125 years ago

THE general meeting of the shareholders of the Otley Coffee Tavern Company was held. The directors said they were sorry that they could not report a profit for the past year, but since the closure of the Wharfedale Cocoa House there has been a gradual improvement in business.The directors regret that the manager has tended his resignation.

The Horsforth Local Board met. The minutes were read and recommended that Mr Jeremiah Brooke, of Baildon, have notice given him to provide proper privy accommodation to five houses in Woodside, and that Mr Tunstall have notice to remove privies in Rose Terrace to a better position, and that one lamp be erected in North Road.

At the annual Yeadon Cricket Club meeting it was reported that the club was in debt and the tradesmen to whom they were indebted had sent in their bills and there were no funds to meet them with, something should be done to extricate the executive from their unenviable position. The members decided to get up a tea and dance at a shilling a head.

100 years ago

Otley, the metropolis of the Wharfe Valley, has gained an unenviable notoriety in the way of fires and on Wednesday night it was the scene of yet another serious outbreak, which occurred on the premises of Messrs P Garnett and Son, paper manufacturers, Wharfeside Mills. The damage done (to the paper warehouse, known as 'the new mill') is the destruction of the roof and the burning of various portions of the floor, and the stock. In the lower story the damage was very slight, and probably the whole of it will not, it is estimated, amount to more than £1,000.

The announcement that Col. Dawson of Weston has received some fitting acknowledgement at the hands of the War Office for his strenuous efforts on behalf of the Volunteer force will be received by satisfaction by those who know how much the local Volunteer company has benefited by his wholehearted zeal.

The annual meeting of subscribers to the Yeadon Nursing Association was held in the Town Hall on Tuesday. The Rev C Greenwood made remarks relative to the balance sheet, he said it was a most satisfactory one. He paid a compliment to the efficient work accomplished by the Nursing Association.

75 years ago

Quite a little storm has been raised amongst the stallholders at the Otley Market by the decision of Otley Council to close the Friday market at six and the Saturday market at eight. Doubtless the members of the local authority believe that they are actuated by sound reasons in getting the traders away earlier, but the indignation amongst the latter is so pronounced that a petition has been got going and is now being extensively signed.

A large audience of Wharfedale motorists assembled at the Beech Hill cinema at Otley to see a programme of motoring and motor cycle interest arranged on behalf of the Ilkley and District Motor Club. These included films of many of the chief sporting events of the year and among them were several in which local riders had taken part.

Increasing popularity marked the whist drive and dance promoted by the Guiseley Police and held at the Wharfedale Ball Room, White Cross. When the figures are made available it will be found that the police and local charities have profited substantially from the effort. There was an attendance of more than 500 at the dance and excellent arrangements had been made for the comfort and enjoyment of the visitors.

50 years ago

A decision to go ahead with plans for an Otley Can Make It exhibition later this year was made 27 representatives of local firms and organisations on Monday evening. The meeting was called by Otley Rotary Club. It is planned that the exhibition should be held at the Mechanics' Institute in October. Nothing definite is yet decided of the form it will take, but it is hoped that examples of all of Otley's major industries and crafts will be displayed.

Details of ingredients in the synthetic off-ration petrol developed in Otley by The Kepec Co (England) Ltd have been supplied to the Minister of Power by the general manager of the firm, Mr G S Steel. Mr Steel sought the help of Colonel Stoddart-Scott MP to obtain permission for the petrol to go into production at the premises on Gay Lane. He has now had a letter from the Minister of Power, Sir Percy Mills.

It was announced yesterday that Alderman Joseph Hiley will be the next Lord Mayor of Leeds. Alderman Hiley is manging director of J B Battye and Co Ltd, yarn spinners, Yeadon, managing director of Irish Spinners, and a past president of the Hand-Knitting Association. He is president of the Aireborough Charities' Association and a member of Aireborough Rotary Club.

25 years ago

A frayed and tattered Bible in which an Otley girl kept a poignant diary of her life in a Japanese Prison camp where she died aged 37 after three years internment, will be handed over into the keeping of the Imperial War Museum. The diary is in closely written entries on the blank pages and in the margins of a Bible that was given to Mrs Margery Jennings, formerly Margery Hellewell, by her mother before she went with her husband to live in Malaya in 1935 and where they were both interned in separate camps after the Japanese invasion.

Plans for an hotel and country club complex on a 12-acre site at Knotford Nook, Otley, hang in the balance pending inquiries into the range of outdoor activities to be made available. Leeds City Council planners said unless a wider range of facilities could be provided, the plan would conflict with Green Belt policies. The scheme includes a country club and hotel accommodation with 24 suites, self catering accommodation and nine log cabins.

Councillor Hilda Morgan said she had spoken to the chairman of the education committee about the condition of Rawdon Littlemoor School. She said two years ago she had visited the school and was horrified by the state of the buildings, the lack of water in the additional classrooms and the overcrowding. Despite the problems at the school it had a good educational reputation and parents sought to send their children there.