100 years ago

The following official announcement had been issued by the Foreign Office at 12.10am: “Owing to the summary rejection by the German Government of the request made by His Majesty’s Government for the assurance that the neutrality of Belgium will be respected, His Majesty’s Ambassador at Berlin has received his passport. His Majesty’s Government have declared to the German Government that a state of war exists between Great Britain and Germany as from 11pm on August 4th.”

At a late hour the previous night the intelligence reached London that war had actually broken out between Great Britain and Germany. It was understood that the British Government had received intimation of the sinking of a British mine-layer by the German fleet.

 

50 years ago

A monster lobster – about four times the usual size, with claws powerful enough to cut a brass tube – had been placed under guard to save it from “poachers.”

The lobster, which was believed to be nearly 80 years old and weighed 50lb, had been discovered by members of the Scarborough Sub Aqua Club in the wrecked hold of a war-time minesweeper. Since the discovery of the lobster, thought to be the largest ever found off British shores, “poachers” had tried unsuccessfully to lure it from its hiding place.

One diver who attempted to pull the lobster from the ship had had brass tubing on his equipment nipped in two. Mr Stanley Bradley, chairman of the club, had ordered his members to keep a guard on the lobster, and he was planning to ask an eminent marine biologist if he would examine it. “When it has been examined the lobster will be thrown back in the sea,” said Mr Bradley. “It is a tremendous size and too big to be caught in a fisherman’s pot. A good-sized lobster usually weighs between eight and eleven pounds.”

 

25 years ago

Buskers in one of York’s prime tourist spots had been ordered to pipe down by city council officers. Traders in King’s Square said they could not concentrate because of crowds shouting, clapping and yelling “sausages” during a Punch and Judy show.

They had sent environmental health officers a petition, demanding urgent action. An enforcement officer had visited the offices of GA Property Services twice during the week to monitor noise levels. He had warned the buskers, including juggler Andy Dextrous, winner of this year’s council-sponsored National Busking Festival, to keep the crowds in check. But the buskers said that although there might be discomfort for traders, their livelihood was at stake. They argued there was nowhere else in York for them to go.