Northern hacks reunite

A reunion mock front page

I spent a weekend this month chasing, and finding, ghosts in Darlington. Pam and I joined around 60 former colleagues who had worked for North of England Newspapers before 1986. The papers, based in Priestgate, were The Northern Echo, the Evening Despatch (which closed in 1986), the Darlington and Stockton Times and the Durham Advertiser series. The reunion was the brainchild of Mike Amos, Ross Forbes and Neil McKay who planned it all, unsurprisingly, on nights at the pub. At times, with Omicron causing last-minute wobbles, it all looked precarious. But in the end there was a great turnout at Darlington Cricket Club for drinks, food, stand-up bingo, a digital display of old photos put together by Ross and an auction of newsroom memorabilia that raised £1,050 for the Journalists’ Charity. I started at Priestgate in 1979 as a 23-year-old sub on the Echo, spent three years as chief sub of the Despatch and returned to the Echo as night editor, deputy editor and finally, from 1989 to 1993, editor. I met Pam in my second year and left as a 38-year-old married father-of-three. So, Darlington played a huge part in my life and shaped many of the things I have done since. In my 14 years there I made many lifelong friends and it was lovely to catch up with some of them on Friday. We were so reluctant to say goodbye that ten of us ended up in an Indian restaurant till 2am! 

Those who made it (and almost made it) were:

Mike Amos MBE: Reporter, John North, news-editor and columnist. Chairman of Northern Football League 1996-2016 and author of three books.
Mel Attrill: Photographer. Served under ten Echo editors, ending in 1999 when he retired after 42 years.

Heather Barron: Trained as a journalist at Darlington College, where she met Peter Barron. Editor of Yorkshire Living magazine and works in the family business.

Peter Barron MBE: Reporter, news-editor, deputy editor of the Echo, then editor of the Hartlepool Mail in 1997. Returned to Echo in 1999, becoming the longest-serving editor. Runs Peter Barron Media.
Stephen Brenkley: D&S Times Barnard Castle reporter. Returned as John North. Cricket correspondent of the Independent on Sunday/Independent. Retired. Author of The Life and Times of Barnard Castle Cricket Club.

Mike Bridgen: Reporter at Despatch, Echo and D&S Times. D&S news-editor and farming editor.

Mike Brough: Graphic artist and designer on the Echo who runs his own design company and has redesigned newspapers all over the world.

Andy Brown: Reporter and sub at Advertiser. Reporter and chief sub on the Despatch, sub and chief sub at the Echo and sub, chief sub and deputy editor of the D&S Times. Helps news-edit Talking Newspaper.
Derek Butler: Wire room technician, church ministry and garage business. Married Dorothy Bainbridge.
Dorothy Bainbridge/Dot Butler: Reporter D&S Times and Despatch. Women’s editor Sunderland Echo. Dot Butler Consultancy. Director ROC, group delivering Ofsted and services to children, and ROC Solid housing charity.
Ruth Campbell: Reporter on Despatch and Echo features and supplements. Freelance for Living magazine and Mum at Large column. Moved into marketing.
Jane Chilton: Advertiser and D&S reporter. Journal, BBC Radio Humberside, presenter BBC Look North, GMTV and Sky News Scotland correspondent. Scottish Water digital content creator.
Brian Clough: Echo photographer. Presenter/producer of Smooth Radio show. Director of internet site serving North-East with news, stories and pix. Presents and produces a country music radio show streamed to 19 different stations.
Mike Cowling: Echo photographer for 11 years. Chief photographer Swindon Evening Advertiser. Chief photographer/picture-editor Yorkshire Evening Post and Yorkshire Post. Retired but writes cycling column for the YP.
Ross Forbes: Despatch and Echo reporter. Career in PR and corporate management. Now working to restore and renew the Miners’ Hall in Durham and organising the annual Gala.
Lynda Fothergill: Reporter at D&S Times in Thirsk and with Ackrill group in Northallerton and Ripon offices. Headed communications for four Tyne and Wear authorities before starting communications consultancy.
Mike Gibb: Echo photographer from 1972 and chief photographer from 1985-2006. Freelance.
Alan Gilliland: Despatch photographer and Echo graphic artist. Graphics editor of The Daily Telegraph. Writes and illustrates fiction.
Janet Gleeson: Echo Northallerton reporter then Tyne Tees Television.
Anne Graham: Advertiser reporter. Echo Newcastle office. National newspapers and television. Freelanced in corporate communications and PR. Launch editor of Archant’s North East Life magazine. Published two books.
Sharon Griffiths: Echo Northallerton reporter. Freelance with columns in Echo, Eastern Daily Press and other papers, including one in Dubai. Published three novels.
Steve Hobman: Echo reporter, chief reporter, deputy news editor. News editor with Birmingham Daily News. PR for national organisations. PR to independent breweries and runs a beer tourism business.
Christine Holt: Features writer at the Echo. Worked in international development. Taught yoga classes. Works for charity supporting yoga in prisons.
David Kelly: Echo features editor, assistant, deputy and managing editor. North of England Newspapers MD.
June Kelly: Reporter on D&S and Evening Gazette. Owns Juicy Marketing and Design.
Clive Kerfoot: Echo Hartlepool and Stockton reporter. News-editor and programme editor at Tyne Tees Television. News-editor and head of planning at Sky News.
Peta King: Echo reporter in Darlington and later a sub.
John Knighton: Echo sub. Chief sub of Edinburgh Evening News, assistant editor of Sunderland Echo and editor of Hartlepool Mail, production editor at The Journal. Editorial consultant for Trinity Mirror. Is now a stall-holder selling cheeses at markets.
Andy Lamb: Long-serving photographer, deputy chief photographer.
Phil Lambell: Echo sub, splash sub, chief sub, production editor. Chief desk editor for the Journal and Chronicle. Freelance, D&S, Bradford T&A.
Sue Leitch (Kell): Advertiser reporter in Durham office and then Despatch. Echo, Advertiser and D&S sub. House renovator. 
Chris Lloyd: Echo reporter, deputy editor and author of books about North-East. Now chief feature writer.
Gerry Loughran: Reporter in Echo Hartlepool office. Echo sub. Chronicle in Newcastle. Bureau chief in Beirut, Paris and Moscow, then foreign editor in New York for UPI. Worked in Africa on papers owned by Aga Khan.
Graham Marples: Echo deputy and chief reporter. Middlesbrough Gazette news-editor. Tyne Tees news-editor, managing editor and head of news. Launched occupational health company.
Kathy Marshall (Cook): Despatch reporter for 13 years, then Echo and Advertiser. Gazette Media reporter at the Herald and Post. Cover supervisor at college until retirement.
Tony Marshall: Art department of the Echo. Set up design and print company Marford Litho. Lecturer on design management and copyright. Supplies vehicles for television series. Editor of Wheel and Track magazine. Charity volunteer.
Neil McKay: D&S Times and Echo reporter in Peterlee. Sunday Sun chief reporter. News-editor of Shields Gazette. Edit UK news agency and Journal chief reporter. Charity driver, exam invigilator, writes for community newsletter.
Mike Morrissey: Echo reporter. Deputy news editor and industrial editor at Middlesbrough Gazette. Saltburn correspondent for the D&S Times. Freelance for Catholic press.
Dave Nicholson: Echo reporter in Middlesbrough and Bishop Auckland. Echo sub. Twenty years in Fleet Street and editor of Evening Press in York. Freelance copy editor and compiler of puzzles. Founded hyperlocal site YorkMix.com.
Brian Page: Echo chief reporter, deputy features editor, sports editor, assistant editor and deputy editor. Daily Post in Liverpool. Two spells as editor of Irish Post. Editor of Mensa Magazine.
Caroline Parnell (nee Finkill): D&S Times journalist. PR with Easington council and NHS. Set up Sentry PR Ltd, supporting public sector organisations in crisis. Director of comms and corporate affairs at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
Bill Perfitt: Echo Redcar reporter. Lancashire Evening Gazette/Fleetwood Chronicle. Editor of ICI in-house newspaper. Enron Teesside public affairs manager. Huntsman UK and European director of public affairs. SABIC UK director of public affairs. Volunteer at Guisborough Town FC.
Allan Prosser: Echo editor and later MD. Editorial director Kent Messenger. Editor of Farmers Guardian. Sixteen years with the Cork-based Irish Examiner, retiring as editor in 2020.
Colin Randall: Despatch Bishop Auckland reporter. Echo reporter in Stanley, Darlington and Bishop. Chief reporter Harrow Observer, Press Association reporter. Daily Telegraph chief reporter, executive news editor, French correspondent. Executive editor at The National in Abu Dhabi.
Yvonne Ridley: Echo reporter, assistant news-editor. Editor of Wales on Sunday. Chief reporter of Sunday Express. TV launches at Al Jazeera in Qatar, Islam Channel in London and Press TV in Iran. Film and documentary maker. Runs peafowl sanctuary. Honorary doctorate in journalism. Author.
Sian Roberts: Echo reporter in Chester-le-Street and Richmond.
Pam Sands: Priestgate sales department, looking after promotions for the papers. Company secretary at Editorial Centre and Sands Media Services. Volunteer at Covid vaccination centre in Rye.
Peter Sands: Echo sub, night-editor, deputy editor and editor. Chief-sub Despatch. Westminster Press development editor. Founded the Editorial Centre and then Sands Media Services. Training director at Press Association and editorial director at Northcliffe. Consultant at DMGT.
Martin Shipton: Echo reporter, deputy chief reporter and investigative reporter. NUJ FoC. Wales on Sunday, chief reporter and political editor at large of the Western Mail. Written three books.
Tim Sinclair: Despatch reporter then Echo sub. Bradford T&A sub. Night editor/chief sub for paper in Papua New Guinea. Returned to Echo subs.
Jon Smith: Echo features editor and chief sub. Assistant editor Sunday Today and deputy chief sub The Times. Lecturer at Darlington College. Newsquest and NTCJ lifetime achievement awards. Produced several books. Thirty-four years as parish chairman.
Colin Tapping: Durham Advertiser reporter and Echo’s Sunderland reporter. Deputy business editor, business editor, assistant editor and deputy editor. Editor Hexham Courant.
Sally Taylor: Advertiser, Despatch and Echo reporter and sub on and off from 1974 to 2008, interspersed with living abroad and raising a family. Retired on Christmas Eve 2008 and hasn’t done a day’s work since.
Steve Verrill: Echo reporter in Whitby. Yorkshire Post chief reporter for North Yorkshire. Head of Press and PR at North Yorkshire County Council. Director of Public Relations Company. Set up Verrill Public Relations.
Malcolm Warne: Echo York reporter, news-editor and assistant editor, Editor D&S Times. Constituency communications officer for Richmond MP.
Tony Watson: Despatch reporter and news-editor. Reporter for Granada’s World in Action. Yorkshire Post deputy editor and editor. Editor-in-chief and MD at the Press Association.
Maggie Weir: Echo sub and widow of Ian Weir, much missed former deputy chief photographer.
Red Williams: Despatch chief reporter, Bishop Auckland. Ipswich Press Agency, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, News of the World, Coventry Telegraph, Leicester Mercury, UK News, Southend Echo, Quicksilver Media, Archant and Stamford Mercury. Edits Harborough Mail.
Jennifer Wilson: Despatch reporter. News, features and women’s affairs at The Journal. Worked at dog groomer’s, retail, as admin officer with the Inland Revenue and IT tutor Newcastle College.
Malcolm Wright: Echo York reporter and chief reporter in Darlington. Guardian correspondent. Lecturer at Darlington College. More than 100 documentaries and dramadocs for Tyne Tees Television as controller of features. Exec producer of programmes for ITV, C4 and Discovery. Launched SignPost. Retired from ITV as an MD after 29 years.
Ted Young: Echo Darlington and Newton Aycliffe reporter and sub. Sub at Today and Daily Mail. Night editor/assistant editor The Sun, executive editor Daily Express, editor London Life, editor MailOnline, editor New York Daily News Online. Now editor of Metro.