TOMORROW'S Memories looks at a famous Darlington company's role in building what I believe to be the hangar for Britain's first airship. This story gives me the opportunity to use the word dirigible, which is great.

Leftover from the article is the attached picture which I found in The Northern Echo of October 8, 1907. It shows Britain's first military dirigible, Nulli Secundus, making its first major - and ill-fated - flight from Farnborough, Hampshire, to central London. Here it is buzzing St Paul's Cathedral.

It is well known that Nulli Secundus did indeed buzz the cathedral. Indeed, it caused quite a stir. The day previously, the Echo had headlined its report "Voyage over London. Successfully steered around the dome of St Paul's."

The report said: "The airship sailed majestically along at 10 or 15 miles an hour and in full view of thousands upon thousands of upturned faces in the city."

The picture, though, is curious. The caption beneath it says: "The picture is the work of a Northern Echo artist who watched the transit, aided by a photograph by Park." So I guess it isn't a real representation of the historic flight, but an imaginary one.

NOTE: In the top left hand corner is part of an early Echo graphic: a hand-drawn, rudimentary map of the flightpath of the dirigible.