1884

The anniversary services in connection with the primitive Methodist Sunday School were held in the Chapel, Leeds Road, Ilkley. Sermons were preached by the Rev G Shaw, of Dewsbury. At all three services there were large congregations present and the services were of a most hearty character. The collections raised £4.

  • A public tea was provided by the Church of England Temperance Society in the National Schoolroom in Addingham. It was a great success with about 190 sitting down. In the evening a public meeting was held when songs, duets and dialogues were rendered by members of the society the provisions left over from the tea were devoted to providing a free tea for the elderly and 53 were present to enjoy it.
  • A meeting of the Ilkley Local Board heard that Mr Middelton of Myddelton Lodge was prepared to sell a portion of his estate on the north side of the Wharfe, of not less than 60 to 70 acres in extent, at not less than 5s per square yard.
1909

Ilkley Grammar School students held their annual speech day with prizes being distributed by Mr Halliwell Sutcliffe, a well-known writer of Yorkshire Tales. Mr C. W. Atkinson, headmaster, gave his report, and said that whereas there were only 65 boys at the school in 1902, in seven years the number had increased to 165.

  • Almost 2,000 people were present at the opening night of Ilkley’s new ice rink in South Hawksworth Street. Hundreds of these were experienced skaters of some skill, but there were many who tried their skates for the first time. The star attraction was a display of fancy skating given by Mr Percy Swift of Bradford. The skaters kept time to the music of a good orchestra.
  • Despite threatening clouds in the morning the annual carnival in aid of Ilkley Coronation Cottage Hospital took place amidst sunshine with the clouds rolling away at noon. The proceedings formed in front of the Town Hall and marched down to the Holmes, with adults and children dressed in fancy costume of every conceivable kind.
1934

Despite the rain of the Bank Holiday water restrictions in Ilkley must continue. The actual position is that slightly more water is being taken out of Panama Reservoir than is running in or, to put the same fact in another form, Ilkley’s springs are yielding about 300,000 gallons a day and Ilkley people are using a little more than that. The rain has had its value in at least one direction in the preservation of the water supplies, and that is that there has been less temptation to break the restrictions by the watering of gardens and lawns. Still, at a time like this, people should have sufficient sense to avoid yielding to any such temptation.

  • Mr and Mrs George Debenham of 6, Moorland Terrace, Ilkley celebrated the diamond jubilee of their wedding yesterday. They were married at St Silas’s Church, Hunslet, by the Rev A C Downer, who was later to become Vicar of Ilkley. Today both Mr and Mrs Debenham are in excellent health and are able to take short walks into the town. Mr Debenham is 85 years of age and Mrs Debenham 84. Mr Debenham said he had had a very happy married life with no regrets.
  • Playing on the Ilkley golf course on Wednesday Mr W Lawson holed out in one at the 15th, a distance of 148 yards.
1959

Firemen of four brigades were called on Wednesday night to fight a fire which caused extensive damage in the staff quarters of the Craiglands Hotel, Ilkley. Until the arrival of the brigades, waiters, chefs and porters fought the flames with extinguishers. Seven top-floor staff rooms were damaged, and water seeped into 25 guest bedrooms and the ballroom.

  • The continuance of the drought makes it necessary for the Waterworks Committee to maintain its appeal to local residents to co-operate in the non use of hosepipes for watering gardens and washing cars and so on, says the Chairman of the Committee, Cr JH Cole. This co-operation will postpone the date when it may be necessary to impose further restrictions. The rain which had fallen in the past two weeks had not materially altered the position of the reservoirs.
  • Opposition to a proposal to restock Ilkley Tarn with ducks was overcome at the meeting of Ilkley Council and £4 10s is to be spent for this purpose. The Moor and Parks Committee had received a report from the Parks Superintendent there were now only two ducks on the Tarn and that a drake had apparently been shot with an airgun. Cr JH Bowes considered it a waste of time and money to do this in view of the way ducks had been treated in the past.
1984

July was one of the driest months of the century with less than an inch of rain. It was also a warm, sunny month with an average temperature of 23C and a maximum of 29C (84F). There were over 200 hours of sun.

  • Sunwin House, is to open in Ilkley in September. The store, formerly Hillards Supermarket on Railway Road, after major refurbishment brings to Ilkley its first ever Departmental Store. lBarclays Bank has presented a cheque for £400 to help provide sponsorship costs to allow ten unemployed young of West Yorkshire to attend Project BAHTAT at Highfield House Residential Centre in Hangingstone Road, Ilkley.