100 years ago

An accident to a cyclist, which might have had very serious results, had occurred in York shortly before 12.30.

Whilst descending Micklegate Hill, the cyclist, a youth named H Sumpton, living at 30, Cromer Street, Burton Lane, employed by the York Co-operative Society, seemed to have lost control of his machine owing to the brake being at fault and, in attempting to avoid a tram-car, which was approaching, he dashed into a plate glass window in the shop of Messrs C Hart and Co, curtain and linen warehousemen, at the corner of Micklegate and Railway Street.

The window was smashed, and the shop assistants, who were greatly alarmed at the occurrence, found the young cyclist lying among the curtains hanging in one of the windows facing Railway Street.

He was lifted up and attended to by Mr Hart, and afterwards driven home in a cab, and a medical man was called in.

His injuries were apparently of a superficial nature, and consisted mostly of cuts about the neck. He also sustained severe shock.

50 years ago

Holiday Town Parade, which returned this evening for the summer on ITV had had to drop its Adonis contest because, said David Southwood, ABC TV's outside broadcast chief “... there seems to be a shortage of musclemen - at least in the numbers we want each week.” But our columnist did not think there was a shortage of “beefcake.”

It was more likely, he suggested, that the shy male flunked the ordeal of parading before a crowd of people, particularly with television cameras focused on him. They evidently did not think it was worth it for £250.

The girls were made of sterner stuff, besides their top prize was £1000. It seemed there was no shortage of them for the contests to find Britain's TV bathing beauty and TV fashion queen.

25 years ago

British Rail was to begin privatisation of its 346 station buffets, currently run by Travellers' Fare.

The buffets and sandwich shops at 166 stations across Britain were to be let to private contractors in what union leaders feared was the first stage of full privatisation of the railways.

The buffet at Selby station would be in the first phase to be sold off, a British Rail spokesman confirmed.

But stations in York and Harrogate would have to wait until the final phase of the programme before they were offered to private contractors.

The move by British Rail came as the National Union of Railwaymen decided a policy to combat privatisation at its annual conference in Dundee.