IN the midst of the darkest days of the First World War, a special event took place in Darlington’s North Eastern Hotel on November 27, 1917.

It was Durham’s first recorded meeting of delegates from the county’s first seven branches of the Women’s Institute, bringing together members from Witton-le-Wear, Cotherstone, Neasham, Evenwood. Cockfield, Staindrop and Howden-le Wear.

The Durham Federation of the WI had been formed – one of only five in the country to be a century old – and Bessie Stobart, of Witton-le-Wear, was appointed chairman. Also serving on the early National Executive, Bessie was a pioneer of the movement.

The growing excitement surrounding this proud County Durham centenary emerged in a week dominated by WI speaking engagements. On Tuesday night, I was at Newton Aycliffe WI, and that was followed on Wednesday by Staindrop WI’s 17th birthday.

I’ve always found it hard to say no to women and, by the end of the week, I’d been talked into compering the federation’s “musical extravaganza” to mark the centenary at the Xcel Centre in Newton Aycliffe.

Over the past 20 years of speaking to just about every branch there is, I’ve come to appreciate the WI as a force for good and it will be a pleasure to help the Durham Federation mark its magnificent milestone on November 25.

In the meantime, there will be a centenary lunch at Ramside Hall on May 19, and a special celebration service at Durham Cathedral on August 12. Each branch has been asked to make a banner to be paraded in the cathedral and the federation’s banner will be blessed. A two-day celebration of the 100 years will then be staged at Beamish on August 19 and 20.

It all adds up to quite a year – but I reckon the WI is Worth It.

THE Durham Federation of the WI has been chaired for the past three years by the admirable Lyn Swift who steps down at the end of March.

Lyn was in the chair at the Newton Aycliffe branch last week and she was asked for her funniest memory of life with the WI.

It came during a trip to the Botanic Gardens in Durham a few years back when evergreen board member Sheila Tock was overheard complaining about the long walk from the car park.

Without further ado, Lyn, right, and colleague Judith James promptly shoved Sheila into a wheelbarrow that happened to be nearby and “taxied” her to the gardens.

Sheila, who is still going strong in Witton-le-Wear, apparently responded with the kind of outburst not normally heard in WI circles.

OVER the past fortnight, I’ve been running refresher courses to help young journalists from all over the country get through their professional examinations.

Other former editors have been joining me at The Northern Echo’s offices in Darlington to pass on their guidance.

Over a beer in the William Stead – the town centre pub named after the great campaigning journalist who became the Echo’s editor in 1871 – the conversation turned to the nicknames given to senior staff at the various newspapers represented round the table.

I think my favourite was the long-gone newspaper sales manager who was known as “Thrombosis” – because “he’s the clot in circulation”.


AN embarrassing postscript to the Darlington Schools Eurovision Song Contest which I hosted a week last Friday.

A parent has brought to my attention that when Skerne Park Primary’s music didn’t play on cue, I announced to the packed Dolphin Centre that there’d been a “testicle malfunction behind the scenes”.

I meant, of course, to describe it as a technical malfunction – and I had no idea I’d made the schoolboy error. There’s another way of describing it but this is a family newspaper.