From our archives:

85 years ago

A carefully-planned attempt to demolish a bridge that had spanned a railway bridge for 90 years had taken place near Thirsk. The three-arch bridge of solid brick and masonry had been blown to atoms by an explosion that could have been heard for miles around. During the preparations main line traffic north and south had been diverted by the way of Harrogate and Starbeck and slow trains had been replaced by a bus service from Sessay. And Mr T G Marson, a works superintendent in the LNER District Engineer’s Department in Hull, had retired after 45 years’ service with an oak bureau presented by the members of the supervisory clerical and technical staff. Before been appointed the role of superintendent in 1914, Mr Marson had spent 10 months at York in 1908.

50 years ago

In Brazil, an estimated one million of its residents had packed the streets of Sao Paulo, to greet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh during their tour of Brasilia. Ticker tape rose petals and rice rained down on the Queen whilst she rode in an open top car, and Brazilian photographers ignored orders to stay behind a line of Dragoons, blocking the public’s view of a wreath-laying ceremony. At a press conference Prince Philip however still managed a raise a laugh after describing the race to conquer the Moon as “the best way to waste money I have heard of so far.” And Yorkshire Television was causing problems for the teachers and parents of school children at Selby Abbey Junior School after inviting only 40 of it’s 80 children to take part in a new programme, Clubhouse. To solve the problem all names from two senior classrooms were put into two separate hats with 20 drawn out of each hat.

20 years ago

Police had appealed to the citizens of York to help find the proceeds of a post office shotgun raid after robbers had dumped the haul during an armed police chase. In search of the money, wrapped in plastic bags, divers and dogs had also joined officers on foot making a painstaking search of the Clifton area in the hope of recovering the cash, snatched from the Holgate Road Post Office. And billed as the greatest act ever booked to play Barbican, Van Morrison had put York on the map after selling out the venue’s 3,800 ticket capacity, for two nights, in record time.