Dorothy was a Primary School teacher in Chester-le-Street and Kibblesworth for many years. In 1998 she was part of Chester-le-Street's Millennium project to research the War Memorials of the area. Dorothy joined the Imperial War Museum's volunteers and eventually met Janet Brown. When NEWMP was set up in 2004 she became the secretary.

Dorothy retired from teaching in 2005 and became Chair and Project Manager of Chester-le-Street's Heritage Group. She has written books about Chester-le-Street, Chester Moor, Waldridge as well as Kibblesworth.