100 years ago

Lord Durham, Lord Lieutenant of Durham, had issued a proclamation to the civilian population stating that precautionary arrangements had been made to safeguard the civilian population of the county in the event of a hostile attack.

To prevent alarm or panic he wished to point out that such an attack was not regarded as imminent or probable, but the contingency could not be ignored.

A system had been established throughout the county whereby the police, assisted by special constables, would instruct the inhabitants whether it was deemed advisable to leave any particular district and, if so, by what means and in what direction they should proceed.


50 years ago

An attack on the secular Merry Xmas as “one of the subtlest devices of the devil” was made by the Bishop of Whitby in the December issue of the York Diocesan Leaflet.

“With Father Christmas, the Ox and the Ass, the Holly and the Ivy, turkey and the plum pudding, the tinsel and the Christmas tree,” wrote the Bishop of Whitby, in an article entitled Christmas-Fact or Myth, it certainly looked very much like myth.

“Millions who enjoy the secular festival of Christmas regard it so. And countless children are growing up believing it all to be a jolly legend. But myths and legends don't often change the course of history; nor do they change human lives – least of all in the mid-20th Century,” said the Bishop.


25 years ago

The three surviving Beatles might be about to work together for the first time in 20 years, according to Paul McCartney.

He said in Los Angeles that the three might be ready to settle their personal feud now that long-standing legal battles were over. This could clear the way for him to write new songs and play again with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, he said.

McCartney said the three might collaborate on a film history of the Beatles, The Long and Winding Road, long delayed by the legal battles. The Beatles had broken up amid acrimony and a welter of lawsuits in 1969.