Tuesday, June 22, 2004

100 years ago: Many improvements were being made around York ready for the summer, and the painting and cleaning of York Station had made "good progress". The front of Messrs Rowntree's works, facing Lendal, had been wonderfully brightened with paint, and a brilliant representation of the Royal arms adorned the top portion. Some very fine carving had been done at the North Eastern Railway new offices, as corbels, pediments, cornices, keystones, and finials were "richly treated," and some small windows in the spiral tower at the rear have been enclosed in richly carved mouldings.

50 years ago: The Yorkshire Evening Press appeared in a form which, in size if not style, had predominated for most of its life. This was not a change for the sake of change, announced the editor as the paper returned to a broadsheet format, it was because in the "new-old" form the reader would receive better service. The change to tabloid format was to save on paper and printing during the war years, and now that concerns regarding the raw materials were over, the paper was back up to size and able to bring "more detailed reports in a better presentation."

25 years ago: Filming started at Castle Howard for a five-part drama serial for Granada Television, based on Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited, which would be the most lavish production attempted for British Television. The serial wouldn't be ready for transmission until 1980, as filming would take 35 weeks, including 11 at the stately home. For the series Castle Howard, which was the inspiration behind Waugh's novel, would become Brideshead Castle.

Updated: 09:52 Tuesday, June 22, 2004