100 years ago

An interesting fact had been mentioned by Mr WG Appleyard, chairman of the Middlesbrough Insurance Committee.

He had said that those who had received the Astor report would have noticed it mentioned that there should be one bed for every 5,000 of the inhabitants, and that would mean 26 beds for a borough like Middlesbrough, with its current population of about 126,500. In point of fact, the Middlesbrough Corporation would shortly have in use 62 beds, or one per 2,040 of the estimated population. T

hat was a matter of congratulation. Judging from figures given by Dr Dingle, the medical officer, the number of notifications for tuberculosis might settle down to about 4000 annually.

 

50 years ago

The new television programme, BBC2, would not reach the York area until August, 1965. It would be broadcast from a new 1200ft mast (which would be the highest in Europe, when it was finished) situated mid-way between the current BBC and ITA transmitters at Holme Moss and Emley Moor respectively.

In order to receive the programme it would be necessary to have a television receiver which was “Fully Dual-Standard” and a UHF aerial. Because an aerial needed to be sited and aligned to make best use of the available signal, there was nothing useful you could do concerning the UHF aerial until that time. With regard to your television receiver, if you were thinking of buying or renting a new one, it would be necessary to ensure that it would receive the new programme at no extra cost.

If you had an old TV set manufactured before approximately August-September, 1961, it would definitely not be suitable for conversion to receive BBC2. For sets manufactured since that date conversion was possible, although costs varied considerably.

 

25 years ago

There was nothing new about high-tech in our public libraries. The day of the rubber stamp was long gone; systems of data storage and retrieval had revolutionised the librarian’s life.

Now, to a certain extent, the revolution had reached the reader. “The Register Of York Freemen 1680 to 1986” compiled from the original registers by John Malden, was now available. In this important new publication some 1,200 pages of text consisting of lists and indices of York Freemen and Apprentices had been reduced to six sheets of microfiche, each measuring 14 cm by 10 cm, and stored in a wallet at the back of the book.

In all some 40,000 names were listed, forming a unique body of information for the historical researcher. Fifteen years’ intensive work lay behind this publication which short-circuited the frustrating experience of trying to trace individuals in the city records when no indices were available.