Bell, Dorothy

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* Information provided by Stan Owen January 2024

BELLINGHAM IN DAYS GONE BY were the words that caught my eye in the Hexham Courant of 8th January 1993 with eight photographs dating from the early years of the 20th century. These were some of the hundreds of pictures that, while going through the effects of three elderly aunts, Jim Bell and Dorothy Bell had discovered and had put on display in Bellingham Library. I knew that most of these had been taken by W. P. Collier, who had a shop in Lock-Up Lane, and was determined to see the exhibition, which was to end with a coffee morning on 15th January. I found Dorothy’s phone number, got a day off work and arranged to meet her at the library. The omens were not good. The weather was showery and cold. I arrived somewhat bedraggled after a soaking on my old motorbike, which I had ridden, Collier-style, from Bardon Mill. What were to be my first impressions of the gentle voice that I had heard on the phone?

A small group had gathered around a quietly spoken but highly articulate individual, who was carefully explaining the photographs, which had been mounted on several display boards. Dorothy was in her element. I really enjoyed looking at the exhibition and talking to Dorothy and the other locals. Twenty years ago there were people who knew some of the individuals on the pictures but we have since lost most of these old worthies. I remember returning home to Coventry and thinking “something is going to happen here” and I was right. Dorothy was forming a plan. At the beginning of September, she sent out a circular to assess support for an organisation to preserve the history of the area. The omens were good.

On 29th November 1993, Dorothy Bell, Ken Gaskin, Aynsley Glass and Annette Hynes found themselves four members of a committee of eight charged with forming a Heritage Centre. It was right for the capital of the North Tyne to preserve the history of past generations. Two months later, the former garage at Shellcroft, next to the Cheviot Hotel, had been secured for the use of the Heritage Centre, thanks to a small grant from Bellingham Parish Council and a peppercorn rent charged by Mr. and Mrs. Miller. On 10th June 1994, Edie Lyons, who had worked for W. P. Collier, opened the new Heritage Centre, housed in the former showroom of the garage, before a group of inquisitive visitors, who had come from as far afield as Essex, Northamptonshire, Burnley and York. This little exhibition proved very successful and created an enormous amount of interest. Practical, articulate, organised and committed, Dorothy was working on the bigger picture and this little exhibition became the first of four incarnations of the Heritage Centre, two at Shellcroft and two at Station Yard. I clearly remember Dorothy’s delight when the Heritage Centre gained official charitable status. By 15th April 1995, when the Heritage Centre opened for its second year, the premises had been substantially enlarged to include the whole of the former garage. The expansion created room for two permanent exhibitions, the Border Counties Railway and the shop of W. P. Collier, and space for a series of temporary exhibitions. As a former teacher, Dorothy was an expert in displays, exhibitions, models, work sheets, quizzes, competitions and, in short, things to keep the kids occupied. The “Count the Ladybirds” competition made its début with the little red wonders lurking in the hidden depths of the Heritage Centre. The Schools of Yesteryear exhibition in 1996 coincided with the first Brownrigg School Reunion to be held at Bellingham, which was an amazing success and saw hundreds of people flocking to Bellingham from all over the world. Even at this stage, the possibility of a move to Station Yard was in the air. Subsequent exhibitions included the Border Reivers, the Year of the Churches and Forestry in the Valley. Quilting and Embroidery was the last exhibition to be held at Shellcroft. It was arguably the most beautiful and the quality of the needlework was stunning.

It was with mixed feelings that, at the end of the 1999 season, the Heritage Centre said farewell to Shellcroft and was put into storage ready for its move to Station Yard: empty room to empty room in six years. Another garage, another challenge! This time it would be the conversion, or rather rebuilding, of the old Council garage, capable of housing five huge gritting trucks. It was like starting all over again. The ensuing delays and difficulties would really put the patience of Dorothy to the test.

The Heritage Centre effectively disappeared for 18 months. Out of sight, out of mind? Dorothy had other ideas. She kept the Heritage Centre alive. As well as general paperwork, fund raising, jumble sales, raffles and monitoring the slow emergence of the new Heritage Centre, she went into schools, gave illustrated talks and answered all manner of requests from people anxious to trace their roots. She needed all the determination she could muster to overcome the many trials and tribulations before Jean Glass performed the official opening on 25th May 2001. The new Heritage Centre secured David Parry as Development Officer in 2002 and was awarded Registered Museum status a year later.

Another six years and the Heritage Centre was again put into storage. At the end of the 2007 season, the Heritage Centre closed for further expansion. The new building, which now had space for a permanent exhibition on Agriculture and Farming, a temporary exhibition area and the Tourist Information Centre, was formally opened by John Grundy on 10th October 2008.

At the culmination of this daunting but successful long-term undertaking, Dorothy, along with Jim, husband and partner in her labours, was awarded life membership of the Heritage Centre. This was quickly followed by a further accolade when Dorothy was awarded an MBE in the 2009 Queen’s New Year Honours List. Dorothy held most of the posts on the committee of the Heritage Centre, including co-ordinator, chairman, secretary and “indispensable general factotum” but her enduring and endearing strength was as recruiter-in-chief. Dorothy had the zeal of a missionary in recruiting volunteers. When Dorothy was on the move, some people are said to have run but they could not hide. You never knew when or where she would appear. As a teacher, Dorothy believed that reluctance was simply reservation and that everyone, with a little encouragement, would have something to offer. It was just a matter of giving support and confidence. She was gentle but very persuasive and many people joined the happy band of Heritage Centre volunteers. In particular, the Museum Guides “on the door” are unique ambassadors. They are the first people that visitors meet on their quest, as is often the case, to track down long lost members of their family.

Dorothy Bell, founder of the Heritage Centre, died on 23rd September 2014. She had lived her dream of keeping local history alive. Her funeral on 1st October combined the same love of Northumbrian culture, gentle humour and planning that Dorothy had showed at all stages in the development of the Heritage Centre. If you seek a memorial to Dorothy Bell, take a look at the Heritage Centre, not just at the building and the exhibitions, permanent and temporary, but at the archives, publications and local spirit that it has inspired. Raise a glass (or cup) to her in the Carriages Tea Room (Tea on the Train in 2024), which Dorothy opened on 17th March 2012, and be grateful for what Dorothy Bell has achieved for Bellingham and the heritage of Northumberland.