HUNDREDS of people turned out on Monday to say farewell to a former mayoress of Darlington who was one of the few people to grow up in a bakery and not like the smell of fresh bread.

Carol Johnson, who was mayoress in 2013, died suddenly on October 13 aged 77, and yesterday St Cuthbert’s Church in her home town was packed for her funeral. She was the wife of the current deputy leader of Darlington council, Cllr Charles Johnson.

Practically all of municipal Darlington was present, regardless of political party, and former mayors from Richmond, Ripon and Shildon were in attendance.

“She was everything a mayoress should be,” said the current mayor of Darlington, Cllr Nick Wallis. “She was a larger than life character who could talk to anyone, and she was so welcoming to everyone she met.

“She and Charles were a great double act, and it was a huge shock when I heard she had died. All the town will miss her warm presence.”

Her son, Nathan, gave a tribute at the funeral, telling how she had grown up living above her father’s bakery in the Park Lane area of Darlington. In her youth, she had enjoyed dancing and appeared on the stage at the Hippodrome on numerous occasions, and she represented Darlington at swimming.

She had met Charles in the Green Tree Cafe on the corner of Skinnergate when she was 16 and he was 18, and they had been together ever since, travelling the world with Mr Johnson’s engineering job before settling back in Darlington. They had two children, Nathan and Fay, and three grandchildren aged between ten and 18, Emily, Libby and Sam.

Nathan revealed that the grandchildren went for tea at her house every Thursday, where they enjoyed “granny’s interesting cooking skills”. She wasn’t much of a baker, he said, and despite her childhood in the Rouths’ bakery, didn’t like the smell of fresh bread, but “she was a M&S wizard”.

He concluded: “Although we feel she left us too soon, she will not be forgotten. She’ll always be remembered as a fun-loving lady, passionate about her family and friends, and the occasional half a beer.”