From our archives:

85 years ago

The Queen’s fascination with a stationary stall turned a planned 15-minute shopping trip to a low-priced bazaar in Oxford Street, London, into a full three-quarters of an hour.

Thanks to Her Majesty’s keen interest, every card she had touched was then sold within minutes.

She also showed great interest in a book stall purchasing a strongly-bound bible and an edition of Shakespeare.

In Escrick a herd of fleet-footed fallow deer was still at large, after escaping from Escrick Park.

And farmers in the high lying districts of Ryedale had been complaining about the shortage of water from the Piethorn Reservoir.

Kirkbymoorside Rural Council retorted that the shortage was due to leakages for which they were not responsible, referring the situation back to the local residents.

50 years ago

Thieves had put a halt to a do-it-yourself fence building operation planned by parents of Osbaldwick Scout Group after stealing nearly all the wood ready to create an enclosure around the site of the new Scout building near Osbaldwick Church hall.

“It’s a bit rough to say the least,” said organiser and chairman of the parents committee Mr R Johnson.

About 3,500 people attended the three-day Malton hobbies’ exhibition.

Frank Wilson one the four organising secretaries said that he had been delighted with the show, and the shear amount of creative talent in the district.

Seats in all parts of York’s Theatre Royal were up for sale for £10 in a bid to raise £60,000 for a facelift.

However, you might not have been able to sit in it when you wanted to, or get into the theatre to see plays free of charge, but it would have your name on it.

20 years ago

Going at a snail’s pace may not seem to be the fastest way to raise money, but regulars at a York sports club were confident it could be a winner.

The Acorn Sports and Social Club, Thanet Road, hoped for a strong field of entries when it hosted its first snail race day.

Police had stepped up the hunt for vandals who pushed stones off a wall into the River Derwent, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

And Selby firefighters faced thick black smoke as they tackled a fire at a landfill site at Darrington quarry where tons of tyres and roofing material had “spontaneously combusted”.