THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Mr Butchart in the Commons yesterday asked whether the government were taking any steps to deal with the propaganda in favour of a premature peace which was being carried on by means of leaflets and other publications? He was told that powers now invested in the government for this purpose were being freely used and many thousands of leaflets have been seized and destroyed. In some of these cases the Attorney General has sanctioned prosecution. Most were found after distribution.

50 years ago

The surface buildings at Rothes Colliery, Thornton, have been advertised for sale. It is the first public announcement that they are on the market and marks the last chapter in the story of the ill-fated pit. The long tale of trouble at Rothes dated from the start of shaft sinking in 1948. Workers said water conditions were the worst they had experienced. Cement had to be pumped through pipes to plug cracks and cover the face of the strata behind the reinforced concrete walls of the shafts.

25 years ago

Islanders on remote Bressay have celebrated a hat-trick of multimillion-pound developments with the naming of their new ferry. The £2.2m Leirna marks Shetland Islands Council’s latest investment in an island which has just seen the opening of a community hall and marina. Bressay will have more than £4 million invested in it over the next two years – around £11,500 for every inhabitant. The ferry was named at a ceremony on the island and immediately came into service.

One year ago

Thousands of jobs could be coming to Fife as part of a plan to transform a former quarry. The owners of the old Westfield open cast site, near Kinglassie, have submitted plans to Fife Council that could see a major industrial and solar energy complex constructed over a 10-year period. As many as 2,500 positions could be created, according to Hargreaves Services. A vast, floating solar farm, manufacturing and industrial units and business and leisure use are all included in the scheme.