100 years ago

Messrs Leak and Thorp, of Coney Street, had, on the invitation of Lord Hawke, placed two of their spacious windows at the disposal of the officials of Our Dumb Friends' League Blue Cross Fund, which had been established for the purpose of helping horses in war time.

The idea of the exhibition was to stimulate interest in the League and raise subscriptions.

The windows had been dressed by Miss Francis Simpson, an enthusiastic member of the Committee of the League.

The centre of the window was occupied with a full-sized model of a horse, while the remainder was devoted to a display of articles that were being sent to the front for the use of the horses

These “comforts” included roles of cotton wool, embrocation, sponges, wither pads, bandages, numnahs, felt swabs, etc. The exhibition would be continued until Saturday evening, and during that time collections were to be made on behalf of the fund.


50 years ago

The “threepence-off approach” of the faceless men - the property developers - was deplored by Mr John Shannon, chairman of York Civic Trust, when he spoke at the annual dinner of the York Guild of Building, in the Merchant Taylors' Hall.

“They come into the best part of the city,” he said, “and put up buildings which are clamorous, blatant and out of sympathy and out of scale with the streets into which they are built.”

He asked his audience if they could be satisfied with what was happening in the city, and how future generations would assess this age and what they would think of its standards.

“Will they take a glance at our age and think it was governed only by money?” he asked. Buildings which were good enough for “some small industrial city in the Midlands” were not good enough for York, he continued.

The erosion of the character of the city was going on at such a speed that in only another generation the “very best jewels of this city” would be lost.


25 years ago

Rail fares were set to rocket by up to 21 per cent despite bitter opposition from hard-hit North Yorkshire commuters.

The rises would hit long-distance InterCity commuters hardest.

Rail watchdogs described the latest rise, the second this year, as “exorbitant” and “unfair.”

The expected average price rise for rail and tube fares was 10 per cent from January but passengers on InterCity would be hardest hit with a sharp increase for the second successive year.

BR claimed long-distance travellers had been travelling on the cheap compared to home counties commuters - and the fares had to be brought into line.