A LARGE gathering is being held held at a country inn to pay tribute to a legendary landlady following her death in an accident at the age of 99.

All the friends made by Jonnie Dykes while serving behind the bar are being invited to return to the Three Tuns at Eggleston near Barnard Castle, County Durham, to share memories of her and talk about the good times she helped them enjoy.

Her son James, who is organising the event, said: "We want it to be a lovely and jolly get-together.

"We have already received letters recalling nice things about her, so we'll read them out and invite other people to have their say. We expect some amusing stories.

"She was here for 40 years, so we feel she deserves this special occasion at which her memory will be honoured. We'll also have a lot of photographs of her on display."

Mrs Dykes started life as Frances Johnson in Ireland but her husband Alec called her Jonnie when they first met. The name stuck for the rest of her life.

The couple ran the Three Tuns for 16 years before James took over the licence. Alec then died but Mrs Dykes stayed on and helped out for another 24 years.

She lived latterly with James and his wife Christine in Barnard Castle, but this month went for a short break with her daughter Catherine McLean in Gloucester.

Mrs Dykes died after falling down stairs there. She had been in good health and was looking forward to her 100th birthday in January.

Her funeral, with a Requiem Mass, will be in Gloucester on Friday, May 22. The gathering at the Three Tuns will start at 1pm the following Friday, May 29. There will be food and drink, recordings by John McCormack, her favourite Irish singer, and a jovial talk by the Reverend John Moore.

Mrs Dykes was a sickly child in rainy Sligo so was sent to a school in England, where she grew stronger and became a tough-tackling captain of the hockey team.

She became a domestic science teacher, then during the Second World War was a NAAFI manager. Her future husband worked for the same organisation, and the couple married in 1945 and ran hotels in Blackpool before moving to Eggleston in 1955.

Mrs Dykes had a unique way of making customers drink up and go home at closing time - if they stayed chatting and playing dominoes too long she clattered them over the head with a tin tray.

She also found a way of making her husband remember their wedding anniversary. He kept forgetting it was July 3, so she changed it to July 4. They celebrated that day for many years until they applied for a passport and had to show their wedding certificate. It was only then he realised the true date.

James said: "She treated everyone the same, whether they were wealthy visitors in the grouse season or or local farm workers.

"Everybody loved her and I'm sure many will want to pay tributes."

Mrs Dykes leaves two sons, a daughter, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.