The Sunderland woman who helped the people of the war-torn Falklands

A Sunderland schoolteacher proved to be a saviour to the people of the Falklands 40 years ago.

Pamela Clasper was part of a special Task Force heading for the Falkland Islands.

She was one of six people chosen by the Overseas Development Administration to help get life on the islands back to normal after the conflict.

Making a difference

Pamela, 29, was on standby waiting for a call from the ODA to fly out to take up a teaching post.

Originally, she applied for a British Consul post in Venezuela but her teaching commitments in Germany prevented her from making the interview.

However, in July, the ODA phoned her Sunderland home asking if she would be interested in teaching infants in the Falklands.

Bill was back in town

Pamela, a former Bede School pupil, was told her post would be in Port Stanley but it may now be in the outlying districts.

Wearsiders were certainly well travelled in 1982.

Another person who made the news was expat Bill Leithes from Houghton.

Bill retired to Australia but he was back home to celebrate a cyclists’ reunion.

Bill, 69, used to run a cycle shop in Newbottle Street, in Houghton and was a founder member of the Houghton Clarion Cycling Club which celebrated its golden jubilee in 1982.

Tell us more

As part of the celebrations, a reunion of older members was held in the Houghton Comrades Club with Bill there as a guest of honour.

It cost him and his wife about 3,500 dollars to make the round trip.

But the visitor from down under said he would not have missed it for the world with so many memories to talk about.

The cycling club began in 1932 with 17 members and at its peak had more than 200 in its ranks.

Share your memories of life on Wearside in the early 1980s by emailing [email protected]