A SURE sign that spring is on its way in Darlington is when Crocus Walk, in Southend Avenue, springs into colourful life. This week, a great tidal wave of purples and whites has broken out beneath the trees and, by happy coincidence, we’ve just discovered this marvellous but undated picture showing an earlier generation enjoying the blooms.

The Northern Echo: In Darlington's Crocus Walk, probably in the 1930s

We think it is from the 1930s – can our old car spotters date it from the suspension on the pram? – with the Grange Road Baptist Church behind and the old Grange Hotel on the left, which was demolished in 1976 when Victoria Road was turned into a dual carriageway.

The Northern Echo:

Crocus Walk in 2019. Picture by Colin Bainbridge

These bulbs must have been direct descendants of ones planted in the time of Joseph Pease who lived in the Southend mansion which is now Duncan Bannatyne’s New Grange Hotel. In 1897, when Mr Pease’s estate was sold for housing, Darlington council bought the avenue to prevent the tree-lined gateway from being lost. The council lowered Mr Pease’s wall by three feet to make the area feel less like a forbidden private garden.

One of the houses in Southend Avenue was the home for many years of Maude and Douglas Chilton. He was the director of Peases Mill, which closed in 1972, and chaired Darlington Conservative Association for which he was awarded an OBE in 1952, and Maude loved to sit among the springtime crocuses and admire the colours.

The Northern Echo:

They were together for 68 years, married for 57, until Maude (above) died aged 81 in 1980. In her memory, Douglas donated 15,000 bulbs, which cost him £500, and when they all flowered the following spring, he donated a further 15,000 to complete the carpet.

The Northern Echo:

Mr Chilton died in 1986, and he left behind a quite magnificent memorial to Maude which generations of Darlingtonians have enjoyed probably for more than a century.

READ MORE: THE STORY OF BAINBRIDGE BARKER, DARLINGTON'S PREMIER DEPARTMENT STORE