The South Tyneside girl who mixed with stars including Carry On film legends
A South Shields woman really could claim that she mixed with the stars.
Sheila Mitchell was the face of South Shields in 1972. Her looks took her round the world on fashion shoots.
Pals with Barbara Windsor and Reg Varney
Sheila rubbed shoulders with a host of personalities, including Carry On legends Barbara Windsor and Charles Hawtrey, Reg Varney from On The Buses and actress Billie Whitelaw.
On her wedding day in 1979, the guests included Cannon and Ball, Stu Francis and Max Boyce.
But Sheila had success of her own as well. She was crowned Miss Night Club of Great Britain and Miss Tyne Tees, and also appeared on the cover of South Shields’s official 1972 brochure as she lay on the beach at Marsden Bay.
Pancake Day bid for more glory
She was also in the news in 1975, when she was bidding to win a national beauty competition on Shrove Tuesday.
She was down to the last eight competitors in a Great Britain challenge.
The 25-year-old was to compete against seven other national beauty queens in London and the competition was held on Pancake Day.
It prompted the Shields Gazette to say at the time that she was ‘in training - in a Jif-fy.’
But we want to know how she did in the national competition. Share your memories and tell us more. Email [email protected]