Saturday, May 8, 2004

100 years ago: An article was printed about an illustrated pamphlet issued by the York City Temperance Electoral Campaign Committee, in which Mr Butcher MP and the Lord Mayor of York were represented as being in association with "the drunkenness of York". The pamphlet stated that there were "hosts" of drunkards in York, that Mr Butcher had been chiefly occupied in serving the interested of the brewers, and that Mr AJ Balfour was "a publican Prime Minster". The brochure was described as a disgrace to York and its compilers, and the article pointed out that the police returns for the previous year showed that York was a sober city, there having been virtually just one case of drunkenness each day resulting from a resident population of 82,000 and a visiting population of several hundreds of thousands during the year.

50 years ago: Tradition had it that the loud ringing of Selby Abbey bells brought rain, but despite this legend a group of Irish bellringers would be allowed to use the bells on July 15. The vicar said: "I hope they will not bring rain - it is St Swithin's Day," an old saying based on the claim that if it rained on St Swithin's Day it would rain and rain for 40 days.

10 years ago: The Liberal Democrats branded York's Barbican Centre "ill-conceived" and suggested it should be sold or leased to an independent operator. The party launched its manifesto for the city council elections with a swingeing attack on the expense of the entertainment complex, claiming that annual running costs were now more then £1 million and audiences for entertainment events were dropping. The Liberals claimed that resources could be better put to use at local level around the city, such as creating more community centres, and said they would reintroduce grants for independent centres such as Priory Street.

Updated: 16:34 Friday, May 07, 2004