Monday, October 25, 2004

100 years ago: A former member of the Royal Engineers living in York wrote a letter regarding the 50th anniversary of the famous charge by the 670 men of the Light Brigade, made up from the 17th Lancers, 4th, 8th, 11th and 13th Hussars, and 5th Dragoon Guards, riding through the Valley of Death, "for what, nobody ever knew, nor ever will know". The youngest of these old warriors still alive was 72, and the oldest was 89, and of the entire 41 survivors only eight were receiving pensions, the remainder, he believed, were depending mostly upon charity - "not very creditable for the War Office authorities". He was pleased to say that the sole survivor in York had been in receipt of a small pension since 1893, and was now close upon 80 years of age. He was born at Doncaster, in 1825, and served with the 17th Lancers, "Death or Glory Boys", throughout the Crimea and Indian Mutiny, his troop officer in "the Charge" being Sir George Wombwell, and both men being Yorkshiremen, they had been blessed with good constitutions.

50 years ago: A note in passing was printed to the York Parks Superintendent, who in the past had done so much good work in beautifying the city with flowers, from Mr Nobody. Don't, please don't, begged the columnist, grow irises or other tall flowers on the built-up roundabouts in the city. They made an attractive show of colour, but there was always the danger that they may obscure the view of motorists on the road. A case in point was the roundabout at the end of Leeman Road, which very nearly resulted in an accident between two cars recently. Neither of the drivers could see the other's vehicle through the screen of flowers on it. Take note, Mr Nobody concluded, so that it may never be said of your flowers that "in beauty lurked danger".

25 years ago: One man from the Yorkshire Museum had just three weeks to unearth a piece of York's heritage single-handed. Armed with a pick, shovel and a keen sense of history, he had already dug as deep as the Roman occupation in his excavations in the Museum Gardens. He was uncovering a piece of wall "that doesn't fit in with anything at all", as it was not part of the Roman defences. Staff at the museum thought it could be an important Roman boundary outside the legionary fortress, and wanted to know where it fitted in for their records.

Updated: 16:22 Friday, October 22, 2004