100 years ago

The boating season would soon commence, and there was no pleasanter row down the river than that in the direction of Bishopthorpe.

There was the view of the fine old palace, and the village itself, with its tall row of elms, one of the most picturesque in the Vale of York.

It was intended greatly to improve gardens and bowling greens for the pleasure of summer visitors.

The great request at Bishopthorpe – a railway station, for the York to Church Fenton line passed nearby – was still unsatisfied, and there seemed to be little likelihood of a move in that direction.

The residents were asking why some enterprising person did not run a motor service to cover the three miles between the village and the city.

One could just as well walk to York – but after all, three miles was a long way to trudge back, after a day’s shopping in the city.

50 years ago

Prof C Northcoate Parkinson, opening the conference in London of the Motor Agents’ Association, proposed the production of inflatable Cadillacs and Rolls-Royces for use as social symbols, on the principle of the dummy tanks used in the 1939-45 war.

“Easily stored in the tool shed, the plastic mirage could easily be blown up with a bicycle pump.”

It might even be used as a garage for the family runabout.

Prof Parkinson, who was educated at St Peter’s School, York, warned that the proposed decimal coinage system might soon mean that wallets would be stuffed with nearly valueless pieces of paper.

The proposal under discussion, he said, seemed to involve turning the 10s note into the £1.

This would repeat the mistake made repeatedly on the Continent, with the unit worth 1s and the centime or equivalent worthless from the start.

With a decline in the unit’s value, a car would come to be valued in tens or hundreds of thousands, and house property in billions.

25 years ago

Two old Yorkshire rivals had finally got together and made history. For the first time, representatives from Scarborough and Bridlington had joined forces in a bid to turn that part of the coast into the Riviera of the North.

At an historic meeting, it was agreed the way to tackle outside competition from other resorts was to get together. Tourism chiefs from both towns tagged the meeting “a huge success” and looked forward to the joint effort.

This now meant the rival resorts – less than 40 miles apart – would end a decade of fierce competition.

Plans already included a joint marketing leaflet promoting Scarborough and Bridlington in the same breath - although the town’s separate leaflets would remain.