IT was only half in jest when one of our staff suggested we started a new column: the "in jeopardy" column.

Barely a week goes by it seems without at least one organisation warning that it needs new members on the committee, volunteers to help out or support from the local community to carry on.

Over the years there is bound to be some natural wastage, as events outlive their relevance or usefulness. But as we all it seems lead more hectic lives, the rate of events disappearing, or threatening to disappear, from the calendar seems to accelerate.

It is not just the lack of volunteers which poses a threat to many much-loved annual events. The insistence on red tape, paperwork and mind-numbing regulations have ground many committee members into submission. Plus the modern insistence that accidents do not happen, someone has to be blamed (and therefore sued) have convinced many that it just isn't worth the effort.

So with considerable sadness we report this week on the death of the Skipton Festival of Speed. In its short life it brought pleasure, colour and excitement to the town for a day, attracting huge crowds. It will be missed

We also report on the decline of Skipton Gala's procession. For a century people have made their way through the town on decorated floats but this year that will be different for, in the modern era someone might fall off and bring the lawyers into play.

The quality of the gala floats have been in a state of decline for some years. While organisers are hoping some sort of procession will take place, somehow it won't be the same.