125 years ago

A Flower Festival is advertised to be held in the Salem School Room, Otley, when an attractive programme will be submitted for the delectation of the audience. There will be an address by the Reverend S D Hillman and songs and readings by members of the Sunday School Band of Hope.

An Otley man appeared at the West Riding Police Court Leeds charged with poisoning fish in Parlington Park, Aberford, belonging to Colonel Gascoigne. The defendants put chloride of lime into the River Cork which runs beside the estate. The men had a bag containing fish and a net and lime was found on the river bank. A great quantity of fish was found dead in the water the next day. He was fined £5.

An Otley housekeeper says: "What is the simplest way to keep jelly from moulding on the top?" We say: "Shut a small boy up in the pantry for a few minutes."

100 years ago

There was a suffragette demonstration in the Otley Market Place on Friday last where there was an attendance which a Cabinet Minister would have considered flattering. Every coign of vantage was occupied, every window pane made use of, and the crush at times was almost unbearable. We of the masculine gender were there in full force some were there in quest of amusement and for an hour and a half we stood on the hard stones and listened to an exposure of our shortcomings. Miss Adela Pankhurst does not rely upon sophistry or grace of gesture to aid her in her argument. She has a peculiar constant movement of body, arms and hands which she uses to emphasise her declarations.

The commencement of a new chapel for Pool, following the inauguration ceremony the previous week at Ben Rhydding, marks another step in the rapid development of Wesleyanism in Wharfedale. The inauguration of the scheme for Pool, which took place on Saturday, leaves all the chapels in the Otley circuit in an effectual condition, except perhaps the one at Rigton. Within recent years new chapels have been erected at Arthington, Menston, Hawksworth, Clifton, Huby and Burley Woodhead.

Three to four hundred people, young and old, assembled in the vicinity of The Cross at Guiseley on Wednesday evening in expectation of the reappearance of the Suffragettes, who addressed a meeting at that spot a week ago. For some reason the militant' ladies did not put in an appearance and the would-be listeners had to return home disappointed.

75 years ago

The deputy clerk of the Otley District Education Committee reported that the Board of Education had now approved the closure of Clifton School and the transfer of the children to Otley North Parade School. The school will be finally closed on July 28, and the children will attend the Otley school for the first time on September 4. Arrangements have been made for the conveyance of the children to Otley.

At a meeting of Otley Council it was reported that for 10 years Otley Bridge had been getting more congested and it was worse than ever now. It was practically a nightmare' to those passing over it to and from work. It was pointed out that it was the only bridge between Ben Rhydding and Pool; it was only 18ft wide, and over 2,000 people living on the north side were constantly using it.

Rain interfered with a mass ramble of the Yorkshire Junior conservative Federation, which had been arranged to take place at the Devil's Frying Pan rock, on Otley Chevin. A rally of nearly a thousand members had been expected, but owing to heavy rain in the early afternoon, the attendance at the rock numbered less than 100, which included parties who had walked from York, Doncaster, Leeds and Bradford.

50 years ago

A Guiseley man pleaded guilty to using a warning instrument when the vehicle was stationary. Supt Green said PC Tidswell was riding a pedal cycle at White Cross at 12.30am when he heard a car horn being sounded. As it was being sounded almost continuously, he counted the number of times it was sounded and counted 38. There was a party in the house and because he could not get in, the man was trying to attract the attention of his son.

The Minister of Housing and Local Government has rejected an appeal by the Mobil Oil Company against the refusal of Wharfedale Rural Council to grant planning permission for a modern petrol filling station on Otley Road, Bramhope. The appeal site was a triangular plot of grassland, fronting the Otley-Leeds road near its junction with King Lane.

There has been a good deal of local comment that although the new footbridge that has been erected over the river at the east end of Wharfemeadows Park, Otley, has been completed for some time, it is not yet open to the public. It had originally been intended that the bridge would be in use by Whitsuntide, but although it has been in position for weeks, there is still a closed' notice fastened across the entrance.

25 years ago

Pressure is bring exerted on Leeds City Council to replace old baths and sink units - some of which are claimed to be in an appaling condition - in council houses in Otley. When Councillor Hilda Morgan asked a question at Leeds about the repair work, she was told that it was not intended to spend any money on Otley during the current financial year.

Two days of family entertainment, including a spectacular re-enactment of a Civil War battle are to take place at Otley. The money raised will go towards Otley Hospital. The battle will be performed by members of the Sealed Knot Society, an organisation whose object is to arouse interest in the English Civil War.

The Falklands War was apparently forgotten when parachute teams from Britain, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, Jordan and several from Spain, took part in an international competition at Sanchidrean in Spain. The British team came seventh out of 15 teams but Guiseley soldier Corporal John Thackray, 26, was awarded a magnificent silver trophy for the best supporting competitor.