Thank you to the 10 Trust members who helped remove litter, moss & weeds from the pavements and ‘triangle’ in the village centre yesterday morning. Everywhere looks much tidier now, after only a couple of hours work.
Working parties are being held on the first Friday morning of the month. Next month we are bulb planting, daffodils & croci along the main road.
The Heritage Initiative are holding another Exhibition next week in Consett, which will include ‘now & then’ photos of Shotley Bridge.
The next exhibition organised by the Consett & District Heritage Initiative is being held in a months time. The Trust will be putting on a display of old photographs of Shotley Bridge at the event.
The Trust’s latest publication on the history of Shotley Bridge is still on sale at Harrington Brown Estate Agents, in the village centre.
There are 10 chapters in the 36 page booklet with a map and photographs of sites and buildings referred to.
It is also possible to buy the booklet on-line from eBay with PayPal …
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291978953083
The construction of the brand new play equipment at the Snows Green Playpark is nearing completion.
There is a separate fenced area for toddlers.
Consett & District Heritage Initiative are holding another exhibition in October. The Village Trust will have a display of old photographs of Shotley Bridge and the Shotley Bridge History booklet will be on sale.
Despite not entering Northumbria in Bloom this year, the Trust’s tubs, barrier baskets and sustainable beds are looking colourful.
Thank you to all the volunteers who planted and maintain them. Thanks also to Durham County Council for planting the barrier baskets to match our colour scheme this year.
Thirty two members and local residents attended the AGM & Open Meeting held on 21 June. As the Trust’s Chairman was away on holiday a summary of his report was given by Garth Johnson, acting Chairman. Have a read of the Chairman’s Annual Report to find to what the Trust was involved in during the last year.
As Garth had decided not to stand for re-election as Treasurer, but remain on the Executive Committee, Andrew Thompson was elected to fill the post. The other committee members were also re-elected.
Unfortunately, the guest speaker Grace McCombie was unable to attend. Instead, Jeff Singleton [Secretary] gave an illustrated talk based on “The History of Shotley Bridge”, a 32 page booklet that had been researched and recently published by the Trust’s Heritage Working Group. Copies were available for Trust members to purchase.
The Consett & District Heritage Initiative exhibition is now on at the Methodist Church, Station Road, Consett. It will be open tomorrow from 10am until 8pm and on Saturday from 10pm until 4.30pm. There are three rooms full of photos and paintings.
The Village Trust has a couple of exhibition boards devoted to the Origins and Growth of Shotley Bridge. [Click on an image to enlarge.]
Look out for the illustrated booklet about the History of Shotley Bridge that has been researched, is being printed and will be available to buy and view on-line later this year.
This lunchtime the replica of the Pant that originally stood at the corner of Front Street and Snows Green Road was “officially” unveiled by Durham County Council. Representatives from Storey Homes, Classic Masonry, Beamish Museum, the Stakeholder Group, the BBB&SB Partnership, Durham Police and the Village Trust were invited to the ceremony.
It was the culmination of over four years commitment by the Village Trust, working in partnership with the Shotley Bridge Stakeholder Group, local councillors and officers from Durham County Council to bring to fruition a range of environmental improvement projects in the centre of the Shotley Bridge Conservation Area:
These projects were prioritised by the Stakeholder Group, supported by Local Councillors Stephen Robinson and Peter Oliver and paid for with Section 106 funding from the Storey Homes Housing Development on the hospital site, with a contribution from the Public Transport budget and help from the Benfieldside, Blackhill, Bridgehill & Shotley Bridge Partnership.
See also the press report in the Northern Echo.
The Trust’s next Open Meeting is to be held on Tuesday 21st June, after its AGM.
Grace McCombie, Buildings Historian, will be giving a talk on ‘The Buildings of Shotley Bridge’.
She is a researcher, lecturer and writer about sites and buildings and the development of settlements in the North East. She has contributed to many architectural-historical conferences, books and journals, especially the Pevsner series.
The meeting is open to both members and residents.
Next week, the Consett & District Heritage Initiative is holding a 3 day exhibition at the Methodist Church Hall in Consett. There will be displays of old photos of the local area, including Shotley Bridge.
If you are in Consett at the end of next week, come and find out about the history of the area. The exhibition is also open on Friday evening, if you cannot attend during the day. There is ample parking nearby in the Sherburn Road car park.
Today a new replica pant was erected near the Crown & Crossed Swords PH, to commemorate the bringing of a piped water supply to the village 130 years ago, in 1886.
The original is at Beamish Museum, following its removal in the 1950s to allow for improvements to the junction of Front Street and Snows Green Road.
Funding for the replica has come via the Story Homes housing development near Shotley Bridge Hospital. It is part of the S106 project for ‘urban realm’ improvements in the village centre.
Durham County Council are organising an ‘unveiling’ event after lunch on Thursday 12 May, which will mark the completion of the project.
Daffodils and tulips planted by the Trust were in full bloom this week in the conservation area, giving a colourful display. The violas are flowering too, which will hopefully give colour until the Trust’s volunteers plant up the tubs with summer bedding at the end of May.
This morning 17 volunteers collected 25 bags of litter in & around Shotley Bridge.
Thank you to all those who helped to make the village cleaner.
There was a good turnout at the open meeting on Tuesday evening. Although there were technical issues with the projector communicating with the laptop, Andrew Thompson’s talk about the Shotley Bridge Swordmakers was very interesting and informative.
He is one of the five Trust members on the Heritage Group who are writing about the History of Shotley Bridge. His chapter on the Swordmakers is one of ten in the 36 page booklet which is to be published in time for the Trust’s AGM on 21 June.
After the AGM, Grace McCombie, buildings historian will be giving an illustrated talk about the historic buildings of Shotley Bridge.
Over thirty members of the Trust attended the recent Open Meeting, at which a report was given about the Trust’s entry in Northumbria in Bloom this year.
Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in our bid for ‘Gold’, being just 4 marks [out of 200] short of attaining the top award in the competition, but we managed to achieve our highest score ever and another ‘Silver Gilt’, for the third consecutive year.
Disappointed that the extra improvements and volunteer effort this year had only resulted in achieving another ‘Silver Gilt’, it was announced that the ‘Blooming’ committee had decided not to enter the competition in 2016. It was emphasised, though, that the high standard of planting in the tubs, baskets, troughs and sustainable beds throughout the conservation area would be continued by volunteers next year, but without the extra work behind the scenes needed to impress judges. Hopefully the local businesses will continue with their own floral displays too, to keep Sholey Bridge ‘Blooming’.
The slideshow presentation given at the meeting was taken from the photographs in the Portfolio, which had been presented to the judges when they visited in July …
Daffodils, tulips and violas were planted in the tubs on Saturday morning, in readiness for a good show of colour throughout the conservation area next Spring.
Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped to organise the event or planted the tubs.
The Consett & District Heritage Initiative is holding a 3 day exhibition at the Methodist Church in Consett. There will be displays of old photos of each settlement in the Consett area, including Shotley Bridge.
Entry is free and there is ample parking on the Sherburn Road car park.
If you are in Consett at the end of next week pop in for a cuppa and find out about the heritage of the area.
Bank Holiday Monday afternoon at The Spa Grounds was a little soggy! It didn’t dampen the Consett Rugby Club’s ‘Strong Man’ competition nor the children’s enthusiasm for the inflatables.
Numbers visiting the event were well down on previous years and consequently the Village Trust only raised £50 for its ‘Blooming Shotley Bridge’ Fund with its Tombola and Children’s Lucky Dip, compared to £180 & £160 on its stall in 2013 & 2014. Thank you to the volunteers at the event and the support from local businesses, members and residents who donated prizes.
