Thursday, February 3, 2005

100 years ago: Cock fighting, formerly an adjunct of racing, and, like horse racing, a foreign importation was a favourite "sport" with both the Greeks and Romans, and it came over to this island with Caesar's legions, wrote a columnist. In "the wicked old days," when the now extinct Yarm races enjoyed great popularity, cock fighting in this district invariably proved a great attraction. The following was taken from an old advertisement for the Yarm races: "To be fought, at the Two Fighting Cocks, in Doncaster, during the time of the race week, a main of cocks, betwixt the Gentlemen of Yorkshire and the Gentlemen of Lincolnshire; to show thirty-one cocks on each side of the main and twenty for the byes, for four guineas a battle, and forty guineas the main."

50 years ago: York Information Bureau was proud of its reputation for efficiency and its ability to satisfy all inquirers. However, the bureau received a request which, if complied with, would have meant a lifetime's work for members of the staff and a considerable increase in the city rates. A New York woman sent the following postcard to the bureau: "Dear Sirs, Will you please send me all the information on had about the British Isles. Thank you." Columnist Mr Nobody believed the Americans expected whirlwind tours of this country in between trans-Atlantic flights, which left visitors with "the impression of a series of very bad roads linking London, Stratford, York and Edinburgh, with 'wonderful' policemen at every crossroads". York City Librarian, when faced with this request, sent a charming reply to New York, and passed the request on to the British Travel and Holidays Association in London.

25 years ago: The Halifax Building Society in Davygate, York, acted to remove unfairness and frustration caused to customers through standing in queues which moved at different speeds. It had been decided to introduce a single queue system, so that customers were seen in order of coming into the bank, rather than taking pot luck in separate queues. The branch manager sad that: "The new system has been a great success. A few customers thought it a little strange at first but soon decided they liked it when they realised how fair it is." It hadn't been introduced in the Halifax's other branches in York, although it had been successful in Harrogate, where the Post Office also used the system.

Updated: 16:53 Wednesday, February 02, 2005