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Thank you again everyone for your helpful replies.

Dawn, i have some photo negatives as well but I haven't even thought about those yet. Your device sounds impressive.

Brian, I have begun the internet trawl and will check out the Epson Perfection
 My slides are 3.5cm - measured on the outer edge of the film not the casing.  What is really frustrating is that I can see them very clearly when I hold them up to the light.

I have to leave the search now as a huge family invasion is due this afternoon.

Jen

Thanks Brian - I don't think my scanner has the removable cover that yours has.  When I hold the slides up to the window I can see much more detail and colour than when I have scanned them so I think more light must be the answer.  I have a fairly new printer/scanner and I was looking for an additional piece of equipment, providing the cost was within my budget, rather than a replacement for the printer.  Any ideas?

Thanks Mavals - 50 years of train photos, it must be a fascinating collection, do you know what he used to scan the negatives? I actually don't mind how much time it takes - i'm storing up rainy days and planning for next winter!  But I do take your point about back up though, I have just got a new computer and at the moment all my family records, photographs and documents are on disks and pen drives.  In the past I have used on line storage and external hard drives and I am trying to decide which I should use this time.

OK, thank you gnu and jape flakes for for replies.  

I have begun to read previous links/posts from gnu and of course I should have guessed it wouldn't be straightforward. I may have a phobia as yet undiagnosed because when technical information is discussed my mind goes blank and it takes at least 1/2 a dozen readings for some of it to sink in.  So working my way slowly through the links,  thanks gnu.

japeflakes I have a printer which scans photographs and documents and I can edit them in photoshop but slides are too small to copy well.  I was told that I could buy a piece of equipment which would scan 35mm slides for around £50 which is not a problem (my sisters will share the cost) but I really wanted to know if rootschaters thought they worked.  I have a few hundred slides and as well as the family history slides there are another few hundred slides of college work.  These were of drawings and paintings  done by my husband and myself when we were at art school in the 1960's. All the slides are in boxes in a drawer but I am sure they are deteriorating. Another thing I would like advice on is how to prepare them for scanning to a computer. this is the only approach that I can use because there are too many to make giving then to a professional a viable alternative.

thank you both for your answers,

Jen

Thanks Mo, its very frustrating.  I don't know of any other avenue to follow.  Except that I could try David on Durham Records on Line to see if I can get a baptism for him.  I did find John's Marriage on FindMyPast but I can't find any Durham Parish records there anymore. 
Thanks again Jen

Thank you all for your replies.

Diddy I hadn't seen the Bishops Transcript so thank you so much for that.

I have tried searching with just the name Dugdale in the North East in Parish records on a few sites but there don't seem to be any baptism's or marriages (parents of John) at all.  I wondered If this might point to John coming from somewhere else and that being the case I have no idea how to make a connection with his siblings or parents etc..  Dugdale is a much more common name in Lancashire for example.  I will try Mo's idea looking at David Dugdale in the '51. but I am not sure how to link him with John - could they be brothers?  I am presuming (probably wrongly) that there is no connection with Joseph, probably because John made his mark on the marriage record and Joseph must have been able to read and write in his profession as clergyman.

Thanks again for your ideas and if you have any more I would love to hear them.

Jen