WHAT'S 7x6? How about 1684? Or 99-57?

If you breezed through those tricky sums, you're probably not from around here.

That's because more than one million adults in the York area experience stress as a direct result of their lack of ability in basic maths, even though they face "maths challenges" 14 times a day.

In fact, you've just come through three of them right there. The findings are from learndirect, the largest provider of numeracy and literacy skills and qualifications in the UK.

Its survey found the common causes of "maths stress" are:

  • Calculating the best foreign currency rate and the worry of missing out on bargains abroad
  • Losing face in front of friends when answering a tricky maths question in a pub quiz
  • Working out cooking times.

Sally Coady, from learndirect, said: "We don't realise just how many times we apply maths to everyday situations.

Almost 8 million people would ask someone else to do the task, rather than tackle the problem head on to avoid embarrassment."

Veteran TV presenter Johnny Ball, from Think Of A Number, is doing his best to make maths fun by creating an interactive quiz, which also tests basic English skills.

Johnny said: "Maths was my favourite subject at school and I was lucky enough to make a career out of it. But if you find you struggle a bit, you can really have fun learning how to do it better or just brushing up on your skills.

"That's always been my approach to things that can at first seem daunting, boring or irrelevant. With the Ready When You Are challenge, everyday tasks will seem like a breeze."

Not sure we believe that, but give it a go at www.learndirect.co.uk/ready

Impressed by historic paper

WE LIKE to think we're widely read, here at The Press, with regular subscribers across the country - indeed the world - following the latest news from York, North and East Yorkshire on our website.

But copies of the paper can travel quite far too - indeed, Stuart Fisher has spotted a historic one in Durham.

He writes: "I bought an engraved print of Reims Cathedral by the artist Henry C Brewer and on the back discovered a dealer stamp for Charles Nobbs Fine Art Dealer and Artistic Picture Frame Maker, of Coney Street, York.

"I estimated its date of production as about 1920, but it could be as early as 1917 as I found two mint copies of the Yorkshire Evening Press behind the print," he said.

"These copies contain a wealth of information and include references to Charlie Chaplin and J M Barrie, and lists of those killed in action as well as dozens of interesting advertisements.

"There was also a copy of the Daily Telegraph dated June 24, 1913, within which are references to Captain Scott and the Titanic."

Stuart now has the news one year before the First World War began - and one year before it ended!