125 Years Ago - 1893

A fancy dress ball in connection with the Ilkley Lawn Tennis Club, was held at the Wells House on the 17th inst. The dance, which was commenced at nine p.m. and and was kept up til 2.30 a.m., was in every way a great success, and the dance committee are to be congratulated upon their management, as everything passed off without a hitch. The success is all the more gratifying as there had been some slight doubts as to the advisability of making it fancy dress.

Valuable Discovery for the Hair - If your hair is turning grey or white, or falling off, use “THE MEXICAN HAIR RENEWER,” for it will positively restore in every case Grey or White Hair to its original colour.

100 Years Ago - 1918

In accordance with the King’s Proclamation Sunday last was observed as a day of national prayer and thanksgiving throughout the Empire. At all the places of worship in Ilkley and District the services were of a special character, with sermons and addresses suitable to the occasion. The service at St Margaret’s Church in the morning was attended by the Wounded Soldiers from the Ilkley Military Hospitals.

In ouR last issue we reported that Gunner Harry Hartley, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Hartley, Cowpasture Road, Ilkley, was missing. This morning his parents have received a post card from him stating that he is a prisoner of war in Germany, and quite well.

75 Years Ago - 1943

How he was taken prisoner by the German in North Africa and held for three days before he was able to escape is told by Lance Corporal Martin Rafferty, son of Mr and Mrs J. Rafferty, 34, Albion Street, Otley, in a letter received this week. L/Cpl Rafferty was among a number taken prisoner during a battle but with another seven men he escaped and fled to the hills. They were caught but escaped again.

A meeting between two Otley men in the Libyan desert is mentioned by Driver John H. Hughes, who home is in Carlton Street, Otley, in a recent letter. He wrote: “Since I left England some eighteen months ago, I had never met an Otley lad until three weeks ago. I came across Jim Dobson (son of the late Mr Joseph Dobson). At the time he was trying to start a ten-ton Italian wagon prior to transporting prisoners who were lined up close at hand. He gave me a loaf - most acceptable at the time - and I gave him some cigarettes.

50 Years Ago - 1968

A bill for about £300 in respect of damages to the Ilkley Moor Hotel during the 11 weeks period it was the tour headquarters is to be met by the Australian Rugby League party. Last weekend it was reported that the bill was still outstanding, but Mr. Frank Rockley, Assistant Manager, told the “Ilkley Gazette” on Wednesday that payment was to be made. “The Australians occupied 18 bedrooms and of those ten were damaged,” he said.

Three local policemen and a Liverpool man who rescued a 13-year-old boy from the flooded River Wharfe at Burley in August have been awarded the Royal Humane Society’s Testimonial on Parchment.

They are P.c. Frank Whalley(37), and P.c. Malcolm Lang(34), both of Main Street, Burley. P.c. Leslie Milburn(38), of Dean Street, Ilkley, and Mr. Gordon Hunter (30), of Sydenham House, Croxteth, Liverpool.

25 Years Ago - 1993

Cable television should be on air in the Ilkley District within the next two years, broadcast bosses announced this week. Work on linking Ilkley, Addingham, Ben Rhydding, Burley-in-Wharfedale and Menston with the existing Bradford networks is expected to get underway late next year.

Fog which drifts off the River Wharfe has thrown road designers into a dilemma. Transport chiefs are left with a choice of ruining the countryside with garish street lighting or leaving motorists to drive through blankets of fog in the dark. Now they will carry out a climatic study between Ben Rhydding and Burley-in-Wharfedale in a bid to solve the puzzler over the approved road plan to bypass the Manor Park bends.