Members of Consett Rotary visited Beamish Museum at Christmas time in 2022 to sing as part of Consett’s Red Dust Choir. They were joined at Beamish by two Dementia Friendly Choirs from other areas of County Durham. All three choirs were lead by Bethany Coyle, a professional musician. They enthused at how beneficial being part of a choir was to people living with dementia, so put the idea forward their Rotary Club. Consett Rotary members agreed to start a choir early in 2023 and with a Grant from Derwent Valley Area Action Partnership, a Dementia Friendly choir was launched in May 2023, led by ..read more

By George Ledger Hedgerows form an important part of the landscape of County Durham but there are not many people left who know how to look after them and ensure their survival. Burt Hunter, from Knitsley has a remarkable 40 +years experience as a hedgelayer. With a deep passion for natural history and a strong foundation in traditional country skills, he is highly sought after in dual roles—serving not only as a skilled hedgelayer but also as an instructor, dedicated to perpetuating and passing on the art of traditional hedgelaying. Rowley, Consett, Co. Durham, ENGLAND – 14th February 2024 ..read more

Northern Railway had a special offer in February, if you collected two tokens from a range of local newspapers. If you then downloaded a form from their website and attached the newspaper tokens, you could have a Northern one-day dayrover for £10 or a two-day (Saturday and Sunday dayrover) for £17.   So, where to go?  South is difficult because there is no Northern service between Darlington and York. I decided to go west, through the Lake District, to the end of what is termed the longest cul-de-sac in England and visit Barrow in Furness, and beyond that, the wild landsca ..read more

Returning home from my visit to Lindisfarne in January – after spending early mornings and late evenings staring out across the North Sea, imagining ancient seafaring travellers landing on this coastline – I was enticed to purchase a test to confirm my heritage. When it arrived I was more than excited and quickly read the instructions. An easy swab inside each facial cheek with a cotton bud was a pleasant enough way to collect my DNA, ready for scrutiny and analysis. Heading to Middle Street Post Office in Consett with my precious envelope, I paid the postage to Houston Texas, exchanging good ..read more

Remote work has significantly transformed the way businesses operate, demanding more sophisticated tools and technologies to manage workflows effectively from any location. The reliance on remote desktop software has become crucial, pushing organizations to seek solutions that offer more than just basic functionalities. Enhanced remote work experiences rely on software that not only ensures operational continuity but also scales with business needs, secures data, and provides seamless user experiences. The right tools can dramatically improve productivity, collaboration, and security for team ..read more

The Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) is keen to hear from members of the community across Durham and Darlington who want to make a real difference and become volunteers for existing and new scrutiny panels. The OPCC carries out a wide-ranging programme of external scrutiny via groupsand panels made up of partners and members of the community and are an additional mechanism for the PCC to hold the force to account and form part of the wider OPCC Accountability Framework.  Scrutiny Panels consist of the Custody Detention Panel, Best Use of Stop and Search/Use of Fo ..read more

By George Ledger and Chris Bruce When we embarked on this project, we aimed to spotlight both traditional and contemporary jobs and trades in our region, showcasing the evolution from older occupations to newer replacements. Little did we anticipate discovering miners from our area engaged in Fluorite mining in Weardale. Meet Andrew and Paul, two local Consett lads and now ‘miners’ actively involved in extracting Fluorite from a newly established mine near Frosterley. The techniques employed today bear striking resemblance to those used in historic lead and coal mines – a combination of blast ..read more

At the very end of March, we opened our Salvation Army Donation Centre, in Consett, right next to Tesco and Starbucks.  We were so excited to finally get those doors opened, it has seemed an age since we got the keys! Our Donation Centre offers a space for volunteering, shopping, community engagement, recycling and giving back.  It is a place where you can donate furniture, bric a brac, clothing, shoes, and other items. It is a space where you can shop for many essentials, like clothing, homewares and furniture at very reasonable prices. We believe that with the growing environmenta ..read more

A BUSINESS centre at the heart of a County Durham community has added a cafe to the string of services it provides under one roof – creating six new jobs as a result. To coincide with its second birthday, The HUB Consett is now offering hot and cold refreshments from its base on Sherburn Terrace following a significant investment in a kitchen area. The HUB is already home to Celebrate Difference – a social enterprise supporting people with ADHD -, MINT Business Club – a membership club for small businesses -, a shop stocking products from up to 50 local traders, co-working office spaces, and ..read more

Unfortunately, our recent bid to The Heritage Lottery to fund the major repair to our east wall of St Ives Church failed. However, all is not lost as we have short, medium and long-term plans prepared which we want to present to the community of Leadgate for consultation and support. St Ives’ Leadgate “A witness to the past, a beacon for the future” PUBLIC MEETING at LEADGATE WORKMENS CLUB on THURSDAY 23RD MAY 7PM HELP SAVE ST IVES’ FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS Find out about exciting & ambitious plans to restore & transform our unique historic building for a sustainable future as a Commu ..read more