100 years ago

Carleton Water Company had been pressed by the Rural District Council to concrete the bottom of Carleton reservoir. Letters of complaint about the bad state of the water and the lack of supplies had been received from many residents. It prompted one resident, Mrs Lloyd, to send a sample away for analysis. It came back saying it contained a high level of albuminoid ammonia which indicated a presence of organic matter probably of vegetable origin in the water and should not be used for drinking purposes. It was thought that because the reservoir was shallow, any mud on the bed was contaminating the water.

Other villages were suffering from poor water supplies with residents in Gargrave complaining they hadn't had a regular supply in weeks. Some people were reputed to have been carrying water from the River Aire.

At Skipton workhouse, the boiler attendant went before the board to ask for more money. The former inmate received 2s 6d per week and out of that had to feed and clothe himself. He had informed the board that he needed a change of clothing but could not afford any. He was subsequently kitted out and given other items, but no wage increase

50 years ago

STREET lighting in post-war Skipton was deemed inadequate and complaints were made to the Urban District Council. Gargrave Road seemed to be the worst affected area, so much so, that a lady was prompted to write to the Streets and Buildings committee.

The council had been informed that the town's street street lighting was running at 85 per cent of its pre-war total. To be specific, 542 out of 641 lights were lit, which, it was claimed, meant Skipton was faring much better than many other towns throughout the country. This was because the nation was having to be thrifty with its gas and electricity supplies and was not meant to be using more than 75 per cent of the pre-war total.

Where were yesterday's enterprising housewives? asked the Herald in an article. It was referring to the bumper crops of hedgerow fruit and berries and the fact that they were not being picked as readily as in earlier days. It was said people used to flock to the lanes with tins and bags to pick blackberries, bilberries, hazel nuts and crab apples. Some organised groups of Women's Institute members could still be seen gathering rose hips for a national scheme (perhaps because of its high vitamin C content) but in general the wild harvest was not being taken advantage of.

25 years ago

SOME 200 banner-brandishing residents of Eastburn held up traffic on the busy Keighley to Kendal trunk road in demonstration mood.

The protest had been organised to coincide with the tea-time rush-hour traffic in support of the residents' demand for a pelican crossing. Three five-minute blockades had been set up, action which had the support of all the local councils.

Threshfield saw the official opening of the first Roman Catholic Church to be built in the Yorkshire Dales since the time of the Reformation. The 200 seater building had taken around a year to build at a cost of £30,000 and was specially designed to be sympathetic to the surrounding dales landscape. Its altar was consecrated by the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Rev William Fordon Wheeler. It was also the first church in the Leeds Diocese to be dedicated to the then recently canonised Yorkshire martyr, St Margaret Clitherow.

Skipton Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society's latest production of 'La Vie Parisienne' of Offenbach had been hailed a great success. Special note was given to the dancers, some of whom were Sheila Storr, Pat Ackland, Christine Leakey and Margaret Holmes.

Yorkshire Dales conservation volunteers were well on their way to finishing work on Holywell Halt, the new picnic area on the Dales Railway at Embsay.

10 years ago

Steeton parish councillors on the need for tighter legislation on the availability of air weapons. Youths had been using these weapons to shoot at lamps, birds and even the occasional goat.

Steeton Male Voice Choir was investigating the possibility of purchasing the village's Methodist chapel. The building was under threat of demolition from its trustees. The trustees had said they intended to develop the Sunday school building to make a dual-purpose hall.

Two of Settle's longest-serving ambulancemen retired after clocking up more than 63 years service between them. Roger Wright and Jack Hardwick had been presented with all-weather golfing suits by their colleagues. Presentations were also made by the police, the Cave Rescue Association and Townhead surgery.

Grassington shopkeepers were in triumphant mood after overturning an 'outdated' law which banned year-round Sunday trading in the village. It marked the end of a campaign to get councillors to reverse the decision made nearly 12 months earlier that trading on the Sabbath should be stopped during the winter months under pain of prosecution.

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