From our archives:

85 years ago

A pitched battle in which sticks, staves and a sporting gun were used had its day in court.

Easingwold Police recalled the remarkable story of how a gang of nine York youths, who had been gathering mushrooms, had clashed with a farmer near the river bank at Overton, ending in one farm labourer being knocked unconscious.

The court penalty was no fewer than eleven summonses for assault.

According to features writer Olga Wright “it was too soon that the fireless evenings had passed, and we are now obliged to put a match to the fire and draw the curtains to shut out the autumn.”

Her advice for getting fire places into tip top condition was a “Plaster of Paris mix for the loose tiles and a coat of stove enamel for the grates".

As for the pesky cold and minor ailments that also comes with autumn “it was prudent for a woman to be well stocked with a few simple remedies.”

“Honey and lemon juice for the irritant throat, ginger for the chills and olive oil for the lungs.”

50 years ago

According to one reporter by 1970, most people in Britain would have a choice of 100 hours of colour television programmes a week.

“Imagine not only the odd spectacular in colour, but everyday programmes like Coronation Street, The Avengers… and even the news!" wrote Stacey Brewer.

Parents attending the independent school of St Andrew’s, Malton, would be shocked to see the “wanton destruction” of school furniture and amenities, said the headmistress, in her annual report at the school’s speech day.

Referring to the building improvements costing more £3,500 “I regret to say that within the walls of St Andrew’s we are not immune from this trouble,” she said.

20 years ago

An East Yorkshire Primary School was evacuated after a man, believed to be armed with a gun, entered a nearby house and refused to come out.

The man was spotted by a member of the public walking with a suspected firearm in the New Pasture Lane area of Bridlington.

After sealing off the area and evacuating the primary school, a woman walked out of the house uninjured and the man was then arrested.

Singer John Denver, who had scored hits with folk-pop songs like Take Me Home, Country Roads and Rocky Mountain High, had been killed in a plane crash aged 53.