The year began with David Cameron declaring that Britain would use the ‘global drama’ of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics to get Britain back on track.

York prepared for a year of partying all its own, meanwhile, with the beginning of York 800 – a year dedicated to celebrating the 800th anniversary of the city getting its royal charter.

Thousands gathered outside the Minster in York to cheer in the New Year. The revels were generally good-natured, although a police officer suffered a fractured leg and broken ankle when he fell during a struggle outside a York nightclub.

In Scarborough, New Year’s Day dippers donned fancy dress before plunging into the icy waters of South Bay to raise money for charity.

The Derwent Hunt declared its New Year outing to be one of the best attended in recent years, thanks to the perfect winter weather conditions.

January was a month of tragedy – canoeist Kate Stainsby died after her boat capsized in a Cumbrian River, and further afield the cruise ship the Costa Concordia sank off the coast of..., with the loss of... lives.

But there were some good news stories, too. York actress Janet McTeer was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in gender- bending drama Albert Nobbs.

And closer to home, nature lovers were offered the chance to watch rare red squirrels in the wild in the Yorkshire Dales, when wildlife photographer Simon Philpotts opened up his hide near Hawes.

But there was wild weather as well as wildlife, with heavy winds and rain causing disruption – blowing a lorry on the A64 onto its side and causing the first of the year’s floods.

Further disruption was caused when a workman uncovered an unexploded bomb at the former dairy on York’s Hull Road. The road was closed and residents and schoolchildren told to stay indoors while army bomb disposal experts investigated.


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