100 years ago: Ticket holders who had been granted access to Skipton Castle Wood were being urged to assist in keeping order. RB Barrett, of Skipton Castle, had written to the Herald in an attempt to stop wanton damage and mischief. He said the previous week a pheasant and a duck's nest were raided, the eggs being within days of hatching. He added that it was likely many others had been similarly damaged. On the previous Friday three boys had been caught red-handed robbing a thrush's nest and were being dealt with by the police. Mr Barrett feared Lord Hothfield would eventually close the wood to everyone.

Another letter in the paper spoke of the decline of British birds in general - a problem which is causing great concern even today. Boys and youths were blamed for the destruction of nests and for taking thousands of eggs to add to their collections. The writer said many singers were becoming increasingly scarce, particularly the red and grey linnets and gold crested wrens. The goldfinch and bullfinch were also rarely seen in the surrounding woodland.

Otter hunting by the Kendal Otter Hounds had taken place in the district. The pack had visited Clapham, and it was hoped it would also come to Skipton after fish watchers reported seeing several otters between Carleton stone bridge and Cononley. How strange, we are now taking positive steps to entice otters back to these parts.

50 years ago: Birds were also the subject of discussion 50 years ago after an owl was found beaten with a stick in Harper's Wood, Sutton. Its two chicks had been left to starve. Sutton boys were allegedly the culprits and there were strong protests from the Cross Hills Naturalists' Society.

The season's abundant and heavy crop of spring lambs was likely to cause problems for Craven's farmers. Many had been turned out on to the moors with many more still to go and it was felt the area was being overstocked to the detriment of the sheep.

Skipton Round Table, inaugurated the previous autumn and said to have already done good work in the town, received its official charter. Chairman JP Mewies, who presided at the Co-operative Hall gathering, said it was now a member of the National Association of Round Tables of Great Britain and Ireland.

25 years ago: Craven's rating system, which was introduced during the reign of Elizabeth 1 as a means of taxation, was "out of date, anachronistic and should be abolished". DM Jordan, of Settle, at one of Craven District Council's meetings in Skipton, said the rating system was peculiar in that only a quarter or a third of the people living in the district were actually ratepayers. The majority were not but still received services. No less than 60 per cent of the cost of local government came from rate support grants, while domestic ratepayers contributed 15 per cent.

Glusburn schoolboy, 13-year-old Russell Newton, caused a sensation during the final round of cricket's Wynn Cup. He had batted number nine for Glusburn and was eventually dismissed just two short of his half-century, which included one six and seven fours. He and his unnamed partner put on 67 for the ninth wicket.

Scouting in South Craven was said to be in very good heart. The annual meeting of the South Craven District Scouting Council heard membership was up from 313 to 328. This was mainly due to the reformation of the 4th Skipton (Ermysted's) Group led by Barry Rawson.

10 years ago: Poor weather could have been responsible for a low turnout of visitors to Skipton Young Farmers' 45th annual show, but morale was high. Entries equalled the previous year and the show did not make a financial loss.

Ingleton residents were said to be living in fear of a "hippy invasion" every August Bank Holiday and steps to end the annual gathering near the village were being looked at.

Each year a group of so-called hippies met at Ribblehead to celebrate the Bank Holiday and created fear in the village, said Coun McCabe at the annual meeting of the Craven Branch of the Yorkshire Local Councils Association. The celebrations were said to take the form of a pop concert beneath the viaduct, drawing around 1,500 people. The lack of police presence in the village was the main concern. Local farmers were said to be so incensed that they had taken to shooting the visitors' dogs when they strayed on to their land.

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