Aycliffe Today Business AT Business Issue 37 | Page 13

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 13
Touching tributes paid to
Aycliffe community legend
Aycliffe Today editor Martin Walker pays tribute to community
stalwart and ‘Mr Newton Aycliffe’
I
’ll be forever grateful to Syd Howarth for
helping me get my foot in the journalism
door more than 20 years ago.
I vividly recall going to an important
interview – my first interview, to become a
trainee reporter for the Teesside Gazette, in
late 1997 – armed with a pile of newspaper
cuttings.
“Crikey, you’ve been busy!” said the then
deputy editor, Peter Montellier, who grilled
me on my journalistic credentials.
The pile of cuttings was made up
predominantly of Newton News reports,
after Syd had – for several years prior, as I
went through media training – encouraged
me to send in articles, which he would credit
with the golden ‘byline’.
And I’m convinced it played a major part in
helping me persuade the Gazette to take me
on as a fledgling reporter in January 1998.
My career has gone in several different
directions in the 20 years since, but I can
look back at those years Syd published my
reports and comfortably say his support is
one of the biggest factors in where I am
today.
It was incredibly sad to learn of Syd’s
passing, but it has been nice to read all of
the lovely tributes, with Aycliffe mourning
the loss of the town’s greatest-ever
ambassador and champion, “Mr Newton
Aycliffe”.
After establishing the town’s only printing
press and community paper, Syd went
on to serve on a number of community
groups and committees – at one time, he
was chairman or a committee member of
no fewer than 11 organisations – and in
2016 was awarded the MBE for his lifelong
services to Aycliffe.
Kerina Clark, chair of Aycliffe Business Park
Community, led the tributes, saying: “Syd
was a prominent figure in Aycliffe and as the
founder of Newton Press he was also a key
figure on Aycliffe Business Park.
“His commitment and passion for the local
area was inspiring and he dedicated himself
to serving others. He was determined to
always celebrate the best in people and
the paper he established, Newton News,
reflected this in how it shared achievements
and positive news about the town.
“On a personal note, Syd was a good
friend and a constant encouragement to me.
While he will be very much missed from a
business and personal perspective, perhaps
his greatest achievement is the legacy that
has been left through his sons.”
Councillor John Clare said: “Syd was
an unassuming yet hugely influential man
who stated that his life’s goal was to ‘help
somebody as I pass along’.
“For more than half a century – through
his charitable work, community involvement
and the pages of the Newton News – he
shaped Newton Aycliffe and its development
as a new town, and the community we have
become is his legacy.”
Meanwhile, Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson
said: “Syd Howarth was one of the first
people I met when I became the Labour
candidate in the Sedgefield by-election back
in 2007. I could tell then he had the best
interest of Newton Aycliffe at heart.
“He wasn’t just a successful
businessman, he was a great supporter of
the local community.
“Everyone knew Syd in the town and
the work he did for charity. That is why the
accolade of Mr Newton Aycliffe was well
deserved. He will be greatly missed by his
family, friends and the people of Aycliffe.”
Nev Jones, boss of local firm J&C
Coaches, who’s also involved with the local
Rotary Club, said: “I was lucky enough to
have known Syd for over 50 years.
“I grew up with his children and spent
many happy times during my childhood at
their family home in Isherwood Close.
“Later in life, Syd invited me to join the
Aycliffe Rotary Club, when I saw first-hand
his flair and dedication to fundraising and his
charity work, always putting the needs of
others before his own.
“His dedication to the townsfolk was
finally rewarded when he was awarded the
MBE, and I was privileged to be at the after-
party.
“A friend and an inspiration, I will miss him
terribly.”
Many, many other people, community
groups and sports clubs from Aycliffe and
beyond – who had all been touched by Syd’s
great work over the years – also paid their
own tributes to the great man.
He has certainly left a void in Newton
Aycliffe which will never be filled.