DOROTHY TOES gets in touch from Cockerton because Memories 700 could have come straight out of her family tree.

The front cover featured a photograph from Darlington library’s October exhibition which is all about Girl Guides, of which Dorothy’s aunt, Frances Sutcliffe, was a member for practically all her life.

READ MORE: NEW EXHIBITION PUTS THE GIRLS GUIDES OF DARLINGTON IN THE SPOTLIGHT

“When she was very young, she was akela for the cubs, but she also was in the guides at St James the Great Church on Albert Hill, and she was in the Trefoil Guild right up until she died in 1991,” says Dorothy. The Trefoil Guild is an organisation for former guides.

As a guide, Frances was on duty in 1925 when the Duke and Duchess of York visited Darlington to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

The Duchess of York, later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, inspecting the Darlington guides at Faverdale in 1925. Frances Sutcliffe is somewhere in the line to the leftOn a beautifully sharp photograph, taken at the Faverdale shops where there was an exhibition of engines from throughout the railway century, the duchess – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon who, of course, went on to become queen to George VI and mother to Elizabeth II – is seen inspecting the Darlington guides.

“I remember my aunt Frances telling me she was somewhere at the back,” says Dorothy.

This provides an opportunity to say that the exhibition runs until November 2, and on October 31, there is a special open day for guides and scouts in the local studies room when the library’s collection of materials will be on display. The day runs from 10am to 5pm; call 01325-349630 for more information.

A Northern Counties Scouts Jamboree, probably early 1960s. Can you tell us about the picture or anyone on it? Picture courtesy Darlington Centre for Local Studies, and it will be in their open day on October 31The picture above is from the library’s collection of scouting material which will be available for inspection. It is an Echo picture, we’d say from the 1950s or 1960s, of a Northern Counties Scout Jamboree. Do you recognise anyone on it, or can you tell us anything about it? What happened to the poor fellow in the middle of the branch with bandaging around his head and ear?

As well as featuring guides, Memories 700 told of samplers, the examples of needlework and embroidery that young girls used to produce in Sunday schools.

Elizabeth Brown's sampler, from 1815Dorothy has two. The oldest was made by her great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Brown. Her stitching says she was “aged 12” when she made it, and as she was born in Appleton Wiske, near Northallerton, in May 1803, this piece of embroidery must date to 1815 – the year of the Battle of Waterloo and the defeat of Napoleon.

There’s an interesting spelling on her motto in the middle. It says: “When this you see think what my tender parents have don for me.” Is that a North Yorkshire dialect spelling of “done”?

Elizabeth in later life. She died in 1869Frances Burlend's sampler, probably from the 1830sThe second sampler was made by Elizabeth’s daughter, Frances, a couple of decades later. It shows how samplers were changing because it is less about an exhibition of stitching and more about the overall artistic effect as it features bunches of flowers and rustic figures.

In its centre are the first two verses of an 11-verse poem called Autumn written by Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) towards the end of his life. He is most famous for compiling the first English dictionary, and as he sees the changing colours of the leaves, he writes on Frances’s sampler:

“Alas with swift and awful pace,
Impatient time rolls on the year.
The seasons change and nature’s face,
Now sweetly smiles, now frowns severe.”

Samplers provide a lovely connection across the generations. Do you have one in your family?

Janet Sutcliffe with her daughters, Eleanor (Dorothy Toes's mother) and Frances (the guide from the 1925 royal inspection).Inside the Faverdale display of engines in 1925 for the 100th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington RailwayREAD NEXT: HIDDEN ROADSIDE MEMORIAL MARKS THE FINAL FALL OF DOWAGER DUCHESS'S SPECIAL FRIEND