Stories from our archives

It was thought at first that something was the matter with the mill boiler, but after examination had been made, it was found that a piece of wall about five yards long and a few feet high had been blown down. Upon enquiries being made of some lads who were in the vicinity at the time, they said there was an escape of gas near the wall, which being ignited by some boys, had caused the explosion. But this view is hardly likely to be correct. It is very probable that the wall had been blown down by means of fog-signals, as one of the boys concerned in the affair has admitted. Fog signals have been stolen from the stores of the Leeds and Otley and Ilkley branch of the Midland Railway, which are situated in the woods known as Esholt Springs, by a band of lads.

The committee of the Otley Mechanics’ Institute have decided to resume the night classes in connection with the Science and Art Department, notwithstanding that lately there has been little encouragement for the taking of such a step. This is a matter which is to be deeply regretted, especially as the signs of the time more than ever indicate the importance which will in future attach to a knowledge of the various subjects in art and science. Parents would do well to bring their influence to bear in a matter of this kind, and if possible create in the minds of their sons and daughters a taste for the wonderful in science and the beautiful in art.

1910

Lieut Delius, who had an accident with his Bleriot monoplane at Harewood Bridge about three weeks ago, has now had the machine repaired and made several successful short flights at Harewood on Monday. On Tuesday, however, he met with a further accident. The monoplane had risen rapidly from the ground and all went well until Lieut Delius was nearing some trees at the side of the field in which he was flying. He attempted to ground to avoid crossing the trees but the descent appeared to have been made too rapidly, for the machine came to earth with a crash. Luckily, Lieut Delius was uninjured but the propeller and the framework of the monoplane were completely wrecked.

On Saturday Mr GH Lawson of Otley experienced a narrow escape from being run over by a horse and waggon. He was proceeding round the Black Horse corner into Manor Square on a bicycle when he met a horse and waggon coming through. In trying to avoid the vehicle his machine skidded on the wet road and he was thrown off, and fell almost under the horse’s feet. He only just succeeded in scrambling out of danger. Fortunately, he was not hurt and his machine was no worse.

1935

Wharfedale had the outstanding honour of supplying three members of the English team at the International Sheep-dog trials, which are this year being held at Stanley Park, Blackpool. They were: Mr Mark Hayton, of Ilkley, his son, Arthur, who lives at Clifton, near Otley, and Mr Charles Hardisty, of Otley. Arthur Hayton who is this year English champion in the hired shepherd’s class, figured in various award lists, but on the whole, the three, who were the only Yorkshire representatives in the trials, did not meet with the success that had been hoped for.

An Otley motor lorry, laden with furniture, was destroyed by fire on the Leeds and Otley Road, at Bramhope, on Saturday. The lorry owned by Mr H Higgins, removal contractor, Otley, was on its way from Castleford with a load of furniture belonging to a Castleford miner – Albert Haigh, who recently obtained work at Otley after being unemployed for three years. Leeds Fire Brigade were telephoned for but, it is stated, declined to attend as Bramhope is outside of their area. The Otley brigade were then summoned.

1960

When a police constable heard the sound of trees being shaken in an Otley orchard after midnight he investigated, said Inspector Cartwright at Otley Juvenile Court on Tuesday, in a case in which three Otley schoolboys admitted stealing 9lbs of apples. The father of one of the boys said some of the difficulty was that the owner of the orchard had encouraged children to pull apples for her. All the boys were given a conditional discharge on payment of 5s costs each.

The sudden disappearance of the 300ft high radio mast which had become something of a landmark on the top of Norwood Edge has been explained this week by an official of the Post Office, whose engineers erected the mast only a month or two ago for radio propagation tests. The official stated that the mast was a temporary sectional structure to determine the best height for such aerials and to give data on which could be based the construction of a permanent mast, the contract for which has already been placed.

1985

A petition over the inadequacies of Burley Middle School’s Science area is to be put before a meeting of Bradford Metropolitan Council’s full Education Committee later this month. The petition by locally-elected Metropolitan and parish councillors and the parents of children draws attention to the “totally inadequate” accommodation to support the requirements of both teachers and pupils. Petitioners say that in order to maintain safety standards, the number of pupils allowed to use the science area at any one time was restricted to a maximum of 12 pupils and one teacher. The size of a science class would normally be up to a maximum of 20 pupils as recommended by the Bradford Education Authority.

Euro MP Mr Michael McGowan, who lives in Otley, has revealed that fraudulent manipulation of farm produce and the falsifying of records is costing the EEC billions of pounds a year. He had called for the scrapping of the whole Common Market agricultural strategy. Mr McGowan said the frauds were uncovered by Common Market investigators, and the European Court of Auditors has produced a special report which reveals that the Common Market’s £3.7bn bill for subsidising food exports is wide open to fraud.