Friday, December 2, 2005

100 years ago

In connection with the 139th annual dinner of the York Gimcrack Club there would be issued with the Yorkshire Herald a free art supplement, containing a portrait of Colonel Hall Walker, MP, the popular winner of the Gimcrack Stakes, who would be the guest of the evening; a picture of Colonia, the winning horse, from a specially taken photograph; and a reproduction of an old and valuable engraving of the famous grey horse, Gimcrack, in memory of whose performances the Club and the Stakes were established. These two animal pictures gave an interesting contrast of the type of English racehorse existing 140 years apart.

50 years ago

An important change would take place in York's market arrangements when the new stalls in the Newgate-Little Shambles area would be brought into use. There would no longer be any market stalls in St Sampson's Square after December 14, and the traders many of whom had been long established there would be moved to the new market. In use on the new site would be the six brick and pantile permanent stalls, which had been built for fish merchants and butchers, and 38 new tubular framed stalls with gaily-coloured tops. The new market would lie astride Little Shambles, and its opening would recall the scheme in the York Development Plan for moving the Parliament Street market to a new site on land to be cleared in the area enclosed by The Shambles, Pavement and Parliament Street.

25 years ago

Some women in the Services were to be armed for the first time the Defence Secretary, Mr Francis Pym, announced in the Commons. But he stressed that the arming of women would be initiated only on a limited basis. The weapons would be used for defence and in emergencies. The plan was not aimed at sending women out as front-line battle troops. The move was intended to provide for the arming of a number of servicewomen to protect their units. This would free servicemen for battle duties. Mr Pym was expected to announce that the plan, likely to involve the Women's Royal Army Corps and Women's Royal Air Force -- would start on a voluntary basis. It was likely to become compulsory in the future for some categories - possibly for elements of the WRAC. The plan was expected to exclude the Navy's Wrens on the grounds that Navy personnel were rarely armed, except for special duties. Other Western countries, such as Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France and the Netherlands, were already training women to use weapons. In the last two World Wars, UK servicewomen were not sent on duties where they needed to be armed.

Updated: 16:33 Thursday, December 01, 2005