100 years ago:

A SELECT company of Earby admirers met at the Cross Keys, East Marton, to spend an evening with Robert Burns. The proceedings were inaugurated by a knife and fork tea followed by a convivial evening.

The inhabitants of Broughton got up a tea party to collect a fund for the relief of the poor in Belgium. The affair was a great success. Over 120 sat down to tea and enough was left over to provide tea for about 50 children the following evening. The sum of £3 6s 6d was made.

The annual meeting and dinner of the Bentham and Clapham Anglers' Association was held at the Brown Cow Hotel, Bentham. The association had, along with other societies, had a very bad year on account of the dry summer.

50 years ago:

SETTLE Rural Council discussed the problem of dogs being allowed to run free on council estates. It was alleged that dogs were getting into gardens and ruining plants and vegetables.

The impending closure of railway stations in South Craven put a cat well and truly amongst the pigeons. Pigeon racing clubs were studying hard to find the best and cheapest means of conveying their birds to the nearest stations for dispatch in the summer.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Appeal was ventilated at a meeting of Skipton Rural Council. The council had set a fundraising target of £1,500 and hoped parish councils would do what they could for the appeal.

25 years ago:

THE future of Settle Carnival was in jeopardy - without new committee members and helpers the event would be lost. "It definitely won't go ahead next year if we do not get some new people," said secretary Sue Ashwell. "We desperately need more people on the committee and more helpers on the day." Mrs Ashwell said that this year's event would take place, but there would be no expensive attractions.

The smiling face of toddler Claire Smith won her a place in the final of a national children's portrait competition. The 18-month-old, of Aire View, Silsden, beat off competition from 87,000 other youngsters to become one of six finalists in the TV Times Child of the Year contest. And while she did not take top honours, she did not come away empty handed. She won a portrait of herself, a £100 cheque, £100 on vouchers and, perhaps more importantly, a cuddly teddy bear.

Skipton's 17-year-old Jimmy Mason won a bronze medal in the AAA's annual indoor championship. He was competing in the junior men's shot-put at the event, which was staged at RAF Cosford, near Wolverhampton. Jimmy, of Raikeswood Road, was a student at Craven College and a member of Leeds City Athletics Club. He was already Northern Counties Indoor Champion and Yorkshire Champion.

10 years ago:

CRAVEN'S first dispersal orders were getting a mixed reaction from campaigners and the police. Police said the Skipton order had been enforced 22 times since it was introduced in December. However, they admitted that the problem with anti-social and violent youths had not died down. Community safety sergeant Cris Pappin said: "It is a good tool but the problems are still there."

Skipton town centre ground to a standstill as taxi drivers held a go-slow protest. Thirty drivers from different firms jammed the High Street and surrounding roads for two hours by driving at low speed through the town. They were showing their opposition to Craven District Council's plan to introduce an extra Driving Standards Agency test. The taxi drivers had also drawn up a petition and staged a protest outside Skipton Town Hall.

High Bentham's overcrowded primary school could be replaced, it was announced. David Ireton, the county councillor for the area, revealed the news at Bentham Town Council. "High Bentham School is not big enough and clearly needs additional classrooms," he told the Herald. "It is a case of do we extend what is already there or do we look at building an entirely new school." The local education authority eventually went for the latter option and the new school is due to open tomorrow.