Saturday, November 19, 2005

100 years ago

Work was about to be resumed at the Emergency Kitchen for the relief of the sick poor of York, which was for the immediate relief of all poor persons who were ill, and too poor to afford the pressing necessaries their sufferings required. Cases were reported by the district nurses and food and help was at once sent to them without distinction of any kind. The fact that they were under the charge of the nurse effectually did away with all possibility of fraud. The food was prepared by a number of ladies, and everything was done absolutely free so that every penny went to the object it was given for. The previous winter over 5,000 visits were paid to the sick poor of York, food and clothing being taken every time, the food consisting of beef tea, milk puddings, gruel, milk, jellies, etc. An appeal was made for lady helpers for the forthcoming winter.

50 years ago

With the departure from school came, for those boys who had not already donned them, the first pair of long trousers. But whether they donned them early in life or waited until the early teens, the boys all experienced the thrill and self-consciousness of the first pair of "long-uns," but not the thrill of perhaps 100 years before. According to an old book, "When the boy donned his first pair of breeches he had to pass a ritual. He must be nipped!" The significance of this nip was that it formed a test to discover if the boy in the breeches was the same boy, or whether he had been changed by fairies or evil spirits.

25 years ago

Dr Who star Tom Baker was to marry the girl who was his assistant in the science fiction series, actress Lalla Ward. The couple, whose secret romance started at the beginning of the year, were to be married in London sometime near Christmas. Earlier in the month, Tom Baker announced he was retiring from the long-running children's series after five years as the time-travelling doctor -- the longest stint by an actor in the part. Lalla, who had played his girl assistant Romana for the past two years, was to leave the series, and would be seen only in episodes until Christmas. The 29-year-old actress said at her Chelsea home: "We plan to get married between now and Christmas. Tom was so busy we're going to have to try to find a day to fit the wedding in."

Updated: 16:11 Friday, November 18, 2005