100 years ago

Mrs Maria Horsley, aged 80, who for many years had been the carrier between Seamer and Scarborough, has died.

The deceased had been a well-known character, and had acted as carrier until her recent illness. She was a woman of remarkable physique, and no matter whether the weather was wet or fine, had made her journeys to and from Scarborough with wonderful regularity.

Her brown pony - a veteran like its mistress - could never be persuaded to go faster than at a walk, and thus for years Mrs Horsley and her pony and cart were known as “the Seamer Express”. The old lady possessed a remarkable memory, and retained all her faculties to the end.

For a great many years she had resided at the same cottage at Seamer, and when it was sold along with other cottages at the sale of the Earl of Londesborough’s Seamer estate Mrs Horsley had refused to leave her old home.

Eventually an arrangement was arrived at whereby the old lady was permitted to remain, and her death removed a familiar and picturesque character from the life of Seamer and Scarborough.

 

50 years ago

An offer to buy York Minster, made to the Lord Mayor of York by two men who said they were solicitors acting on behalf of a wealthy American woman antique collector, was being viewed with some suspicion.

The Lord Mayor (Councillor S Palphramand) said that he believed the “offer” might be a hoax. With the help of The Yorkshire Evening Press, which had queried the authenticity of the offer, inquiries had been made to establish if it was genuine. It was found that the name given by the two men did not appear in the Law List, the telephone directory or the London street directory.

 

25 years ago

A new breast-screening service for North Yorkshire women was due to be launched in York in September.

The district medical officer, Dr Katrina Carnegie-Smith, told Scarborough Health Authority that the building which would be used for the service was due for completion the following month. It would become operational as soon as equipment was installed, and a York family doctor practice would be the first to use the mammography unit, which would be based at York.

A van had also been specially modified for the breast screening service and during the following 18 months it would visit Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside, Whitby, Scarborough, Pickering, West Ayton, Filey and Norton.