From our archives:

85 years ago

A new system of lighting the sea fronts, three times the candle power of the old system, was being carried out in Bridlington. The new “bottled lightning” which had been created with non-filament bulbs was now to be placed on new stands, nine feet higher than the original. According to Captain A J Beckett, the borough’s Electrical Engineer, Bridlington was the first seaside town to implement the new design. The only disadvantage so far, was that it showed every colour except pink, making human beings look slightly liverish. The third show of the season organised by the members of the Ancient Society of York Florists, the oldest organisation of its kind in the country, had been held at York’s Guildhall. There was an exceptionally good display in all sections, with dahlias and asters stealing the limelight. And Yorkshire was rejoicing after clouds had gathered bringing light showers. For York, it was the first shower that the city had experienced for nearly a month.

50 years ago

Work had already started on the new £1m flour mill being built at Barlby, near Selby. Owners, Ranks Hovis McDougall, hoped that the project would be completed by the end of 1969. The present Imperial Mill had been built by William Kirkby and Sons in 1905. Busy flat hunting in York was the city’s new archivist, Miss Lucie Tanner, who was due to start work at the library on Monday. An honours graduate in history from St Andrews University, 26-year-old Lucie had previously been a research assistant at the British Museum. And up for sale was Pocklington’s Drill Hall in Barmby Road. Opened before the 1914-18 war, the building had now been put on the market.

20 years ago

Nick Leeson, the trader blamed with bringing down Barings Bank, would not be released early from prison because he was suffering from cancer. According to his solicitor, Leeson, 31, who was serving a six-and-half year sentence for fraud and forgery, had just recovered from an operation for colon cancer. And a Selby landlord had hit a bit of boiler trouble when thieves broke into a row of five new houses and stole the boilers worth £600. A spokesman from Harlequin Property services said: “It was a real shame that this has happened, but its just a fact of life these days.”