TRIBUTES have been paid to the widow of an iconic North-East writer, who has died aged 91.

Rene Chaplin played a key role in the success of her husband Sid, the Shildon-born author whose tales of mining and villages in 20th Century County Durham remain popular and influential more than 25 years after his death.

Mr Chaplin, whose works include The Day of the Sardine, The Watchers and the Watched and Leaping Lad, called his wife his “first and most unerring critic”.

Their son Michael, also a writer, said: “She was a very important part of his success. It was a kind of joint project.

“They had complementary skills. She was great at telling stories and he was great a putting them down.

“She had a great memory. If she heard something, she never forgot it.

“If he ever wanted inspiration or to check something from their shared background, he only had to ask her.”

Mrs Chaplin was born in Ferryhill Station. An only child, when her miner father lost his left arm in the pits, she had to step in to help support the family.

The Northern Echo: Sid Chaplin
Sid Chaplain

She first set eyes on her future husband when he was preaching in a Methodist chapel in Kirk Merrington. She wasn’t impressed with the sermon, she told The Northern Echo in 2009.

However, they married in Ferryhill on January 1, 1941. After a time in London, the family returned to the North-East in 1957 to live in Jesmond, Newcastle, where Mrs Chaplin remained until last year, when she moved into a Newcastle retirement home.

She died peacefully in her sleep last Friday.

She is survived by daughter Gillian, sons Chris and Michael, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Michael Chaplin said: “She was a remarkable woman – ordinary and yet extraordinary, sharp, intelligent and very caring with a very wide circle of friends, who meant a great deal to her. She was full of life to the very end.

“Finally, she was a terrific mother. We all feel bereft. But we offer up thanks for such a rich life.”

Mrs Chaplin’s funeral will be held at Holy Trinity Church, in Jesmond, on Monday (October 22) at 12.45pm.