100 years ago

At a meeting of the West Riding Education Committee, a petition signed by 20 Cononley parents was presented, calling attention to the fact that there was only one elementary school in the township available for the education of their children - Cononley Church of England School. The petitioners said they wanted their children to be educated at a public elementary school provided by the local authority rather than the church.

An interesting entertainment was provided in the new schoolroom at Carleton, consisting of cinematography and lantern pictures. The event was overseen by Alfred Hartley, headmaster of the National School, in Skipton.

50 years ago

A BARNOLDSWICK scrap merchant was embroiled in a fight with what he called the "state machine" after refusing to pay his National Insurance contributions. The trader argued that the Government had no right to make him pay the fees and drew comparisons with George Orwell's then-new masterpiece, 1984. After ignoring demands, police and bailiffs raided his business premises, leading him to put together a detailed file arguing that the action was illegal. He told the Herald how he and his wife were watching 1984 as a play and she turned to him and said: "That's what they are doing to you. The state machine is Big Brother."

A modern-day Shylock was imprisoned after he put a young boy up to stealing from slot machines in Grassington Square. The youngster was spotted emerging from behind the machines by two police officers with 3s 6d in his pockets. The defendant was jailed for three months.

It appears Britain's compensation culture was as prevalent in 1950s' Craven as it is today, after a man tried to sue after he tripped on the pavement. The man suffered a broken ankle after falling outside a hairdresser's shop, in Settle, and the injury kept him off work for five weeks. He tried to claim a gully outside the shop, which had caused him to trip, was defective. The gully was the shop's responsibility, but the man lost his case after Skipton County Court heard from a blacksmith who said he had repaired it just months before. A judge described the claim as "making a mountain out of a molehill".

25 years ago

A car chase through the villages of Upper Wharfedale left a trail of destruction and led to a string of vehicles being stolen by fleeing criminals. Two vehicles were written off by the stolen car, which was chased by police before it smashed through the gate of Linton Church and knocked over headstones. The stolen car was then abandoned, but another car was stolen from Linton Residential School before that was abandoned in Threshfield, where a third car was taken. This, in turn, was abandoned by the joyriders in Kettlewell, where a fourth car was stolen.

A Cononley man ate a policeman's helmet when he was arrested, Skipton magistrates heard. The officer told the court the man had grabbed his helmet from the police car and began chewing it to pieces. However, he had been allowed to carry on because "it seemed to pacify him". Representing himself in court, the man challenged the officer to a boxing match, before saying: "In future I will be a spineless, gutless and apathetic citizen."

10 years ago

A horse rider's plea for the RAF to restrict low flying over the Dales after her horse was repeatedly "spooked" was rejected by the MoD. Alison Crisp, from Malhamdale, said she had almost been killed several times when tree-scraping jets caused her horse to panic. She wrote to Whitehall asking for measures to be put in place to protect riders, such as agreed times for flying or prior warning, but the MoD said such measures would be impractical.

An Earby woman was protesting after a council fenced off a private gate between her garden and her adjoining allotment. As a result, the woman, who had tended the patch for 20 years together with her father, faced a lengthy walk from her Spring Mount home and down three streets to reach it. Earby Parish Council said it had to take the measure to prevent confusion over access to the land.

11:58am Friday 26th October 2007

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