THIS week, we change From the Archive to From the Saddle. Here’s a collection of historical-themed pictures that have been taken in recent months on Memories’ cycling trips around south Durham and North Yorkshire. A pushbike is an excellent way of having a nosey at the world around us, and an iPhone can now conveniently capture whatever fascinates us. However, many of our observations raise questions that need answering...

THE A1(M) is North Yorkshire is a 50mph crawl as roadworks upgrade it to three lanes, but a field to the east is the long village of Londonderry. It is two lines of houses which stand beside what was the original Great North Road – the straightness of the lines indicates that this was once the Roman road of Dere Street.

There are plenty of reminders in Londonderry of a different age of travel. Two mileposts, from the 1880s, point out the distances to Boroughbridge and Catterick, and there is the closed Londonderry Lodge. It is a Grade II listed mid-18th Century house which for a century at least acted as a roadside cafe – as the fading giant paint letters on its roof advertise.

Even the McEwan’s lager lamp outside the door is from a different era, and one senses that behind its locked doors there is a travellers’ timewarp.

The big mystery of Londonderry is why it is called Londonderry. The coal-owning Londonderry family of Seaham Hall don’t seem to have a connection with this corner of North Yorkshire – it was the Vane family of Raby Castle which had a large hunting lodge here until its parkland was gobbled up by RAF Leeming. Perhaps someone can explain...