SISTERS who starred in a photograph taken at the Paton and Baldwins factory in 1974 have reunited to recreate the scene with their loved ones.

Patricia Greenhow instantly recognised the photograph of her family which featured in a recent Echo Memories supplement to mark the launch of a Darlington exhibition celebrating the wool factory’s past.

The photograph, found in the Echo archives simply marked ‘Port family’, depicted all six members of the Ports who worked at Paton and Baldwins at the same time in the 1970s.

Mrs Greenhow of Darlington, posted the newspaper to her sister Anne Clarke, who now lives in Lincoln, and she travelled up this week to look at the exhibition at Lingfield Point – the former Paton factory site - and to recreate the photograph.

Mrs Greenhow, 59, worked at the factory for two years and said the exhibition brought back fond memories of her time as a Paton and Baldwins employee.

She said: “It was like a little community, you don’t get that now.

“There was so much to do, they organised events and it was great.”

Mrs Clarke, 57, agreed, saying: “It was like one big family.

“We’ve both said that if it (the factory) were still there then we would still be working there.”

The Paton and Baldwins exhibition, held in the Beehive building at Lingfield Point, has already drawn huge numbers, prompting the organisers to extend it.

It will now be open until Thursday, with extended opening hours until 7pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Sara Williams, marketing manager at Lingfield Point, said they had been bowled over by the popularity of the exhibition which had provided many emotional moments as former employees saw each other for the first time in decades.

She said: “I now ask people to make sure that they bring tissues because it has been quite emotional; it has been a revelation.”