TRIBUTES have been paid to former Darlington resident Peter James Allender, who died at home in Bristol.

Mr Allender grew up in Corporation Road and attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. Although he lived in Bristol for most of his life, he always thought of the North as home, and made frequent trips to Darlington as well as regular holidays to Great Asby, Romaldkirk and Alnmouth.

Mr Allender taught English at The Castle School, a secondary school in Thornbury, for much of his adult life.

He has been described as an inspirational teacher who, with quiet, gentle enthusiasm and humour, instilled in countless children a love of art and literature.

One of his students wrote that he was, "the most amazing teacher I was ever taught by… and I remember my first lesson with him, some 27 years ago, like it was yesterday. He made 11-year old me feel so totally amazed and engaged in a one-period Y7 English class that I never forgot the feeling and it inspired me in so many ways for years to come".

After taking early retirement, Mr Allender pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Bristol, gaining a PhD on William Hazlitt, the essayist from the Romantic period. During this time he also taught at Bristol, notably an Access to English course that allowed people from a variety of diverse and often troubled backgrounds to gain the skills they would need to study English at degree level. One of these students wrote that Mr Allender was "a lovely man who had a profound effect on my life. I often think of him with great fondness and love… he really didn’t know the effect he had on people and the lives he changed".

The funeral will be a small family affair, but there are plans to organise a celebration of Peter’s life in the North-East later this year. If you would like to get in touch regarding this, or with any other messages, please email robinallender@gmail.com

Mr Allender is survived by his partner, Jean, his sons, Tom and Robin, and his brother David Alexander.