A FORMER Startforth resident is appealing for help in finding information about a photograph taken in the 1960s of school children.
Katie Diamond, nee Betteridge, was ten when she and her family moved from their home at The Lendings, in Startforth, to Darlington.
After sorting through paperwork following her mother’s death several years ago, she came across several newspaper cuttings featuring two photographs in which she appeared.
Mrs Diamond searched online using the Teesdale Mercury archives but was unable to find the answer and is hoping to jog the memories of former schoolmates.
She said: “I didn’t start at Startforth School until 1966 and we left Barnard Castle in late 1970 or early 1971 so they must have been taken somewhere in between.
“I can’t remember them being taken and I’d love to know what they were all about and why I was one of the children picked to be in the photographs.”
The photographs also show Mrs Diamond’s childhood best friend, Debbie Hadley, who also moved away at the same age.
She added: “Debbie and her family moved to Sussex and we went to visit them once but then lost touch.”
The friends reunited again after 50 years just before the pandemic and are in contact online and by phone.
Mrs Diamond is hoping to put together a photograph book filled with childhood mementoes for her long-lost friend.
If anyone can shed any light on the origin of the photograph, please get in touch with the Teesdale Mercury on 01833 637140.
