Thursday, October 7, 2004

100 years ago: A curious and amusing incident was witnessed at the Blue Bridge, York, by a columnist. A bargeman was sculling in a small boat in the vicinity, and along with him in the boat was a dog of the Irish terrier breed. The man, after passing under the bridge into the Ouse, dropped his oar accidentally or intentionally, and the boat, having some weight on it, drifted some distance into the river. When it was about twenty or thirty yards from the oar the man put the dog overboard. It swam round the boat until its master, leaning over the bow, caught the animal by its short stump of a tail. The dog immediately began to swim vigorously towards the floating oar, pulling the boat after it. In the first place the dog towed the boat completely round until the bow was in a straight line for the opening under the bridge. The man still holding on to the tail, and the dog paddling bravely, the craft was quickly brought alongside the oar, which the bargeman seized and took on board. The performance was repeated several times, the dog seeming to enjoy the experience of acting as a tow-boat.

50 years ago: Though he plied a trade which had no place in this modern age, a man from Helmsley had more work than he can cope with, because he was the only remaining thatcher in Yorkshire. Having just completed rethatching a cottage in Old Malton, his new work was on a crib which would form part of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society's contribution to the York Minster Harvest Festival Service.

25 years ago: A plan by Selby District Council to buy ready made council houses fell through. The council had planned a "package deal" with a national building firm, which would see the company building homes on its own land then selling them to the council. A £850,000 cut in money allocated to the council by the Department of the Environment had meant that the council had to change their plans. However, the council could still meet its building and modernisation programme, as they had unexpected help from the National Coal Board, who didn't need as many houses for miners this year.

Updated: 14:07 Wednesday, October 06, 2004