ON a single Sunday evening in 1907, 90,000 men, women and children visited a public house or off licence in Middlesbrough.

As the town’s population was only about 130,000, this is a staggeringly large proportion.

Something had to be done to stem this tide of drunkenness, and so Lady Florence Bell opened a Winter Garden where the Dundas Arcade shopping centre is today to tempt the ironworkers.

New research into this fascinating, and little known, social experiment will be revealed today (May 2) by historian Tosh Warwick. At 10.30am in the arcade, next to Boyes, he will be presenting a talk about his findings, and this will be followed from 11.10am by printmakers and artists helping visitors create their own Winter Garden prints to commemorate International Print Day.

Lady Bell, the wife of the ironmaster Sir Hugh, was a great social reformer and she was shocked when he researchers counted so many people – 55,000 men, 21,000 women, and 13,775 children – visiting Middlesbrough’s 106 pubs and 36 off-licences on the Sabbath.

Not all of them were going for alcohol; some were going just to keep warm.

Lady Bell’s People’s Winter Garden opened on October 24, 1907, to offer sober self-improvement, gambling-free games and warmth. In its first six month season, there were 146,122 visitors.

“It wasn’t a great structure but it was a ground-breaking initiative that inspired the creation of similar winter gardens in Liverpool, Wimbledon and Bristol,” says Tosh.

Its popularity dwindled after the Second World War and it closed in 1963.

Today’s events in the Dundas Arcade are free and everyone is welcome. The printmaking goes on until 4pm, and visitors may like to bring along a favourite object of their own to use while creating a Winter Garden memento.

ANYONE interested in this area’s local history should try and visit Yesterday Belongs to You next Saturday (May 9) in Durham City.

It is a local history fair with more than 70 exhibitors showing off their societies and their interests.

The biennial fair used to be run by the county council but in these austere times it is now run by volunteers from the County Durham History and Heritage Forum.

It will be opened at 10am by the forum’s president, the regional TV historian John Grundy. The Northern Bygone Society will be displaying a variety of classic cars, and the Aycliffe and District Bus Preservation Society will be giving rides in the bus that featured in the Heartbeat TV series.

Plus Beamish museum will be displaying a 1950s holiday caravan.

For the first time, the event is being held at New College, Durham, DH1 5ES. It is open until 4pm, and admission is £1.50. For further information, email yb2u15@gmail.com

MANY thanks to everyone who has contacted Memories recently. Last week’s Bishop Auckland pictures have generated a good response, and we have been overwhelmed with calls about the mystery Darlington councillor in Memories 226. Here he is again, taking over as Darlington mayor in 1977 with the out-going mayor who was himself a very recognisible face. We’ll keep you guessing until next week when we'll reveal their identities...