From our archives:

85 years ago

The fight for legalising the opening of cinemas on a Sunday was now entering a bitter-stage with both sides preparing for a neck-and-neck race.

Sir John Haslam, Conservative member for Bolton, and prominent Church goer, said: “We shall fight the Bill tooth and nail,” the opposition Secretary of the Lord’s Day Observance Society, retaliated with the comment: “The amusement industry, like other industries, should confine its trading to six days a week.”

A temporary bridge had been erected at Sleights, replacing the old structure which had been destroyed by the great flood of 1931.

The bridge had been closed to vehicular traffic to permit strengthening while work was carried out.

The erection of a permanent had been considered, but arrangements for this were at present in abeyance owing to the ongoing economic crisis.

50 years ago

A gang of thieves in London had got away with 140 gold bars worth about £750,000 after hijacking a van in Islington.

The robbery took place in Bowling Green Lane, where a crew of three had been overpowered and tied up by the bandits who then drove the vehicle away, only to abandon it later in Kentish Town.

In York, the new assembly hall of Bootham School had been named the best building completed in Yorkshire by a panel of assessors of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

At last it was cricket season again, however snow and hail had brought the players rushing back to the pavilion at Edgbaston where Warwickshire played Lancashire, making a change from rain stopping play.

20 years ago

The nation went to the polls in temperatures reaching the mid-70s. Experts had predicted the burst of warm weather, had encouraged a strong turnout of voters old and young.

Voters in York had turned up Poppleton Road Junior School to cast their votes whilst the school children took the day off.

A team from York University’s archaeology department had just completed a two-month dig exploring the foundations of a proposed extension to the Minster Library.

The £30,000 study funded by the Dean and the Chapter of York had revealed traces of the late 12th century, early 13th century Archbishop Roger’s Palace.

Five bands battled it out for the prestigious title of winner of the Fibbers/Evening Press Battle of the Bands competition.