100 years ago

A LOCAL publican entered a lion's den to win a wager of £10. The event took place in Halesowen, Worcestershire, where the man entered the cage and sang "Alice where art thou?" to a presumably bemused lion before making a speedy escape.

The case of a Silsden weaver charged with shooting with intent to kill came to the county court in this week. The man had come across a domestic servant in Swartha Lane, where she had been gathering flowers. He followed her for some time before attacking her and throwing her to the ground. The girl, also from Silsden, struggled to escape and shouted to some men working in a field nearby. Managing to get free, she ran in their direction upon which the prisoner drew a gun and shot her, grazing the side of her neck. He fired two more shots before running off. Earlier that day a witness said he had spoken to the prisoner who had told him all women should be killed off the face of the earth. The prisoner denied the charge which, if he was found guilty, would mean a life sentence.

Meanwhile another county court judge was astonished by the difference of opinion between two architects giving evidence over a boundary wall. The architects, for all their qualifications, could not agree on the thickness of the wall - one said it was three inches, another said it was many more. The judge dismissed the case due to the lack of reliable evidence.

50 years ago

A YOUNG employee siphoning petrol had caused a blaze which resulted in £25,000 worth of damage to a Skipton garage. The man seized the opportunity to steal petrol from a taxi, using a small tin, when his employer went for lunch. Knowing that the process would take a few minutes, the lad went to the lavatory leaving the tin dangerously near a gas stove. The tin fell over, the garage ignited and the man ended up in court.

Cyclists were creating a nuisance by parking in the narrow street by Skipton Town Hall leading to the main car park. The cycles, often parked in groups of four or more, were preventing cars and coaches getting into the car park. It was thought the area was popular with cyclists because of the milk bar there.

Headmaster of Ermysted's Grammar School, Mr M L Forster, declared his support for the new GCE (General Certificate of Education), despite other schoolmasters protesting in the national press. He spoke at the annual speech day about the certificate, which he felt was increasing standards and encouraging non-academic students, with a wider range of subjects to study.

25 years ago

HOT topic of the week in the Craven Herald was the proposed purchase of Whernside Manor by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee. Two governing bodies of the committee objected to the expenditure on a minority hobby, but members were determined that the area should be preserved for the pursuit of potholing. Letters to the editor presented both arguments, following the Scout Association's announcement they could no longer afford to keep the building on.

A new site where gypsies would be allowed to park was proposed in Skipton. Craven District Council suggested this would reduce the amount of prosecutions to prevent unauthorised parking in Coach Street. The authority had, until this point, tolerated the travellers as they knew any unrest caused was usually short-lived.

A record number of vintage vehicles crossed the Pennines from Manchester to Harrogate in the annual Trans-Pennine run. Some 220 vehicles took part, representing all makes and models.

10 years ago

A promotion run by Skipton Building Society and Craven District Council urging people to "swim the channel" finished in style, with a presentation to those who had contributed the most. The swimming extravaganza was held at Aireville Pool and a total of 3,094 miles were completed by Skipton swimmers. Those who took part were challenged to three feats: either to swim the distance of the channel, the length of Windermere or the length of Malham Tarn. The oldest competitor was 77 and the youngest seven-year-old Stefan Wilkinson. The average miles swum per participant was 17.

Skipton was chosen to be the host of the 10th Yorkshire Day celebrations - the first time the festival had been held in Craven. Representatives from 56 local authorities were to parade through the town, dressed in pageantry and bearing swords and maces, while visitors could enjoy a scenic vintage bus ride to Embsay Steam Railway. The celebrations were to mark the 150 years since slavery had been abolished.

Bentham Town Council received an anonymous letter signed "the younger generation", accusing them of being out of touch. The letter threatened that house parties, noise and damage to property at night would continue, if nothing was done about the lack of youth activities. The letter likened the generation gap to a war in which violence would be the inevitable result. The council protested that this was tantamount to blackmail but agreed to consider bringing back a youth disco, which had previously been stopped after problems with alcoholic drinks.