Craven through the years

9:38am Saturday 9th August 2008

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100 years ago

A large number of visitors enjoyed the bank holiday at Bolton Abbey. The stepping stones were a source of amusement as one of the stones near the middle had been broken by the late flood. Some ladies leapt across the gap, but in most cases they turned back. Hundreds of visitors on both sides of the river cheered the attempts and laughed as dozens fell into the water.

The Water Trustees of Long Preston purchased 360 feet of Merryweather's best canvas fire hose to be fitted with a copper stand pipe and fire nozzle. The items would be put in a case and fixed outside the Water Trustees' premises in readiness to extinguish any fires.

Kildwick Parish Cricket Cub and Kildwick and District Prize Band joined forces to hold a sports event and gala in the cricket field. The tug of war resulted in a victory for Sutton Provided School.

50 years ago

The "Glorious Twelfth" was set to be strangely silent. The start of the shooting season was looking "very bleak indeed", said the Herald. A long, cold spring had killed off many birds and those that had made it through then struggled to survive the "cold and rigorous" weather in May. The prospects were made worse by a lack of food.

Barnoldswick councillors were taking the law into their own hands. Accepting the police could not be everywhere, they decided to organise their own patrols in Victory Park following an "outbreak of hooliganism". The catalogue of wrongdoing included riding bikes where cycling was forbidden, throwing stones into the new boating pool and breaking fences.

The quick-thinking manager of a Skipton chemist's shop averted a disaster. Robert Horner was working in the cellar of the Sheep Street shop when a half-gallon bottle of ammonia burst, spreading fumes. But the Herald reported: "Mr Horner had the presence of mind to open the door to allow the fumes to disperse."

25 years ago

Work was under way to roof the west tower of Bolton Abbey Priory Church - and complete a project started more than 460 before. Initial work began in 1520, but was abandoned 10 years later when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries. Instead the tower was left open to the elements and, over the next four and a half centuries, the walls slowly deteriorated. As part of a £300,000 project to repair the tower, architect Neil Hartley designed a Gothic-style arched roof.

Overwhelming opposition was building against proposals to close the casualty department at Skipton General Hospital. The plans, drawn up by Airedale Health Authority, also included a reduction in the number of GP beds in the town. Health watchdog Airedale Community Health Council called a public meeting to "test the temperature of local reaction". It was deluged with objections - from doctors, residents, clerics, union representatives and local politicians.

Craven's new police chief, Dennis Muir, declared war on excessive drinking. A survey by Bristol University had shown that 90 per cent of crime was drink-related and Mr Muir believed if he could win the battle against excessive drinking he was half way to victory in the war against crime.

10 years ago

Army bomb disposal experts were called to Skipton's Craven Museum after a World War One grenade was found in a treasure trove of curiosities. Amazed curator Siobhan Kirrane couldn't believe her eyes when she opened a drawer in a long-forgotten cabinet and discovered a dazzling array of relics, including the 1918 grenade. Police and bomb disposal experts were called and declared the area safe. Other "treasures" included an Egyptian mummy's hand and "velvet from a stool upon which knelt King Charles I when he was beheaded".

The Government announced it was dropping plans to build bypasses around villages on the A65 in North Craven. The news was greeted with dismay in the affected communities of Hellifield, Long Preston and Gargrave. "The Government has condemned these people to absolute misery," declared local MP David Curry.