, chest, arms and left leg. His mother sprinkled flour all over him, and put him to bed. She later procured carron oil from the Manor, but the lad was in such pain he was taken to Leeds Infirmary. Later information said he is steadily progressing.

Three Yeadon youths appeared in court for obstructing a footpath. PC Ingham said he saw the three standing for ten minutes on the footpath at Ivegate, during which time nine people had to get off the footpath. They were fined 6d.

THERE was reference at the Guiseley and Menston education committee to the delay in the project for a new elementary school at Guiseley. A letter was read out that said the delay was due to the inability of the West Riding Authority to convince the board of education that the price and conditions asked by the Guiseley Urban Council were reasonable. It was added that until a site was secured, the proposed school could not be proceeded with.

Interesting figures relating to Wharfemeadows Park, Otley, were submitted to the council. Improvement works included: erection of shelter with concrete roof near paddling Pool, £180; new iron bandstand, £450; three tennis courts, £750; asphalting part of paths, £500; pump for filling bath, £120. Members raised the absolute necessity for a shelter.

The provision for Otley of new public offices, along with a free library and a fire brigade station was advocated at a Ministry of Health inquiry into the proposal to erect a public abbatoir. The council was proposing to buy a long strip of land, stretching from Bondgate to the railway station and running parallel to Station Road, but obviously they required only a small portion of this for public slaughterhouses. These, it is suggested, could be erected at the rear of the leather works in Station Road, where they would be out of sight and not spoiling other property in the neighbourhood.

WIDESPREAD inconvenience was caused by electricity power cuts during the cold spell. In the Otley district, cuts hit housewives particularly hard. Those who use electricity washing machines found - in some cases after they had made all preparations - that there was no power to work them and the family wash had to be either postponed or done by hand. Cooking for both midday and evening meals was also interfered with. At Otley Kirkgate cinema, a matinee was in progress when the power went off. Shops carried on their

business with candles stuck on the counter.

Firemen were engaged for about 30 hours in dealing with an extensive fire among corn and haystacks and outbuildings at Lindley Hall Farm, owned and farmed by Major Horton-Fawkes, of Farnley Hall. The fire was discovered about midday on Sunday and it was not until 5pm on Monday that the firemen were withdrawn. The fire, which appears to have started on the roof of a cartshed, spread across the stackyard with remarkable rapidity. At its height, the flames and smoke could be seen as far away as Leeds.

Invitations to sing at the Festival of Britain in London have been received by members of Menston Parish Church and Otley Choral Society. Menston choir has been asked to sing Evensong in the Festival Church of St John's, Waterloo Road, in July. During the festival, Evensong will be sung daily in the church by invited choirs. Otley Choral Society, along with other Yorkshire societies, will sing at the Albert Hall.

NO immediate hope of improving traffic conditions in Pool village and Arthington Lane - apart from the possibility of moving the 30mph speed limit signs - can be offered by West Yorkshire County Council, following a study of the area. After a meeting between residents and the council officials, the officials said there were not enough accidents to warrant any improvements and the cost of diverting HGVs was, in the short term, prohibitive. County Councillor David Austick said he was unhappy at the officers' findings and urged them to look again at the problem.

DISC jockey Jimmy Savile, who has had close links with Otley over the years, was amongst many visitors at an open day at Spring Gardens Old People's Home in Westbourne Drive, Otley. Jimmy made a special journey from London to attend the event.

BECAUSE of a downturn in trade, Otley paper-making company P Garnett and Sons Ltd said 42 operatives and seven staff were being made redundant. A spokesman for the company said that they had been fighting against taking the action for three or four months, but a downturn in trade meant they were just trying to delay the inevitable. At present the firm employs about 260 workpeople and staff.

ONE of the North's best-known cavers was amongst a group of eight potholers rescued from Birks Fell Cove, Buckden, at the weekend. Alan Brook, 30, of Broadway, Horsforth, was brought to safety by the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Team. One of the rescuers said

that a few minutes' delay would have meant that the

water would have filled the

passage completely and

the eight men would have drowned.