Friendly societies meet in unfriendly conditions

2:16pm Monday 15th September 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

125 years ago

The annual demonstration of the various friendly societies in Addingham, locally known as the ‘club walk’ was held under very unfavourable circumstances, as the heavy downpour during the former part of the day was against an imposing show. The Shepherds, Foresters, and United Order of Oddfel-lows took part, being accompanied by the Baildon Temperance, Idle and Silsden brass bands.

At a meeting of the Ilkley Local Board, Dr Little said that the rights of the public on Ilkley Moor which they had enjoyed since ‘time immemorial’ had been gradually restricted, and people had been stopped by gamekeepers when in the innocent pursuit of health and recreation. He said it was high time that the public should be protected from the high-handed proceedings of the Lord of the Manor and his subordinates.

At a meeting of the Ilkley School Board, Mr Naylor called to attention the want of a school at Wheatley. There were about 26 children returned as attending at Ilkley and it was a great hardship to make them come all the way to Ilkley in winter time.

125 years ago

Motor Char A Banc Trip to Scarborough: On Sunday a party of 25 Ilkley residents had a motor car trip to Scarborough. The car was provided by Mr C Chapman, of Grassington, and was in charge of Mr Richard Warthall, an excellent and reliable driver. The Lister’s Arms Hotel. Ilkley, was left at 6.50am and Scarbough reached at 12.30pm, some little time being spent at both Yorks and Malton. Scarborough was left in the evening at 4pm and Ilkley reached on 9.30pm, the outing being most enjoyable in every way.

A London paper under the heading “By the Silver Sea” includes Ilkley. It would be good news for the holiday makers in Leeds and neighbourhood who want a change from Bridlington and Scarborough.

On Monday morning a female patient at the Ilkley Hospital and convalescent home was walking along Ben Rhydding Road with a companion when she had a severe heart attack. Dr Bampton was fortunately near at hand and had the woman taken into the Coronation Cottage Hospital, where he and Dr Browne Hearder applied restoratives and brought the woman round.

75 years ago

Reference was made at a meeting of Ilkley Chamber of Trade to summer fashions which had adversely affected tradespeople. Mr C Moisley said the trade for hosiery had been very seriously affected by the craze among girls for going about with bare legs. “Trade has declined until it is practically non-existent,” he said. A member recalled that only that day he had been to the office of a well-known works, and out of five typists four were not wearing stockings.

Girl hikers helped to beat out the great fire on Rombalds Moor on Sunday. The blaze spread over three miles of heather.

The Earl of Harewood was given a civic welcome when he visited Otley on Saturday for the purpose of opening the Welfare Centre for the unemployed, situated in premises at the top of Beech Hill, Westgate. The visit was favoured with glorious weather and large crowds of people were present at the open-air welcome. Lord Harewood inspected the premises on which unemployed men had been at work for some months. He said: “We have begun seriously to face the problem from the root, to get more people into definite employment. Yet when I say that I fully realise the necessity of dealing with the immediate problem around us in the temporary fashion which you are organising here in Otley, and I do welcome it.”

50 years ago

Early this morning, Ilkley Urban District Council launched operation ‘Stray Sheep’, the biggest offensive ever carried out against the wandering animals which have become an increasing nuisance in the last few months. At 10am today, 115 sheep and lambs had been collected from the streets and impounded in the Wheatley Holmes where they were grazing contentedly, probably enjoying their best meal in months. The campaign will continue until some co-operative response from the farmers is more apparent than it has been before.

August went out in a blaze of sunshine and its last day produced a temperature at its peak as high as any recorded in Ilkley this year. One of the results was an influx of visitors with the bathing pool again having a satisfactory weekend. Takings on Sunday amounted to £427 18s and these were the second best takings for a single day for the season.

The re-formation of the Women’s Section of the Ilkley Labour Party took place at a meeting held in the council room of the Ilkley Congregational Hall. The vice-chairman of the Ilkley Labour Party welcomed members and supporters and stressed that an active women’s section could go a long way towards the making of a very strong local Labour party.

25 years ago

August was the driest and sunniest month of the year, the rainfall being 1.34 inches recorded on five days – more than half of which fell on August 16. The sunshine figure was slightly higher than that of July, while the average temperature was lower – due to the colder nights in August.

A person who found an unexploded bomb at Denton Moor, Ilkley, loaded it into his car boot and drove down to the town’s police station with it. An Army Bomb Disposal Squad, which arrived to investigate, decided the bomb was in too dangerous a condition to move and exploded it behind the Police Station on Tuesday.

Ilkley petitioners have won the first round in the fight to save the Casualty Department of Ilkley Coronation Hospital. At the last moment they won the support of the Airedale Community Health Council, which has agreed to oppose the Airedale Health Authority’s proposals to axe the services at Ilkley.