From this newspaper 100 years ago. - A few days ago a somewhat serious gun accident, and one which might have had fatal results, occurred to a man named Wintersgill, gamekeeper to Mr TW Lloyd, of Cowesby Hall.

It appears a gun which he was in the act of cleaning was loaded with a bullet, and the trigger at the time is supposed to have been at half-cock. Wintersgill having his hand over the muzzle of the gun, it exploded, the bullet lodging in his hand. Dr Roberts was at once sent for, when he skilfully and successfully extracted the bullet, and at the time of writing, Mr Wintersgill was progressing favourably towards recovery. It seems a fortunate thing that his hand was over the muzzle of the gun, so as to stop the progress of the bullet, or it might have lodged in a more fatal spot.

From this newspaper 50 years ago. - Mr A Howson, bus proprietor, of Barnard Castle, had a narrow escape from serious injury when his vehicle left the road and turned over several times down a steep hill into a ravine. The incident occurred near Egglesburn bridge, and Mr Howson was returning with an empty bus after having conveyed schoolchildren from Harwood, Forest and Newbiggin to Middleton-in-Teesdale County School. Mr Howson had the presence of mind to jump clear before the bus crashed down the slope.

From this newspaper 25 years ago. - The public lavatories below Yarm Town Hall will soon be closed if moves by the local parish council succeed and new toilets are built elsewhere in the town ... Coun Fred Morrison, who has campaigned for new lavatories for Yarm without success for a number of years, said: "I inspected the ladies the other day. A seat was missing, the light was broken and there were no paper towels."

The chairman of the council, Coun John Pound, said: "We are all aware of their obnoxious nature and we desperately want them out of the town hall."