100 YEARS AGO On the first day of the harvest hirings at Milnthorpe there were remarkably few men to be seen. There were in fact more masters than men. Prices ruled high but the man who led off by asking 50s for one week was laughed at and finally accepted 30s.

50 YEARS AGO Firemen had the "eye watering" task of shovelling up six ton of bruised and burnt onions after a north-bound lorry carrying ten-and-a-half ton of fruit and vegetables caught fire near the Leyland Clock on the A6 at Shap Fell. They managed to save half the load in an operation lasting three hours.

25 YEARS AGO Proposals to build a fish farm next to "an exceptionally beautiful" stretch of the River Crake has met with a wave of opposition. Fish farmer Robert Currie wants to set up the farm on an acre of land next to the river at Lowick Green.