Tuesday, August 16, 2005

100 years ago

A sad affair on the Foss Islands Railway was reported in the Evening Press. It concerned a York child who had met a terrible death on the rails that carried grain to Leetham's big flour mills. The rails ran across the Foss Islands Road past the end of the Corporation stables, and near the mill, passed through a gateway in the wall across which, when the yard was closed, were two large iron gates. Many of the children in the Navigation Road district ran about the railway at this point, seeking bits of wood or other oddments dropped from the wagons. Violet Lawson, aged seven, the daughter of William Lawson, a hawker, living in Constitution Place, was attempting to go through the gateway at about seven o'clock the previous evening, when a truck drawn by two horses was entering from the Foss Islands. The space between the wagon and the gatepost was insufficient and unfortunately the little girl fell and was run over. She was hurried to the County Hospital but sadly died almost immediately after arriving.

50 years ago

Farmers in the harvest fields in the Acomb district were keeping a particularly sharp lookout for rabbits, for it was thought that myxomatosis was gradually spreading into the area from the direction of Marston Moor, where it had a strong hold on some farms. They had mixed feelings on the disease, some hoping it would spread and others that it would keep away. Mr Ronald Snowball, of Askham Bryan, told a Yorkshire Evening Press reporter that a few infected rabbits had been seen in the area for the first time, and it seemed likely the disease was spreading, although he had yet to find evidence of it on his farm.

25 years ago

Clint Eastwood's flirtation with the lighter side of life continued. The year before we had had Every Which Way But Loose, a charming unpretentious little film that came like a bolt from the blue to Eastwood fans. No longer was he the hard-bitten hero, who never smiled, indeed he seemed to be poking fun at his former image. After a break for a gritty more typical performance in Escape From Alcatraz he had returned to comedy in Bronco Billy, at York's ABC. This was very much Eastwood's film. He starred as Bronco Billy himself, he directed it and his personality and philosophy were stamped indelibly on the final product. Thus the film had a uniformity and coherency that was quietly pleasing. Elsewhere it was very much space week. The eagerly awaited sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, started at Odeon One the next day and next-door at Odeon Two was The Black Hole.

Updated: 08:50 Tuesday, August 16, 2005