125 Years Ago - 1891

An attempted burglary took place on Wednesday night at Otley Station. An entrance was effected into the booking-office, but so far as can be ascertained no money was abstracted from the drawers. A few parcels were unwrapped, but whether or not any articles were stolen has not transpired. The fan-light over the door was also smashed.

A Temperance meeting was held in the Butter Cross on Friday evening last, when addresses in support of the principles of total abstinence were delivered to a numerous gathering.

100 Years Ago - 1916

Cr. Charles Harper, Chairman of the Rawdon District Council, and Mrs Harper, received a telegram on Wednesday informing them of the death of their eldest son, Second-Lieut Clarence Rouell Harper, who, the wire said, had been killed in action on July 15th (last Saturday). The sad news came as a great shock to the family, all the more so because only the day before Mr and Mrs Harper had received a very cheerful letter from their son, written on the 13th inst. Mr Harper, who was 24 years of age, went out to France in April last year.

Horsforth-Canadians: Corpl. Jack Gardner, who has been killed, enlisted in the Royal Highlanders, of Canada, at Montreal, in February 1915. The next day he left for England for training. He went to France on May 2nd, 1915. After acting for a few weeks as bomb-thrower, he was transferred to the 1st Canadian Contingent. It may be mentioned that he had to fill up the place of a lad from his native birthplace (Horsforth), and whom he had met and made friends with in Montreal before the war - Norman Wright, of Horsforth.

75 Years Ago - 1941

Private Frank Lawson, second son of Mr and Mrs H Lawson, 20, Queen Street, Yeadon, who was at first reported "missing from June 15," is a prisoner of war. The following message was received from him yesterday to his mother: "I am alright. I have not been wounded. I am a prisoner in the hands of the Italians and am being treated well. Shortly I shall be transferred to a prisoners' camp and I will let you have my address." He joined the Cameron Highlanders in February last year, and went out to Egypt in the following September.

"I must ask you to be prepared for vehement counter-action by the enemy." The Prime Minister made this earnest request in his speech at County Hall, London, after his review earlier in the day of Civil Defence units in Hyde Park, and he made his request to a gathering primarily concerned with civil defence. The message of that broadcast speech must awaken a response not only from every civil defence worker, full-time or part-time, but the general public as well. We have all observed the course of this war, with its lulls, followed by violent onslaughts. The enemy uses the lulls as part of his strategy just as much as his attacks. We must not be caught by that trap. Civil defence workers well remember the long period last year of "hanging around" with little to do. But the days and the long nights of action broke suddenly with great force.

50 Years Ago - 1966

Where are all the shapely beauties of Ilkley? So far there has been little response to the invitation to Ilkley's young women to compete for the position of beauty queen for the contest with Otley to be televised on Sunday, 28 August. The winner in the town's contest has a further chance of television publicity for she will appear in the following round against the winner of the Scarborough-Bridlington contest.

An informative evening was spent at the Bradford College of Advance Technology , soon to be the University of Bradford, by members of the Soroptimist Club of Ilkley last Thursday evening. Tremendous interest was shown in all departments seen, including the computer laboratory, one of the language laboratories and the industrial pharmacy unit.

25 Years Ago - 1991

A 19th century farmhouse without running water and in need of extensive modernisation and refurbishment, has been sold by auction for nearly a quarter of a million pounds. And when the hammer fell on Ivy House, at Smallbanks, Addingham Moorside - which has been in the same family for more than 100 years - the final bid was 20 per cent above the reserve price.

A firm of estate agents has entered into a unique agreement to offer French properties and mortgages from selected Yorkshire offices. Seven branches of Dacre Son and Hartley now have information available on the property service through l'Organisation Regional des Professions Immobiliers, France's leading estate agency network.