Ramar dress to impress at staff reunion
A VERY special dress, modelled by a very special lady, will be making a guest appearance at a Ramar Night.Mrs Hilda Dinsley, 83, who lives in Crook, bought ³the dress² in the early 1950s at the Ramar clothing factory based in the town.
Although the factory closed in 1991 after 42 years in business, the dress has stood the test of time and become a slice of living Ramar history.
Mrs Dinsley became a supervisor at Ramar clothing factory after working her way up and learning about all the aspects of dress-making.
She is delighted that the dress has lasted for more than 50 years.
She said: ³I feel wonderful when I wear this dress. People stop you and say, ŒI like that!¹² And the dress is unique to Crook, not just because of its age, but because it never made it onto the Ramar clothes rail.
Mrs Dinsley said: ³The dress was a prototype but we couldn¹t agree to sell it at Ramar¹s because the material, moss crepe, was just too expensive.
³However, we still had the prototypes and I struck a bargain with Mr Latner to buy one.
³He said he would sell it to me if I promised not to tell anybody the price.
³I kept it a secret until recently it cost me £8 which was a lot of money in those days.² Mrs Dinsley has many fond memories of working at Ramar.
She said: ³The girls I worked with were a grand group.
³Ramar¹s was always very well managed.
³We used to say to the little messenger girls, ŒDon¹t carry on, watch the work and you will learn plenty.¹² Before Mrs Dinsley worked for Ramar she worked at the Munitions factory in Newton Aycliffe, during the War.
She was one of the ŒAycliffe Angels¹, seven good friends at the factory, and used to alter the ladies¹ uniforms.
Mrs Dinsley said: ³I alter clothes now for my friends and family and have always loved fashion.
³My three granddaughters come to me and ask to borrow clothes!² Admission to Ramar Night, which takes place on Tuesday, April 24 at 7.30pm, costs £1 and refreshments will be available.