125 Years Ago - 1893

To his credit, be it said, Mr Sam Hartley, of Messrs Payne’s, has suggested my calling attention in Otley to the severe distress in Yeadon and its neighbourhood. He believes that the comparatively prosperous working men in Otley would lend a helping hand to their mates over the hill, especially if small committees were formed in the various workshops of the town.

The Ilkley Local Board’s Bill in Parliament - We understand that this bill is likely to come on in the course of a week or so before a Committee of the House of Lords, and that both the Local Board and Gas Company are preparing for the “fight”, which will be even more closely contested than when the Bill was before the Committee of the House of Commons.

100 Years Ago - 1918

A local soldier who has been interesting himself in the songs of the soldiers at the Front has sent home a copy of what he says is a very popular refrain amongst West Riding lads. This is the well-known ditty “On Ilkla Moor Ba-aht ‘At.”

Ilkley Picture House - “Altar Chains” was shown at the fore part of the week, a very tragic and romantic story. A young girl is sold in marriage for money, although she has given her heart elsewhere, and this leads to the tragic death of Captain Kerr, a war hero, and also the death by poisoning of the girl’s detested husband, with happiness for herself and her lover as a result of the tragedy.

75 Years Ago - 1943

The annual meeting of the Yeadon branch of the League of Nations Union was held in the Central Methodist Church on Friday. The meeting passed the following resolution: “The Yeadon Branch of the League of Nations Union notes with horror and indignation Hitler’s avowed intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe, and the barbarous and inhuman treatment to which Jews are being subjected in Germany and in German-occupied territories. As the Polish Government in London reports the mass slaughter of the Jews in Poland, and of Jews transported to Poland for the purpose, has begun, the Branch fears that the that the murder of 6,000,000 human beings is actually contemplated.

How two Rawdon brothers met at a Middle East port is told in letters that have reached their parents. They are Marine J. E. (“Ted”) Broadhead (22) and Able-Seaman B. A. Broadhead, sons of Mr and Mrs E. Broadhead, 25 Batter Lane, Rawdon. Able-Seaman Broadhead wrote: “I am writing this letter on board our Ted’s ship, and he will be writing one and posting them in the same envelope, so you will know we are both OK. It was great seeing Ted and hearing all the news about home and being able to have a few days with him. The place here is alright; there are some good picture houses, and you can get a nice pot of beer.”

50 Years Ago - 1968

This week the work on the demolition of the railway embankment between Brook Street and Cunliffe Road and of the bridge buttresses reached the stage when for the first time in over 80 years it became possible to look through from one side to the other.

In the traditional spring-cleaning which, like a tornado, sweeps through many homes at this time of the year, do not forget the true object of these activities! Spring-cleaning is a very hollow and wearying affair if it does not conduce to the health and happiness of the woman in the house and her family for the remainder of the year. Yet worn nerves and general fatigue only too often ensue, because too much attention is devoted to renovation of the inanimate matter of curtains, carpets and bedding, and too little, or none at all, to the framework of mental and physical health.

25 Years Ago - 1993

A railway footbridge which has served the Wharfedale line for over 100 years disappeared from the landscape on Sunday. The bridge at Ben Rhydding Railway Station was too low to accept the overhead cables for the electrification of the line which is due to be operational by next year.

Remember the fuss, a few years back, over the dangers of asbestos? Some employees are still being subjected to a health risk that is a hundred times more dangerous. It’s called passive smoking. Persuading employers to provide smoke-free workplaces is one of the key aims of a new campaign in West Yorkshire.