From our archives:

85 years ago

THE Doncaster Aviation Company’s aerodrome in Armthorpe Lane, Edenthorpe, was declared open by acting Mayor Mr R H Hepworth.

The day proved to be very good for flying with over 3,000 spectators turning up for the event.

Amongst the guests were Sir Alan and Lady Cobham who were personally invited to a luncheon at the Mansion House by Mr and Mrs Hepworth.

In the afternoon the crowds were entertained by Sir Alan’s circus, whose display included aerobatics, inverted flying, passenger glider flights and rider acrobatics.

In York a social evening had been held by Fulford St Andrew’s Football Club to celebrate the team’s success in the York Churches League and in cricket there was an air of drama surrounding two famous Yorkshire cricketers Holmes and Sutcliffe who had managed to break the record of 34 years scoring 555 runs.

50 years ago

In York the population had swelled by an estimated 40,000 people all turning up to watch two of the biggest international sports line-up in the city’s history.

The invasion started at breakfast time with early traffic flowing in for the £6,000 Martini Golf Tournament at Fulford, followed by an audience for the 103rd York regatta with its record entry of 139 crews and scullers from all over the country.

Amanda Radnage, the York City Baths Club swimmer, smashed the 220 yards breaststroke records with a time of 2min 51sec.

Cinema lovers in York had the opportunity to see an old film favourite Fantasia, also showing was Hawaii, an adaption of the James Michener novel starring Julie Andrews, Max Von Sydow and Richard Harris.

20 years ago

York’s biggest KitKat production line took a break from production for two weeks following a fall in sales.

KitKat 4, part of the biggest plant in the world at the Nestle Rowntree factory in Wigginton Road, was thought to have been forced to close due to pressure in the market from arch rivals Cadbury’s.

About 150 staff that had been affected by the York shutdown had been deployed to seasonal packing jobs and 36 temporarily transferred to other KitKat lines in York.

Phone lines connecting thousands of businesses and homes in the region were crippled when a fault in York sent calls plummeting into a ‘black hole’.

The three-day phone fiasco saw huge numbers of calls lost as a main trunk line failed in the city, with British Telecom receiving more than 3,000 complaints.