FROM this newspaper 100 years ago. - Sunday trains affect church going. At the annual vestry meeting, the Rev F Grant James, Vicar of Marske, said a wave of irreligion and indifference to religious duties had swept over the land, especially among the younger men.

This he attributed this in great measure to the unsettling effect caused by Sunday trains. Young men went away for one or two Sundays and then their previous good habit of church attending had been broken. It was hard for them to take it up again.

In a still greater effect, he attributed this indifference to the demoralising effects of gambling and betting.

From this newspaper 50 years ago. - Amusing dialect and sign posts near Stokesley and Northallerton had entertained D&S Times correspondents.

J Fairfax Blakeborough wrote: The word ale is still spoken as 'yal' by ruralists in the Cleveland district of North Yorkshire. A story is sometimes spoken of harvesters who were asked if the 'yal' sent to them in the fields, as a 'lowance' was to their liking.

One local replied: "If it was an better we likely shouldn't have got it. And if it was any worse, we couldn't have supped it."

Another example of the word was on an old inn sign which contained the sentence: "Cheer all your hearts with the very best yal!"

Another correspondent reported seeing a notice board at Morton Bridge over the Swale near Northallerton which stated: "When this board is under water and out of sight, the road is dangerous."

From this newspaper 25 years ago. - Easingwold teenagers may have helped to save the Victoria Institute for recreation purposes.

A special meeting is being held by the town council, to discuss the future of the building. A group of 12 teenagers attended Tuesday night's annual parish meeting and said there was a need for the institute to remain a social amenity, particularly for elderly people.

The town council heard that since 1896 the institute had been used as a reading room and billiards hall, but the council was now having difficulties in keeping it going. The institute was not getting the young leadership it needed. Mrs Peat, the caretaker, had retired and the council had to consider whether the institute should continue in its present form.

The teenagers wanted it to remain as it was and said they would welcome some adult leadership. They preferred it to the youth club.