W Bradley, of Addingham, won a Gold Medal for his invention in 1937. If anyone knows what it is they should write to the letters page and let everyone else know

125 years ago

The second anniversary of the death of Earl Beaconsfield was duly honoured at Ilkley in common with other places, and admirers of the departed statesman appeared to be pretty numerous. The wearing of the primrose seems to have been general amongst the Conservative Party but how long the custom will last remains to be seen.

A very large audience met in the Assembly Rooms, Ilkley, to hear the Reverend E H Sugden lecture on so-called 'Thought Reading'. Mr Sugden said it was possible that the human race once possessed the gift of thought reading and that savages had the same power even now. But the rapid growth of articulate speech, writing and various other means of intercommunication had altogether crushed oout and destroyed that power except in a few cases.

Her Majesty's Inspector visited the Wesleyan Day Schools in Addingham. The results of the examination were of an extremely satisfactory character. The number of children examined in various standards was 129. A hundred passed in three subjects - reading, writing and arithmetic, 20 in two subjects, eight in one subject and one in none.

100 years ago

The scheme to erect a permanent Wesleyan church at Ben Rhydding to take the place of the wood and iron structure that has served the local Wesleyans for some 25 years has now assumed such a concrete form that plans have been prepared, a substantial sum raised for the purpose, and the date of laying the foundation stones approximately fixed.

Five Ilkley boys were summoned at the Otley Police Court for stealing seven hens eggs of the value of 7d, the property of Thomas Grunwell, of Ilkley. The eggs had been taken from Mr Grunwell's farm at Myddleton. The magistrates, after hearing the evidence, bound all the lads over to come up for judgement if called upon.

One of Messrs Vickers' large show windows in The Grove is completely filled this week with an artistic display of self-filling Safety Fountain Pens. The novelty of such a large display of pens has attracted hundreds of people to the shop in the last few days. The prices are from 10s 6d upwards.

75 years ago

On several occasions falling slates and other minor incidents have shown how the fabric of the Ilkley Parish Church is beginning to suffer as a result of the vibration caused by the passing of heavy motor vehicles in Church Street. On Sunday there was another lively indication of this fact when some plaster from one of the panels in the south aisle fell into the pews below.

Mr Richard Ellis Beanlands, of Ilkley, had a Good Friday adventure on flying to the Isle of Man. He was piloting a Gipsy Moth aeroplane, which he has owned for the past fortnight, and suffered a minor crash when landing near Douglas. There is no aerodrome on the island and Mr Beanlands was unable to discover the field which is usually used for landing purposes. He selected what appeared to be a fairly even field and made a fairly good landing until the wheels struck a rough portion of ground so that the plane tipped up to its nose and broke the propellor. Neither Mr Beanlands nor his passenger were in any way injured.

As a result of the annual Egg Day held in Ilkley last week, 3,126 eggs were collected in Ilkley, Langbar and Middleton and 3,905 in Ben Rhydding. They were distributed amongst the Children's Holiday Home, Ilkley, and other hodpitals.

50 years ago

Since the discovery of a live two-inch mortar bomb on Denton Moor nearly two weeks ago, another two mortar illuminating bombs have been found in the Ilkley area. The first was found on Ilkley Moor by Keighley Gate on Saturday. The second bomb was found the following day by a party of hikers threequarters of a mile north-east of Crow Well on Denton Moor. An officer from the Bomb Disposal Unit at Selby said the bombs were not live and were of no danger.

Five boys, between ten and 13, were summoned were summoned at juvenile court for wilfully damaging windows of the foundry of G L Murphy, Ellar Ghyll, Menston, They each pleaded guilty except the youngest boy who denied having thrown any stones and he was dismissed. A director of the firm said between 50 and 60 windows had been broken during the weekend and it had cost between £40 and £50 to repair them. The four boys were each fined 10s and ordered to make restitution of £1 5s.

'Suicide Street' was the name given to Brumfitt Hill, Addingham, by one if its residents, who says when the lamp at the top of the hill is not working properly, she is debarred from all evening services. When the lamp is not lit the hill is a very dangerous place, she says, and her disablement prevents her from holding a torch because she walks with the aid of two sticks. Following an inspection of the lamp, the engineer and surveyor to Ilkley Council said that the lamp had deteriorated so much that it was entirely useless.

25 years ago

The Yugoslav and Austrian teams taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest at Harrogate visited Ilkley for a look around the town. The two teams stopped at Ilkley as part of a busy schedule of visits around the district.

A log book recording the operational activities of a Halifax bomber during the Second World War has been discovered in Ilkley Town Hall during a Spring Clean. The book was presented to the town in 1943 as a tribute to the success achieved by the Ilkley Savings Committee in the national Wings for Victory campaign. Ilkley raised a staggering £702,000, enough to build ten bombers or 60 fighters.

A heartless thief has upset children and staff at Ashlands First School, Ilkley, by taking four or five dozen daffodils from outside the school. Mark Newman, headmaster, said he was trying to get the pupils to accept the school as their own and take a pride in its appearance.

9:25am Thursday 17th April 2008

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