Nine Hartlepool stories from 1990 - the year when everything was all white, and a puppy stole our hearts

We have 9 memories of life in the town and in East Durham from 32 years ago but how many of these stories do you remember?

Shipwrights used 18,000 feet of Douglas fir shipped from North America, to reproduce the original decking on the Wingfield Castle in 1990.

When the decking was laid, restorers caulked it by melting a special pitch and squeezing it into the seams. They finished the job by planing off the wood.

Four men were employed on the three-month job.

Staff at Cameron Hospital delivered the red carpet treatment to give a warm welcome to their new consultant to Hartlepool.

Workers at the town hospital flew the Egyptian flag for 36-year-old Safwat Tosson to mark his first day in his new post.

Tears turned to joy for Joanne Hutchinson after an appeal in the Mail.

The two-year-old was heartbroken when her puppy went missing but the family phone never stopped ringing after the Mail appealed for help.

Joanne and puppy were soon reunited after kind-hearted people helped out, including one who offered to buy Joanne a new dog.

Chemical giants Tioxide, which had a Greatham base, had its own white garden at the National Garden Festival in Gateshead. It had a theme of brilliant whiteness. All of its shrubs, plants and ornaments were in white to show natural whiteness.

Hartlepool youngster Colette Young hit the headlines thanks to her fascinating hobby of key collecting.

The nine-year-old had 690 of them including one which was a mammoth iron one which looked as if it would have opened up a dungeon.

Delighted eight-year-old David Smith from Hartlepool couldn’t believe his luck when he won a competition to go to the World Cup in Italy by completing a form in his local branch of Woolworths all about his hero Peter Shilton.

Fourth-form pupils at Acre Rigg Junior School, Peterlee, turned back the clock to the early 1900s and donned the clothes of the time, sat at old desks, were taught traditional lessons and even played with the toys of the era.

Deputy head, Christine Erskine said children were studying the 1900s in their history lessons and ‘after a recent visit to Beamish Museum we decided to spend a day doing what pupils would have done in that time.

“We were sent a trunk from the Beamish archives containing an old school desk, children’s toys and even a cane!’

First spot in the Trimdon Village Carnival float competition went to the 1st Trimdon Brownies with their theme of gardens and gnomes. Second was a World Cup 1990 theme from Trimdon Junior Youth Club.

More than 70 workers at TMS Buses were transferred to other depots in Peterlee, Durham and Bishop Auckland.

TMS was taken over and Eddie Fowler, who was TMS managing director for 16 years, said: “Really, this is a sad event. We never thought the TMS would ever come to an end.”

We would love you to share your memories of life in the area back then. Email [email protected] and tell us more.