100 Years Ago

Skipton Rugby Club captain John Green played a key role in the England victory over Scotland and was reselected to play against France. Without him Skipton travelled to play Headingley in the Yorkshire Cup. There was a "pitiful" gate of just 150, put down to the Leeds v Broughton Rangers clash just down the road in the Northern Union (ie Rugby League) Challenge Cup. Skipton drew and in a midweek replay at Sandylands there was a crowd of 1,500 - Skipton's biggest for some years, although the Herald remarked that in the days of yore this attendance would have been seen as "moderate". The game again ended in a draw and, in a hastily convened meeting in the Ship Inn, both clubs agreed to play for a third time on the Saturday on a neutral venue at Ilkley.

The central call office at Greengate, Long Preston, opened with 13 subscribers. The latest installation, from Hellifield to Settle, had cost the National Telephone Company about £500. Subscribers could call anyone with the locality for one penny, but using the trunk lines for long distance calls would be considerably more.

A canal boatman so upset passers-by who spotted him beating his horse on the towpath at Gargrave with a wooden stick that he was brought before magistrates and fined 10 shillings for cruelty.

Bentham farmers agreed to start a co-operative dairy after seeing the only other one in the area, at Marton, in operation. Bentham was close to a railway station and its prospects were considered good but more subscribers were needed to raise the necessary share capital.

50 Years Ago

EMBSAY'S graveyard was almost full and a meeting of the parish was called to decide what to do. The chairman said that the owner of adjoining land had been approached but would not sell a strip of land to extend the graveyard and so there were four alternatives. The first was to reopen old graves and use them for new burials, a practice which was quite common throughout the land, the second was to end all burials and use the public cemetery at Waltonwrays, a third was for the parish to purchase a new graveyard which would cost a considerable sum as it would have to be fully enclosed and finally to ask the district council to provide a graveyard which would be open to all members of the public. In view of the sparse attendance no vote was taken and a second meeting called.

The council was considering banning parking along both lengths of Swadford Street in Skipton. The chairman of the council, Ralph Wynn, said it was regrettable that the free car park behind the town hall was so little used - if only today's council chairman could say the same!

The Ministry of Housing confirmed the house clearance order for Albert Street in Skipton. The decision followed an inquiry into the order, at which one of the principal objectors was Phyllis Crome, founder of the Topliners Club for Tall People. She ran a business supplying long length clothes for tall people from her cottage in Albert Street and called the decision outrageous. She said it would not be possible to run her business from a council house.

25 Years Ago

ALEC Wade, a Bradley farmer, was hailed as a local hero by the Herald for tackling two county council workmen who turned up to repair the road near his farm and sat in their Land Rover for three hours. The Herald poured scorn on the council's explanation that it "might" have been raining, pointing out that farmers worked through the rain - as did the council's dustbin men. The matter was discussed at a county council meeting at which Henry Tempest said if the workmen were sacked half their colleagues would be on strike. Mr Wade's response was "who would be able to tell?".

In one of those curious coincidences which sometimes occur, this week in 2006 we report on the reopening of the Sunwin Store in Skipton as Westgate. And 25 years ago this week we reported on - the opening of the Sunwin Store! Bill Roache, better known as Coronation Street's Ken Barlow, did the honours.

10 Years Ago

CHILDREN at Langcliffe School looked on in horror as hounds from the Lunesdale Hunt cornered a fox in the school playground and tore it to pieces. Many children were in tears, some too frightened to return the next day. Fur and blood was left scattered over the playground. The hunt apologised and blamed the incident on a dozen or so hounds which had peeled off from the main group to chase a second fox. Councillor Beth Graham said she would try to persuade the county council to sue the Hunt for trespass.

Department store Rackhams was given permission to expand into the former Thurston's bakery shop next door.