100 years ago

A yacht, which entered Scarborough Harbour recently, attracted much attention. It was the Harbinger, formerly the property of “Monte Carlo Wells,” the famous forger and dupe, who sometime before was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment.

The Harbinger had been bought by a Whitby gentleman, and was on its way there from the south. The little steam vessel was of handsome build, and was painted black, with white funnel and masts.

There was a small cabin at the stern of the ship, built especially by Wells for his lady accomplice, and there it was stated she used to fish with line and tackle - out of the gaze of the public.

There was, by the way, a small machine whereby the line was hauled up without the lady's aid. There were stated to be other devices.

When the Harbinger was entering the harbour she collided with the pier, and her bowsprit was broken, damage at the same time being done to one of the pier piles.

50 years ago

The Vickers VC 10, Britain's Challenger for the long-range airline routes of the world, was expected to make its maiden flight if conditions were suitable.

The first flight of this aeroplane, designed for stages of 5000 miles or more, would be for only a few miles - a short “hop” out of the Vickers airfield inside the old Brooklands motor-racing track to a larger airfield, 3 miles away.

The fact that the plane was to take off from the Brooklands runway, which was only 1500 yards long and shorter than that required by current-day fighters, showed how far its designers had gone towards meeting the demand for an airliner to lift larger loads from smaller fields.

As well as being the newest, the VC 10 was also the most powerful airliner in the world. Its four Rolls-Royce Conway engines were mounted side-by-side in pairs, at the rear of the fuselage, thus giving the clean wing area which brought the short take-off characteristics.

25 years ago

York's newest museum, the historic Bar Convent, would open its doors on Saturday - the same day the city welcomed the Duke and Duchess of York.

The last-minute switch of date for the Royal visit meant the Bar Convent would be launched as thousands of visitors jammed the city streets.

The convent museum, in Blossom Street, had undergone extensive interior refurbishment which included an elegant domed chapel and priest's hiding hole.

The chapel was hidden from view by a secondary roof reflecting the need for secrecy when Catholicism was outlawed.

The convent was founded in 1686 as one of the earliest girls' schools in England.