From our archives:

80 years ago

The Knights of St Columba held a garden fete in the grounds of the Homestead, Clifton, York, to celebrate all the valuable work done by Knights of York Council over the last 13 years. The organisers made good use of the space at their disposal with various attractive stalls. A fencing display had been given by the Knights and Miss Monica Gill had been presented with a bouquet for her part in the organisation of the celebrations. And students from York Mister Choir School had the pleasure of a school excursion to Middleham and Bolton Castle. For the journey, valuable historical notes had been prepared for each boy to give them a clear appreciation of the parts played by the castles of Middleham and Bolton in the stirring days of the past.

50 years ago

Volunteers had taken over from the Army in the search for Doreen Hepworth. More than 150 had joined off-duty firemen, special constables and Army cadets in combing the city. Some were BR carriage works employees, others, parents from York scout groups. A few even brought their own dogs. They were told: “Report anything you found to the police officers who accompany you. If you find a body, don’t touch it, just tell a policeman.” Police were meanwhile attempting to re-enact Doreen’s last known movements. Settling into his Yorkshire home at Sutton-on-the-Forest, near York, was Mr Jonathan Aitken, prospective Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Thirsk and Malton, fulfilling a pledge made before he was adopted by the local Conservative association that he would have a home in Yorkshire. Mr Aitken, a London journalist, had just started working part-time for the new Yorkshire Television company, which was due to go on air later that month.

20 years ago

The Selby pit complex faced its first strike action in 13 years after angry union leaders unveiled their demands on pay and conditions at the miners’ annual conference. The National Union of Mineworkers’ delegates had voted unanimously for a “substantial” increase in basic pay. And Yorkie was soon to be inseparable from football, as it announced that from next season the York-made bar would be the official confectionery of the FA Premier League and Nestle Rowntree would be the League’s official confectionary supplier.