IN the past whenever people have queried where I was born I have always answered near Consett.

If I just said Muggleswick, most people have never even heard the name of this County Durham hamlet. Now after the article (Echo, Oct 2) revealing the Royal Mail’s new set of Harry Potter stamps will feature Muggleswick as the postcode for the first day cover, this remote spot will become world famous.

I was born at Muggleswick Priory, not the actual Priory, probably some farm cottage there as my father always worked on the land all his life and consequently we tended to move from job to job usually living in a tied cottage belonging to the farmer.

The Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, said the word muggle in her books emanated from the word ‘mug’.

However, when I was growing up we kids used the muggle word in place of marbles which was a popular playground game in those days.

Doug Porthouse, Ferryhill