A REMARKABLE meeting took place at a North-East nursing home at the weekend.

Mary Bramley, 89, a former matron at Stockton and Thornaby Hospital, presented Barbara Elenor with her latest qualification, 45 years after presenting her with her original State Registered Nurse certificate in 1956.

Mrs Bramley, now a resident at Middleton Hall Nursing Home, in Middleton St George, near Darlington, was delighted to be asked to present the English National Board 298 certificate in nursing elderly people to her former charge.

Mrs Elenor said she could think of no one more appropriate to carry out the honour than her former mentor, whose firm, but fair, regime she well remembers.

She gained a Diploma in Elderly Care in 1999 from York University and is now studying for a degree specialising in the use of music therapy with cases of elderly dementia.

Mrs Bramley said she was very proud of her former student, who now owns a residential care home for the elderly called Peacehaven, at Borrowby, near Thirsk.

She is still furthering her own education at an age when most people have retired and is living up to the ideals of service and dedication instilled by her on a hospital ward nearly half a century ago.