Friday 14th March, 2008

1:07pm Friday 14th March 2008

FROM this newspaper 100 years ago. -

The combined effect of the heavy rainfall and the rapid melting by warmer winds of the snow on the hills caused many of the rivers in the north of England to become swollen and overflow their banks last weekend, and much inconvenience was caused in some localities by floods. The Ure and the Swale were both in flood, and some of the streets of Boroughbridge were under water on Monday.

From this newspaper 50 years ago. - Coun Mrs Mary Lyonette will be the first woman to be Mayor of Darlington. She has accepted the invitation to the office made after a unanimous decision at an informal meeting of the Town Council. Mrs Lyonette has had some experience of the duties of the office as she was Mayoress when her husband Ald M Lyonette was Mayor in 1949-1950.

From this newspaper 25 years ago. - A questionnaire may be sent to households in Wensleydale to discover what the housing situation is really like in the dale.

Speaking to members of Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council at their meeting on Monday, Mr Holland from Richmondshire District Council housing department, said a questionnaire was the only way his council could get that information.

Parish council members agreed that the questionnaire was a good idea. Mr Holland had attended the meeting to hear the Parish Council's views on housing in the area. It was agreed that something on the lines of starter homes would be ideal for young people.

From this newspaper 10 years ago. - Unemployment has reached record lows in Northallerton and Thirsk. January's figures showed that only 2.5pc of Thirsk's workforce was out of a job and just 2.3pc in Northallerton. Both rates are less than half the national average and come close to what is considered to be full employment.

But good news for jobseekers has brought problems for some employers.

Businesses are already finding it hard to recruit the quality of staff they need and one training agency is warning that recruitment difficulties will grow as unemployment continues to fall.