From our archives:

80 years ago

The Lord Mayor Alderman C T Hutchinson, the City Sheriff, members and officials of York Corporation had all attended the funeral service at St Clément’s Church, York, for Alderman C W Shipley, who died at his home, Southlands House, York. The cortege was preceded by several uniformed members of York City Police Force, six of whom acted as bearers. And the Northern Command Tattoo in Roundhay Park, Leeds, promised to be a tremendous success on its opening night. The main factor was, of course, the weather, which was a huge draw for the large crowd. Topped off by the stupendous finale which was a fine piece, with its furnaces, cranes and presses which were so realistic in appearance that no one realised it was a model.

50 years ago

It was a unique double occasion for four military bands of the Army’s Yorkshire Brigade, as it was the first and the last time they would play together. Taking part in a sad ceremony at Strensall Barracks they “played out” the nine-year-old Yorkshire Brigade, which was to be absorbed into the larger newly-formed King’s Brigade. A sympathetic audience of nearly 700, including more than 100 civic and military heads, watched in the warm evening sunshine as the bands beat Retreat with full ceremony. A new deluge had hit the flood-ravaged West of England. This time, it was holiday traffic that had the roads choked. The holiday rush became a crawl as traffic on the A38 was caught up in what a Royal Automobile Club spokesman described as “the worst snarl-up in history.” And a York girl who had stood in for the Duchess of Kent at a rehearsal had finally met the Duchess and told her she had been “petrified.”

20 years ago

Rescue teams had searched the dark waters of the North Sea after a fisherman stated that he’d seen a mysterious object fall into the sea. The Hornsea-based fisherman said he had seen a large black object floating in the sky then enter the sea, about 12 miles of shore. A search involving the Bridlington lifeboat and Hornsea coastguard team and the coastguard’s rescue helicopter failed to find any trace of unidentified item. And fire crews had been called out to an unusual rescue when a pony became stranded in the River Esk, near Whitby. The animal, which was not being ridden at the time, had become trapped 50 yards upstream from the Salmon Leap pub, at Sleights.