A LONGSERVING railwayman who discovered a talent for writing in his Seventies has died at the age of 93.
Tom Bellis lived in Shildon all of his life until he moved to Teesside six weeks before his death to live closer to his family.
He worked at the town's railway works for 45 years but only began to believe in his literary ability after the death of his wife Edith in 1984, two weeks before they were due to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
He enjoyed seeing a dozen novels in print and made time to help other local authors with their work. A devout Christian, he was a regular contributor to The Advertiser's sister paper, The Northern Echo's Monday Poem page.
A funeral service is due to he held at Darlington Crematorium on Friday morning.
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