Monday, November 14, 2005

100 years ago

The quiet village of Heslington, on the outskirts of York, had been the scene of a horrible tragedy, in which almost a whole family had been wiped out. John Pinkney, an ex-soldier, who had latterly been following the occupation of a shepherd, appeared to have murdered his wife and three of his five children. A fourth was attacked, but was found alive and removed to the hospital, where there was some hope of its surviving the terrible attack of the frenzied father. A fifth child was probably saved from a violent death by being an inmate of the York County Hospital, suffering from inflammation of the bladder. It was suggested that Pinkney might have developed a homicidal tendency due to a weakness resulting from some injury to the head or sunstroke, which he had suffered while serving abroad in the Army.

50 years ago

The feathered celebrities of the budgerigar world had to forego a moment of glory at the York and District budgerigar Show. It was pet's morning and more than 20 entrants fought for the honours. Anxiety ran high among the young owners who discussed with one another the talking prowess of their birds. Unusual among the spoken phrases were "Up the city" and "I'm a teddy boy," by Toby, who was owned by Pat Swales, of York. Then there was "Be quick - what are you doing?" queried by Beauty, owned by Ronald Thornton, aged 10, of Beech Avenue, Holgate. Ronald hovered in the background during the judging and tried very hard to keep up that look of nonchalance, although now and then his confidence in his bird friend and his hopes for success became obvious in a glance or a tightening of the lips. Joey, who took first prize, was however, as calm as her owner, Annette Pearce, of 13, Peel Street, and lay claim only to "Dirty boy Kitty!"

25 years ago

Crisis was looming for rural rail services in the Eastern Region. All 34 branch lines in the region, including York's links with Harrogate and Scarborough, were in danger due to lack of maintenance. "It's definitely a crisis," a BR spokesman said in York. "Decisions are going to have to be made now, or lines will become inoperable within the next few years." Lack of investment for many years meant old rolling stock was running on lines on which only the most essential repairs could be carried out. A big new campaign by British Rail would involve approaches to local authorities for different types of help to promote investment in the lines. "We want them to consider the railways as an important part of their traffic system and then impress this on the Government," the spokesman explained.

Updated: 09:10 Monday, November 14, 2005