Friday, February 17, 2006

100 years ago

The charming old town of Whitby was making a bold bid to recover some of its former prosperity. The famous jet industry had been largely ruined by importation of foreign imitations of jet; the shipbuilding industry had been practically extinguished by the lack of facilities for the turning out of vessels of the large tonnage now required, and the fishing industry had been almost killed by the introduction of steam trawlers, for which Whitby Harbour was not well adapted. Following on the acquisition of the Harbour by the Local Authority, two important schemes were now under construction. One was the erection of a new bridge to connect the two parts of the town, and the other was the extension of the piers in order to improve the Harbour entrance. The existing bridge was not only too narrow in its span to allow of the launching of large ships from the shipyard, but was really in a dangerous condition structurally. There was considerable expectation that when this enlarged bridge was built shipbuilding would be resumed.

50 years ago

In these days of rising living costs, every penny counted, and a young couple starting out on married life could seldom afford the extra luxuries like a refrigerator, which made such a drain on their pockets. For those who had had the expense of furnishing a home and found that their resources could not run to a refrigerator, there were some hints for keeping food as fresh as possible. The first essential to combating the "fridgeless state" was a well-ventilated, dry, shady larder. In the absence of this, however, a hanging safe, suspended in an airy place, was the best substitute. Mrs Beeton had maintained in her cookery book that beef could be kept from two to four days in favourable weather - that was when the air was cool, clear and dry.

25 years ago

Prince Andrew was not to become the Duke of York -- yet. Hopes were running high in the city that the young Prince would be granted the honour by the Queen shortly, on his 21st birthday. It was seen as an appropriate time for the traditional honour to be bestowed on the Sovereign's second son, as the last Duke of York was the Prince's grandfather, before he became King George VI. The Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Clive Kay, expressed the hope, at his installation in York Guildhall the previous May, that Prince Andrew would be made Duke of York during his year of office. But his hopes were not to be realised for the Queen had made it known she wanted Prince Andrew to complete his military training before becoming more involved with Royal duties.

Updated: 16:52 Thursday, February 16, 2006