From our archives:

80 years ago

Though the rain which had fallen overnight was a very welcome sight to Yorkshire farmers, it had amounted to only a tenth of an inch and much more was needed to relieve their anxiety. While farmers were facing disaster most of the towns and villages including Helmsley were very fortunate in these “dry” times in having a plentiful supply of water for domestic purposes, taking every care not to waste water or use it unnecessarily. The annual folk-dance competitions organised by the Mid and East Yorkshire Branch of the English Folk Dance and Song Society had opened in the Exhibition Buildings, York, with a separate category for schools, Guides, and Scouts. And with a larger than usual entry and a lot of excellent young hounds the Sinnington Hunt annual puppy walk at Kirkbymoorside Kennels had got off to a great start. Thanking the puppy walkers, Major Gordon Foster had stated that without them hunting could not be carried on.

50 years ago

Safety checks on all gas appliances in the Foxwood Lane area of Acomb, York, had been made by fitters of the North Eastern Gas Board after a fire in a fractured gas main. The blaze which was finally put out by York Fire Brigade by flooding an inspection chamber had been burning for about three hours. Students at York University were planning to flood the courtyard of Langwith College to depth of four to five feet with detergent foam to publicise a show of vintage films at the college. The eye-level foam stunt was the brainchild of Ray Williams after he’d seen the same stunt used in the last instalment of Dr Who. And a teenager’s plan to become a circus star were temporarily halted when the star of her act Ringo, a five-year-old Welsh Mountain Pony, went on the ‘sick list.’

20 years ago

Volkswagen had recalled 10,100 new Beetle cars after discovering a wiring problem that could cause engine fires. The car maker said it would give dealers up to 100 dollars (about £66) to new Beetle owners for car washes, petrol, a flower in the new Beetle bud vase or any other perk, to satisfy inconvenienced owners and help the new Bug avoid the old Beetle’s reputation as a tin can. And a village campaign to steer lorries away from a residential road was stepped up a gear as giant placards urged lorry drivers not to use East Lane, Shipton-by-Beningbrough.