Friday, March 19, 2004

100 years ago: A Northallerton hostelry was very busy on the last market day, the landlord and landlady having to serve all day without a break. Just as the evening shades were drawing on the landlady observed a cur dog, belonging to a well known cattle jobber and farmer, emerge from the kitchen quarters bearing something in its jaws.

She chased it outside to find it had taken the cooked pig's cheek reserved from the throng for the landlord's tea. When the owner was found he was asked to pay for it, and some "good-natured chaff" followed. The door to the kitchen was severely shut, to which the columnist writing of it commented that it was a case of the old adage "lock your stable door before the horse is stolen".

50 years ago: "What a topsy-turvy world this is!" declared columnist Mr Nobody. "The ladies wear slacks and demand to be treated as the equals of men - and the men retaliate by wearing earrings! Sceptical? Yes, I was too, until a few days ago. And I refuse to believe there could be any truth in the reports that more and more men throughout the country were turning to earrings for personal adornment.

Then, in the space of two hours, I saw three young men wearing them in a York street." He called at jewellers to check on the demand in York, and was told: "We're doing quite good business with men these days: have two or three customers every week." Most of them, the jeweller added, were either seamen from Hull or "up-to-date" local boys aged between 18 and 25. The ear piercing cost 3s, and one gold ring 7s, most men insisting on gold and wearing one ear-ring only in the left ear as was the fashion. So far, there had been no requests for nose piercing.

10 years ago: Plans for a major shopping centre on a former hospital site near York were revived, but the proposals for the complex, and a second proposal for a business park, could fall foul of a Government policy shift.

It was announced earlier in the week that new planning guidance advised councils to block schemes that were only accessible by cars. In future, local authorities must ensure such developments could also be reached by public transport, bicycle or on foot.

Updated: 12:02 Friday, March 19, 2004