100 years ago

At a meeting of the committee of the Thirsk Farmers’ Protection Association, a letter was read from the Northallerton and District Agricultural Association, inviting joint action in killing wood pigeons and rooks on March 1st.

The landowners of the district, it was suggested, should be asked to grant farmers permission to go into the woods and plantations for this purpose.

The farmers of Bedale district had also been asked to join in the movement. In the course of discussion one member said he had seen five or six thousand birds in one field.

There was general agreement as to the need of some such step, but it was felt the notice was too short to permit of arrangements with the landlords.

It was decided to join in what the chairman referred to as the crusade against pigeons and rooks as far as possible.


50 years ago

The Queen was officially welcomed to Australia at a reception in Parliament House, Canberra.

Wearing a dazzling State gown of white satin, with a tiara and the blue sash of the Order of the Garter, she was loudly applauded when she told the gathering: “I do not intend that this shall be my last visit to Australia.”

Earlier, thousands of people were at Christchurch Airport to bid farewell to the royal couple as they left New Zealand. They included more than 1000 children waving flags.


25 years ago

Naburn Hospital would close the following day when the last 60 patients, all of them elderly, were transferred to Clifton Hospital.

The patients, many of whom had been in hospital for years, were to be cared for as far as possible by the staff who had worked with them at Naburn.

The 60-acre site at Naburn was up for sale, and a Boston Spa-based company was considering developing 30 acres of it into a complex of up to 50 shops with parking for 1,700 cars.

The plan had run into opposition from objectors who claimed it would lead to traffic congestion in the Fulford area.

The closure of Naburn Hospital, which was opened in 1906 by York City Council to care for people suffering from psychiatric illnesses, left York with only two mental illness hospitals – Clifton and Bootham.

Clifton Hospital would possibly also close by 1993-94. The closing stages of public consultation over the closure were currently taking place, and a decision was due soon.

The closure of Naburn Hospital, which was at its busiest in the 1970s with about 450 patients, was in line with current policy for caring for the mentally ill within the community.