Articles

The Gala Theatre in Durham are touring a free family theatre show, ‘Billy Shakes: Wonder Boy!’ to Blackhill and Consett park this summer and would really appreciate some help to spread the word to local families. The performances will be on Thursday 12th August at 11am & 2pm. The shows are free to attend (no booking or ticket required) and running time is approx. 1 hour. All shows will be BSL interpreted. Find out more  

PROPOSALS for a riverside ‘glamping’ site offering hot tubs and fishing activities for visitors in County Durham have been approved. Last year, a planning application was lodged with Durham County Council to erect six glamping pods in the Shotley Grove area, near Consett. The structures were planned for a parcel of land to the south of Shotley Grove Road, next to the River Derwent. According to a design and access statement from the applicant, the glamping pods would be of “modest, modern design with materials in keeping with the site’s setting”. Read the full article in The Northern Echo …

A lovely over the garden wall chat with David Lavery on a dry, sunny day for a change.   He has done fantastic work with revamping the Leadgate Community History Club website and even using his exercise walks to meet up with locals like Bernard Nixon.   The recording, sharing of local community history for people to enjoy now and in the future all done for educational reasons not commercial.   The history belongs to all of us and should be free to access where ever you or what ever your circumstances   We are just custodians and helping to share it – cant wait to be able to explore holding another Then and Now Exhibition when the current times improve   Link for website http://leadgatecommunityhistoryclub.co.uk/Welcome.html Link the Facebook page below https://www.facebook.com/Leadgate-Community-History-Club-1913827755567448

Teddy bear’s picnic has been going for 28 years, originally from an idea by a regular at the Crown & Crossed Swords in Shotley Bridge, to bring festive cheer to older members of the local population. Usually patrons are collected from 3 local care homes, (these are St Mary’s Convent, Shotley Park Care Home and Kaydar in the village of Shotley Bridge) and brought to the Crown & Crossed Swords. Other local residents who may be alone or vulnerable are also contacted and invited to join us. Here they are treated to a full Christmas dinner, dessert, drinks and entertainment.   Fundraising takes place throughout the year to raise enough to cover costs, and volunteers to help with serving meals and washing up are always welcome.    This year we had to be more creative, but didn’t let it hold us back. There were care packages assembled for staff and residents at the 3 care homes, including home-baked goodies, and sweets, biscuits and mulled wine generously donated by Tesco Consett.    The marvellous Anna Reay provided some amazing sing-along songs in car-park and roadside concerts with her amplifier and microphone powered from her car! Where there’s a will, there’s a […]

2020 sees a number of major anniversaries and commemoration’s for the Consett area and the  Consett & District Heritage Initiative (CDHI). On 12th  September 2010 the CDHI opened its doors for our first ever exhibition which saw more than 1000 people attending at the Lodge in Blackhill & Consett Park. The date was of a major significance as well being exactly 30 years from the closure of Consett Steel Works. It was for this very reason that our group was initially founded to help commemorate that monumental date.  After that event the CDHI was cemented and took up our place in the area as an archive and also to help spread the proud heritage of our area for now and future generations. Read the full article on Consett Magazine using this link.

*** Information provided by Karbon Homes *** For those of you who might not be aware, Karbon runs a telephone befriending service for over 55’s, Silver Talk.   Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK 4 months ago the demand for Silver Talk has rocketed and we have tripled the number of service users who receive a weekly social call from one of our volunteers.   Many of our existing volunteers were keen to support this growth and take on more calls each week, however to bridge the gap and make sure that new service users were able to benefit from the service as quickly as possible, we turned to Karbon colleagues for help.   This worked fabulously and we’re incredibly thankful for the time our colleagues gave up to help, however now that lockdown measures are easing and many of our services are back online a number of our colleague volunteers are having to return to their original roles and aren’t able to support to the level they were before.   Unless we’re able to recruit more community volunteers to fill the gaps, we’re afraid that some of our service users, who have grown incredibly attached to the service […]

The History of the Consett Steelworks project (supported by the Leadgate Community History Club) are delighted to announce the launch of a website which has now got its first content added   We are grateful to Gavin from the Northern Echo for his time and now producing this article which online from now but will in the hard copy paper on Monday next week   Link to article   https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18465452.forging-links-past-preserve-history/?fbclid=IwAR0ARlZlznxPZijknrPEapB5zNgGAJQonqHOAGjGXYirEsH1yvSbwBi1cyM   The project team are keen to start to collate stories and pictures to add to the website and also for the “Last Day” on line event on Sat 12th Sept 2020 which of course will be the 40th anniversary of the closure of the Steelworks back in 1980   More details on that event will follow in due course https://www.facebook.com/events/598337434100901/   Link for the website please do have a look and share- please bear in mind its a work in progress and will have content added regularly   https://historyofconsettsteelworks.com/      Email to make contact with the project group with any stories, pictures or questions is   historyofconsettsteelworks@gmail.com   If you are on Twitter please follow and re share Tweets for us https://twitter.com/ConsettWorks?lang=en-gb    The Facebook group which is already […]

The Rugby season is over.  It may have been officially cut short, but it has been a remarkable effort by the players at Consett RFC who contributed week in week out to maintain a 100% record, 22 games 22 victories!  There can’t be too many teams across the country who have wrapped up their league championship by the middle of March with a 100% record. Thanks to official Club photographer George Ledger we have pictures of the presentation of the League Championship Shield by Mark Short representing our main sponsor Amethyst Homes.  Receiving the trophy is Captain Courageous, Connor Petch, who gives 100% every week and has played all 22 games along with the other 100%’r Dave Adams. It remains to be seen what will happen following the current crisis but, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’, and I’m sure whatever the RFU decide to do with the leagues the lads will be up for the challenge and all our players will be ‘champing at the bit’ to get back on the field. Finally, you can check out all the accurate 1st team squad statistics https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/consett/teams/28999/statistics revealing the 100% record with an average of 40.4 points per game scored and […]

A popular theatre in County Durham is set to receive significant investment to carry out improvement works. Durham County Council will invest over £500,000 to upgrade Consett’s Empire Theatre which will see a number of improvements made to the building. The project will involve refreshing the décor of the theatre’s auditorium, enhancements to the stage and lighting, and improving backstage facilities for visiting acts. There will also be essential repairs made to the roof and cosmetic updates to the café and Box Office areas. Empire Theatre’s upgrade means the 500-capacity venue will close temporarily from Wednesday 1 April and will re-open in early September with an exciting new programme of Autumn shows and events. Cllr Joy Allen, Cabinet member for transformation, culture and tourism, said: “The Empire Theatre is a popular venue and is the heart of Consett for live theatre, the latest blockbusters, cultural events, and as a place to unwind at its café. “These improvements will give the venue a real boost so it can continue as a hub for family-friendly entertainment when it re-opens in the Autumn season.” Tickets for upcoming shows will still be available to purchase in advance during the closure, either online at the […]

A group of volunteers are setting up as Land of Oak & Iron Trust. They have already achieved some brilliant work, including a Heritage Orienteering project around Blackhill and Consett Park (all fresher students from Derwentside College, plus pupils from 3 local primary schools working together); bringing Tales of Derwentdale and Men of Iron back into print, and a fantastic mapping project where 30 people are involved in digitising changes to the area over time.  Next spring the group will be bringing back to life ‘Thread of Iron’ by Douglas Vernon https://helensteadman.com/2016/11/12/literature-review-4-thread-of-iron-by-douglas-vernon-a-definitive-history-of-shotley/10983141/  This will be in Consett, possibly the library. The timing is of course linked to the 40th year anniversary of the closure of the steelworks. Susan is the main contact for this on our team and can pass on details to you. 

Consett Iron Company made Spring steel that nobody else in the world could match – they were famous for their Spring steel – made from the waters of the River Derwent.  They exported their steel all over the world! I worked for CIC for 8 years, and was the Shipping Invoice Clerk. I had to copy type Proforma’s, Bills of Lading, Import and Export invoices in the language of the recipient country so I know how far the steel was exported all over the world! Dorman Long from Middlesbrough built Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia using Consett Iron Company steel.  The first Polaris submarine was built with CIC steel, and the Empress of Canada ship.  It is ironic that I lived my life in all three of these countries:  England, Australia and Canada. Nancy Steel