Polluted Addingham well

A polluted well - At the Skipton Petty Sessions on Saturday, the Skipton Rural Sanitary Authority made an application for an order on four residents of Addingham to close Batty Well, which was stated to be in a polluted state. Dr. Atkinson said there had been cases of typhoid fever in the township, which may have been caused by the use of this well.

The Board of Trade Provisional Order Bill, authorising the Yeadon Local Board to make electricity, and to supply the current through mains to consumers by meter, passed the examiner in the House of Lords by Standing Orders on Tuesday.

100 Years Ago - 1919

“Royal Oak Day, 29th of May; if you don’t give us a holiday, we’ll all run away.” Yesterday morning most Ilkley youngsters going to school were noticed either wearing or carrying sprigs of oak, and the above quatrain by many of them was repeated over and over again. Yet to how many “grown ups” is the incident that gave the day its special significance familiar? School history books tell us that after the Battle of Worcester in 1651, when Cromwell’s army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Royalists, Charles II succeeded in evading capture by climbing into a thickly foliaged oak tree in the woods at Boscobel on the borders of Staffordshire, and afterwards, disguised as a farmer, reached the continent.

Plans of additional buildings at the County Sanatorium at Middleton, to provide accommodation for fifty more patients were submitted at a meeting of the Wharfedale Rural District Council at Otley on Friday.

75 Years Ago - 1944

Throughout the Whitsuntide week-end holiday crowds revelled in the beauty of Wharfedale. Despite all the difficulties of transport - and so far as the trains were concerned they increased rather than decreased - the folk from the industrial towns and cities poured into the Ilkley District every day. On the whole it was a younger crowd than usual. Whilst a very large proportion had filled the trains and buses, even more had come on bicycles and on foot. There were more cyclists than even in pre-war days, but they were much younger cyclists. The private car was a rarity.

I heard the sound of bat and ball in Wharfedale this Whitsuntide. It wasn’t a traditional game of cricket in progress, but English and French speaking Canadian visitors who staged a baseball battle, in a sports field nestling at the foot of the Chevin. There were puzzled faces among the numerous onlookers as the game was played. The broadcast commentary given by a Canadian officer went a long way towards enlightening spectators on the mysteries of the game, and technical points were explained by Canadian soldiers on the base line conversing with their civilian neighbours.

50 Years Ago - 1969

Ilkley Civic Society has told Ilkley Council that White Wells ought to be retained as a landmark although it has little architectural value. They do not oppose the suggestion of making it into a cafe, “especially if this would lead to the removal of the present wooden shack-like structure.”

Children need sunshine far more than adults. That is why the holiday season is so good for them. Today it is well-known that if the youngsters do not get sun they tend to suffer from rickets and other diseases of malnutrition. Most modern parents realise this, but unfortunately unwise exposure to the sun of the baby or child who is unaccustomed to it often leads to results the very opposite of those desired.

25 Years Ago - 1994

The completion of the Channel Tunnel makes it almost impossible to ignore the fact that Britain’s future is now linked to Europe. On Thursday voters will be able to shape the nature of that link in elections to chose members of the European Parliament.

Health chiefs have ditched the possibility of reopening Ilkley’s Grove Hospital because it would be too expensive. At a meeting of Bradford Health Authority a recommendation was passed saying no support should be given to the development of NHS funded beds for general and acute services in the Wharfe Valley.