100 years ago

THE new wing, added to the Skipton and District Hospital primarily for the accommodation of wounded soldiers attached to local units, was opened by Walter Morrison of Malham Tarn.

Ratepayers of Ingleton, who had the right to use the town's bull, held a meeting to find a new bull and to agree a period of time for it to be let.

As a precaution against any bomb damage being done to the historic church of Giggleswick, it was agreed that the church bells should not be rung after 4pm and that the chimes be taken off the clock. On Sunday evenings, the interior lights were to be subdued.

50 years ago

THERE was a three-cornered contest in Skipton for the general election between Mr GB Drayson for the Conservatives, Mr Wilfred Pickard for the Liberals and Mr G Knott for Labour. Mr Drayson had represented the constituency since 1945.

Criticism of the improvements to roads in the Dales which was making them 'more like racing tracks' was made. It included the road from Rylstone to Hetton.

Skipton Swimming Pool was to be the venue of a gala featuring a contest between a Bradford and district team and the famous Darmstadt team, one of the strongest in West Germany.

25 years ago

HEAVY snow and sub-zero temperatures brought chaos to Craven. Numerous schools were closed, road conditions were atrocious and Airedale Hospital had to deal with an influx of casualties. Area surveyor Derek Wrathall warned that there was a shortage of salt to treat the highway network.

After five decades in the sport, Skipton weightlifter Melvyn Barton finished runner-up in the veterans' 50-60 class of the Yorkshire and North East Counties Olympic Lifting Championships at Batley. At the height of his career, he narrowly missed selection for the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.

Two stage-struck Skipton youngsters won parts in the Sound of Music at Bradford's Alhambra Theatre. Francesca Blackburn, 13, and Simon Wormald, 12, were picked to play Louisa and Kurt, two of the Von Trapp children. Both were members of the Stage 84 stage school in Bradford.

10 years ago

RESCUE dog handler Phil Haigh, from Ingleton, attended a reception at Buckingham Palace in recognition of the work he has carried out in disaster areas at home and overseas. Mr Haigh, a member of the Canis Search and Rescue Organisation which specialised in training disaster search dogs, had been all over the world with his animals. The previous year Mr Haigh, his son Ben and dog Madge, as well as fellow rescue dog handler Margus Part with his dog Rocky, travelled to Islamabad to help in the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake.

Free car parking for people living in the Yorkshire Dales National Park was to come to an end from April. Instead, residents would be charged £30 a year - the equivalent of 58p a week - to park in any of the Dales' 11 car parks and the income would be ploughed back into the services provided by the park authority. However, the move did not prove popular with member Cecil Hammond, of Skyreholme, who claimed car park charges would discourage local people from coming to Grassington.

A Valentines disco held a big surprise for Lida Delbono when her childhood sweetheart dropped to one knee and proposed. Thirty-two years after their first date as teenagers, Eric Pickles proposed to Lida on stage at St Joseph's Parish Centre, Barnoldswick. The engagement completed a fairytale reunion for the couple who also had a 'miracle' son five years ago - after Lida was told she could not have children. "I never thought I'd see the day," said Lida.