A columnist who wrote about farming for a regional daily has died aged 94.

Tributes have been paid to Bill Telfer, who contributed to Newcastle daily The Journal for 13 years.

Bill, pictured, was a Northumberland dairy farmer by trade and, according to The Journal, a “reluctant journalist” who was persuaded into writing a “couple of columns” while then-agricultural editor David Leach searched for a full-time farming columnist.

He also served as chairman and president of the Holstein Society during his life.

His daughter Fred Robertson told The Journal: “He was a man of deep faith and a great countryman.

“He was a village man but he was also a very worldly, well-read and widely travelled man.

“We grew up always being told the names of wildflowers, birds and what to look for and when.”

He is survived by his children Bill, Ruth and Fred, as well as nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.