February 19

Five of the bells of the York Minster peal, as recorded in our columns the previous day, had arrived in York after undergoing retuning and repairing in London.

The first to reach the Minster had been the tenor, weighing 50cwt 2qrs, with a cast iron head stock of half a ton.

The work of removing it from the lorry had been a long and tedious process.

Workmen began by “packing” it with timber, that is arranging beneath it blocks and planks under which in turn were placed iron rollers.

The bell was then slowly moved down two inclined planks from the back of the lorry to the Minster steps, after which it was worked by means of leverage to the door of the south-west tower.

It had then been found necessary to turn the bell into another position owing to the doorway being too narrow by half an inch to admit the stock.

In due course the great bell was got within the Minster. As were two other bells, Nos 11 and 9. Numbers 10 and 5 were next carted up from the station, but as darkness fell before the workmen were ready they were left standing on the trolley all night.

The rest of the bells would arrive in a second consignment.

Considerable interest was evinced by the public in the carting of the huge bells through the city streets from the railway station, and during the afternoon the proceedings in the Minster Yard were watched by many spectators.

50 years ago

The Government-sponsored National Research Development Corporation had reaffirmed its intention to give financial backing to the commercial operation of Hovercraft.

It said negotiations were going on between potential Hovercraft operators and manufacturers. A commercial operation to demonstrate the practical potentialities of the Hovercraft in Britain would, it was hoped, be the prelude to export orders from many parts of the world.

It was understood that at least one potential operator was having talks, in addition to the Isle of Wight group currently seeking to raise capital to finance the service across the Solent.

25 years ago

A new leisure card aimed at making sports facilities cheaper for city residents had been approved by the city council's Leisure Services Committee. But some councillors warned there could be opposition to the scheme from people living outside the York boundary.

The new card would mean a 25 per cent reduction in charges at swimming pools and sports centres for York residents, while those living outside the city would pay more.

Councillor Peter Brown referred to the York city boundary when he said: “Some people are going to take great exception to being told they do not live in York.”