80 years ago

York Repertory Company had presented the clever comedy, Square Pegs, to an audience at the Theatre Royal. The comedy, brilliantly written by Lionel Brown a new author from London, had later become a TV movie in 1939. Also treading the boards with a play written and produced by Harry Stafford was Northern Productions with their new revue Hats Off, which was presented at the Empire Theatre. And a judging competition in connection with the Wensleydale Young Farmers’ Club had been held in Leyburn. The winner of the cow judging competition was a very proud Mr D Gregg with a score of 108 points out of a possible 120 and Mr R Fawcett, of Hawes, and Mr V E Willis had both been appointed delegates for the Young Farmers’ Rally at Helmsley.

50 years ago

Sir Herbert Read, Yorkshire poet, critic and war hero turned pacifist, had died at his home, Stonegrave House, near Malton, at the age of 74. Sir Herbert born at Muscoates Grange, Kirkbymoorside, had been knighted for services to literature in 1953, before becoming president of the Friends of York Art Gallery and Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Crowds had lined both banks of the river Ouse in Selby to watch the launch of the largest vessel ever built in town a 274 ft motor tanker named Ruderman. Set a float by Mrs W Stowers, cousin of Mr C S Rowbotham chairman of the owning company, the single crew vessel was to be used on the coast of Britain for carrying petroleum products.

20 years ago

A 69-year-old man, who had spent 23 years in jail for a murder he always said he did not commit, had his conviction squashed by the Court of Appeal. Patrick Nicholls, who was said to be the worst victim of a miscarriage of justice, was jailed in 1975 for the murder of Gladys Heath, a 74-year-old family friend found at her home in Worthing, West Sussex. And best-selling author Ralph Hammond Innes had died at the age of 84, just hours after it was announced that another best-selling author, Catherine Cookson, had also died. Hammond Innes famous for his love of travel which had inspired 35 adventure novels, including Wreck Of The Mary Deare, also had an obsession for planting trees, not just in his home place of Suffolk, but also in Canada and Australia.