ONE of Darlington's oldest and most respected Quakers has died at the age of 89.

Tom Eden had a heart attack having just completed a recording of some of his memories of his childhood.

He was also highly respected in Darlington for his knowledge and love of local history, and was president of the Darlington Railway Preservation Society (DRPS) for the past couple of decades.

Mr Eden, whose father and grandfather were both railwaymen and Quakers, was born in the town in 1913, and attended Reid Street School and then Queen Elizabeth Grammar School before going to Leeds University to study languages. During the Second World War, he was in the intelligence corps, doing translation work in the Netherlands.

Having qualified as a French, Spanish and Latin teacher before the war, in peacetime he taught at Eastbourne School, Darlington, King James Grammar School, Bishop Auckland, and then at the Friends School in Great Ayton. He spent the last 20 years of his career teaching in a college in Leicester.

On retirement, he returned to Darlington with wife Elsie, whom he had married in 1941. She died two years ago.

Until a year ago, Mr Eden was a familiar sight around town, pedalling his bicycle from his home in Milbank Road.

He leaves a sister, Margaret, a daughter, Rachael, and a son, Philip, who lives in Australia. A private cremation will be held, followed at a later date by a memorial meeting at the Friends Meeting House in Skinnergate.