A TEMPORARY exhibition dedicated to the memory of the Queen Mother is to open at the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle on Tuesday, the day of her funeral.

There will be newsreel footage of her visits along with the re-exhibiting of some of her hats, which were part of a successful Royal Milliners' display at the Bowes last year. Also to go on display are a number of pictures of the Queen Mother, taken at the Bowes, which are being specially framed.

Throughout her life, the Queen Mother maintained close links with the Bowes.

Elsewhere in Teesdale, commemorations are low key, with many remembering her with quiet reflection rather than an outpouring of grief. Flags are at half-mast on public buildings and churches and books of condolence have been opened at the offices of Teesdale Council and the Bowes Museum.

One message reads: "One of the greatest people of the twentieth century, she will be greatly missed by us all." Another says simply and touchingly: "Bless."

One Teesdale man has been playing a part in the pageantry which surrounds a royal death. Cpl Wayne Dixon, 28, formerly of Cockfield and Barnard Castle, is serving as a medic with the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery. Cpl Dixon was with the troop on Monday when it fired a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, London, watched by a crowd of 2,000.

Today, he will be among servicemen lining the route of the ceremonial procession as the Queen Mother's coffin, borne by a gun carriage of the Kings Troop, makes its way from St James's Palace to Westminster Hall for the lying in state.

"The procession is timed to take about 28 minutes, with the troop firing at one-minute intervals in Green Park," said Cpl Dixon, who has not yet been briefed regarding his role at Tuesday's funeral. "These have been some of my saddest duties, but certainly ones that will stay with me."

* See Page 19.