Pick of the Past

12:46pm Friday 9th November 2007

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100 years ago

GUNPOWDER Plot Day had many interesting associations with Skipton, said the Herald. Up to about the 1830s, it was considered one of the greatest days of the year and the bells of the parish church were rung at the expense of the parish. The ringers received seven shillings for their labours. And old records showed that in 1749, huge boughs of oak were carried to the top of church steeple and attached to the pinnacle of the weather vane.

Concerns were raised about the lack of signposts on the road from Malham Tarn to Kilnsey. The road was nearly all through pastures and green lanes in a lonely district, interspersed by crossroads. There was nothing to indicate which to follow, which, the Herald said, was a state of affairs which might prove dangerous to travellers.

A surveyor recommended the purchase of a stone breaker in order to facilitate the working of local quarries. It was pointed out that by using machinery, the quarry could save one shilling to 1s 3d per cubic yard. At present, half the stones used in the roads were procured from quarry owners who used machinery. But it was said that anyone who had experience of highways knew that hand broken stones were superior to those broken by machinery.

50 years ago

A PLAY entitled "The Gay Dog" was performed at Skipton Town Hall. The Craven Herald's report said that the performance by the Skipton Players "soon had everyone chuckling then roaring with laughter". The article went on to explain: "the Gay Dog has nothing to do with any man about town' or general gaiety. It is the story of a greyhound that belonged to a Mr Jim Gay."

A former steeplechase jockey who had ridden in the Grand National missed death "by a second" when he jumped out of a moving lorry. The coal wagon driven by Alan Benson went out of control when the brakes failed while descending a steep hill on the A65 through Coniston Cold. The jockey jumped out a second before the wagon hit a railway bridge, which left the cab completely crushed.

25 years ago

BARNOLDSWICK coach operator Tyrer Tours had a lucky escape when one of its coaches carrying a party of children caught fire. Sparks began flying from the coach's engine bay as it was driving through Cross Hills on the return leg of an ice skating trip to Bradford. The driver managed to get the 40 children on board off the bus before it was completely gutted by flames.

Angry residents stormed out of a Craven Council meeting at which they were protesting over the controversial car parking charges for Skipton Town Centre. The council was considering the minutes of a committee meeting which had proposed continuing charges in Skipton's main car park and introducing them in Waller Hill and Keighley Road car parks. More than 50 people attended the meeting to lobby councillors and present a petition with almost 5,000 names calling for free parking for Craven ratepayers.

Littondale's new village hall was opened - by the same man who had opened the previous hall almost 60 years earlier. Michael Hammond-Maude was just a young child when he carried out the original honours in 1923.

10 years ago

HOPES of a spectacular fireworks display and bonfire in Skipton's Aireville Park were extinguished after claims that council red tape had poured water on the event. Skipton Round Table said that the group had been unable to raise money for the event while it waited for the go-ahead from Craven District Council. But the authority said it had to scrutinise the arrangements after the previous year's bonfire caused considerable damage to the park. The authority also claimed Skipton Round Table had failed to communicate its problems to the council.

A Skipton family said they were glad to be alive after a fire swept through their Western Road home. Eddie Butlin told the Herald how he had to drop his infant daughter from a bedroom window into the arms of his wife, Sylvia. She had fled the flames via the back door while "carrying her baby boy with her hair on fire".