THE front cover of Memories 110 showed Second World War airmen queuing in Feethams, Darlington, to enter the British Restaurant – a state-run dining experience which accepted ration coupons.

“It reminded me of the many occasions I had meals there, mainly as a schoolboy attending Darlington Grammar School,” says Ken Thurlbeck, “but my attention centred on the airmen who were, in fact, a Canadian ice hockey team from nearby Goosepool aerodrome, who were waiting in the old bus station in Leadyard for a bus to Durham to take part in a match at the now defunct city ice rink.”