9 fab pics of Darlington's emergency services through the ages

The exhibition in Darlington library opens on Wednesday and is called “Help is on the way!”. A preview of a few of the pictures features here, and begs the question of whether you, in your hour of need, would wish to be loaded into the uncomfy-looking 1929 ambulance...

...or whether you trusted the tail-less Darlington fire horse to pull the pump to your house before it burned down...

...And do you think police officer Arthur Wilkinson’s offer of a one guinea reward ever helped him crack the terrible crime of the wooden post in Priestgate, the property of shoemaker Peter Thompson, which had been so maliciously cut down and carried away in 1838?

The exhibition runs throughout the month.

Other events include, on May 8 at 2pm, a talk by David Butler entitled “Dirt, death and disease nin Durham City. David, the former county archivist, begins by saying: “In the mid 19th Century, Durham was an over-crowded, disease-ridden and filthy town. Its streets were covered in animal dung, blood and mud, and the smells would have been almost unbearable…”

Tickets are £3 and need to be booked.

St Hilda's Church, Darlington, and an ambulance in 1981. The ambulance and fire station used to be in Borough Road in what is now the Hullabaloo children's theatre, so this must be looking out of the back of that building

On May 10, from noon to 4pm, the local studies collection goes on tour to Cockerton library where there’s a free drop-in session which will feature pictures of that end of town, including Cockerton Hall, the Cocoa Palace and pubs, shops, schools and churches.

There are free Musical Memories sessions in Crown Street, on May 15, and at Cockerton library on May 31, both starting at 10.30am. These use the photographic collection as the inspiratrion for a musical wander down memory lane. The first session features local pictures about animals, wildlife and birds, and the second is reminiscing about everything floral.

A Darlington engine attending a fire in Whitworth Terrace, Spennymoor, on September 6, 1929. We reckon that's St Paul's Road off to the left and the photographer has St Paul's Church behind him

On May 17, in Crown Street from 10am to 4pm, there’s a free drop-in day with a chance to view the work of the Darlington photographers who have been recording the town, and perhaps your ancestors, throughout the last 150 years.

And on May 21, at 2.30pm, Dr Ben Roberts from Teesside University gives a talk on Using Newspapers for Local and Family History. As all Memories readers will know, local newspapers provide a vibrant window into life as it used to be. Tickets are £3 and need to be booked.

To book, go to www2.darlington.gov.uk, call 01325-349360 or email local.studies@darlington.gov.uk

The men of the Darlington fire brigade at Polam Hall around 1880

Also running in the library in May is Elaine Vizor’s exhibition of “Photography with or without a camera or rules”. This features pictures Elaine has taken of public art works in Darlington and County Durham, using various techniques, for Art UK. The exhibition runs from May 4 to June 13, and on May 18 at 11am, Elaine, whose pictures have often graced these Memories pages, is giving a free talk about the development of photography.

Darlington's first motor ambulance, in 1904

A dramatic picture, taken by a photographer with The Northern Echo, showing Peases Mill on fire on July 2, 1933, with Darlington library worryingly close on the right hand side. This back lane is still behind the library although the mill site down to the river has been cleared

The fine men of the Darlington fire brigade in 1929. Their uniforms and buttons are immaculate and their helmets are superbly shiney

L As always, if you can tell us anything more about any of today’s pictures, please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk