June 19

Even Ascot had not escaped the freak frock. Despite the fact that all men abhorred it, and most women disliked it, there were still apparently sufficient women so lacking in artistic sense of dress as to disfigure themselves with the fashionable imitation of the contents of a rag-bag.

This was the verdict of more than one fashionable dressmaker. “We have tried our best,” they all declared, “to induce the woman who wants to be smart to wear reasonable clothes. But some of our clients insist on freaks, and when they insist – well, all we can do is to carry out their orders.”

50 years ago

York Castle Museum came colourfully to life to provide its own contribution to the Festival - The Living Past. Elegantly costumed characters of periods long since relegated to the history books strolled leisurely through the galleries, sipped tea in the Victorian parlour or discussed the problems of the day in the Georgian Room.

But for many of them the lure of a Victorian music hall show in cobbled Kirkgate was too strong to resist; and so it was that visitors had the exciting experience of sharing the street with “ghosts” from the past. The little street had never seen such gaiety; so much banter and laughter; such rousing old-time songs and such an attractive line-up as “Mr Roberts’ Young Ladies” provided. There was Madame Horner at the piano, the four singing barmen to open the proceedings and such numbers on the programme as Down at the Old Bull and Bush, Joshua and I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside.

It seemed inevitable that sooner or later one of the people living in the narrow street would pop his head out of a window and object to the noise so late at night. And that opportunity for another touch of realism was not missed. One did! But the fun continued.

25 years ago

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal officially became one of the wonders of the world. But Sports Minister Colin Moynihan, who was to have unveiled a plaque commemorating the site’s designation as a World Heritage Site, missed out on the fun.

He had to pull out at the last minute after the Prime Minister asked him to fly out to Düsseldorf to monitor the behaviour of England’s troublesome soccer fans. The unveiling was carried out instead by the Lord Lt of North Yorkshire Sir Marcus Worsley. Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Gardens was one of 11 sites in Britain, which had been selected for the World Heritage List.

The 1984 World Heritage Convention, of which Britain was a signatory, aimed to list important sites because of their “outstanding universal value”.