From our archive:

80 years ago

The funeral had taken place for Mr Walter Hillyard, of Beechwood, Malton Road, who for many years was a well-known wine merchant in the city.

Mr Hillyard, who had retired at the age 80, was also one of the oldest freeman of the city.

The Rialto Cinema, in York, was once again packed with supporters for its annual concert.

Mr Reginald Dixon, known to every owner of a wireless set for his delightful organ recitals from Blackpool, headed a bill of fare which was excellent from beginning to end, and the effort resulted in £130 being raised for the hospital.

And damage estimated at £800 had been caused by a fire at Common Farm, Bielby.

Horses, cows, pigs and poultry had been saved, but all buildings had been destroyed except for the house, which stood back about 10 yards.

It was believed that the outbreak was caused by the hot exhaust of an oil-driven machine which had been used for grinding oats in the afternoon.

50 years ago

British actresses Dame Judith Anderson, Diana Rigg and singer Tessie O’Shea were among nominees for the American television industry’s annual “Emmy” awards.

Also nominated was the internationally-popular British television series The Avengers and Sir Laurence Olivier for his production of Chekov’s play Uncle Vanya.

Despite growing public alarm for the safety of vehicles using barrier crossings, British Rail said there was “nothing whatever” it could add at the moment about the previous day’s crash in which five people had died when their car had stalled on one of the crossings.

And Princess Anne had passed her driving test in a Rover 2000 car which she had been driving during the Easter holidays.

20 years ago

York’s longest-established department store announced it would now open on Sundays, following a trend set by other city-centre stores.

Browns, the only family-owned department store in the city, had recruited 20 new staff to cover extra shifts.

And police in York believed they had cracked a major counterfeiting operation after a series of dawn swoops netted more than £5,000-worth of suspected fake designer clothing.

Code-named Haiti, the operation, was a culmination of months of work, resulting in the arrests of five men.

The haul, was big enough to fill the entire gymnasium at York’s Fulford police station.