A POPULAR Girls' Brigade captain has retired after 32 blissful years.

Never without a smile, Mrs Terry Dodd, of Branksome, Darlington, has happily led the Girls' Brigade, which meets at Cockerton Methodist church, for more than half her life.

But at the age of 60 she claims the time has come to step aside for a younger leader with fresh ideas.

She told the D&S Times: "I remember my daughter, Gillian, coming home from school with a leaflet about the Girls' Brigade.

"I went down to take a look and we've both been with them ever since."

She started as a helper in 1968, only three years after the first Cockerton brigade began.

Moving through the ranks of officer, lieutenant and finally captain, she is proud to be leaving at a time when numbers are at a peak.

"There have been times over the years when numbers dwindled to about a dozen or so," she said, "but at the moment we have 40 girls and as people bring their friends, the numbers keep going up."

Mrs Sue Allison will take over as the new captain while daughter Gillian proudly takes up the reins as lieutenant.

But the Girls' Brigade has only been a small part of Mrs Dodd's busy life.

For the past 20 years she has been one of the church's Sunday school teachers, teaching three- to five-year-olds, and every week she helps to clean the church.

For ten years she has enjoyed supplying Swaledale Woollens in Muker with her own hand-knitted creations and, as if all that was not enough, 18 months ago she joined the women's fellowship and remains a very active member of the arts group.

She has three grown-up daughters, three grandchildren and her husband, Bill, who, she says, has always supported her in the background.

"I love everything I do," Mrs Dodd added. "I am going to carry on Sunday school because I love teaching the little ones and I also love to knit.

"Children today take more entertaining and seem to need to be spoon-fed. It is time to let a younger person with fresh ideas take over so the girls can carry on getting the most from the brigade.

"I still have plenty to do and will continue to help out at jumble sales and make teas to raise money for them."