by Flossie Mainwaring-Taylor
Reproduced by kind permission of the Northern Echo

Councillors have voted unanimously to name a street in honour of a community newspaperman fondly nicknamed “Mr Newton Aycliffe”.
Great Aycliffe Town Council will make a recommendation to Durham County Council to have a street named after Syd Howarth in the next major phase of residential development.
Former editor of community newspaper Newton News and founder of the town’s first printing press, Newton Press, Mr Howarth died aged 81 in October last year.
At a full council meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Jed Hillary put forward the motion which stated: “The recent passing of Syd Howarth MBE was marked by the large number of written tributes for a true man of the people.
“This and the community turnout at his funeral, ably demonstrated that he selflessly served the community of Great Aycliffe in his many roles.”
An amendment to the motion was made to ensure the street named after Mr Howarth would be prominent.
It was also proposed that full council would look at other late members of the community for similar recognition.
Mr Howarth’s eldest son, Paul, said: “My brothers and I feel this is an incredible honour for ‘Mr Newton Aycliffe’, who will be remembered forever in the town he loved.
“Those that knew our dad would agree with us that he would have been grateful for the accolade, but would not have wanted this kind of attention and praise.
“He was a humble man who behind the scenes always did the best he could for everyone, especially the residents and businesses of Newton Aycliffe.”
Paul added he and his brothers and their families had been overwhelmed by the many kind words sent to them since Mr Howarth’s death, as a result of Motor Neurone Disease, on October 29.
He added: “We would like to thank everyone who has passed on their condolences and kind comments since dad’s passing.”