Wednesday, October 13, 2004

100 years ago: A columnist was warning that at this season of the year a recognised form of "looting" was rampant. The youngsters raided the backyards of houses, appropriating the "besoms" or brooms usually kept there, and these they subsequently used as torches on Guy Fawkes Day, or rather, night. The columnist was already advising people to take note of the careful housekeeper, who usually provided a worn-out broom for the benefit of his uninvited visitors. This peculiar form of celebration had existed for years at Whitby.

50 years ago: Relics of the battle of Stamford Bridge were comparatively rare, according to the secretary of the East Yorkshire Local History Society, which was planning to erect a memorial on the site of the battlefield. Therefore it was only natural that he and his colleagues were extremely interested in anything that might throw further light on the battle, and some items had been brought to them after the memorial plans were unveiled. A Pocklington woman had written to them, telling the society that her father found an iron spearhead while digging in his garden only a few yards over the bridge on the York side. Unfortunately, it was lost during the last war, but she and her father felt sure it dated back to 1066. "We should be glad to hear of any similar discoveries," said the secretary of the society, via the paper.

25 years ago: Twenty-five young Scarborough fishermen, who had recently earned their skippers' tickets, wanted their own boats, but were being hampered by acute congestion and a shortage of berths at the resort. Councillors were trying to help them by sending a report to the Minister of Fisheries urging the Government to rethink its decision not to give Scarborough Borough Council a £120,000 grant towards a £500,000 jetty. The decline of Hull's fishing industry meant that Scarborough's was thriving, as 40 Scarborough fishermen who had been operating from Hull returned to the town. The congestion was added to by some fishermen using 65ft boats, rather than the 50ft boats that were traditional. The industry, worth £3 million a year to Scarborough, was also suffering from a lack of ice. A new plant was needed to make it, as 70 per cent of the ice presently being used had to be transported from Grimsby.

Updated: 08:52 Wednesday, October 13, 2004