"OF all the brave men who are fighting and dying for England, none are braver or are doing better work than the men and lads who have gone from this county,” said the father of Durham City Council on March 15, 1944.

He was speaking after a fanfare of bugles on Palace Green, with soldiers of the Durham Light Infantry forming a hollow square in front of him.

Alderman FW Goodyear continued: “Never dreaming of being anything else but civilians, they have made wonderful soldiers in the time of country’s need. Their deeds are a shining example to all who serve; their record is one of which this county and the nation is rightly proud.”

A couple of months ago, Echo Memories published a Second World War picture which had been made mysterious by the official censor who had refused to allow details of what it showed recorded on the back – just in case the picture fell out of The Northern Echo library and into the hands of an enemy spy.

Many people have been in touch to say that the soldiers in the picture are marching over Elvet Bridge, in Durham City, with St Nicholas’ Church spire visible in the background.

Some have ventured to suggest that the men are part of the Durham Light Infantry.

Local historian Michael Richardson has been delving deep into his Gilesgate Archive and has found a document that may well date the picture and defeat the censor by explaining what it shows.

It is the programme for The Ceremony of the Honouring of the Durham Light Infantry on March 15, 1944.

The Northern Echo said the ceremony gave the DLI the “right to march through the streets of the ancient city on all ceremonial occasions with bayonets fixed, colours flying and bands playing”.

The ceremony – which the paper said “made history” as the City Council was holding an outdoor meeting – was attended by thousands of townspeople, plus the mayors of Durham, Stockton, Hartlepool, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Shields, Darlington and Jarrow.

Having received this right, the DLI immediately wanted to exercise it.

“At the word of command, the units fixed bayonets,” said the Echo. “Simultaneously, the colours were uncased and, following the general salute, the regimental band headed a parade of parts of the city, ending in the Market Place, where the Mayor took the salute.”

The programme says that the parade left Palace Green by Owengate and Sadler Street. It went into Elvet Bridge, when our photograph was taken, and onto New Elvet, Court Lane and Old Elvet before retracing its steps over Elvet Bridge and up into the Market Place.

THE flurry of DLI articles has prompted another local historian, Tom Hutchinson, to delve into his collection of postcards where there are pictures of the regiment’s history.

The card showing the DLI in their smart red tunics has an expecially poignant message, dated October 13, 1916, on its rear:

Dear Tom,
This is a picture of our regiment in time of peace. You see they wear a red coat and that little bugle on the collar.

You will find the history of the regiment very interesting.

Now I want you to be a good boy and cheer mummy up all you can, and when I come home for good we will have such a jolly time, and I shall have so much to tell you.

Always tell the truth and do all you can to make people happy. I f you are asked to do anything always do it cheerfully and everybody will love you.

Do all you can for you mother for she is the best mummy in the world.

From your affectionate Daddy.”

Unfortunately, there is no address and no other clues, but you can’t help but wonder whether this Durham soldier ever did make it home for good from the First World War.

THERE have been grumblings that during the recent snowy spell, the A66 road between Bowes and Brough was impassable for nearly two weeks. How could modern motorised snowploughs fail for so long to get through?

Imagine what it must have been like 80 years ago when the snowploughs were horsedrawn.

Alan Foster, of Willington, has kindly sent in a fantastic picture of his grandfather, Elijah Foster, in the saddle of his 1931 snowplough, pulled through Teesdale by a pair of horses.

Elijah, who lived at Low Side Farm, Bowbank, was clearing the Lunedale section of the Middleton-in-Teesdale to Brough road (now the B6276) with his brother, Arthur, of Gates Side Farm, Newbiggin, and an assistant, J White.

The Northern Echo found them hard at work on December 30, 1931, and the following day printed this charming times-gone-by report of their labours:

ON the moors above Teesdale, the snow lies several inches deep.

Yesterday, men were at work on the Brough to Middleton-in- Teesdale road with a horsedrawn snow-plough clearing aside the small drifts that had already formed as the result of the snowfall of the past few days.

A Northern Echo reporter who yesterday toured the moorland roads by car saw many signs of preparation by the agricultural community to deal with the conditions which wintry weather imposes.

During the whole of the afternoon The Northern Echo man saw only a single car on the roads above Teesdale. The only travellers appeared to be shepherds and their dogs, an occasional farm hand driving home a cow or bullock, the road-men employed in keeping the roads clear, and the rural postman on his rounds.

It was a picturesque sight as two draught horses came into view against the sunset, dragging the Teesdale snow plough along the deserted highway.

Three Lunedale men were in charge of the outfit – Messrs A Foster, E Foster and J White.

The wind came piercingly cold across the frozen hills, yet these Dalesmen hardly seemed to notice it. The three talked cheerily together as they tramped the seven or eight miles back to their homes in the gathering dusk.

Another to whom the weather is “all in a day’s work” is William Walton, the Teesdale postman. He has a round of 22 miles, and not only delivers letter but collects them.

Part of his equipment is a whistle. As he approaches one of the scattered homesteads on the moors he blows a shrill blast, and the people come down to the road to collect their mail. If they have a letter to post, they usually display it in their windows so that Mr Walton can see it as he passes.

Ordinarily, the postman uses a pony and trap. Because of the weather, he did his round yesterday in the saddle, his faithful steed being a grey pony named Nellie. When the roads are really bad he uses a sleigh, piling the letters and parcels upon it.

Then, indeed, he is a Father Christmas to the people of the moors.

The only vehicle on the roads, apart from a motor cycle combination, was a coal lorry.

A load of coal was being dumped at a wayside cottage.

“It doesn’t do to let your coal run too low up in these parts,”

said the housewife. “If the snow drifts get too big a coal cart might not be able to get up here. I’m not running the risk of being frozen.”