100 years ago

THE 50th anniversary of the Wesleyan Chapel, Lowgill, Bentham, was celebrated. A public meeting was held and largely attended. An interesting account was given of the history of the chapel and its founders, who had all passed away.

The Rainhall Haulage and Tourist company in Barnoldswick was booking tours for its new, up-to-date, 30-seater motor charabanc, The Queen, specially adapted for Sunday Schools, choirs and clubs.

The Long Preston maypole, which had been condemned by the parish council, was taken down. It was sound at the core, but rotten on the outside. It had been put up on October 19, 1891, was paid for by 40 subscribers and was the third to be erected on the same spot.

50 years ago

SUBJECT to conditions, an appeal was allowed by GH Mason and Sons, electrical and heating contractors, against the refusal of planning permission for the erection of a warehouse, offices and garages at the rear of their premises at 54 High Street, Skipton.

The annual Fellsman Hike, a 50-mile walk from Grassington to Ingleton, was won for the second year in succession by A Heaton, of The Pendle Forest Orienteers. The hike started on one day and finished the next. Mr Heaton set a new record time of 15 hours and 9 minutes, breaking his 1965 record by 19 minutes.

A Friesian cow was thought to have been stolen from the Skipton Auction Mart. The cow, valued at £62, was left in the shippons at the mart overnight and it was missing the following day.

25 years ago

NEW jobs were due to be created through a planned £825,000 scheme to upgrade Skipton's rail facilities. The improvements were expected to be carried out in advance of British Rail's plans to electrify the line between Leeds, Bradford and Skipton. "The whole station will be refurbished as Skipton takes on a more prominent role than it has done in the past," said a British Rail spokesman.

A 15-year-old Silsden girl won the Heather Priestman Trophy at the Wharfedale Music Festival in Ilkley. Heather Simpson, a pupil at South Craven School, impressed the judges with her flute-playing skills. She was a member of the school orchestra, entertained patients at Steeton's Airedale Hospital and performed with The Praise Makers.

Almost the whole of Earby turned out for the town's May Day Festival. Just weeks earlier, the festival had been in doubt, but the community rallied round and the event proved a success, raising more than £1,000 for local charities. "This sort of event is what Earby needs," said Dennis Mendoros, managing director of Euravia, who judged the fancy dress. "It is very good for the community."

10 years ago

RUMOURS of espionage, subterfuge and unsavoury goings-on abounded in Malham following the discovery of a sophisticated bugging device. The bug was found by Settle electrician Ian Preston, who was carrying out statutory safety checks on electrical equipment in Malham Village Hall. It was hidden inside a 13amp twin socket on the wall, inside a room used by the whole community. Alan Boatwright, secretary of the Village Hall Committee, who organised the electrical checks, said the discovery had caused a great deal of amusement and humorous speculation in the village.

A Skipton couple and their family mingled with a host of stars from Coronation Street when their son married an actress from the show. Mike and Joan Wormald's son, Jon, wed Julia Haworth, who played butcher's wife Claire Peacock. They tied the knot at St Stephen's Church in Julia's home town of Burnley. A number of the show's stars were invited to the wedding, including Kate Ford, who played Tracy Barlow, and Steven Arnold, who played Julia's on-screen husband, Ashley.

Grassington churchgoers Kenneth and Phyllis Wilson celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary. Friends and family from across Britain joined the lifelong Methodists as they marked 70 years of marriage. The couple, who were 96 and 97 respectively, met through the Methodist Church in 1933 and married in their hometown of Morley in 1936. They had two sons and two daughters as well as three grandchildren.