April 16, 1966

NORTHALLERTON Civic Trust, urban council and Chamber of Trade were embarking upon a £1,000 spring clean for Northallerton, which included cartloads of soil being placed on Church Green to bank it up and improve its appearance.

Painters were in evidence everywhere in the High Street. “Most frontagers are co-operating, and with the removal of overhead electricity lines and the jumble of road signs, Northallerton should be distinctive and attractive by mid-summer,” said the D&S Times.

April 15, 1916

VALENTINE CROFT, aerated water manufacturer of Richmond, died after his car somersaulted on Catterick Bridge when he misjudged the tight corner. The 45-year-old’s business in Victoria Road had grown considerably in recent years since the commencement of Catterick camp, but only a fortnight earlier it had been struck by a destructive fire.

April 14, 1866

THE train from Darlington to Tebay was waiting in Barnard Castle station for the arrival of the 1.30pm from Bishop Auckland, the rear coach of which it was due to take over the Pennines. However, the Bishop train hurtled into the station; the Tebay driver tried to take away quickly to avoid being smashed into from behind but jolted his first carriage off the tracks.

A “frightful accident” ensued, with passengers being thrown around the stationary train, breaking various bones. Even the eminent railway engineer, John Harris of Woodside, Darlington, suffered a fractured left cheek, but the worst injury was to “the poor woman Donally who was found to be quite unconscious, and subsequently had fits and exhibited the symptoms of a fracture of the skull”. She was taken to the Workhouse hospital, but little hope was entertained of her survival.