125 Years Ago - 1894

In the Crown Court of the West Riding Assizes, on Tuesday, Emma Capps, Tolson Street, Leeds, brought an action against Alfred Herbert Wood, son of a gentleman, of independent means, living at Ilkley, to recover damages for breach of promise of marriage, but it did not proceed to trial, the parties coming to a settlement, the terms of which did not transpire in court.

100 Years Ago - 1919

As the King has expressed a wish that the schools should be given an extra holiday to commemorate the signing of peace, the Ilkley Grammar School will re-open on Wednesday, September 24th, instead of the 18th.

Anxious To Know - Why visitors seem to fare much better than residents in obtaining meat supplies. Who are the three traders who have been brought to the notice of the Food Controller for over-charging. How many more local traders are guilty of over-charging, short weight, and adulteration.

75 Years Ago - 1944

Gunner T. Lickley, of Burley, and S/Sgt. J. Barrett, of Yeadon, are among the men now serving in India who will speak to relatives assembled at the Tower Picture House, Leeds, on Monday morning when an invited audience will see the Army film “Calling Blighty.” In the film the men are seen delivering their personal messages. Gunner Likley will speak to his wife and son, Mrs Mary Lickley and Stanley Lickley, of 22, Manse Road, Burley. S/Sgt Barrett will speak to his wife and mother, Mrs. E. Barrett and Mrs. M. Barrett, of 4 Swaine Hill Terrace, Yeadon.

Chronicle of the War, Wednesday - American troops in their great eastward drive, passed through Le Mans with fast motorised columns and reached a point 87 miles from Paris. The Russians returned their attack north and north-west of Siedlice.

50 Years Ago - 1969

By a family doctor - Increases in the number of fatalities resulting from overdoses of sleeping medicine are notable. Perhaps because of this, many people regard these drugs with a superstitious horror, and those who are obliged to resort to them as victims of a fatal habit. This extreme view is, of course, ridiculous, and could only be held by unimaginative people who have never themselves experienced the horrors of insomnia. Nevertheless, the fact that it is held, leads often to a most dangerous complex on the part of people who suffer from sleeplessness. They are apt to conceal, even from dearest friends, the fact that they are in the habit of taking sleeping draughts, and without skilled knowledge to guide them, may increase the dose to a dangerous degree.

A cricket match between Ilkley Firemen and staff from Middleton Hospital on the Olicanians ground was interrupted on Wednesday evening when the Brigade were called out to the Semon Convalescent Home in Westwood Drive, Ilkley, where the motor of the large refrigerator had become overheated. The motor of the “fridge” was a “write off. But no other damage was caused. The firemen returned to win their cricket match.

25 Years Ago - 1994

Silly seasonitis has once again invaded the columns of national newspapers this week with reports of an alien photographed on Ilkley Moor. The tale of how a former policeman was abducted by green visitors from another planet during the 1980s has been previously well documented both in Wharfedale and in the national press. But this did not deter hacks in London when the unanmed man’s picture (shown two months ago at a UFO talk in Ilkley) resurfaced again last weekend at the fourth annual crop circle conference in Glastonbury.

Britain’s premiere one-day international cycling race will be hitting the streets of Wharfedale on Sunday as part of the 1994 World Cup Series. The Leeds International Classic is the British leg of the series and it will see the top ranked professional cycling teams competing for points.