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Children from the Ilkley Catholic Junior School held their Christmas party in the old nursery school on Castle Road, Ilkley, in 1955. Picture by Annings of Ilkley.

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125 years ago

The former surveyor, inspector of nuisance and manager of the waterworks of the Burley-in-Wharfedale Local Board appeared before the Otley Petty Sessions accused of setting fire to the records and papers of the board. The accused, who had been given notice to leave for ne-glecting his duties due to intemperance, said he had been drinking and could not remember the day in question. He was sentenced to two months hard labour.

The distribution of prizes for regular attendance to the scholars attending the Ilkley National School took place. A considerable number of parents of the children assembled in the infants class-room to witness the ceremony. 'The Railway Train is Starting Now' was nicely sung and more than 80 prizes were distributed consisting of books and toys.

The third lecture in the winter session of the Ilkley Scientific Club concentrated on the subject of bats. The bat belongs to the order Chiroptera of the class mammalia and the position assigned it in nature is a very high one, being placed by most natu-ralists immediately after man and the monkeys and in precedure of all the rest of the mam-mals.

100 years ago

There are those who tell us that Christmas has lost much of its old-time character and interest, and when one comes to look through the pages of the Christmas numbers and sees their representations of stage coaches, ploughing through deep snow drifts, children muffled up to the ears singing and playing outside the Squires mansion, the Yule log blazing on an open hearth and merry dancers whirling round to the music of a solitary fiddler; Christmas has indeed changed in character, and more so things generally.

Ninety-two Ilkley residents were summoned at the Otley Police court yesterday for the non-payment of there rates. Of these 33 had paid before the cases were brought into court.

There are few people who do not, under ordinary circumstances, look forward to Christmas with some degree of pleasure, and in many household preparations for the festival are proceeding briskly, and even shopkeepers are beginning to experience a busy time.

75 years ago

An auctioneer and valuer from Idle was summoned to Otley Police Court for driving a motor car in a dangerous manner at Ilkley. Supt Hodgson said the alleged offence took place on the main road, near the Ilkley Gas Works. An Ilkley errand boy was walking along the footpath in the di-rection of Burley, on the left side of the road. The defendant was travelling in the same direction and it was contended he ran on to the footpath and knocked down the boy, who was seriously injured. The defendant, who contended that the boy was walking on the road , was fined £5 and his licence was suspended for two months.

Times are bad, of course, and it is probably due to money being tight that the response this year to the appeal for 'smokes' for the patients at the Middleton Sanatorium has not met with the same ready response as before. For a number of years Ilkley has remembered the men who must, by ill fortune, spend their Christmas away from their families whilst undergoing treatment. They enjoy a cigarette as much as anyone - when a cigarette happens to come their way.

It has been possible, in connection with the appeal for Odd Jobs week in Ilkley, to place 28 men in temporary employment, resulting in a total of 58 days work.

50 years ago

With the Christmas posting arrangements not in full operation on Monday, staff were surprised when 25,370 letters were received which kept them busy throughout the day until eight o'clock in the evening. This caused considerable apprehension for the sorting centre for letters in the Lecture Hall was not due to be put into operation until Tuesday. The letters received on Tuesday totalling 31,990 were easily dealt with.

There have been parties in the schools this week, the churches have arranged special services, and Christmas fare is being served on the decorated wards of the hospital. At the Christmas party held for the children of the Ilkley Church of England Infants' School, each child received a small present. During the afternoon the children played games and were entertained by a conjuror.

Jewellery valued at more than £300 and a small amount of money was stolen from the home of an Ilkley couple on Grove Road on Saturday. The discovery was made on returning home at 7pm. Inquiries are being made by Ilkley Police. The couple have been resident in Ilkley for only a short period. Previously they lived at Apperley Bridge.

25 years ago

Despite recession Ilkley has again lived up to its reputation of being a Christmas boom town. Shopkeepers attribute this to shoppers coming in from out of town to take advantage of the well-stocked shops, which offer good enough services and rea-sonable facilities for parking. The heavy snows of 1981 had a some-what adverse effect on luxury shopping in the pre-Christmas period but this year weather conditions have been better.

Four crew members of Ilkley's adopted submarine Osiris' travelled to Ilkley at the weekend. During their two-day stay they visited Menston Children's Home where they enjoyed Christmas dinner with the children and presented them with a portable television set.

Volunteers prepared to help old people living alone in the event that snow, or similar emergency prevents the normal emergency services from getting through, are being sought in the Ilkley district by Bradford Metropolitan Council. In previous years a heavy snowfall has meant that the meal-on-wheels, the wardens and the home helps have not been able to reach some of the most needy elderly.

11:10am Thursday 20th December 2007

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