The undoubted York 800 highlight in August was the first Mystery Plays in a dozen years and two dozen since they were last performed at St Mary’s Abbey.

Revolution, in Coney Street, was fined for selling whisky and vodka with lower alcohol levels than advertised on the bottles, while at the same time there were calls to curb the rise of York’s stag and hen parties.

More revellers were to be found at Knavesmire for the annual Ebor Festival and this year was even more special with the event’s first £3 million prize fund.

Then there was the spectacle of unbeaten Frankel storming unchallenged to his 13th win at the Juddmonte Stakes.

Space exploration also proved to be far from languishing with the Curiosity Probe landing on Mars. But it was a moment tinged with sadness.

Three weeks later Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, died.

The global highlight of the month was London’s Olympic Games. At first it seemed the event would turn into a farce when security firm G4S failed to provide the promised number of guards. But the military stepped in and the games went without a hitch.

Indeed they were a huge success.

The rain finally went away and Britain’s athletes finished with a tally of 65 medals, including silver for North Yorkshire’s Nicola Wilson.

The national media were quick to realise that Yorkshire, as a whole, did so well that if it was an independent country, it would have come 12th in the medal table. And afterwards, to celebrate, we even had a few decent days of summer.


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