100 years ago

The rains of the previous week or two had made life the reverse of comfortable at Strensall Camp, where there were currently between two thousand and three thousand troops under canvas.

All parts of the camp had not suffered to the same extent, and those who seemed to have been the most seriously inconvenienced were the 3rd Battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. This battalion, now shared in the title of the Special Reserve, and Sergeant J Hamilton, the oldest non-commissioned officer in the corps - who was perhaps the oldest non-commissioned officer in camp - said that it had been the wettest training he remembered in the course of his twenty-six years' service.

This was Sergeant Hamilton's last camp, for being now 53 years of age, he had to compulsorily retire. Asked as to the number of times he had been under canvas with the 3rd KOYLI he said, it would be about twenty times. He added that he liked the Common, and that he would probably attend future trainings as a civilian, such was his attachment to his corps.

50 years ago

The Government did not intend to give up Britain's H-bomb, and did not expect to be pressed to do so by the United States.

This was made clear in London, following comments by Mr Robert Macnamara, US Defence Secretary, speaking about the dangers of independent national deterrents. His statement was still under study, but the first impression in Whitehall was that he was referring to France, rather than Britain. Mr Macnamara was reported to have described independent national nuclear deterrents as “dangerous, expensive, prone to obsolescence and lacking in credibility as a deterrent.”

American policy was directed towards trying to persuade France not to develop its own nuclear weapons from their current experimental stage into a striking force. It was believed that this would increase international tension and precipitate retaliatory dispositions of Russian nuclear power.

25 years ago

Whitby traders had been hit again because of urgent repairs to the resort's Edwardian swing bridge which spanned the River Esk.

The latest incident meant there was a danger the bridge would stick when half-opened, causing major headaches to both road and river users. Council officials acted quickly but there was a delay of 30 hours before a temporary footbridge could be put up for pedestrians. Traders were again severely affected, with shoppers unable to reach their premises.

The traders, who fought so hard to save the swing bridge nearly 10 years before, had faced many difficulties since then as work had progressed to update the structure.