Bishop Auckland is returning to the fore with a vengeance, not only is it expanding exponentially, with new housing developments, a brand new football ground, a beautiful cricket ground, a commercial trading estate (and of course its own radio station covering the surrounding area and the dales).
Two of the mighty food superstore chains realising the potential of our regeneration have looked at us and have decided to invest heavily in our the area, and are putting in a new infrastructure and are giving a massive shopping choice to the rapidly expanding population.
Sainsbury’s and Tesco are both opening their new superstores next week. Tesco opens on Monday, 25th October, whilst Sainsbury’s opens on Wednesday, 27th October.
Both are welcome additions to our area, creating over 500 new jobs and the extra choice of shopping facilities. Sainsbury’s invited 105.9 Bishop FM to attend their community functions in the run up to the opening, and we were glad to get involved.
The first event we attended was at the open day at Bishop Auckland Town Hall, and the event was showcasing Sainsbury’s range of food and services on offer, ranging from an in store pharmacy, on site bakery, a cafeteria, very tasty cakes, a cookery demonstration by Sainsbury’s own X FACTOR chef, Zoe Maclean, and a catwalk fashion show previewing the range of clothes on offer at the new superstore.
The second event involved children from a local school in west Auckland and the burying of a time capsule outside the main entrance to the store, a short ceremony saw the children place items into a ceramic tube, which was sealed and placed beneath the pavement. The spot will be marked with a wall plaque, and will be opened in 20 years time, and the contents explored and the changes marked.
This weekend Bishop Auckland FC, whose new ground has been constructed at the same time, will receive the keys to the ground.
Bishop Auckland is an ancient town well placed in the dales, it’s the meeting place of many pathways and railway crossings, it is a market town with a long history and has played an important role in the history of England. Bishop, as it is called locally can claim to having had Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy living here as a child, Jeramiah Dixon from Cockfield famous for helping to plot the MASON & DIXON line, and of course being the historical seat of the Bishop of Durham, one of the most important and powerful seats in development of English Christianity.