Peter Elliott puts many of us to shame with the manner in which he goes out of his way to help other people, even though he is blind.

When I met him and his guide dog, Rachel, in Barnard Castle this week, he was working out how to distribute more than £2,000 he had raised through sponsorship for the latest Meet fun run.

He has taken part 17 times and raised more than £22,000, which has been donated to local good causes. This time, he was aided around the course by friend Harry Richards, while Rachel enjoyed a well-deserved snooze.

"I always give £300 to a ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital, and this year I think it'll go to Intensive Care," he said. "All the rest goes to various groups who put it to good use, such as the Talking Newspaper and Cancer Research.

"I enjoy doing a spot of running and am only too pleased that I'm able to hand over some cash to worthwhile organisations. I'm grateful to my sponsors."

He is already looking forward to lining up with the other fun runners next summer. Wouldn't it be a good if by then his efforts are recognised by those who hand out honours?

Tracing family trees has become a popular pastime in Teesdale, partly thanks to a Tuesday evening course run by Lorne Tallentire, at the Witham Hall.

A number of his students are making steady progress after learning how to start the tree by checking details from family Bibles and getting relatives to pass on all the information they can remember about births, marriages and deaths.

Mr Tallentire, a keen historian who lives at Middleton-in-Teesdale, will also explain how to surf the Internet and search through official records, including census returns, parish registers and wills to piece together all the branches that make up a typical family.

Mr Tallentire has traced his family back to their arrival in the dale in the early 1700s and before that during their years in Northumberland and Cumberland.

His advice to anyone wishing to make a start is to read a book on genealogy.

"That helps to put you on the right road and avoids wasting time," he said.

There are hopes that he will run another course next year.

MORE than 100 photographs from Whit weekends gone by, all printed by Denny Raine, proved a great attraction for residents and visitors during the Meet.

Many laughed on recognising themselves, relatives and friends among the snaps of procession floats, fancy dress line-ups, boat race sinkings, fun run finishes and prize presentations.

Mr Raine had done an excellent job of creating the exhibition, and also setting up a video screen to show footage from previous Meets. The display will no doubt become a regular feature.

My only worry was that many of the photographs were taken by myself, in the era when I plodded around just about every event at every Meet with a camera. Some dated from further back than I would care to admit. Can I really have been working here all those years ago?

Who is the greatest actor in Teesdale? With respect to the Mad Mads and Castle Players, who have both produced some excellent performers, the accolade must go to Edmund Kean, who has long been hailed nationally as supreme.

An old account I came across this week reveals that he was in a play in the Long Room, at the Queen's Head Inn, in Barnard Castle, in 1806. This establishment was on the site in Market Place now occupied by Barclays Bank. Kean later appeared there for several seasons with the Berwick Company of Comedians. He was said to have also visited Staindrop.

Though the most famous actor of his time, Kean was described by one critic as the worst ever to appear as Romeo.

* I'll be glad to see anyone who calls with snippets of news at The Northern Echo office at 36 Horsemarket, Barnard Castle, on Mondays and Tuesdays, telephone (01833) 638628.