From our archives:

85 years ago

News spread of Mr J A Mollison’s epic crash during the final stint of his England to Cape Town race, in which he managed to beat Miss Peggy Salaman’s time by a margin of 15 hours 18 minutes.

Dragged from the cockpit and rushed to the aerodrome in an exhausted state, Mr Mollinson’s first question was “By how much have I beaten the record?”

When told, he said, “Excellent, I’m glad to hold the Colonial records.” Among the people who welcomed Mr Mollison on his return from the crash site was Miss Amy Johnson.

A meeting at Selby Vestry showed for the first time probably in the history of the parish, that the church was in a state of solvency.

Responding to the statement Canon Solloway replied “No effort would be relaxed to get financial help, as the parish had to maintain a big church in all its beauty and grandeur."

The meeting was therefore concluded by selecting two wardens to look after the vestry.

50 years ago

Workmen were going all-out at the Grand National racecourse trying to repair a trail of damage left by Easter weekend vandals.

The Canal Turn fence was having to be completely rebuilt and workmen were having to replace washbasins and toilets ripped out of a nearby stand.

Pop singer Adam Faith paid a visit to the Castle Museum on his way to visit friends in Scarborough.

Adam, who was appearing at a West Riding club before going to Vienna for the Eurovision Song Contest, enjoyed a leisurely couple of hours browsing around the museums exhibits.

The future of Record House, Bootham, was still under discussion by officials of the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works.

One of the suggestions put forward was that it should house staff for a new zonal headquarters.

20 years ago

Residents of Huntington Road were counting the cost after a fire at the former Ebor Lifts workshop ripped through a neighbouring storage building forcing them to be evacuated from their homes.

Fire investigators confirmed they were unable to discover the exact cause of the fire because it had been so intense.

Selby police had warned householders to be on their guard after an elderly woman was almost duped by a man posing as a bogus Yorkshire Electricity official.

And one of York’s best-known contracting firms A E Houghton & Son had been taken over by William Anelay Ltd.