9:00am Saturday 2nd January 2010
The past year had been a good one for trade in Earby. The stable trade of cotton manufacturing had been in a depressed state, but local manufacturers were able to keep running full-time. A wages dispute had occurred at the Victoria Mill. The spinners had demanded an increase in wages, but the employers, the Walden Spinning Co, had not accorded to the demands made. As a result, a strike and lock-out occurred.
Skipton Naturalists recorded a fine specimen of a black water vole at a stream near Bolton Abbey. This local colony of melamic water voles had been known to exist for half a century by two generations of local farmers, who had supposed them to be “old English black rats”.
Another fancy dress carnival took place at the Olympia Skating Rink in Skipton. There was a good attendance of skaters and, with a good programme of music, a happy time was spent.
A landmark horse trough and lamp standard in Gargrave, erected in the square in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII, was wrecked by a motor car. The cast iron memorial, which had stood for almost six decades, was known as The Gawmless and was not likely to be replaced – at any rate in the same form.
Fears that a dry winter might mean the water shortage of 1959 would continue into 1960 had been dispelled by heavy rain, which had fallen since the drought broke early in November. Statistics showed that rainfall in November and December was around twice the average. The Craven Water Board reported that the reservoirs were mostly full.
A public inquiry would decide whether picturesque Rainhall Rock, in Barnoldswick, would become the town’s tip of the future. Controversy arose when a number of residents in the Rainhall area petitioned the council against the proposal.
Two climbers were stranded on the face of Malham Cove for more than three hours. The men ran out of equipment after climbing several hundred feet up the picturesque cove. The alarm was raised after their lights were spotted by a visitor. Twenty members of the local rescue group responded to the call and rescued the two men, who were uninjured.
A Skipton construction company won orders worth more than £4.2 million. BB Kirk (Construction) Limited had been awarded six new contracts, all of which had to be completed within the next 12 months.
Silentnight said farewell to two of its most respected employees, who had together given 50 years’ service to the Barnoldswick beds company. Jack Clarke – the brother of the founder, Tom Clarke – stepped down as returns officer and Muriel Aston had worked in the canteen at Moss Shed. Company director Arthur Beattie said it was the end of an era.
Skipton Railway Station won a national heritage award. It was presented by the Heritage Railway Association and recognised efforts to preserve Britain’s unique railway heritage. The station took the Ian Allen National Railway Heritage Modern Railways award – the highest accolade. The station had benefited from a new concourse area and improvements had been made to the ticket office and car park.
Doctors and nurses were being kept busy in the battle to fight colds and flu before the millennium celebrations began. Fisher Medical Centre practice manager Jenny Hutchinson said the surgery had been contacted by between 50 and 100 people a day, all with similar symptoms. “It has been absolute chaos. It is very very rare that all the phone lines are blocked, but they have been constantly,” she said.
Upper Wharfedale pupil Oliver Hornsey was making his mark in the acting world. He had landed a role in the Dick Whittington pantomime being staged at the Alhambra in Bradford. It was a professional production, starring Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley and the Chuckle Brothers.
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