Friday, July 16, 2004

100 years ago: a correspondent whose "soul was sore" at the "robbery of his roses" asked if it would not be well to start a Front Garden Protection Association. Columnist TT didn't quite know how it would work unless the members took it in turn to patrol defined districts at night and in the hours of the early morning. Garden thieves were again rampant in York, and unless a stop was put to their depredations property owners may be forced to reconsider the decision which says that the use of man-traps and spring guns in barbarous, added TT. Something in the way of fish hooks or electric wires might serve to teach honesty, he believed. He had tried a dog once, but although it kept the thieves away, he did about as much damage as a school of mountain goats would have done.

50 years ago: Turn over a spade full of earth in York and, who knows, you may be turning over a bit of history, as many are the times that coins had come to light in local gardens, coins perhaps dropped by someone centuries before. The latest example columnist Mr Nobody was aware of was workmen in Micklegate who were digging a 22 foot hole to correct a leaking pipe and construct a new manhole for the sewage system. During the task, which they had almost completed, they struck the old Roman road from York to Tadcaster, or Calcaria as it was known in Roman times, laying under Micklegate from a point just opposite Holy Trinity Church, and continuing along Blossom Street.

25 years ago: The former quarry behind Tadcaster windmill was earmarked for development, as plans were submitted to Selby Council that would turn the area into a hotel, petrol filling station, picnic area and restaurant if permission was granted. The windmill itself, standing on the bank overlooking the A64, wouldn't be included in the development, as it still belonged to the former owner of the quarry.

Updated: 08:13 Friday, July 16, 2004