100 years ago

ON account of the recent German bombardment of coast towns and fear of further raids, the authorities of Queen Margaret’s Girls’ School, Scarborough, accommodating 150 to 200 pupils, had decided to transfer the school for some months to Pitlochry, in the heart of the Perthshire Highlands.

For this purpose the Atholl Palace Hotel had been taken. It was a seven-storey building admirably adapted for the purpose, and the surrounding district was attractive and of much historic interest.

The vicar of St Thomas’ during the bombardment of Scarborough had got as many women and children as he could into the vicarage, and offered prayers. One woman later told him that although it had been many years since she had prayed, she felt better for it.

 

50 years ago

WE were recommended to watch Seven Up on television tonight, for it was “one of the best programmes television had ever put on” according to our columnist. It was all about children and, in particular, the world of the seven-year-olds — or rather the different worlds, for the children were taken from different income groups. But these were the men and women of the year 2000 — the executives, the shop stewards, the housewives, the career girls.

Children from diverse backgrounds would give their views, among other topics, on life, leisure, love and marriage, colour prejudice, education and money. They would talk of their hopes and fears for the future. The World In Action unit which had made the film was to be congratulated on this programme in which children appeared purely as themselves, innocent and sincere.

 

25 years ago

CHRISTMAS shoppers had burst through supermarket doors launching a last-minute grab for festive goods. More than 400 people were waiting outside the Tesco store at the Clifton Moor Centre in York at 8am.

Superstore managers were listening to the sweet jingle of cash registers and predicting this could be their busiest shopping day of the year. At Presto in George Hudson Street, business had gone “hell for leather” in the previous week and today promised to be no exception. Around 100 people had packed the store only 10 minutes after their 8am opening time.

The previous day at Tesco, Mr Marks had been forced to take the unusual step of closing the doors as 2,500 people used all the store’s 1,100 trolleys in a desperate bid to fill their Christmas stockings. “In the interests of public safety we just had to close the store until it had cleared. I felt it was uncomfortable and there was a danger to people inside,” said Mr Marks.