I WAS sad to hear of the death of Bishop Auckland businessman Denis Edkins at the age of 82 (Echo, Dec 13). We had spoken on the phone only a few weeks previously, and we agreed I would pay him a visit when he felt better. Sadly, this did not happen.

Denis and I were elected together to the old Bishop Auckland Urban District Council in 1967 for the Cockton Hill East ward when I topped the poll ahead of Denis and his fellow Tory Charles Middlewood. Denis was the first to congratulate me and, despite us being in different political parties, he always treated me with courtesy and respect – as I did him.

Our connections go back further in that his father had a business in Grange-over-Sands where my grandmother lived for a while. She always referred to Denis as “the auctioneer’s boy”, and it was Denis who sold off the fixtures and fittings from the old council offices in Crook, some of which I still have thanks to my wife Frances. I can still hear Denis intoning “sold, to Mrs Foote Wood – again”.

Denis Edkins was an urbane man and a gentleman in the true sense of the word. I for one will always remember him with a smile.

Chris Foote-Wood, Middlesbrough.