The new year in 1962 brought in heavy rains and floods which saw the River Wharfe in Ilkley almost reach the roadway of the bridge connecting Denton Road with Ben Rhydding.

125 years ago

A number of sympathetic friends collected at the railway station to bid farewell to Mr and Mrs Todd and family who were leaving Ilkley for their new home in Australia. A substantial sum was collected for the purpose of enabling the Todds to emigrate and this was supplemented by gifts of clothing. Mr Todd carried on the business of plumber and painter in Ilkley for a number of years but the decline of the building trade compelled him to seek his fortune elsewhere.

Respecting the recent appeal from a decision of the Otley Justices given in the Ilkley 'Glass Case' the Licensed Victuallers' Gazette says 'We are clearly of the opinion that the conviction was wrong, and ought to have been quashed. There was no proof whatsoever that any glass containing less than half-a-pint of beer had been used as a measure, no witness was called to say they had asked for half-a-pint and had been served less.

An Addingham painter and plumber was committed to prison for 40 days at the Skipton County Court for the non-payment of a debt of £2, 2sh 8d. The order is not to be executed until the expiry of one month.

100 years ago

A writer from Ilkley signing himself Cash Down' has sent the following letter. "To those people who do not pay as they go, Christmas comes in a double guise - on one hand festivities, gifts and good wishes, and on the other a pile of Christmas bills demanding payment sooner or later. Many a householder who habitually lives beyond his means discovers that these are an ugly nightmare, ever present the year round, and at Christmas it is the skeleton at the feast, taking out of life its spring and beauty and joy."

Skating and fishing: To couple these recreations seems somewhat incongruous, yet on Tuesday two men were nearly up to their haunches in the river, fishing for greyling, and close on hand a number of people were busy skating.

According to one of the daily papers the thermometer at Ilkley during Sunday night dropped to 11 degrees below zero. It was very cold, that is certain, but had we had such an experience of arctic weather, there would have been more places than the Tarn and the pond of the Wharfedale estate available for skaters, and the havoc among the water pipes and water cisterns would have been something enormous.

75 years ago

Whilst the snow of Sunday night and Monday dislocated road services in many parts of Yorkshire, Ilkley escaped lightly with its first snow of the winter. Even on the moors it was not lying more than two or three inches in depth.

The first meeting of the recently formed local branch of the Electrical Association for Women was held in the Electricity Showrooms on Tuesday, when Mr C E D Greenhalgh, electrical engineer to the Ilkley Urban District Council, gave an interesting and instructive address on the subject of The Introduction of Electricity into the Home, and Protective Fuses.' Damp, he said, was electricity's worst enemy and fuses should always be put in as dry a place as possible.

About 200 children of Ilkley were entertained on Saturday by the Rover Scouts and Ilkley Group of Toc H, who joined forces most worthily in the event. On the previous Wednesday evening there was another happy gathering of children when the local lodges of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes gave a party to about 100 children. These children's parties are amongst the jolliest of the winter season in Ilkley.

50 years ago

At their monthly meeting Addingham parish councillors instructed the clerk to write to the West Riding authorities in an endeavour to improve snow clearing arrangements in the village. The decision was reached after complaints by residents. An aged lady found that after alighting from a bus she could not cross the road because of the deep snow that had been pushed to the side of the road by a snow plough.

All telephone communications which were disconnected in Ilkley and district after the fall of snow on New Year's Day and the strong wind which followed have now been restored. Since New Year's Day extra gangs have been working every day to clear the district. There had been 1,400 disconnected lines in Ilkley and district.

Concern over a recent large increase in membership was expressed at a meeting of the Burley Saint John's Methodist Youth Club committee. Club membership had more than doubled from about 20 to 40 in recent weeks and the club was facing problems of leadership with such large numbers. The closure of the Burley cinema had left teenagers at a loose end on Friday evenings.

25 years ago

The aim of those planning and rebuilding the renovated organ at St Margaret's Church, Ilkley, was to provide an instrument suitable for use in services, concerts and recitals, and its success in recitals was apparent last year when a number of local musicians put the new organ through its paces. Next Saturday will see the beginning of the 2nd season of recitals, and judging by the list of recitals already announced the fame of the instrument is spreading across the Pennines.

Addingham Memorial Hall Social Committee discussed arrangements for the forthcoming "Pancake Affayre" at Addingham, which will include stalls from local organisations. It is expected that an automatic batter mixer will be used to make the pancakes.

An area of land at the top of Wells Road, which was once the site of Ilkley's bandstand, may become a coach park. It is one of two sites Ilkley Parish Council is suggesting might serve as parking spaces for the coaches. For some time members of the council have been concerned over the shortage of space for coaches parking in the town.

2:46pm Thursday 17th January 2008

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