Friday, July 8, 2005

100 years ago

Passengers travelling by the 8.30 North Eastern express train from Scarborough were greatly alarmed by a serious mishap to the engine when the train had just passed Strensall Station. The first intimation the passengers received of the accident was when the brakes were suddenly applied a short distance from Haxby Station. The train was travelling at high speed, and ran into the station, where it then came to a standstill. A number of the passengers left their carriages to inquire into the cause of the unexpected stop, and learned from the railway officials, who were busy inspecting the engine, that one of the huge cranks underneath the fore part of the boiler had broken. The Haxby stationmaster telephoned to York for another engine, and in the meantime a goods train, proceeding from the direction of York, was stopped. Much praise was due to the stationmaster at Haxby for the prompt manner in which he took in the situation and acted accordingly.

50 years ago

"Unchained Melody" headed the precarious and fluctuating position of Top of the Hit Parade, and much of the credit for getting it there had to go to singer Jimmy Young. Jimmy had another bestseller on his list and such an unassuming and modest person deserved it. Back in 1951, his name came to the fore through a song called "Too Young". Since then, Jimmy had been touring the big-time theatre circuits at top-of-the-bill salaries, had made more than 300 radio and television appearances, and had toured successfully in the United States. When he was in America, a Red Indian princess made him an honorary member of her tribe. "She presented me with a feathered head-dress and christened me 'Young Chief Laughing Tonsils', " said Jimmy, smiling at the memory.

25 years ago

The West Yorkshire bus undertaking, which ran York's bus services, was losing a "staggering" £10,000 a week, it was revealed at a meeting of York City Council. It was decided to seek an urgent meeting of the Joint Committee made up from the Council and West Yorkshire Road Car Company, which ran the services in partnership. The object was to consider various route amendments and service frequencies put forward by the Labour group at the council meeting. Liberal leader, Councillor Steve Galloway, put forward the view that neither manpower nor services should be affected until the results of a special Marketing Analysis Project (MAP) survey, due in the autumn, were known.

Updated: 08:25 Friday, July 08, 2005