100 years ago

An article on Easter customs told of how in certain of the Midland and Northern counties such as Warwickshire and Lancashire, there still lingered the custom of “lifting”.

This was at one time performed in the street, but was currently mostly conducted indoors.

At parties the people “lifted” each other as they sat in their chairs, and from each one lifted some contribution was expected.

On Easter Monday the men “lifted” the women, and on Tuesday the women “lifted” the men.

In some parts of Cheshire the children went round the villages begging for Easter eggs for their dinner, at the same time singing a song in which they requested “an egg, bacon, or cheese, or an apple, or any good thing that will make us merry”.

Pendle Hill, near Burnley, Lancashire, was visited regularly by crowds who rolled the eggs, which were of all colours, down the steep sides, and the broken shells could be seen for miles as a long white streak down the green slopes of the hill.


50 years ago

Mr John Profumo, Secretary for War, denied in the House of Commons being in any way connected with the disappearance of Miss Christine Keeler, the missing witness in a recent Old Bailey trial.

In a personal statement he told MPs: “I shall not hesitate to issue writs of libel and slander if scandalous allegations are made or repeated outside the House.”

The 48-year-old Minister was cheered by Conservative MPs at the end of his statement.

“It has been alleged that people in high places might have been responsible for concealing information concerning the disappearance of a witness, and the perversion of justice. I understand my name has been connected with rumours about her disappearance.

I would like to take the opportunity of making a personal statement about these matters. I last saw Miss Keeler in December, 1961. I have not seen her since. I have no idea where she is now.”


25 years ago

Northerners were turning down jobs, and even promotion, if it meant a move to the south, claimed latest research by Staffordshire-based consultants Reward Regional Surveys.

The cost of housing was the largest single factor preventing them from following successful careers in the south.

Families in Yorkshire and Humberside were enjoying almost the best quality of life in Britain after taking into account local wage and salary levels and cost of living factors.

The survey placed the region second in the UK “quality of life” index.

“Those who live in the north will doubtless envy the pay levels in the south-east, but when they take the cost of living into account, they will realise that there is no finer place to live at the moment.”