125 YEARS AGO - 1893

Miss Olive Schreiner, the well-known South African novelist, has been staying at Ben Rhydding for three days, and has expressed herself in terms of enthusiasm regarding the scenery around Ilkley.

If I were a parent of children attending school I would certainly prosecute any teacher who took upon himself to castigate my child unduly, or, in fact, to castigate it at all. Surely the educators of the 19th century, themselves want educating in this respect! Punishment that is not brutal, that does not imply so much stick and leather, can be found by an intelligent teacher above the mental level of a Squeers; and it is no wonder that the mothers of our children are beginning to “strike” against the right to “wallop”as exercised by teachers whenever they like.

100 Years Ago - 1918

We are informed by the local Food Control Committee that visitors must bring with them their own supplies of sugar. If their stay does not exceed a week it is desirable that they should bring with them their own tea also, or have these commodities sent to them by the retailers with whom they are now registered.

On Saturday the members of the Ilkley Moor Golf Club entertained the wounded soldiers from the three Ilkley hospitals, and a most enjoyable enjoyable afternoon was spent. Those who could not walk were conveyed to and from the clubhouse in motors.

75 Years Ago - 1943

As housewives we always welcome quick dishes that will help us get out of the kitchen into the fresh air as quickly as possible; we don’t want cooking to claim too much of our leisure. Vegetables and salad are grand in this way, but they need something to make them more substantial, and here the dried egg is a great ally.

The death took place early on Friday morning of Miss Eliza Marshall, of “Wayside”, Southfield Road, Burley, in her 98th year. Miss Marshall was a member of an old Otley family with a remarkable record of longevity. Her father, Mr. Thomas Forrest Marshall, had a brick works at the foot of West Chevin, and built Burras House where the family lived for more than half a century. He also lived for a number of years at Chevin Hall which he built from local material.

50 Years Ago - 1968

The days when people walked to the Sun Inn at Norwood on Sundays for a shilling dinner were recalled during an inquiry at Harrogate into rights of way in the Haverah Park area. One of the witnesses was Mr. Alan Bailey, aged 74, of Whistle House Farm, Norwood, who recalled that his grandmother kept the Sun Inn for 36 years. He said: “The inn was noted for its catering. On a fine Sunday scores of people walked there for a shilling dinner. We used to cook a whole hindlift, as much as 40lb. Everyone carved for themselves as much as they wanted, with Yorkshire puddings and vegetables, biscuits and cheese, or apple pie and cream.”

Ilkley-Bradford services and the cancellation of a school trip were the immediate casualties in the Ilkley District of the railway dispute which on Monday brought about a “go slow” over many parts of the country. Over 450 pupils at the Ilkley All Saints Junior Mixed School were disappointed on Monday when their special train to Chester for their annual school trip was cancelled.

25 Years Ago - 1993

The days of men creeping into the bathroom and borrowing a smidgen of their partner’s moisturiser are numbered - after the opening of an exclusive beauty salon in Ilkley. Men who want to look and feel good can now step forward with the launch of a Clarins unisex studio - only the eighth of its kind in Britain. The coup for Ilkley has been secured by Scott’s Chemist in Brook Street.

A monument to one of Otley’s famous sons is to be unveiled. A sundial in memory of Sam Hartley Chippindale is to be unveiled at Wharfemeadows Park. Mr Chippindale, who lived at Ash Grove as a boy, was the originator of covered shopping centres in the UK. He was instrumental in forming the Arndale Property Trust and now 16 Arndale Centres stand as a memorial to him.