AS a child, the garden behind Margaret Carrigan's family home overlooked the river flowing towards Winston Bridge.

She made dens and camp fires, and tucked into picnics on the pebbled banks beside the impatient-to-be-there River Tees.

Ms Carrigan, of Elton Road, Darlington, recalled her childhood memories when she entered a competition in The Northern Echo called My Favourite Place.

Readers were asked to nominate their favourite places, and explain why they considered them to be so special.

The prize was a watercolour painting of the winning nomination by North-East artist Eric Thompson.

Mr Thompson, of Middlestone Moor, near Spennymoor, County Durham, sifted through the entries and drove hundreds of miles around the region, assessing each location as a potential painting.

He eventually chose Ms Carrigan's letter and her childhood excitement returned when she met him on Winston Bridge, between Darlington and Barnard Castle, to receive the painting.

She said yesterday: "When I saw the competition, I just sat down by the fire and started writing.

"The memories came flooding back, and to win the painting is wonderful.

"I'll always treasure it."

Mr Thompson said: "There were some lovely entries and it was hard to choose, but I kept coming back to Margaret's letter because of the sense of childhood magic it evoked."

The Northern Echo proposes to make My Favourite Place an annual event, so start thinking about your favourite memories now.

A collection of the best letters will be published in a My Favourite Place special next Monday.