THE end of the world came to Malton a couple of weeks ago, or so it seemed, when in fact it was just an electricity failure. I was in Malton's main street, it was getting towards tea-time and as I walked past a shop window, suddenly it went dark, and I realised the whole town had gone dark too.

Shopkeepers bobbed out of their doors all at once, it seemed, reminding me of those little figures in the weather house, one of whom comes out if it's fine, the other if it's going to rain. This time, though, it had nothing to do with weather, each individual was reassuring him or herself that the failure wasn't just theirs alone, but was a major event, which it seemed to be.

I had some more shopping to do, and thought I might just sit somewhere with a cup of coffee until the power came on again. Doomed to failure before it started, of course, because everything that makes coffee works on electricity, and even if there'd been gas-heated water they couldn't have taken my money, or given change, because the cash till works on electricity. So home was the obvious thing, as this particular cafe decided to close for the day.

Thus it dawned on me, once again, just how reliant we are on power, be it electricity, gas or water. The amazing thing, though, is how relatively quickly services are usually restored when disaster strikes. Once home I thought I'd phone someone, but whilst BT normally has stand-by equipment, something was amiss here too and so, for a short while, Malton was in the dark, and out of touch with the world. It all came right in the end, and quite soon, but such intermissions have a message to tell in reminding us to pause, just now and again, and bring to mind all of the things which we take so much for granted, and which in turn rely on our friends, and neighbours to keep in running order.

- A call this week, following my mention of 'inventions', from Margaret Taylor (nee Suddaby) who I'm sure everyone knows for her years of public service as a councillor. She told me a host of interesting gems which I'd never heard of before and which certainly need recording for posterity. As a child, Margaret lived at the Crown Hotel, Malton, where her father, William Suddaby, brought to light his several inventions. A competition in Farmers' Weekly brought him a £10 first prize (a goodly amount at that time) for a hand-operated garden plough. Margaret can't remember exact details, but seems to recall that handles were turned to make progress through the earth.

Then came the 'Caddy Cart', being a pair of wide wheels with a long handle attached so that the golfer could tote his heavy golf bag around, and which I expect was the fore-runner of all the golf caddies in use today. Margaret still has some headed paper which bears an imprint of this caddy-cart at the top, and carrying not a bag of golf clubs but child Margaret herself.

The last that she remembered was the 'Personal Porter'. You will all know this one, for it is the little two-wheeled device which straps onto the corner of a heavy suitcase in order that it may be pulled behind, rather than carrying it. Happily for William, a picture of the prototype came to the eyes of Gamages, who saw a winner here, and bought the idea from him, and I reckon it's something which is still on the market. Rather a coincidence, for I bought one of these during the summer at a Pickering boot sale, thinking it could be useful for moving any heavy object about. It still hangs on my workshop wall but, one never knows, it could still come in useful. Had William been able to patent his inventions, Margaret thinks she might have been the daughter of a millionaire, for that is the way which good ideas go, and someone else rakes in the money.

- We all take for granted the continental-type lifting rail barriers at level crossings, and perhaps seldom think back to the heavy crossing gates which preceded them. Norton's level crossing had exceptionally long gates on the Norton side of the track which needed bracing in their centres from high concrete reinforced gate-posts by thick bracing rods. The gates themselves were very heavy and needed considerable effort to start them moving, and would 'whip' and bend as they came up against their stops. I can still remember the clatter as they banged their way to a close. Because of the hammering they took in the course of each day, they were in constant need of repairs through broken joints in the woodwork and must have cost the railway companies a fortune in repair works throughout the land. They were ultimely replaced by lifting barriers, quite a novelty to us when they first came to Malton. Just for the record, the first 'gates' of the lifting type in Britain, and labelled 'Continental' for obvious reasons, were in British Rail days on the York-Beverley line at Warthill.

- Royal comment 1950. "In a few years there will be only five kings in the world - the King of England and the four kings in a pack of cards". Farouk I (1920-65) King of Egypt (1936-52).

Updated: 12:20 Thursday, January 31, 2002