W e a r d a l e G a z e t t e

Ian and Dorothy Hedley will open their garden to the public at St. John’s Chapel on Sunday, 7 July from 10am-4pm and cost £3, children free.  This is an exposed garden at 1200ft above sea level with mixed planting and a wonderful collection of sorbus, hostas, ferns, eucalyptus and lots more besides.  Try their home-made teas at High Hill Top. Highly recommended.

When visitors book into their tourist accommodation in Weardale this summer, they will find in their bedrooms a handsome 80-page display folder promoting all that is best in the Dale.  The Bedroom Browser gives Weardale accommodation providers and their guests all the information they need to make informed choices about Weardale – where they can eat, things to do, places to visit and lists over 150 local businesses and services.

The last weekend in June sees Stanhope proudly hosting the first year of a unique new music festival on Stanhope Show ground.  Stone Valley Scooter and Music Festival will bring scooter enthusiasts from all over the north to meet and show off their vast array of scooters, many of which are classics and works of art.  There will also be attractions, rides, great live music and more.  Full details and tickets visit www.stonevalleyfestival.co.uk or tickets can be purchased at The Market Diner in Stanhope.

The Weardale Railway has made the decision not to run Heritage trains on the line this year and instead offer ‘special-themed’ trains, concentrating on ‘value-added’ services such as lunch, afternoon tea and evening dining trains.  The company is also planning to have a return of the highly successful Polar Extress trains at the end of the year.

As Wolsingham School approaches its 400th anniversary, the building, which people will flock to, is under threat of extinction.  Durham County Council has revealed it has ‘multi-millions’ of pounds to spend on Wolsingham School now seen as a priority because of the Tunstall road that runs between the lower and upper school.  In a move to ‘safeguard’ students crossing the road between lessons, it will spend the money on ‘re-modelling’ either the lower or upper school to ensure the school is situated entirely on one side of the road only.  As the expensive sports hall and swimming pool are situated on the east side of the road along with the dilapidated upper school, it seems feasible to believe that the 1911 building on the lower site will no longer be part of the school.  The Weardale Gazette appeals to former students to rise up to the fight to keep the lowe school building as part of the school and urges readers to make their feelings known in writing to the leader of Durham County Council, Simon Henig, and to head teacher, Deborah Merrett.

The History of The Blacketts by Allan Kirtley, Patricia Longbottom and Martin Blackett, tells the story of a north-east family century-by-century as they spread out from their ancestral home of Woodcroft in medieval Weardale to other parts of the UK and around the English-speaking world, some achieving eminence and some notoriety… Priced £21, P&P £3.00.  This book will be reviewed in the 22nd May edition of the Weardale Gazette.  If you wish to purchase a copy, please make cheques for £24.00 made payable to: Weardale Publishing & Printing Co. Ltd., 6 Market Place, Stanhope, Co. Durham, DL13 2UJ, enclosing your name and address.

Chris Ruskin’s new book, The Disappearing Farms of Weardale, is now available from the Weardale Gazette shop, priced £12.99 and to receive it by post will be £15.69.  If you wish to receive a book by post, please make your cheque payable to: Weardale Publishing & Printing Co. Ltd., 6 Market Place, Stanhope, Co. Durham, DL13 2UJ.

A car boot sale will be held at Wolsingham School  and Community Collect to raise funds for the school’s 400th anniversary next year. To book at table tel. Anita Savory 01388 527594 or Anita Atkinson 766869.

Crook Rotary Club is appealing for unwanted bikes to be used in a recycling project.  For further information contact any club member or telephone 01388 748842.

Come and discover areas of Weardale you may never have visited before.  We guarantee you’ll learn something new on one of Durham County Council’s guided walks.  For full details of the guided walks programme visit www.durham.go.uk/countryside or call 03000264589.