Way we were

100 years ago

In response to frequent requests, the Yorkshire Herald re-introduced a feature that had been absent from the York newspapers for nearly 80 or 90 years, namely, the publication of the arrivals and departures of vessels at York. It was true that sea going craft were not so often seen at York staithes as they once were, but many steamers plied from the Humber to the walls of York, and York was still an open port, though 80 miles from the sea. In a short time there would, through the introduction of an additional tugboat, which was under construction for the Ouse Navigation Committee, be a daily service from Hull to York, which would greatly facilitate traffic and encourage regularity in despatching and delivering of goods. It might also have the effect of keeping the passage clearer by the more frequent stirring and movement of powerful steamers towing flotillas of keels and lighters.

50 years ago

Thousands of pounds worth of fruit were rotting away on Yorkshire hedgerows because no one would risk picking it. Usually at this time of year, youngsters and grown-ups alike were making excursion after excursion into the country to pick brambles for home-jam making. But this year, brambles were growing black and juicy then withering away. The reason for the ban on brambles was the fear of contracting disease. The country people were shunning the fruit because flies, which settled on dead rabbits with myxomatosis, also alighted on brambles. It was strange to walk along a country lane at the weekend and see branches heavily laden with brambles, which under normal circumstances would have been readily picked from their easily accessible places.

25 years ago

Tourism had improved the fabric of York, said the Lord Mayor, Councillor Clive Kay. He was addressing the York Association of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers at its centenary banquet in the Merchant Adventurers' Hall. Describing tourism as a priceless asset, Councillor Kay said: "It has given the city a tremendous uplift in the past 10 years." He paid tribute to the work of builders whose craftsmanship and pride in York were an invincible combination. Mr John Shannon, chairman of York Civic Trust, told 200 members and guests that recession in the city was nothing new. "In the 15th and 16th centuries York saw the greatest recession when what had once been a great Roman capital and centre of trade suddenly stagnated." But during that time York had also seen its greatest exercise in building with the finishing touches being put to the Minster and with the construction of the Guildhall, the Merchant Adventurers' Hall, the Merchant Taylors' Hall and numerous parish churches.

Updated: 14:55 Monday, October 10, 2005