Millennium celebrations

At Crag Delph Nook, at Sutton, a millennium beacon was lit at the stroke of midnight to coincide with lighting of the beacon at London's Millennium Dome.

North Yorkshire county councillor Tim Cole, from the Sutton Conservation group which organised the beacon, was one of those given the honour of lighting the impressive beacon. He said the crowd of 100 to 150 people made for a memorable few moments.

He added: "It was marvellous. A very good community atmosphere."

Cllr Cole said: "We then had the fireworks display that carried on up the valley. The valley just exploded into fireworks and we had a ringside seat as it were."

One couple had more reason than most to feel jubilant as the clock struck midnight. James McAdam, 22, popped the question to his girlfriend, Gill Fozard, 19, as the beacon was lit. To the delight of the crowd Gill said yes and James duly slipped a diamond ring on to her finger.

Gill said: "It's gorgeous. I sort of knew he was going to ask me, but I didn't know when, and this is so special."

One Oakworth family decided the dawn of the new millennium was the most significant moment and got up early to see the sun rise at Penistone Hill, near Haworth.

Teachers Mark and Anita Hankinson took their two daughters, Jenny, 13, and Sally, 7, to see the momentous occasion as the sun rose on a new era.

Mrs Hankinson said it was a magical moment as, at around 8.30am, the sun first peered over the horizon.

She said: "We had only had four hours sleep but we dragged ourselves out of bed and it was worth it. It was absolutely silent and still and very cold - there were only a handful of people up there but it was a wonderful moment."

In Keighley town centre people celebrated New Year in the time honoured tradition of drink, drink and more drink. The town's pubs and clubs were packed as people said farewell to the 20th century and hello to the 21st.

North Street night club Club 101 was heaving, although organisers admit that it was not their busiest of nights.

A spokesman for the club said that, although it was not the club's most successful night "It was not as bad as we thought it might be".

The club, which usually entertains about 700 on a Friday night, had around 450 people strutting their stuff on the dance floor on New Year's Eve.

Four revellers who certainly enjoyed themselves at Club 101 were Joanne Myers, 25, and Chris Hardy, 19, both of Keighley, Fiona Graystone, 25, of Crosshills, and Jonathon Hanson, 18, of Lumley.

Joanne said: "We've been doing a lot of drinking, dancing and kissing. It's been great."

Drinkers at the Rat Trap also raised a glass to the new millennium. Paula Minnikin, of Oakworth, and friends Nicola Mannion and Maria Riaria, from Manchester, said they all had a "fab" time.

Paula said: "We've been round all the pubs and then here and it's been excellent. We've kissed everyone and said "Happy New Year".

She joked: "I can't wait for the next millennium."

Overall Keighley police claim New Year's Eve was a great success, with a great deal of high spirited but well behaved celebrating.

Sgt Allan Gee, of Keighley police, said Millennium Eve was very quiet. He added: "People managed to enjoy themselves without getting into trouble. From our point of view we're very pleased."

This seems to have been the trend for not only the Keighley area but for the whole of West Yorkshire and indeed the whole country.

Assistant chief constable Phillip Brear, who was in charge of policing the millennium celebrations in West Yorkshire, said that on New Year's Day he was very pleased with how the previous evening's festivities had gone.

He said: "In policing terms the move into 2000 was a great success in the county.

"Celebrations in the county were often noisy, with plenty of fireworks to mark the occasion but very good humoured with few incidents of note.

"In Leeds city centre, for example, officers commented on how well behaved and co-operative the public were, a situation reflected throughout West Yorkshire. What few incidents occurred were the type we might expect on any typical Friday night - the odd pub fight or assault - but the number of such incidents were small compared to the thousands of people celebrating.

"In many ways it was a surprisingly quiet evening though, as expected, there were more calls received than on an average Friday night. Between 11.30pm on New Year's Eve and 12.30am on New Year's Day, we received about 200 999 calls, an increase of about 40 per cent on an average Friday night.

"Initial figures show about 180 arrests for mainly minor offences, compared with 170 last last New Year's Eve.

"Lengthy preparations by the force prevented any technical problems due to the millennium bug and we had sufficient officers to ensure the county was policed effectively throughout the night."

Mr Brear added: "I would like to extend a personal thank you to the public of West Yorkshire, to our own staff who worked through the night and to all those who helped make this a memorable evening for all the right reasons."

Accident and Emergency staff at Airedale Hospital had expected a rush of casualties but were pleasantly surprised at how calm everything seemed. The extra provisions and increased staffing levels which had been provided for the evening proved unnecessary as the expected influx failed to materialise.

A spokesman for the hospital said the accident and emergency department was no busier than any other New Year's Eve and only slightly busier than an average Saturday night.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.