Look! It’s Potato Sooty!

Anyone travelling through Long Preston at 30mph today is adhering to the speed limit, but 100 years ago, it was considered break-neck speed. Following ‘motor controls’ in the area, presumably an early form of speed traps, motorists who previously had been tearing through at speeds of 30 or 40mph, were now travelling at a much safer pace, reported the Craven Herald of August, 1913. But despite the majority behaving themselves, there were still some cases of ‘reckless’ driving – and what appears to be early road rage. A motorcyclist, it was reported, was on his way to Settle, tearing along at 40mph and in hot pursuit, a ‘powerful’ motor car. Neither motorcyclist or car driver were keen to give way and so, the pair of them continued on the road to Settle, inches away from each other – and for a full minute. And it wasn’t just car and motorcyclists causing problems on the roads. Drivers of horse-drawn wagons were inconsiderate of other road users, taking the middle ground, or even the wrong side of the road. The paper did however, praise those attending a motoring event at Ingleton. Of the great numbers that travelled to witness the hill climbing trials, the great majority went at a reasonable speed.

A couple in their 60s passed through Craven as they travelled from Devon to the Lake District using nothing more than their free pensioners’ bus passes. Michael and Jacqui Burden managed to take in Skipton, Settle and Ingleton as they spent eight days meandering 500 miles from their home in the South West to Carlisle. “Journey from Skipton to Settle was spectacular,” they said in their travel diary. “Took the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail, a 4.5 mile walk to visit eight waterfalls and scenery, some of the most beautiful in northern England.” In all, the couple hopped on board 28 buses with 15 bus companies, saving themselves £120.85 per person.

Birthday celebrations are regular highlights of the “Mon-Fri” group at Austwick Tennis Club. A glass of wine and a few tasty delicacies often enliven a morning’s play. It is not, however, a frequent occurrence to celebrate more than 200 years years of life at one event. But the club did just that earlier this month when members Arthur Riley, Pam Meuller and Rod Meredith shared 202 years! To mark the occasion, a special cake was made.

Clear diction and correct speech was once something to aspire to, but its demise is reflected in the fall in the number of people who enter the speech and drama classes at Skipton Music Festival. This year they were dropped. So the organisers are approaching from a different tag. They have scrapped the competitive element and want the event to be seen as a “fun performance.” The festival kicks off on Monday, March 17, next year, but no time or date has been set for the classes to give time to see if people take the bait. Sheila Burman, syllabus secretary, said: “There will be no competition. People should just book the length of time they need, five, ten or more minutes, and come along. Perhaps a few keen students would like to write a poem and come and recite it? Or maybe they have opinions on a subject which they would like to air? We can provide the soap-box!” An expert will be booked to provide feedback and a certificate presented to mark the event. People interested should enter by Autumn half term and provide more details by January so the programme can be planned. More information on skiptonmusicfestival.com or 01756 798259 – mobile 077181.

A classroom assistant and her teacher colleague are celebrating a welcome double whammy – both have given birth to twins! Sharon Nelson, from Steeton and Eve Roche, from Oxenhope, discovered they were pregnant within days of each other. And the two women, who work at Parkwood Primary School, Keighley, went on maternity leave on the same day. Classroom assistant Sharon, 22, and her husband Chris are the proud parents of non-identical twin girls – Skyla and Lola. Sharon said she had been due to have her twins induced on July 29, but instead the girls decided to arrive earlier than expected, on July 13. She said that despite this surprise she made it to Airedale Hospital in time for the birth, and added that both girls were very well. “Me and Eve had been joking and saying wouldn’t it be funny if we both had twins,” she said. “Eve said there was no chance of that because she’d no history of twins in her family. “So when we found out she was having twins as well we just laughed. It’s a massive shock.” Sharon added her own twin daughters were less unexpected as she has twin uncles and her mother-in-law is a twin. Teacher Eve, 34, gave birth to Eddie and his twin sister Heidi at Airedale Hospital on July 28. She and partner Jakke Percy already have a two-year-old daughter, Esme.

The shire horse competition at Gargrave Show had a ‘continental feel’ about it this year as a man came all the way from Holland to serve as a judge. Jan Verhoeven, 46, was a probation judge at Saturday’s show. It was his fifth English show as a novice judge, and he will travel to London next weekend to judge one more show before being assessed to receive a judge’s qualification. Mr Verhoeven, who has imported 50 shire horses to his farm in southern Holland, came to this year’s show because he knows long-time Gargrave Show judge, Lew Harrison, who has judged shire horses in several countries on the continent. “Jan will make a good judge, no doubt about it,” said Mr Harrison. “For generations my family has owned horses,” added Mr Verhoeven. “I’ve been coming to England since I was three years old. He used to buy horses here.”