From this newspaper 100 years ago. - Strangers to the Yorkshire dales sometimes give a dalesman the character of brusqueness and impoliteness. He certainly does not wear his heart on his sleeve for daws to peck it, and he generally shows his worst at first, but underneath there are sterling qualities, and his want of politeness is usually because he is wrongly approached. An instance of this happened a short time ago. A stranger to the dale was complaining of the uncouth civility he had received. He had asked the road to Aysgarth, and he said the answer was- "What dis tha' want to knaw for?" It turned out, however, that the question had been asked in a most patronising manner, the old man so addressed evidently being judged by the coat that he wore, and if there is one thing more than another that a dales man dislikes it is to be approached in that lordly superior patronising air of "My good man!"

From this newspaper 50 years ago. - Strange Companions at Barnard Castle: If a child's immediate recognition of its parents is a sign of wisdom, then Solomon, in all his glory, will be outclassed by a mere hedgehog which first peeped into the wonderful world at Barnard Castle this week, and crawled to its "mother," a purring black cat. The hedgehog, which is being mothered by "Smutty" and has for a brother a fluffy black kitten, was the only survivor of an early breed, the rest of the family having met a sad fate...

From this newspaper 25 years ago. - By Spectator: A move to get smoking banned altogether on buses did not succeed at the meeting of Darlington Community Health Council this week. At present, of course, smokers may indulge in the rear of single deck buses, or on the upper deck of double-deckers. In all this propaganda against the cigarette, the poor pipe smoker, who doesn't seem to be doing himself any harm, is lumped in with the rest. So is the cigar smoker, who is more frequently seen nowadays than in the times when the cigar was the mark of the plutocrat. Perhaps the enemies of tobacco would be more successful if they were a little more specific in their disapproval. If they once abolish the cigarette, it will not take long to discover that the pipe and cigar are just as lethal.