A YOUNG man in Nottingham often praised the baking of an old family friend. So taken was she with his compliments, she whispered the secrets of her culinary success in his ear.

Soon afterwards, the young man moved to County Durham and set himself up in business, selling his special recipe baking powder. And for generations, housewives swore by Lingford's baking powder.

Joseph Lingford went to Bishop Auckland in 1861, aged 32. He was, like so many entrepreneurs in the south of the county at that time, a Quaker and a leading light in the temperance movement.

Probably because of his beliefs, Joseph was a model employer, particularly when he opened his model factory in Durham Street in 1888. "On the social side, we have a staff luncheon and rest room, a camp in the country, a tennis club, a girls' club, a savings fund, life insurance for every married man, a contributory pension scheme, and many other social amenities," boasted the company as it celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1936.

These other amenities included pioneering the 40-hour working week, offering two weeks' paid holiday a year, sick leave and free sandwiches and cocoa. In 1931, Lingford's even tried "music while you work".

Joseph's baking powder came in a tin which had a girl in a red dress picking her way across some stepping stones on the front.

When you realised she was crossing a ford and that she was holding some ling, or heather, you uncovered a quite appalling pun.

Nevertheless, the powder was "as essential as a good oven to a good cook". "It imparts a sweetness that cannot be produced in any other way and with a less quantity of eggs and butter," claimed the company. "It is particularly recommended for invalids."

Joseph's son, Ernest, joined the firm in 1885 and was sole proprietor by the time Joseph died in 1918.

Ernest was indeed earnest - a botanist, an archaeologist, a philanthropist and a photographer.

It was Ernest who was mentioned in Echo Memories three works ago when he was elected in 1899 as the first president of the Bishop Auckland Photographic Society.

Ernest was also something of a chemist, and it was he who brought Lingford's Alka Saline and Lingford's Iodized Liver Salts to the market.

In the year he died, 1931, his son, Herbert, expanded Lingford's range by introducing four new products: custard powder, Scotch cornflour, blancmange powder and ground rice.

To promote these "de luxe delicacies", the company offered 50 seven-day cruises to Norway as prizes to women who sent in the best recipes. A winner was a Mrs T Teare from Cockton Hill with her Tripe Soup.

A little while later, ice cream powder was also developed.

Yet by the 75th anniversary, in 1936, there were worrying signs for Lingfords.

Self-raising flour was beginning to take the biscuit in the kitchen.

The anniversary magazine contains a sternly-worded sentence: "The temptation to save a second or two by using ready-mixed flours instead of plain flour and Lingford's baking powder frequently leads the unwary astray."

During the Second World War, Lingford's production was almost entirely dried egg and dried milk - plus, strangely, camouflage nets for the Ministry of Supply.

Lingfords struggled on after the war, gradually sifting its staff as self-raising rose to the top.

In 1973, a fourth generation, Kenneth Lingford, announced that at Christmas the business would close. Eight people were made redundant, whereas in its heyday Lingfords had employed 300.

* If you have any information or memories about Lingfords, or any of the other topics discussed on this page, please write to Echo Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington DL1 1NF