91Èȱ¬

People across the north east of England and Cumbria have praised Queen Elizabeth II for her dignity, her humour and for being "the best mam in the world".

Civic leaders, MPs, business owners, arts organisations and sports clubs have paid tribute to the Queen, who has died at the age of 96.

But members of the public have also expressed personal gratitude and admiration for a monarch who, for many, has reigned their whole lives.

Ernest Leech, from Middlesbrough, said he remembered watching the coronation as a child.

"She's been a great Queen," he said, adding: "She'll be really missed."

Adam Featherstone, also from the borough, said: "We are never going to get anyone else like her again are we?"

Reflecting the opinion many have expressed, that the Queen felt like family, Leon Perart said: "We've just lost the best mam of the world. I don't really know how to put it into words."

The crew of the Tynemouth lifeboat heard of the Queen's death whilst out at sea.

Her Majesty was patron of the RNLI and the crew stopped the engines of their vessel during a training exercise to pay tribute with a minute's silence.

Coxswain Mark Taylor said the crew was "very saddened" by the news.

"I think it's quite apt that we were out on the lifeboat - it is the Royal National Lifeboat Institution after all", he added.

In Fulwell, Catherine Ruckles said she remembered the Queen visiting Sunderland when she was a child.

"My school lined the street in the hopes of getting a look at her," she said.

"She's just always been in our lives.

"My mam turns 69 today and she's known no other monarch, even my daughter Connie has been learning about her in school."

When asked what she knew about the Queen, six-year-old Connie responded: "I know that she had 30 corgis."

Also from Fulwell, Shona Hudson said she did not think "we'll see the like of her again".

She said: "I think everyone thought she was going to be there forever."

Feelings for the Queen personally appear to transcend opinion about the monarchy itself.

Steven Smith, from Fulwell, said he was "no royalist" but was still sad.

"Without a doubt it's an end of an era and I think she represents a really prosperous and special time for the country," he said.

"I don't know what happens next."

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In Cumbria, Julia Barron descried the Queen as "really dignified".

"She said what she was going to do when she was 21 and she did it right to the very letter, right to the day of meeting the new prime minister," she said.

Flowers were laid in tribute at Carlisle Cathedral where the Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria, Claire Hensman, described the Queen's reign as a "golden age" of the monarchy.

"She's provided wonderful stability and continuity," she said.

County councillor Mike Mitchelson said the monarch "made you feel so much at ease".

He said: "The wit and the humour that both her and Philip had was absolutely outstanding."

Durham Cathedral's Canon Pastor Michael Everitt was one of a number with fond memories of meeting the monarch.

"She had the gift, with her eyes and with her conversation, to make everybody who came into her presence feel that they were the most important person in her world at that time," he said.

"That's a tremendous gift from someone who had met so many presidents, so many prime ministers, so many world leaders, so many significant people.

"She made it clear that everybody was of total importance and significance to her."

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