Wednesday, March 31, 2004

100 years ago: The Vicar of Thirsk, in the last edition of his parish magazine, announced some hidden treasure with these words: "Over £500 is to be found buried in strictly private ground in the neighbourhood of Thirsk in about 20 different sums. For clues and instructions how to find these sums see notice in the parish church porch."

Attracted by the notice and smitten by the fashionable craze for treasure hunts many people went to the porch to get particulars, but were "a bit nonplussed" in not finding what they expected. It would appear that it was an ingenious device to draw attention to the County Council Scholarships, a bill announcing particulars of these being prominent in the porch.

50 years ago: Cigarette slot machines were expected to make a return shortly, if an experiment which was being tried in London was successful. Before the war the machines on York Station used to deliver a packet of 20 cigarettes for 1s, and have a halfpenny change inside the packet.

The latest machine which was being tried out at Liverpool Street Station, by the British Automatic Company, gave ten cigarettes and 2 d change for 2s. If the machine was a success, the company hoped to install others at stations throughout the country, and with York being such an important railway centre it was expected to be high up on their list for installation.

10 years ago: A new tourism guide gave York top marks, Penguin's Rough Guide to England describing York as "the north's most compelling city", and claiming that "no trip to this part of the country is complete without a visit to York". The guide, compiled by a team of ten writers, added that: "In summer, the feeling is that York has been turned into a heritage site for the benefit of tourists."

The Minster was described as "one of the country's most important sites" despite a "colossal and strangely unatmospheric interior". The highest praise was reserved for Bettys Tea Shop, "a York institution", about which one of the writers said: "If there are tea shops in heaven, they will be like Bettys."

Updated: 08:31 Wednesday, March 31, 2004