A FAMILY is trying to track down two missing scrapbooks full of memories of Durham City's former ice rink.

Agnes Payne, granddaughter of the rink's founder Icy Smith, is appealing for help in tracking down the books which are filled with newspaper cuttings chronicling the rink.

Mrs Payne decided to look at them - thinking they were still in the family - when The Northern Echo published a story on the rink's history in August. But no-one knows where the scapbooks are.

The books are 2ft. long and 2.5ft. wide. One has a soft tan leather cover and the other, with a leather binding, has Coroner Graham on the front.

They contain stories, many from The Durham Advertiser and The Northern Echo, about the rink, figure skaters and the Durham Wasps ice hockey team.

The rink, on the banks of the River Wear, was a place of entertainment for city folk from 1940 to 1996 when it closed and became a bowling alley.

Mrs Payne, of Sacriston, herself a figure skater, says that the books contain a host of family memories.

"We have spoken to the rink's new owners and the people who owned it before them and they haven't seen them. They could have been lying around for years. We are all devastated because they are something that can't be replaced. We would just love to get them back again."

Anyone who knows where the books are is asked to call (0191) 371 2998.