St. Peter's Church, Bishop Auckland

The event will open on Thursday, 23rd September to an invited guest list.

Organisers are inviting local florists, bakers, grocers and allotmenteers to create a harvest display.

Local shops will also have the chance to take part in the event by sponsoring or creating a display for their business.

St. Peter’s will also hold a McMillan Coffee Morning in September.

The celebration will display the best of our region, with local food, wines, fruit, vegetables and flowers displayed across the church by our congregation, and, most excitingly, local businesses.

St. Peter’s Church

For more information about the event, contact St. Peter’s Church via their website, www.stpetersba.org.uk.

Bernard Wrigley will appear in September at Bishop Auckland Town Hall

Bernard started in folk clubs, later writing and performing at the Octagon theatre in Bolton. Bernard’s career has taken in TV programmes and films including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Phoenix Nights and Brassed Off, as well as radio players, programmes he’s presented and a stream of LPs and CDs.

His songs shows a truly light hearted, and often comic, touch but this is undoubtedly underlaid with a love of the area and history he’s singing about.

Tickets are available for £6 from Bishop Auckland Town Hall, or call 01388 602610.

Horseshoeing demonstration at Hamsterley Hoppings

Featuring many competitions, games and displays, the day was well attended, and the fourth annual event since the historic Hamsterley Hoppings re-commenced.

Listen: Peter Ebdon speaks about Classic MG Cars

Listen: Organiser Trish Heslop discusses Hamsterley Hoppings with Ron Clark

The figures from the NHS Information Centre reveal that 25,485 people quit smoking successfully with the six NHS Stop Smoking Services in the North East during March 2009 to April 2010 – a rise of 14% more people than last year.

Nearly 13% of all North East smokers made a quit attempt through the NHS last year – the highest rate of any other region.

However, the annual report also shows smoking is still a big problem to tackle.

The North East has seen the biggest drop in smoking in England, from 29% of adults regularly smoking in 2005 to just 21% smoking in 2008, but it still kills around 15 people a day, and for every death another 20 people suffer from smoking related conditions as a result.

Professor Stephen Singleton, Regional Director for Public Health, said: “Here in the North East smoking was part of daily life for too many years but we have tackled the problem head on and achieved the biggest drop in smoking in the country.”

Ailsa Rutter, Director of Fresh, said: “The good news is that the North East has the best NHS Stop Smoking Services in the country. They’re by far the best chance for anyone who has tried but failed, or wants to really give themselves the best chance of quitting.

There’s been a massive change in the way smoking is now seen, and this has spurred on tens of thousands of people to quit, or try to do everything they can to stop their children from starting smoking in the first place.

People can access help by phoning the County Durham and Darlington NHS Stop Smoking Service on 01388 742547, by phoning the NHS Helpline on 0800 022 4 332 or click on http://smokefree.nhs.uk/.

The town’s Newgate Street will be the venue for a number of live performances throughout August.

Organised by Durham County Council, the events will feature bands showcasing a range of styles from jazz to rockabilly.

With a wide variety of acts performing there is certain to be something to suit everyone’s tastes and I’m sure it will provide an excellent accompaniment for shoppers as they go about their day.

- Steve McCormick, Bishop Auckland town centre manager

“With a wide variety of acts performing there is certain to be something to suit everyone’s tastes and I’m sure it will provide an excellent accompaniment for shoppers as they go about their day.”

Gypsy swing trio Contraband will be kicking the programme off on Saturday, 14 August.

They will be followed by four-piece Tudor pipe and drum band Wulfengrimm and an accordion-playing clown on Thursday, 19 August.

On Saturday, 21 August, rockabilly trio Root’n Toot’n will be encouraging shoppers to enjoy a musical break.

The Vieux Carre Jazzmen, a four-piece traditional jazz band, will be entertaining the crowds on Thursday, 26 August, when the clown will make a return visit.

And on Saturday, 28 August, the programme will come to an end with The Lovetones.

Performances will take place in the Newgate Street pedestrian area at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm and will last about 30 minutes.

For more information contact Steve McCormick on 01388 761 957.

The Morris Minor, an icon of British design, has been gracing our roads for over 60 years and a collection of some 50 Morris Minors is scheduled to be on display at the Bond Isle Recreation field adjacent to Stanhope Station from 10:30am. Millions of these iconic vehicles were produced between 1948 and 1970, ranging in styles from the split screen and convertibles to pick-ups and the classic Morris Traveller.

A toy Duck Race will take place on Sunday afternoon, (subject to weather conditions) and there will be prizes for the 1st, 2nd and third places, followed by a Raffle.

The WR Junior Club are also planning to be opening the doors on their model railways in the Waiting Rooms at Stanhope Station.

Field entry is free. Usual train fares and timetable apply.

Enquiries and Information:-
Tel. 01388526203
enquiries@weardale-railway.org,uk
www.weardale-railway.org.uk

Whether people are already involved at the club, or just looking to increase their physical activity, help and support is available to make officiating in rugby at Bishop Auckland RUFC a possibility.

County Durham Sport, along with the RFU and the NHS have launched a programme called “Changing the Physical Landscape” which looks to help people become more active and help your club while removing any barriers to taking part.

By signing up to “Fit to Ref”, you will have access to;

• Free Referee Training Courses
• Shirt, Shorts, Socks to officiate in and a Kit Bag
• Club Referee Coordinator to help and support participants
• Free additional training courses provided locally to update and improve on existing qualifications

The club explains “It doesn’t have to be as a full referee – running the touchline is as important a job!”

If you are interested in finding out more, contact Club Referee Coordinator, Paul Musgrave, on 07919 153056.

‘Our intention is that the programme will celebrate and showcase the fact that the north East of England is an acknowledged hotbed of literary talent.’

- Wendy Robertson, Presenter, The Writing Game

Writers and Readers!

Listen to conversations about creative writing in all its forms. Listen to the voices of writers if national standing in the North East Region. Listen to the voices of local writers who want to break into the writing game or who just enjoy their own writing.

On Tuesday 3rd August ‘Storytellers, Writing Buddies and Writing Groups.’

• Wendy R – ‘We are all story tellers. How writing buddies and groups help us to get it down on paper’
• Lisette Rebecca Grout reads from her magical novel The Stickle Back Catcher
• Wendy in conversation with Wear Valley Writers leader Peter Walters about the inspirational and practical function of writers groups. of writing groups
• Wendy in conversation with Wear Valley Writers – mother- and daughter-in- law! – Geri Auton and Lisette Rebecca Grout about their very differing writing methods and approaches.
• Geri Auton reads from her new novel
• Glyn Wales reads extract from The Jagged Window, Wendy’s novel about another beginning writer – a girl who is apprenticed to a journalist at the turn of the century on a paper not unlike the then Auckland Chronicle
• Wendy and Avril in conversation recommending their favourite books advising writers how to set about writing. (Booklist on Bishop FM Website).

The programme will go out on August 3rd at 7pm and will be available later as a podcast to download from www.bishopfm.com. You can also listen to it now on the internet.

In September I am delighted to say we’ll be in conversation with the great writer of with the world famous Horrible History Series, Terry Deary.

We will be talking about WAR! Terry’s new novel PUT OUT THE LIGHT is set in World War Two.

I will mention my novel LAND OF YOUR POSSESSION, set in the Coventry Blitz. And we will be hearing from more North Eastern aspiring writers. Wendy Robertson

Fire-fighters demonstrate their skills at the scene of a road accident

On hand with the official speeches and opening were local figures Lord Barnard, Helen Goodman MP, and newly elected mayor Lesley Zair.

Men in uniform were thick on the ground, with firemen wearing full kit and their officers looking smart in their black dress uniform and silver pips, the spectacle was completed with Police officers, and mountain rescue teams complete with harness, crampons and ropes.

Community involvement was the key word for the events of the day, with all kinds of displays designed to involve, inform and educate the public, who rose to the occasion making the day a huge success.

Entertainment consisted of bouncy castles, the fun house, and fire engines available for all to clamber over, as well as loads of demonstration on putting fires out rescuing people from burning buildings to a stunning display of the equipment needed to cut a trapped driver from his crushed car.

See more photos in our Flickr set – Bishop Auckland Community Fire Station Open Day.

Musicians at the Proms

See photos from Bishop Auckland Proms

Gary and Terry from the G’n'T Show went along to enjoy the strawberries on offer.

Anita, a Harpist at the Proms

Graham Walker, Timpanist

Maggie McDonald, Mezzo Soprano

Zenethin Kelsey, Conductor