May 5 (From York Press)

May 5

7:10am Saturday 5th May 2012 in Way we were

100 years ago

At the York City Police Court Joseph Thornton was charged with obstructing the footway in Micklegate by placing furniture on it.

Police Constable H Acomb stated that he was passing along Micklegate when he saw a quantity of furniture on the footway in front of the defendant's shop.

There was only about four feet left for foot passengers. He kept observations for about 10 minutes, and he saw several people had to step off the footway.

He went to Mr Thornton, and asked him to remove the furniture as soon as possible. The defendant replied that if the Constable wanted the furniture removed quickly he must remove it himself.

The Constable told him that he would give him a reasonable time to move the furniture, and if he did not do so he would have to report him to the Chief Constable.

About an hour-and-a-half later the Constable spoke to Thornton again, and Thornton said: “I am tired of you bothering me.”

PC Lickers gave corroborative evidence that the defendant had refused to remove the furniture and had said, “If you stay here half-an-hour I will have your grinning faces photographed and hung in front of the shop.” (There was laughter in Court.) A police-sergeant stated that the furniture consisted of a lawn mower, linoleum, pictures, tea urn, and many other things. The bench found the defendant guilty, and imposed a fine of 40s and costs.

50 years ago

The slogan “Keep Britain Tidy” had been scrawled in brilliant green paint on a newly-painted wall of the Stonegate Coffee House in York.

Over the foot-high letters, a “Ban the Bomb” sign two foot high, had been daubed. It was estimated that the cost to have the signs painted out would be £3.

“I quite support the CND, but I don't like stupid tricks like this,” said Mr N Kaye, the manager of the coffee house. However, like most people who had seen the sign, Mr Kaye thought that hooligans, not CND members, were the culprits.

25 years ago

Some folk just did not get the message when they entered the International Graffiti Competition held at Bridlington. They tried to shock by using four-letter words from their cans of spray-on paint.

But the organisers, who claimed the competition was the first to bring together graffiti experts from different countries, soon told them to remove the obscene language and get on with painting murals.

The competition held on the disused platform 2 at Bridlington railway station and a nearby vacant parking lot attracted top class artists from Britain, Austria, France and America.

A group called Chrome Angels who normally brightened up derelict buildings in Paris were the winners collecting the £1000 cheque.