We use this picture of the banks of the River Tees at Neasham, near Darlington, on a chill summer's day in 1962 for a number of reasons.

Firstly, because it shows how times have changed: 50 years ago, you could drive out to a beauty spot, park wherever you wanted and both the kids and the council were happy – nowadays, you'd have to buy a ticket even to park on a strip of grass.

Secondly, because our last old car picture a fortnight ago was too hard. It showed Ripon on a wet day in 1960, and we asked about the soft-topped van disappearing into the mist outside the cathedral. There were several complaints, and Derek Noble of Hutton Rudby said: "I would take a guess – my magnifying glass is not strong enough – at a converted Ford 10cwt van. The only other pick-up vehicle of that era which could be fitted with a canvas top was a Bradford."

On the Neasham picture, it is easy to see the array of Morris Minors and Travellers, Beetles and Imps – but what is the distinctive, rounded vehicle on the right? Email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk with any suggestions.

And we use it thirdly, and perhaps shamelessly, because on Saturday at 7pm, the villagers of Neasham are dedicating the ceramic poppies that the parish council has bought from the Tower of London display. The dedication will be held after a talk by Chris Lloyd entitled Heroes and a Villian: Darlington (and Neasham) and the First World War. Tickets are £4. Call 01325-720366 for further information.

THERE was an interesting snippet left out of last week's story about Nurse Alice Welford, who was killed in 1918 while serving in Basra, Iraq. Her family had for generations been shoe-makers from Crathorne, near Yarm, and this may explain her surname. You would expect such a name to be derived from a well near a ford, but the Penguin Dictionary of British Surnames points out that in North Yorkshire and County Durham, where there is a welter of Welfords, there are no such places. But in Alice's family tree, the surname is spelled "Welfitt" and "Welfoote", perhaps suggesting that the shoes made by Mr Welford well-fitted the foot for which they were made.