From our archives:

85 years ago

The cultivation of strawberries was high on the agenda for one Thirsk farmer.

Concerns had however been raised via the “Yorkshire Herald” that the enterprise was fraught with risk, the same as most forms of farming.

Strawberries had however been successfully grown for some years in Northallerton.

The risk was more pronounced regarding its cost, with strawberries costing about £58 per acre to grow and pick, which was considered as a large sum in comparison to potatoes at £25 an acre or £4 per ton.

Who was the first British born woman to fly?

That was the question asked among the correspondence columns of “The Times.”

Claimants to this honour, were two people from the Thirsk area, Mrs Foggitt, wife of Alderman T J Foggitt, and the Comtesse de Lambert, who now lived in France.

50 years ago

York City had appointed Joe Shaw, a former Sheffield United centre half, as team manager, succeeding the dismissed Mr Tom Lockie.

Mr Shaw, who had been with Sheffield United for 21 years, was selected from nearly 50 applicants and was given a contract till the end of 1968-69 season.

A Selby veterinary surgeon had confirmed a case of anthrax on a farm at Hirst Courtney.

Mr M W Maclean who had carried out tests on a Friesian bullock found dead at Denby’s Park Farm also drove himself to the Selby War Memorial Hospital for treatment as a precaution after being in contact with the disease.

With a completely new frontage and a shallow stepped approach one of York’s largest and most comprehensive suburban stores had opened in Holgate Road, York.

Burton’s, which sold a wide range goods, was opened just in time to display its huge array of Christmas gifts.

20 years ago

Thirty-eight road accidents took place in only 10 hours during the foggy weather in North Yorkshire including one involving an ambulance on its way to a crash.

York was also gridlocked as traffic ground to a halt and motorists spent more than an hour trying to get across the city.

By 8pm the fog had lifted sufficiently for the warnings to be switched off and for traffic to be moving normally.

And Bill Berry, drummer in the rock band REM, had quit the group after nearly dying from a brain haemorrhage in 1994.

The band vowed to continue to play without him.