Time stands still as the North pays homage
April 10, 2002
The region paid its quiet respects to the Queen Mother yesterday with many towns and cities coming to a standstill.
Chester-le-Street
The battlements of Lumley Castle, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, echoed to a lone piper who played a lament to a great servant of the nation.
A crowd of 40 gathered as Les Givens, the Houghton Pipe Band player, struck up one of the Queen Mother's favourite tunes, Amazing Grace.
‘It was such a nice moment,’ said marketing manager at the castle, Peter Darrent. ‘The sound of the pipes must have carried deep into Chester-le-Street.
‘With the flag at half-mast it was quite something, a lovely sight during a sad moment.’
Darlington
The town centre of Darlington was deserted for a few hours after shops closed their doors.
At Bank Top railway station, passengers and train crews observed a two-minute silence following a Tannoy announcement.
Trains due to leave at 11.30am were halted and drivers of trains passing through the station were also asked to take part.
Spennymoor
In Spennymoor market place, usually a hive of activity, passers-by stopped in silent reflection under the clock tower.
The bell of Spennymoor's Town Hall clock chimed out every minute from 9.49am in unison with the funeral toll.
Town clerk Terry Robson said: ‘We recognise the service that she gave over so many years and that the nation has lost part of itself.’
Coundon
Churches also led prayers for the Queen Mother during her funeral.
St James's Church, in Coundon, County Durham, interrupted a regular service to hold a two-minute silence allowing worshippers to mark the moment.
Durham City
Much of Durham City came to a standstill as Durham Cathedral followed its memorial evensong to the Queen Mother on Sunday with special prayers in a short service.
The city centre was quiet throughout the morning with many shops in the Prince Bishops and Milburngate shopping centres staying closed until after the funeral.
People also stood in silence in the Market Place at 11.30am.
Sunderland
In Sunderland, flares fired from the roof of the Civic Centre signalled the start and end of the minute's silence.
Teesside
And at Holy Trinity Church, in North Ormesby, Teesside, the bell rang 101 times to mark the funeral.
Middlesbrough’s three main shopping centres, Cleveland Centre, Captain Cook Square and Hill Street, observed a two-minute silence.
Many schools re-arranged lesson schedules to allow youngsters to watch the funeral on television and included discussions about the event.
Newcastle
Northumberland Street in Newcastle, one of Britain's busiest high streets, came to a halt.
Hundreds of people gathered outside Fenwick's department store to watch the funeral on a television set beneath a huge photograph of the Queen Mother in the store’s main window.
The coverage was broadcast on loudspeakers attracting scores of well-wishers. At 11.30am, the crowd fell completely silent for two minutes.
The Central Station fell quiet as passengers and staff lined up on platforms with their heads bowed.
Workmen digging up the roads outside the Eldon Square shopping centre shut down their machines while newspaper vendors fell silent as a mark of respect.
A place for reflection at Royal ancestral home
April 10, 2002
The Royal couple on honeymoon
As millions watched the televised proceedings of the Queen Mother's funeral, some sought quieter contemplation and reflection.
Few settings could have been more tranquil and fitting than Gibside Estate, near Gateshead, ancestral home of the Queen Mother.
It was the only National Trust property to remain open on the day of the funeral, allowing visitors to pay tribute to the trust's patron.
There was an air of calm over the grounds as mourners filed into the chapel to show their respects.
Four small bouquets of flowers had been left. One read: ‘In memory of Queen Elizabeth, a great Queen, Queen of the People, a beautiful lady, rest in peace’.
Another from the Bell family of Whickham read simply: ‘In loving memory of a great Queen.’ Sunlit avenue
There was no formality to the day. As the time arrived for a two-minute silence at 11.30am, people carried on ambling up the sunlit avenue.
Inside the chapel only one couple - watch in hand - actively observed the moment before moving off.
By noon, 50 people had signed the book of condolence.
One walker from Burnopfield remarked in passing: ‘I know everyone is watching television but I wanted to be here. I know of the estate's associations with the Queen Mother.’
The whole estate used to belong to the Queen Mother's family and her ancestors are interred in the crypt there.
The Queen Mother used to visit the estate with her father in the early 1900s, when it was no longer occupied by the family and the buildings had started to deteriorate.
The family would have picnics outside the banqueting house with a view of the whole estate before it was forested.
The Queen Mother's last visit to the estate was in 1966 at the rededication of the chapel.
By yesterday afternoon more than 800 people had left messages in the book of condolence.
The book will remain open at the estate until the end of the Royal period of mourning on April 19, allowing enough time for many more people to pay their silent tributes to the Queen Mother.
Hundreds sign museum's book of condolence April 10, 2002
People from across the North have paid their respects to the Queen Mother by signing a book of condolence at her favourite museum.
Hundreds of mourners took the chance to share their grief by signing and writing messages in the book at the entrance to Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, County Durham. The Queen Mother served as patron of the Friends of Bowes Museum for the past 40 years.
Born Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother was the great-great granddaughter of the 11th Earl of Strathmore, whose nephew, John Bowes, founded the museum.
The Bowes family home was Streatlam Castle, near Barnard Castle, and Lady Elizabeth spent many childhood holidays there and on the Strathmore estates in Teesdale.
She visited the museum on several occasions and was instrumental in securing its future when it was under threat from lack of funds, during the 1950s.
In 1976, she opened the Queen Elizabeth Gallery of Costume, and made her last visit to the museum to mark its centenary, in 1992.
She is said to have affectionately referred to Barnard Castle as ‘dear old Barney’.
Links: The Bowes Museum
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
1900 - 2002
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Copyright (c) 2000-2002 Sue Kelly