100 years ago

THE hay harvest had commenced, one of the first to cut the crop being Mrs Newbald, of the Black Lion, Carlton Husthwaite, and haymaking was likely to be general in the course of a few days if the weather remained favourable.

Mrs Newbald’s crop had cut up very satisfactory, and reports were that generally the crop would be a good one, the recent rains having greatly benefited.

Mrs Newbald was also among the first to have ready a crop of new potatoes, and these were also very satisfactory, both as to quality and quantity.

Mr Fred Kelly, who formerly contested the Spen Valley in the Conservative interests, was throwing his rose garden at Holly Court, Harrogate, open to the public on Alexandra Day, when a band of women would dispose of 20,000 choice blooms, which would be cut from the rose trees before the eyes of the purchasers, on behalf of the Harrogate Infirmary.

Mr Alva J Hall was also providing some thousands of natural roses for sale in the Kursaal at the evening concert for the same charity.

50 years ago

TV viewers in Britain were being asked to switch off their sets during the peak viewing hour the following evening as a protest against the “general seediness” of programmes.

The League of Women, a protest group which aimed at better moral standards on television hoped that 200,000 people in Scotland - one million in Britain as a whole - would switch off their sets.

The league, which claimed the support of many big women’s organisations, had timed to “strike” for the peak viewing hour of 9pm to 10pm. The programmes missed would include part of Perry Mason and Dr Finlay’s Casebook on BBC and part of the Palladium Show, the News and Armchair Theatre on ITV.

Mrs Mary Middleton, a founder of the league, said if enough people switched off, their protest would show on the TAM ratings and add muscle to the league’s fight against what Mrs Middleton called the “general seediness and crumbiness” of current television programmes, especially drama.

25 years ago

YOU had to wait longer for a taxi in York than virtually anywhere else in the country, according to a new survey.

The average wait was longer and the overall level of passenger dissatisfaction higher than in all other districts surveyed, except Kirklees, West Yorkshire.

Nearly 24 per cent of would-be passengers in York had to wait longer than 10 minutes for a taxi to appear. York City Council called for the report to assess taxi delays and to see whether or not more taxis were needed.

One in six passengers questioned in York was dissatisfied with the response to flagging down or hiring a taxi from a rank.