February 8 (From York Press)

February 8

7:20am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Way we were

100 years ago

At a meeting of the Scarborough Board of Guardians, Mr Plaxton mentioned that the previous week it had been reported that the workhouse was practically full, and he was afraid they would have to turn the board-room into a dormitory.

He quite thought, when the pauper disqualification of the old age pensions came into effect, that there would be a decrease in the number of inmates, but there were now 341 against 297 before the Act came into force.

That was a serious matter which should receive the attention of the board. The chairman agreed, adding that the matron had just told him that it was taxing her to the utmost to deal with the work.

There were 15 male inmates more than at the corresponding period the previous year, and they had to be provided with duplicate shirts, etc, and the matron had had to work excessive hours as a consequence.

He supposed that if the house was three times as large it would be filled.

50 years ago

The Yorkshire Evening Press was to be one of the targets for a demonstration by York Youth CND.

Mr Anthony Hall, secretary of York Youth CND and chairman of Yorkshire Youth CND, said that a one-hour vigil would be held as a protest against the possible resumption of nuclear tests by the west and by Britain in particular.

The demonstrators, who were expected to include CND members from all over Yorkshire, would march from York Minster and would line the pavement from the Mansion House to the Yorkshire Evening Press office.

Mr Hall hoped the demonstration would take place with the cooperation of the police. But in the event of police refusal, the demonstration would still go on.

25 years ago

The famous 16th-century stained glass Rose Window of York Minster was revealed in all its glory for the first time in more than two years.

Scaffolding erected following the £3 million fire which destroyed the south transept roof in July, 1984, had now been dismantled allowing a clear view of the 22ft diameter window, which contained in its 73 panels some of the finest early 16th-century stained glass in Europe.

Fierce heat from the fire, followed by abrupt cooling off, cracked the priceless glass into 40,000 pieces. It had now been painstakingly restored by York Glaziers’ Trust, in a massive operation costing £75,000.

The work involved sealing the cracks with resin and sandwiching the stained glass between two layers of plain glass. The challenging task, described as “one of the most challenging stained glass conservation tasks this century”, had trebled the weight of the window.

With lead work and supports, it now weighed half a ton.