Tributes have been paid to former Echo correspondent for Portland Hilda Swinney

Hilda, who had just celebrated her 90th birthday, died peacefully at home on Sunday, surrounded by her family.

Born in Dundee in 1927, Hilda remained a ‘proud Scot’ throughout her life – although she lived on Portland for more than 40 years and was ‘very proud’ to be adopted by the isle, said Doug Swinney, her youngest son.

Hilda was the Echo’s Portland correspondent from 1978 until 2002, when her failing eyesight meant she had to take a step back. But she continued writing her Island Eye column for several more years.

As a reporter her assignments ranged from covering the evacuation of Portland in 1995 when an unexploded Second World War bomb was discovered beneath a football pitch to writing of her travels to the isle’s namesake in Texas in 1982.

Echo photographer Finnbarr Webster said: “When I first met Hilda, I was totally intimidated by her, how highly she was respected at the Echo and how the staff told me she was one of the best journalists I would ever meet.

“They were right but she was also a kind, thoughtful and poetic person who could recite numerous famous works from memory.

“She was such an intelligent and genuinely interesting person that I never met anybody who didn’t enjoy her company and want to be her friend.

“I’m so very proud that Hilda and I were the very best of friends and I will miss her with all my heart.”

She was held in the highest regard on Portland and beyond, being awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship – the most prestigious award handed out by the Rotary Club – in 2002, and the Portland Community Award in 1988 as well as being made an MBE in 2004 for services to journalism and charity.

Cllr Rod Wild, current Mayor of Portland, said: “She has been a stalwart of the island for so many years – a godsend to us. She was the Portland face of the Echo and held in such very high regard.”

Hilda moved to Portland with husband Ernie in 1978. The pair met at a dance and were married in 1959. Ernie was an air-fitter in the Fleet Air Arm, but joined the prison service in 1970, eventually taking a post at what was then Portland Borstal. Ernie died in 1990, aged 61.

Dorset Echo editor Diarmuid MacDonagh said: "Hilda was not only a great servant to the Dorset Echo and the community of Portland but a great friend.

"Hilda was our Portland Correspondent, a title she held with pride, distinction and loyalty.

"She considered the Echo family and she offered guidance and support to a generation of young reporters, myself included.

"Despite not being a trained journalist she had the natural gifts that could not be taught; people liked her, people trusted her and people believed her.

"I will miss her straight-talking, her laughter, her innate goodness. I already do.

"She would often ring me late at night to take issue with something she disagreed with or which she thought I had missed.

"Scanning these words to see whether she would approve, I realise she would doubtless take issue with being referred to as a servant.

"She considered herself the master and I always deferred to her on that point.

"Hilda was never on the staff but she was more important than that-she was family, and we are all the poorer for her passing but, hopefully, all a little bit wiser and somewhat better people for having had the privilege of being a part of her life."

Doug, 54, said it is hard to find the right words to describe his mother.

“Everyone I have spoken to over the last few days has said, in a light-hearted way that she was always right – sometimes mistaken, but never wrong.

“She was a very proud Portlander and a very proud Scot. I think she will be remembered for so many things.”

Hilda is survived by three sons, Eric, Kevin and Doug, 10 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

A celebration of her life will be held at All Saints Church in Easton at 1pm on Tuesday, November 28.

• See the Dorset Echo next week for a full obituary.