Craven through the years

THE annual general meeting of the Yorkshire Dales Railway, which ran between Skipton and Grassington, was held at the Black Horse, Skipton, with Sir Walter Morrison in the chair. He said prospects for the railway, which had opened in 1902, were good. Passenger revenue had increased by only £20 in the year but the board expected to pay its first dividend to shareholders at the next half yearly meeting.

The Herald said the guardians of Skipton workhouse must have been playing a joke when they resolved that meat must be supplied with no bones for the inmates. What next, said the Herald, oranges with no peel, potatoes without jackets? And what, it asked, had happened to the plan to find families where children could be boarded rather than kept at the workhouse? The Herald suspected that the scheme would be "quietly shelved".

W&J Slingsby Ltd of Carleton mill were before the courts for a breach of the Factory Act. An inspector found that the engines were being started at 8.20am, cutting short the half hour breakfast break by 10 minutes, a practice known as "time cribbing". The factory inspector said he thought the manager was trying to make up time lost earlier in the day by a breakdown rather than a deliberate and permanent policy of cribbing. The mill was fined 10 shillings.

The unenviable notoriety that had attached to Embsay because of tragedy and accidents was increased by the mysterious end of a young man named Athol Mason, of West Lane, who had been employed as an assistant in the village grocery. A well-built, strapping fellow in good health, he went missing and two days later his cap was found in the dam of the Crown Spindle Works. The dam was drained and his body recovered. There was nothing to show how he came to be in the water and no signs of violence. An inquest returned a verdict of "found drowned". In the past few months in Embsay a mother had murdered her child and an unmarried mother had died after drinking bleach.

50 years ago

CRAVEN was caught in a cold snap, something which puts last week's few snowflakes into perspective. At Settle courthouse solicitor DF Peacock complained at the cold and said he was applying for rum rations. He said it was inconsistent with the principles of British justice to keep defendants shivering before their case. The chairman of the bench, RG Fell, said that a request had been made to the authorities to provide heating in Settle courthouse but no action had been taken.

Elsewhere roads were blocked and many villages such as Lothersdale, Malhamdale and everywhere north of Rylstone were cut off for several days in the worst falls since 1947. Children (and teachers) must have been a lot tougher in those day as no schools were closed, although attendances were down.

Josephine Anne Charlesworth, 18-year-old daughter of Mr and Mrs CH Charlesworth of Stack House, Settle, was among the debutantes presented at Buckingham Palace. An under-matron at Malsis school, she was presented by the wife of her cousin, Commander Ian Steel RN.

The Manor House Hotel at Thornton-in-Craven was sold to Thwaites brewery by owner FT Pilkington, who had opened it nine years previously. Before that it had been a convalescent home for servicemen in World War Two.

25 years ago

PLANS to close the road to Gordale Scar on summer weekends were scrapped after opposition from locals. The Transport and Road Research Laboratory wanted the road closed and a minibus to shuttle walkers to Gordale Scar. A spokesman for the laboratory said that it was vital to control cars and prevent them damaging beautiful countryside.

The Cave Rescue Organisation, at its annual meeting in the New Inn, Clapham, heard that in the past year it had rescued its 1,000th person. The final call out of the year had been five minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve from potholers intending to see in the new year underground. The CRO had lost £1,350 in the year and would have to redouble its fundraising efforts warned the treasurer.

The National Park committee rejected plans to build six chalets behind and five chalets in front of the Buck Inn, Buckden. Also rejected was a plan to turn a vegetable store at the inn into a fish and chip shop.

10 years ago

FOUR months of upheaval were due to end as Pinder Bridge, over the canal on Keighley Road, Skipton, was about to reopen after work to strengthen the structure. Traffic had been diverted up Cavendish Street but traders in the vicinity of Sackville Street had suffered severely from a fall in trade. Also struggling due to roadworks was Cononley, where a new sewer was being laid, virtually cutting off the village. Tony Jones, landlord of the New Inn, said he had never known trade so bad in his 29 years at the pub.

Helen Hogg, the deputy head of Skipton Girls' High School lost her battle with cancer. She had joined the school in 1980.

Settle High School governors voted in favour of a name change, adding the words "and Community College" to the title. In a statement they said that it "more properly reflected the school's aims and objectives."