FROM this newspaper 100 year ago. - At a meeting of the South Durham and North Yorkshire Farmers' Protection Association the committee raised the question of rural education and the Education Act. They claimed there were many things worth knowing that were not included in what was known as education, and amongst them were the principles of agriculture. Schools were educating children to be clerks in a merchant's office rather than fitting them for the position a great many were expected to take. The acquisition of the three Rs had been an advantage to many people, but parents who were not well educated themselves are finding their children are becoming far too good for any work they could get in the country.

From this newspaper 50 years ago. - Coronation Day preparations. Skeeby Coronation Committee had a field day on Saturday, with competitions of all kinds, and raised about £33 for their Coronation Fund. A dainty ankle competition, for which there were 24 entries, was won by Miss Sylvia Kearsley who later was selected from a large number of entrants as "Miss Coronation". Elsewhere further preparations for the Coronation are underway. Stockton is busy with the main street lamps being repainted and the Town Hall having a spring clean. Door to door collections have been going on, and some of the totals so far raised for the Coronation jollification are simply staggering.

From this newspaper 25 years ago. - No convincing case for metrification. A group of dairy farmers in the north east has won support at county level for refusing to record their cows in kilograms. The Metrification Board has tried to convince everyone of inevitability but the point that the whole world is going metric is simply not true. It has not got beyond the first stages in America without running into trouble. Nor has it been accepted voluntarily in the UK except on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentation. There are sound practical reasons for wishing to retain Imperial measures. There has been no convincing case for metrification of the farming industry. No one has shown that a hectare is as useful a measurement as an acre and no one believes that a kilo is handier than a pound.