100 years ago

Now that an improvement in the weather had set in, much progress was being made in the erection of the new dining-hall which Messrs Rowntree were providing for the accommodation of their large staff on the site of the old orchard on Haxby Road, opposite to the employees' entrance to the works.

The building would be of great size, and would be one of the finest and probably the most complete building of its kind in the country.

It would have a ground measurement of 150ft by 200ft, and there would be three storeys.

The dining-halls, one on the first floor for the girls and women, and one on the second floor for the boys and men, would respectively have seating accommodation for 2000 and 1000 persons.

Besides the dining-halls, there were to be a gymnasium, night schools, class rooms, lecture halls, cookery schools, dressmaking classes, and slipper and shower baths.

No commencement had yet been made of the construction of the subway under Haxby Road, which was to afford communication between the new building and the works, as it was the desire of the firm to interfere as little with the road traffic as possible.

50 years ago

When vehicle tests were first proposed, pessimists forecast that half the elderly cars then in use would be forced off the roads. A year's experience of the scheme had shown that this had not been so.

Only the most decrepit vehicles had been scrapped as a result of the tests, because their owners were not prepared to have them reconditioned.

Many of these vehicles would have reached the end of their useful life in the previous year in any event, and many more would have been discarded because second-hand prices had tumbled heavily.

There was no point in running an inefficient pre-war car when a post-war model in reasonable condition cost only £100.

The next stage planned by the Minister of Transport was to bring the age limit down from seven to four or five years sometime this year.

25 years ago

The Social Democratic Party in York had been told by their leader, Dr David Owen, to prepare for a General Election on May 7.

In a letter to the Alliance's prospective Parliamentary candidate to the city, Dr Vincent Cable, Dr Owen had pledged a substantial contribution to local party funds so that they could wage a full campaign in the city.

The SDP, in high spirits since the Alliance victory in the Greenwich by-election, believed the current political climate hinted towards the Government going for an early election.

Dr Owen had told Dr Cable that since the Greenwich by-election the political make-up of seats such as York had changed considerably.