100 years ago

The Easter Holidays had started, and it could be said with truth that despite the difficulties connected with the war the beautiful weather prevailing had tempted a good many persons to leave York for various parts of the British Isles.

The North-Eastern Railway Company was having to deal with heavy holiday traffic, despite the fact that there were no cheap bookings or excursions. There had been a very animated scene at the station all day, and many trains were running in duplicate.

The Yorkshire coast holiday resorts appeared to be favourites with the public of York, from which fact it would seem that there was little fear in the minds of the public of the scenes that created such a sensation in December being re-enacted.

 

50 years ago

Pocklington and Market Weighton Fire Brigade had to deploy a water supply from a quarter of a mile away when they fought a fire in a field at Hayton Grange, Hayton. It broke out in two “pies” of potatoes 150 yards and 60 yards long respectively.

The firemen were at the scene for two-and-a-half hours, and 230 tons of potatoes, belonging to Mr J Ogram were damaged by burning and by water.

 

25 years ago

Ministers were doing their best to put some of the blame on the Labour Party for the outrageous violence and looting that followed the anti-poll-tax rally in Trafalgar Square.

The truth was that a small minority of Labour MPs were supporting the non-payment tactic espoused by those taking the leading role in the rallies - hard-Left Militant supporters using the cause as part of their technique for infiltrating the Labour Party.

What seemed to have happened on Saturday was that the militants’ campaign was hi-jacked by rival hard-left groups who wanted a violent confrontation with the police and the destruction of property. This would be a warning to those people in the Labour Party who were attracted by the idea of refusing to pay poll tax as a matter of individual conscience.

Defiance of the law was a slippery slope. Neil Kinnock had rightly denounced sup¬porters of the non-payment campaign as toytown revolutionaries. Refusing to pay the tax would deprive Labour councils of much- needed revenue and increase the burden on those who did pay, but far more than that he knew the need to uphold the law - whatever it was.

The hard-left political poseurs responsible for the violence also endangered the tradition of peaceful demonstration and protest. These traditions were not only central to democracy, but recent events in Eastern Europe had shown the power of peaceful rallies even in the 1990s.