From our archives:

85 years ago

It was a sorry state of affairs for the East Riding village of Foxholes, whom for the past month, had been drinking rain water drained from the roofs of dwellings, and for the last year, were required to boil water from the village pumps.

The only source of water for the village was from a condemned well, where children would go after school with buckets.

St Stephen’s Orphanage, York, had a special visitor, Lady Irwin.

Opening the annual sale, held at the Assembly Rooms, she described the Orphanage as not an institution, but a home in every sense of the word.

According to Reuter there was a possibility of a manufacturers’ shortage just before Christmas.

Trade in playthings was slow in the early part of the year, so toys were not produced in quantities corresponding to past season. Prices, however, were lower than ever.

50 years ago

There was traffic chaos as the 240-year-old hump-backed bridge at Stamford Bridge closed to traffic to enable the wall of the bridge on the downstream side to be rebuilt and buttresses to be repaired.

The East Riding Highways Department anticipated a minimum period of closure for six weeks, all depending on any snags.

About 300 Manchester United supporters going to London by train for a match with Chelsea had caused considerable damage to the inside and stopped the train three times, by pulling the cord.

The train was first stopped at Stoke-on-Trent, when police were called to control the fans.

And Leeds-born Mr Donald Marsh, aged 28, had been appointed the new manager of the Oak House cinema at Pocklington.

Mr Marsh who had moved from the Worksop Essoldo, was also in charge of the new Oak House ballroom.

20 years ago

Furious miners in Selby accused the Government of betrayal after a leaked document revealed how Ministers were preparing to wash their hands of the coal industry.

The document from the Department of Trade and Industry had shocked union leaders and Selby MP John Grogan with its first reference to the closure of the hugely profitable Selby pit complex.

And more new age travellers had arrived at an illegal encampment in North Yorkshire, stalling efforts to move them on.

Over the weekend, about 15 vehicles including caravans, joined a ramshackle group of coaches, lorries, vans and cars on a disused airfield at Skipwith Common, between Selby and York.