The last regular service was held in Skelton old church.

2nd January. North Eastern Daily Gazette "Robert M Carver of Lingdale, Miner. Refusing to quit premises of Ernest Andrew, Innkeeper, Green Inn Skelton Green and charged with kicking PC Pickering and PC Hogg. Fined £1 and costs or one month in jail. For the police assault three months with hard labour, sentence to run consecutively."
Ernest Andrew was the great grandson of the first John Andrew of Smuggling and Hunting fame. [There is much more about the Andrew family on page 23 of contributed emails]. He seems to have been cheated out of his inheritance by his elder brother George, who shot himself in 1900. In 1901, age 23, Ernest was the licensee of the Fox and Hounds Inn, Scotton, W Yorks and married to Ethel, age 19, who had been born in Skelton. Prior to that he had been a publican at Guisborough. When he became licensee of the Green Inn, Skelton in October 1903 he had been living in Willington, Co Durham. He stayed at the Green Inn until August 1907.

6th February - A concert was given in the Skelton Institute by a detachment of children from the Skelton Infants School under the direction of Mrs Herring and her assistant teachers.
The second part of the concert consisted of an Operetta entitled "Fairies of the Seasons". The gross takings amounted to £7 14s 6d. It was repeated in the Church Rooms on the 19th. Mr Varty [Councillor and manager of Park Pit] very kindly presented each child with an orange.
£3 3s 6d was taken and this will be used to provide a tea for all the children of Mrs Herrings School sometime during Easter.

8 March. Skelton Park Pit. Ralph Christon, a filler aged 45 died of injuries suffered on 27 February. "When working in the brokens, a piece of stone fell off the side and broke both bones of his left leg. He died 10 days afterwards from shock."

10th April. An occasional license was granted to Ernest Andrew of the Green Inn Skelton authorizing him to sell by retail all intoxicants on 19th April 1906 between the hours of 10am & 6pm in a tent at Priest crofts, Skelton, on the occasion of a stock sale.

28 April. North Skelton Mine. Henry Stonehouse, a filler aged 57, died as a result of injuries received on the 5 March. "When standing at his place end a tub, which was being taken in for his use, got off the way and knocked him down. His leg was broken."

1st July - The Local Volunteers joined those from Scarborough and East Riding for the annual training in Camp of the Yorkshire Regiment. The place selected was Yarmouth.

26th July - Church of England Temperance Society - Mr James Loysley, better known as the Battersea Navvy, visited the Parish, in charge of one of the Temperance Vans and held public meetings in the open air. On Monday the van was drawn through Skelton and found a good "pitch" between the Post Office and the Institute. On Tuesday it was at New Skelton; on Wednesday on the Green; on Thursday at North Skelton and on Friday back at the Institute. On Monday afternoon he addressed a meeting of Sunday School children on The Hills [where camp meetings are wont to be held]. His ready wit and racy style combined with full knowledge of his subject in all its bearings upon the lives of working men secured him an attentive hearing. He proved by facts and argument how temperance, religion and self control raise and refine a man while self indulgence, intemperance and sin degrade and ruin him. In the following week he visited Boosbeck, Lingdale and Margrove Park.

5th August - Club Service - The Free Gardeners arranged a Church Parade with a view to help the Convalescent Home at Grange over Sands. They hope to raise sufficient money to pay for a cot there to be called the Skelton cubicle.
The Institution is well known to Skelton men and not a few have found it a delightful haven of rest to themselves when recovering from the effects of illness or accident. It is, however, not so well patronised as it deserves and but for the money received fro extra stays and from visitors it may be necessary to increase the sum charged for Friendly Society forms. Five pounds is required to furnish a cubicle and we feel sure Skelton men will secure one. The Club members will meet near the Miner's Hospital and march through the Green and Park Street District collecting contributions on the way. After the service they will reform and visit New Skelton and North Skelton.

A farmworker at this time earned about 17 shillings and sixpence a week, [88p], Typical costs were Rent 7.5p, pint of beer 1p, 2oz tobacco 3p, pound of butter 5p, half pound of tea 4p.

1907 - The Territorial Army was formed and called the Territorial Force until 1922.

10 April - Cake and Apron Sale - The Skelton Habitation of the Young Helper' League in connection with Dr Barnado's Homes promoted a sale on behalf of the crippled, blind, deaf and dumb and incurable children who are waifs or destitute orphans. The Rector spoke of the object they had in view and told how Dr Barnardo had been led by a dream to adopt the idea of enlisting young people to help him in his work of saving the children, which resulted in his forming the Young Helpers' League, with its Habitations all the world over.

June - Electric Power. Parish Magazine.:-
"The electricians and their assistant workmen have laid their cable through our villages and we suppose the roadway for the transmission of electricity is about complete.
The Company who have laid the cable are prepared to supply the power in large quantity and at high pressure, at wholesale prices, but they leave it

Albert Einstein suggests that Energy = Mass multiplied by the square of the Speed of Light.

Sept 27th - John MacKenzie was injured at South Skelton Mines.

23rd Oct. Death of Dinah Woodward, the oldest member of Skelton Primitive Methodist Church and widow of Charles, one of the pioneers of Primitive Methodism in the village.

28th Oct. Thomas Robinson, aged 27, of Wharton St, North Skelton was fined 12s 6d or 10 days imprisonment at Middlesbrough for stealing a string of onions, worth 1s, from a French onion seller.

24th Dec. North Skelton Mine. John Drew, Charles Morgan, Thomas Padget and Robert Wallace, mines deputies, suffered severe burns to the face and chest as the result of a gas explosion.
They were admitted to Brotton Cottage Hospital.

The remains believed to be of Robert de Brus II, founder of Guisborough Priory, were discovered in a vault in the Priory ruins and reinterred in a lead coffin by the Chaloners of Guisborough Hall.

The Bruce Cenotaph was re-assembled at Guisborough Parish Church.
This tomb of fine grain marble is thought to have been carved during the time of Prior James Cockerell [1519 to 1534].
One side shows five statuettes of the Brus's of Skelton, separated by the four doctors of the Latin Church and on the other side, the Brus's of the Annandale branch, separated by the four evangelists.
One end of the cenotaph shows the prior and kneeling canons, but the other end is missing.
It is thought to have been dismantled in the 1700s and the ends at one time were taken to Hardwick Hall.
Click here for details of the De Brus Tomb

Old age pensions were introduced.

Establishment of the first Borstal for uncontrolled youth.

24th Jan. Fred Carter of New Skelton claimed against a George Smith for an accident with a clothes line across the back street. He was awarded 5 guineas and costs to be paid in instalments..

4 Mar 1908, William Cheshire, a miner aged 48 of Brotton, was killed. "He tried to bar down a piece of ironstone, but failing in his purpose, began to cut the stone out beneath; the upper piece then fell suddenly upon him."
William Holden of N Skelton was hurt, presumably by same fall of stone and after being attended by Doctor Thorney taken to Skelton Miners Hospital.

26th March. Frederick Woodward, an Ironstone labourer of Skelton, aged 32, was killed when he 'detached empty wagons from endless rope at Park Pits. Mine lay idle.'
Thomas Varty, manager of Park Pit, was a witness into the death.

1st April - The Local Volunteers, mentioned many time previously in these pages, were absorbed into the Territorial Force by Haldane's Act of Parliament.
They were now to be organised on the basis of the Regular Army and became Territorial Battalions of the local Regular Army Regiment.
But, with only Home Defence responsibilities at that time.

The 4th Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) became part of the Territorial Force with Headquarters at Northallerton, which at that time was the centre of North Riding Authority and remained so up until the 1960's.

The Battalion was divided into local Companies designated A to H.

6th April. Thomas Varty, Manager of Park Pit, stood for election to Skelton Urban District Council.

8 April. Skelton Park Pit. Samuel Kyme, a deputy aged 62, was killed.
"When setting up a baulk, a huge piece of stone, weighing about 7 tons, fell away from a visible but not well-defined back. The place was near the goaf, and no doubt there was great weight on the pillars which caused the stone to fall."

4th May. Longacres Mine. William Bowers, miner of Skelton, fractured his leg by catching it in a rope on the engine plane. Tubs of iron ore were usually pulled by shire horses, led by young lads from the working face toward the shaft bottom. In some cases this towing was done by a "continual rope" that was then under high tension. Fatal accidents were caused in some mines by the snapping of this "rope" which could spring back and cut like a razor. In this case by getting caught in it.

25 June. South Skelton Mine. Frank R Wood, a drifter aged 21, was killed. "He was bringing two full tubs outbye along the main road to the landing, when a large piece of dogger fell from the roof on to him and killed him.".

At this time Skelton Shaft and Skelton Park Ironstone Mines were owned by Bell Bros.
The under manager at Shaft was Thomas Welburn and at Park George Watson.
The Manager of both mines was Thomas Varty and the number of men working below ground at both pits was 644 with 139 employed above.
North Skelton and Long Acres were both owned by Bolckow and Vaughan and the Manager of both was John Thompson.
At North Skelton the under manager was Robert Ranson with 331 miners below ground and 55 on the surface.
At Long Acres the under manager was William Bell with 306 men below and 41 above.