Sue Tempest Cooper is about to complete her 20th year of teaching yoga, and she'll no doubt be congratulated by many Teesdale people who are grateful to her for pointing them on the road to healthier, more relaxed lifestyles.

She is a supreme optimist who believes all she says about this ancient art. Some men and women insist they have felt much better just by listening to her, even before trying any of the exercises and techniques.

Mrs Tempest Cooper currently takes two classes every week in Gainford Village Hall, each attended by around 20 enthusiasts, and for much of the year she also has two in Hurworth, where she used to live. She gives individual lessons too when requested.

She has students ranging from their teens to high eighties. Some in the upper age bracket swear they feel years younger, thanks to her skill at imparting methods to improve posture, breathing and movement.

"The mental approach is important as well," the energetic grandmother told me. "The idea is to make the most of right now, without dwelling on previous problems. For someone with difficulties it is a wonderful philosophy."

There have been many protests lately about binge drinking and rowdy behaviour, but the nuisance is not new in this area. James Coates, the lovelorn teacher mentioned here last week, was moaning about drunken antics in Newsham back in 1785.

He was scathing in his diary about Thomas Atkinson, who ran a busy inn in the village. He wrote that men were spending their money on betting and alcohol rather than supporting their families, and then acting the fool late at night.

He quoted one customer as saying Newsham was "the wickedest place in Yorkshire . . a place of refuge for Barningham gamblers as well as others." Coates sent a petition to the justices, declaring Atkinson ran a "very disorderly house, with gaming and drunkenness," and asked for the licence to be revoked.

The court did as requested. This led to a crowd of drunks roaring up and down the village threatening to do gruesome things to the teacher. They then paraded with an effigy of him and burned it before holding a noisy all-night party at the inn.

Later Coates wrote, "I congratulate myself on the prospect of a reformation of manners.. notwithstanding the many threats which are daily brought to my ears."

A visitor who recently spent some time in Cotherstone has asked for details about a superb racehorse of that name. The animal, owned by John Bowes after being born at his stud at Streatlam Castle, was described as weedy and unimpressive as a yearling, but went on to win the Derby in 1843.

The late Charles Hardy's biography of John Bowes relates how he was strapped for cash at the time, having spent a lot on election expenses to become MP for Durham. He was planning to borrow money. But he staked £1,000 on Cotherstone in the Epsom classic and won £22,000, which put his finances in good order. It was more than many people could earn in their lifetime in that era. He later founded the Bowes Museum.

It has to be hoped that some Cotherstone residents also trousered a few pounds. Bowes, who sold the horse the following year for £3,000, also had three other Derby winners - Mundig in 1835, Daniel O'Rourke in 1852 and West Australian in 1853.

Parkin Raine, the dale historian who is a stickler for correct spelling and punctuation, called in this week to say that two signs outside Bowes Lyon House in Barnard Castle bear two errors apiece.

They refer to the property - senior citizens' apartments formerly known as Dunelm Court - as "Bowes-Lyons" with a hyphen and an s too many. Bowes Lyon, the surname of the Queen Mother and Earls of Strathmore, came about through the marriage of wealthy Mary Eleanor Bowes of Streatlam Castle to John Lyon, the ninth earl, in 1767. Mr Raine pointed out that for a time after that the family was known as Lyon Bowes. The now-familiar version came later.