mystery firm plans 2,000 bowburn jobs · 2018-06-16 · page 1 no. 87 june 2018 representatives of...
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No. 87 www.interchange.bowburn.net June 2018
Representatives of Citrus, who own the site, accompanied by County Council officers to explain some details, came to two meetings in Bowburn in May. They wanted to explain three new planning applica-tions – one that had just been made and two others that were about to follow.
The three applications are:• to vary the original outline consent for the whole site, granted in April 2016, increas-ing the total amount of floor-space for general industrial, storage and distribution use;• to get detailed (“reserved matters”) permission for a building (with associated parking, landscaping etc) on the large southern part of that site, and• to bui ld a second new roundabout on the A688, near Tursdale, to serve this new building.
Citrus wanted to explain these to the local Community Partnership and the Parish Council, and to stress the importance of quick deci-sions. A major national com-pany, they said, had chosen Bowburn to be its new base. Its 2,000 employees in that building, working round the clock in two shifts, would use the roundabout that is already going ahead, anyway, just south of the motorway service station. But delivery and col-lection HGV vehicles needed to use a separate entrance – the extra roundabout.
The building itself (if this goes ahead) will be 22.4 metres (73ft 6") high – four or five metres higher than the one shown in Citrus’s original
outline planning permission. It would have a smaller foot-print (500,000 sq. ft. instead of 750,000) but a much larger flo-orspace, because it will be four storeys high.
This would mean a sig-nificant increase in the floor-space for “general industrial, storage and distribution use” across the whole Integra 61 site. Indeed it would increase it by 63% – from 170,859 sq.m. (1,839,111 sq.ft.) to 279,252 sq.m. (3,005,843 sq.ft.). That is the subject of the “variation of consent” application.
The new roundabout would only be used by HGV vehicles coming to use the 66 docks on the ground floor of the building.
All three planning applica-tions will have to be approved in time for building work to start this autumn, said Citrus representative David Cullingford. The new business wants the site to be fully oper-ational by March 2020 – or it will not come!
Citrus was not able to identify this new business. Legal terms had been agreed but contracts had not yet been exchanged. What had been signed, how-ever, was an “NDA” – a non-disclosure agreement – whereby the company’s iden-tity must remain, for the time being, confidential.More roadworksIf the extra roundabout is approved, it will of course mean further roadworks. The most disruptive of those will be at the motorway junction – see page 7. It is expected that building the two new rounda-bouts on the A688 Bowburn
to Tursdale road will be much less of a problem. They will be built by Citrus’s contractors, who will also do infrastruc-tural works within the Integra 61 site – now that the buildings at Peat Edge have been demol-ished and hedgerows removed. As both roundabouts will be away from the line of the existing main road, most of the work will not affect exist-ing traffic. It is possible, even, that the final connections will be sorted out with short-term, weekend road closures.
At both last month’s con-sultative meetings, residents said that vehicles leaving the motorway service station should turn left, after the first roundabout is built. They were told that to make this an offi-cial order could take a long time, as there might be objec-tions. But any delay would mean Integra 61’s new opera-tor would not come.
However it was stressed that this company would not come, anyway, if it had any doubts about traffic flows affecting its operations being a problem. Meanwhile, many users of the service station are likely to turn left, after a new roundabout is built nearby, to get back to the motorway.
When Citrus representatives met Parish Councillors and the Community Partnership last month, the only applica-tion that had been made was for the extra new roundabout. At the time that this Bowburn Interchange went to the print-ers, it was expected that they would be invited again, to explain details of the other two planning applications.
Mystery firm plans 2,000 Bowburn jobs2,000 jobs could be created by March 2020, in a single building on the
Integra 61 business park, according to developers Citrus.
Promoting positive mental health through exercise… and fundraising!KAY Cairns, of Bowburn, raised an amazing £902 for the
mental health charity, Mind, in May. She has long been promot-ing positive mental health through exercise, especially running. Now she has used that dedication to fundraise for charity.
During the month, Kay:• recorded 19 activities on 16 different days;• ran for a total of 17 hours and 1 minute, travelling 75.7 miles;• ran an average of 4.45 miles on each day that she ran – the most being 13.1 miles in one day;• ran two Parkruns – in one of which the 427 people who took part had a think, and hopefully then a chat, about mental health and how running can improve their state of mind, and• led four informal “run and talk’s” with her local club, Elvet Striders, where she chatted openly about mental health and allowed others to talk safely and without judgement.
Kay has always supported mental health charities, in par-ticular those that focus on work-ing with children and young people, but usually smaller local ones. “But I know Mind do a lot of great work”, she said, “so I decided I’d request any fundraising in the North East.”
Kay expected everything to be very low key but, after manag-ing to bag a ticket to Ben 401’s Q&A session, she was completely inspired and in awe of all he’d done. “I just thought, you know what, I can do more! So this is
one of my small steps towards ‘doing more’ and ‘being more’ than just me!”
She decided to start a blog, alongside the running, and tried to write a little most days throughout the month of May. Her posts vaguely focus on her own relationship with Mental Health and Running. “I abso-lutely believe that the latter has improved the former”, she said. “My aim is simply to talk more, keep the discussion flowing (along with the tea) and eat cake (gluten-free if possible!)”
You can read Kay’s blog at <runandtalkwithkay.wordpress.com>.
Donations can be made on-line at <https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kay-cairns1>.
Kay is also running in the Great North Run in September.
(See page 7 for more about local charity fundraisers.)
A view of the Integra 61 site from the A688 now (above) and how it might look, flanked
by distribution “sheds” (below)
Pilates at ”Youthie”GIRLS aged 11-17 years can now do Pilates
every Wednesday in the Bowburn Youth Centre.
“Pilates is suitable for all abilities of fitness”, said Joanne Eden, youth worker and qualified Pilates Instructor, who runs the classes. “It’s a great way to build up
your strength; improve self-esteem, posture and core stability, and pro-mote body awareness and positive mental health.”
The classes start at 5pm and cost 30p a session.
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BOWBURN Facebook isn’t your only source of infor-mation about Bowburn!
Partnership News
by Janet Blackburn, Secretary, Bowburn & Parkhill
Community Partnership
Why not try the Partnership meetings, held every third Tuesday of the month, at 6pm in Bowburn Community Centre? There you can hear the latest news about our area and have your say face-to-face with those concerned. If possible, we will invite people along to answer your questions.
Over the past two months:• The Integra 61 team has given
details of progress on their site behind Durham Road West.
• Our councillors have updated us on the progress of plans for the Primary School.
• The agent for the “old Co-op’ site has given information about the new plans for two small shops, instead of the pre-vious one large shop.
• An application has been sent to County Durham Community Foundation for funds towards t h e c h i l d r e n ’ s H o l i d a y Programme.
• A contribution of £620 has been sent to DCC, to provide a steel seat below the toddler play area in Bowburn park.
• We took part in an “Enterprise Drop-in” for local businesses in the Community Centre, to engage with them and see how we could benefit each other for
Bowburn. Unfortunately, only one business turned up but we hope to contact other busi-nesses individually.
• The long-awaited trees have been planted to screen the Anaerobic Digester in Old Quarrington.All the trustees and officers of
the Partnership were re-elected at the AGM in May. There are five vacancies and anyone who is interested should contact the sec-retary, Janet Blackburn, on 0191 377 0653.
The next meetings will be on 19th June, 17th July and 21st August. We hope to see you there!
Katem LogisticsTHE Office of Traffic Com-
missioners has granted a Goods Vehicle Operator’s Li-cence to Katem Logistics, for its proposed new base in the Henderson Building in Bowburn. Extensive work has been under way to convert the building and the company is expected to re-locate from Spennymoor this summer.
AAP NewsTHE local Area Action Partnership (AAP) met
on 15th March at Cassop Community Centre, chaired by Stuart Dunn. The main issues and deci-sions were as follows.• Chloe Brown, Investing in Children, gave a verbal update on the latest posi-tion with the work they’re doing with the AAP.• Joseph Chandy, from DDES CCG, delivered a presentation on Care Navigation.• Lyndsey Hunter and Jane Bellis gave a verbal update on project spend and development. All of the Area Budget for 2016/17 had been allo-cated, and work was com-mencing via the Joint Priorities Task Group for the coming year.• I n s p e c t o r S a r a h Honeyman gave a verbal
update on local policing.• Neighbourhood Budget application details were provided for Bowburn Community Association (Dance floor to Ballet R o o m a n d C u r l i n g ) , Kelloe Parish Council ( C o m m e m o r a t i v e b e n c h e s ) a n d A c t i v e Centre for Life (Gym Extension). The Board agreed to take these pro-jects forward.
The next Board meeting will be held on Tuesday 3rd July 2018, from 5pm till 7pm, at Trimdon Community Col lege , Elwick View, Trimdon Village, TS29 6JU.
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by Trish Fay
WHAT a strange few months! From Snow Days to scorching sun! But that hasn’t stopped the wide variety of activi-ties and trips for our children to enjoy.
Our children were given the opportu-nity to learn how to ride a bicycle and how to keep safe when riding. They were told about the importance of always wearing a cycle helmet and had fun creating their own helmets to protect a fresh egg! A random selection of chil-dren were then given a lesson on how to ride a bike without their stabilisers.
Shrimps and Minnows are experienc-ing weekly Yoga sessions during their PE lesson.
To celebrate World Book Day, each class wore clothes connected to a spe-cific book. Shrimps’ and Minnows’ choice was Aliens Wear Underpants. Starfish’s and Seahorses’ choice was Elmer. Dolphins’ and Sharks’ choice was Mr Creep the Crook. Each class listened to their chosen story before taking part in activities based on their book choice.
Before the Beast from the East became too nasty, we enjoyed the first snowfall with an outdoor play in the fresh, clean snow! Children who had suitable foot-wear and warm clothing went out for morning play on the field. As you can see, a great time was had by all!
Spring Term Friendship Day was filled with a variety of activities and sto-ries. Mrs Foster led the Friendship Day assembly where the children chosen by their class teachers, for always being a good friend, were presented with their Friendship Bear. Year 1 classes acted out the story of Elmer and the Butterfly. Shrimps and Minnows day was based around The Crayon Box That Talked. Seahorses and Starfish enjoyed African
Art connected with Handa’s Surprise. Dolphins and Sharks made a Friendship Mural and concocted a Friendship recipe!
Children and staff participated in the nationwide charity day, to raise money for Sport Relief. All the children were invited to come to school in their sports clothes and then they took part in a variety of indoor and outdoor sporting activities, with obstacle courses, running and Zumba. Staff raised money by guess-ing how many steps Jonnie Wilkinson did in one day. A super total of £158 was raised. Thank you!
Seahorses class attended a Basketball Festival at Maiden Castle, along with groups from schools all over Durham. They learned new ball skills and prac-ticed indoors, before trying their hand at playing on the outdoor court.
Our annual egg decorating competi-tion brought a wide variety of eggs!. So much imagination went in to creating these fantastic eggs!
Perfect cricketing weather made a morning of sport even more enjoyable when Darren Brown, from Durham County Cricket Club, came to school. Darren led a special assembly to tell the children in KS1 about All Stars Cricket coaching. He then took each class for an introduction to cricket class.
As part of their RE topic, Dolphins and Sharks went to the Church of Christ the King, to learn about Baptism. Father John welcomed them in to the church and told them about the traditional ritual of Baptism in to the Christian church.
As part of Year 1 topic about George Stephenson, Starfish and Seahorses visited the Locomotion Museum in Shildon. The education team there led an informative and fun session, telling the children about the work and inven-tions of George Stephenson.
As part of their RE topic about Christianity, Sharks and Dolphins vis-ited Durham Cathedral to learn about St. Cuthbert. They were told the story of the founding of Durham Cathedral, by a member of the Cathedral Education team, and acted out St. Cuthbert’s life story by dressing up.
THE current position regarding planning applications in Bowburn and Parkhill is outlined below.
Planning Round-up by Richard Cowen
Durham wreaths go worldwideLOCAL craft group Durham Rug Makers have been recently turning their
“proggy and hooky” skills to wreath making. Links with internationally renowned rug making teacher Heather Ritchie led to a request to supply tea-plate size wreaths to go into goody bags of local produce.
Caravanners celebrateLOCAL camping and caravan en-
thusiasts are celebrating big an-niversaries this year.
The Camping and Caravanning Club, North East Region, was formed in 1948. At first it comprised two district associa-tions: Teesside D.A. and Northumbria & Durham D.A. Twenty years later, these split into three.
So Durham District Association cel-ebrated its 50th anniversary, with a huge caravan rally at Stanhope, last month – over 200 vans attended. And the North East Region is holding a 70th birthday celebration rally at Houghall College, Durham, this month.
“For many years”, said Pam Smith, “the N.E. Region and Durham D.A. have held their committee meetings at Bowburn, as a central point for their areas. We have always been warmly welcomed.” And Pam herself has long been an active member of Bowburn Community Association.
All members of the Camping & Caravanning Club are welcome at any of the club’s rallies, all over the country. “We are ‘the friendly club’”, said Pam. “So come along and join us!”
Bowburn Hall HotelThere are now three issues relating to
Bowburn Hall Hotel.1. The application to extend the
hotel and build a pergola has now been approved but with strict conditions relating to its use to help control poten-tial noise problems.
2. An application has been made for holiday lodges within the grounds of the hotel. This has not yet been determined but noise is again considered to be an issue. The Parish Council, Community Partnership and some residents have objected to this proposal.
3. The hotel has already constructed a biomass boiler. It has now been deter-mined that this requires planning per-mission and a retrospective application has been made. The Parish Council has objected to the proposal.Opposite St Mary’s Terrace, Parkhill
Work has now started on this site to construct 190 houses.
Durham ServicesAn application has been made to
extend the garage building to pro-vide toilet facilities. While there can be no objection to this in itself, the Parish Council and the Community Partnership have again commented that traffic exiting the Services should be made to turn left when the rounda-bout for the Integra 61 development is completed.Integra 61
Representatives from Integra 61 spoke to both the Parish Council and the Community Partnership at their meet-ings in May to explain a major proposal for this site. While no details could be given at this stage, they mentioned that a very large building was to be constructed at the southern end of the site which would operate 24 hours a day. This site had been considered against sites all over the country and appears to offer the best results. They also mentioned that
In October, Heather, who featured on the TV programme “Make” ear-lier this year, will play host as current president of TIGHR (The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers) at their triennial conference. Originally from Sunderland, but now resident in Reeth, Heather and friends will wel-come approximately 100 delegates from around the world to the beautiful valley of Swaledale. County Durham and Yorkshire are reflected in her chosen theme of “sheep”!
From Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th October, a Rag Rug exhibition will be held in St Andrews church, Grinton,
near Reeth. This will be open to the public. At the same time these interna-tional craftspeople will hold seminars and workshops with visits to localities such as Beamish, to view their historical collections of rugs.
Durham Rug Makers are holding their own event on Wednesday 4th July at Bowburn Community Centre when they will gather together a display of all the mini-wreaths produced by the group. From there, who knows where in the world each unique tiny work of art will end up, as they go home with a new owner, along with memories of their warm welcome to the north-east.
this would require a second roundabout to be constructed on the A688 nearer to Tursdale and an application has been made for planning permission for this roundabout.
At the meetings a number of issues were raised by councillors and mem-bers. The Integra 61 representatives were asked to bear these in mind when submitting their application for the building.
(See more on page 1.)Former Co-op building
There has been concern about the cur-rent state of the former Co-op building. However, there are reasons to believe that work will start soon to redevelop this building and so, it is anticipated, tidy up the site.Hill Top View
There has been concern that, when the planning application for this site was considered, there would be a pedes-trian access provided directly on to the A177. That has not been provided. The developers have recently said they are not obliged to do this as the path was not shown in the appropriate way in the planning application.
At present, there are footpaths along the length of the estate road to its junc-tion with Crowtrees Lane, but no foot-paths at this point on that Lane. There is a footpath that leads to the Lane, oppo-site the Infant & Nursery School. This path does join with a footpath along-side the Lane. However, there are often parked cars on this footpath, meaning pedestrians have either to walk on the road or immediately cross it.
At present it is still being considered how the issue can be resolved.
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awarded £37,426 by the National Lottery Charities Board… to do something about one of the village’s “grot spots” , ident i-fied in last year’s Village Appraisal.… The scheme will include new bound-ary features for the Youth Club [and] a… footpath from there through to the Library….• Parishioners of Christ the King Church have been told they can carry on with whatever plans they think best. The church, on which build-ing work started in 1963, only opened in 1978. Fifteen years later its days were already numbered… The church would have to close.
Then last year, the c h u r c h w a s b r o u g h t into the Archdeaconry of Durham and there was a change of heart. If the Parochial Church Counci l cou ld ra i se enough money for repairs or rebuilding… they had authority to do so.• T h e 1 s t B o w b u r n Brownies meet every Wednesday, from 6.15–7 .30pm, in Bowburn Community Centre.• B o w b u r n ’ s H e l e n Kane… was invited for trials for the England under-16s on 7th April.• Juke Box Jury, who were voted Clubland’s Top Band in November 1997, had their TV debut on Friday 9th January, when they were fea-tured on Mike Neville’s Channel 3 North East News Programme.• Parish Council News: …In January of this year Allotments and Garages in Bowburn and Tursdale
were purchased from British Coal.
• On 26th July, a Book w a s d e d i c a t e d c o m -memorating the thirty men from Cassop-cum-Quarrington who gave their lives in World War II.• The new Chairman o f N o r t h D u r h a m Health Care NHS Trust has stepped in to save Bowburn’s Child Health Clinic. He has promised Durham City’s MP that money will be invested on improving its premises in Bowburn Community Centre.• Tuesday evenings over the summer have seen villagers of all ages learn-ing how to use computers at Bowburn Community Centre – the youngest member of the class being 12 years of age and the oldest 74.• B o w b u r n ’ s f o u r t h annual Family Fun Day was again hit by rain… Yet hundreds of people turned out determined to enjoy themselves… and they did! At least the rain was the warmest we’ve ever had!• Durham City Council have turned down DS S u p p l i e s ’ p l a n n i n g
application for a golf course at Quarrington Farm, the site of the pro-posed opencast site.• Bowburn’s new Police Sergeant is 35-year-old Gary Moore.• Bowburn Library’s new Assistant-in-Charge is Mrs. Joanne Parkinson.• B o w b u r n S t r o k e Club began in the early 1980s… The club contin-ues to meet on Thursdays from 10.45am to 1.30pm at Homeside, Marlene Avenue.
The above sn ippet s a r e e x t r a c t e d f r o m Interchanges no. 5 (April 1998) and no. 6 (August 1998).
All previous copies of Bowburn Interchange can be read on-line. See <www.interchange.bow-burn.net/pastissues.htm>.
Art Group thrives
by Pat Stewart
100 years ago…IN 1918, 163 women in Bowburn, 79 in Tursdale and 24 at Park
Hill gained the right to vote, for the first time, in local and national elections.B O W B U R N A r t
Group is continu-ing to thrive with an ever increasing mem-bership.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y o u r planned visit to Beamish Museum on Tuesday 27th February had to be postponed due to the “Beast from the East”, but the group’s visit on a lovely sunny 1st May was well worth the wait and resulted in a very enjoy-able day of sketching and painting. Other visits planned for this year are to Unison Pastels in Northumberland and the Locomotion Museum at Shildon. We will also hold a “Plein Air” session in a rural location in June.
Our 7th bi-annual exhi-bition took place at the Community Centre on Friday 23rd March and was very well attended. We were delighted that it also included exhibits
from some new mem-bers. As 2018 is the cen-tenary of World War One, we will be using this as the theme for our 8th bi-annual exhibition to be held in the Autumn. Thanks to local council-lors, we have received funding to support us with this special pro-ject. The preview even-ing for this exhibition will be held on Friday 9th
November 2018. Further details to follow.
A Community exhibi-tion (to coincide with Bowburn Fun Day), is also planned for summer 2018. Artists who are not members of the Art group are being encouraged to display their work; this can be on any subject. Submissions from local schools, local groups and
individuals are particu-larly welcome and their work will be displayed along the main corri-dor in the Community centre. Anyone interested in providing a piece of art for this Community exhibition can leave their name and contact details (’phone number or e-mail address) at Reception in Bowburn Community Centre.
Bowburn Fun Day takes place on Saturday 29th
September and as well as encouraging an interest in Art, the Art group will be holding a children’s art workshop at the com-munity centre.
Our 4th Annual General Meeting takes place on Tuesday 26th June, at 10am, at the Community Centre.
The Representation of the People Act 1918 received royal assent on 6th February of that year. A new electoral regis-ter came into effect in October. And the first G e n e r a l E l e c t i o n i n which women in the UK were allowed to vote was held soon after the end of World War I, on 14th
December.That did not include
al l women, however. For another ten years, they had to be 30 years of age before they could vote. But 114 women in Bowburn’s colliery rows, for instance, and another 79 in those at Tursdale, could vote for the first time that year.
This compared with 166 men in the Bowburn colliery rows and 64 in Tursdale’s – as well as a further 79 men who were registered as absent voters. All or most of
those were on active ser-vice in France. Five of them were killed before it ended. Another ex-soldier died before the election, as a result of his wounds, back home in Bowburn.
There was also one woman registered as an absent voter in Bowburn, in 1918: Mary Moore. W h o w a s s h e ? , w e wonder. Was she too on war service?Women’s Gala 2018
This year, on Saturday 30th June, a celebration of the centenary of women’s right to vote will take place in Wharton Park, in Durham.
This revives a decades-long tradition of Durham Women’s Galas which, at its peak, attracted thou-sands of people and saw speakers such as Barbara Castle, Jennie Lee and Harold Wilson.
There will be speakers,
live music, refreshments, crafts, mini-golf, mini-cars, football, women’s sect ion banners and voter registration. All are welcome regardless of gender, and families are particularly encouraged to attend.
Entry will be free. 12 noon till 4pm.
For more information, contact: <[email protected]>.
20 years ago…In 1998, Bowburn Interchange reported:• “Bowburn is at a cross-roads in its history. It is 30 years since the pit closed… ” These are the opening words of the
Report on the Bowburn Village Appraisal… A full copy of the Report is in Bowburn Library.• P r i n c e C h a r l e s i s
coming to Bowburn on 2nd July. He will open the new Durham Aged Mineworkers Homes Association bungalows in Jones Court, off Lawson Road.• Bowburn has been
Quiz NewsTHE latest BVC table
quiz at Crowtrees WM Club, on 9th March, raised £59 for Bowburn Interchange.
A close contest was won in the last round by The Litterpickers. The next one will be on Friday 6th July, starting at 7.30pm.
The latest Community P a r t n e r s h i p p a p e r quiz, “Astronomy vs Astrology”, was won by Derek Thompson, with 2nd and 3rd prizes going to P. Hutchinson and B. & J. Coleman.
The next quiz sheet, “On the Move”, is now on sale, at £1. Closing date is 18th August. Contact Janet Blackburn (0191 377 0653) for details.
page 5
Bowburn Junior School Newsby Mrs Jackie Glass, Headteacher
World Book DayPupils came to school prepared for a
fun day celebrating all things to do with reading. This year we decided it would be a good idea to pick a theme or a book for each year group to centre the activi-ties and dressing up around. Pupils had already been completing English work, so had a good understanding of the book’s characters already. Year 3 picked “Myths and Legends”, Year 4 picked “Gansta Granny” by David Walliams, Year 5’s book was “Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nime” and Year 6 chose “Holes” by Louis Sachaar. The costumes were amazing, and even the staff got into the theme and dressed up! A World Book Day assembly gave everyone the chance to see each others costumes, and the children completed lots of reading and book-based activities over the day.
Vikings are coming!Year 5 have been studying the Vikings
in topic lessons this term. As part of our studies the children showed a par-ticular interest in Viking food and were intrigued by the simple nature of the food the Vikings ate. Enter Mrs Forster and Miss Overton! We decided to give the children a first-hand experience of Viking food and planned for the chil-dren to make Viking bread and compare it to our modern day pizza (that the chil-dren also made.)
The pupils had so much fun knead-ing the dough and creating pizza top-pings to make the mouth water. We then tasted the food and made histori-cal comparisons between the ingredi-ents we have available today and those the Vikings would have foraged in years gone by. Strangely, the tasting seemed to be the highlight of the day for most of the children!Technology Tom
Year 5 the pupils had another excel-lent experience when “Technology Tom” came into school to work with the children on their science topic “Forces” and our DT topic “Cams and Levers”. Tom was with us for the whole day so the children were able to fully immerse themselves in the activities. The morn-ing sessions consisted of an array of sci-ence experiments where the children tested different forces and their effects. The afternoon was spent using engineer-ing skills to design and make a moving mechanism that could later be turned into a toy. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and learnt so much.
Football NewsMr Taylor and Mrs Leslie took a team
of young footballers to compete in the Year 3 Durham City Football Festival. The children put in some really good performances, the highlights being a
couple of really good draws and a con-vincing 4-0 victory. Goals were scored by Eveie, Archie and Aiden, but team work was evident from all players (Zak, Leon W., John-Anthony, Daniel V. and Jayden). Well done to all the children involved; you did the school proud with your excellent behaviour and effort. Thank you to the parents that came along to support us too!
“Park and Stride” launchNina from “Living Streets” launched
the “Park and Stride” as part of the “Walk to School ” initiative. Parents and carers brought children who normally travel by car to the “park and stride” car park at Church of Christ the King Bowburn, to be joined by pupils who had been brought to breakfast club by car that morning. We all walked back to school following the safe route indicated on the Park and Stride map. In future we hope that more parents and pupils will “park and stride” to school at least once a week. As well as encouraging healthy ways to get to school, this can reduce congestion at the school gate and make our entrance safer. Also it means pupils will obtain their Walk to School badge, even if they normally come by car! Once pupils got to school they were met by Strider, the “Walk to School” mascot, who gave them badges, pencils and other goodies. Well done to all the “Park and Stride” pupils, staff and Councillor McKeon who completed the Park and Stride – let’s hope we can do this as often as possible.
Durham Cathedral:Year 6 pupi ls v is i ted Durham
Cathedral on 18th April, as part of a pro-ject on wildlife and the environment. We found out about the history and significance of the building and how it has been used throughout the centuries. Our tour finished with a look at an art exhibition inside the cathedral, which our pupils contributed to by produc-ing leaf art which we printed, using ink and rollers. We all enjoyed the trip and learned a lot!Animal Antics
Year 5 had an exciting start to the Summer Term! In line with our new Science topic, Life Cycles of Animals, we had a variety of special visitors in school that week. Jay’s Animal Encounters came to school to give the children a hands-on experience of reptiles, amphibians, mammals and arachnids. We were lucky enough to be able to hold the animals, feed them and learn about how they have evolved and adapted to survive in their natural habitats. We par-ticularly liked the bearded dragons; we were amazed by how friendly and tame they were. Our favourite was Merlin the meerkat who delighted us all with his adorable personality. A highlight for the
children was Jay making the teachers hold the tarantula!
Anglo Saxon Day Year 4On Wednesday 25th April, Year 4 were
visited by Emma – a rich Anglo-Saxon lady who shared some of what it was like to live in England around 1,500 years ago.
Some of us dressed up as rich soldiers, poor farmers, lowly slaves and educated monks, learning about their different jobs and experiences. We even used a loom to weave some fabric, which was very tiring work! We learned about where they lived and what they ate (pea and ham soup was a favourite!) and we ground wheat to see what it was like to make bread from scratch.
We were enthralled by stories of myths and battles from Anglo-Saxon times and had the chance to consider how we might battle as brave warriors when the Vikings came to attack Bowburn! We discovered that windows were the latest technology, that soldiers would name their swords, how to speak some Old English, and even how Anglo-Saxon toi-lets worked!
Overall, it was a fantastic and inform-ative day, which has made us excited about studying our history topic in year 4 over the Summer term.
SATS weekYear 6 have taken their SATs tests and
thank goodness they are now all over. The children worked incredibly hard both before and during the tests, show-ing grit, determination and resilience to ensure they did their best.
All of the hard preparation, work and effort paid off. Their SATs monster mas-cots made their debut, and pupils were relieved that the tests weren’t as bad as maybe they thought they would be! Then the children and Y6 staff enjoyed D&T making burgers for a barbecue they cooked on the Friday afternoon.
Y6 then concentrated on writing, as writing is teacher-assessed in June, as well as enjoying summer term activities, a residential trip to Robin Wood, lots of sports and of course the amazing end of year production!
Well done to all our Y6 pupils and thank you for supporting your children before and during the test period.
Centenary muralsTWO large murals are to be paint-
ed on the walls of the Lounge in Bowburn Community Centre.
The theme of one of them will be “1918” – to mark the centenaries of the end of World War I and of the gaining of women’s suffrage.
Bowburn Art Group’s tutor, Allison Harris, showed some sketches to the Community Association's manage-ment committee, last month, and they were greatly admired. Members of the Art Group will be painting this “1918” mural, aiming to complete it before the centenary of Armistice Day, 11th November 1918.
The other mural will be created after that. This will show various scenes showing Bowburn’s miners’ lodge and community banners being displayed or paraded in the village. The aim is to have that painted by next July, before the 2019 Miners’ Gala Day.
The murals will each fill one of the 8ft X 11ft panels recently created, when the folding doors between the hall and the lounge were removed last winter. Funding has been promised by local councillors, via the Area Action Partnership.
Other, perhaps smaller, murals might be added elsewhere in the Centre, later. If you have any ideas about themes that might be about, please let us know.
George MarsdenGEORGE Marsden, of Cassop,
died on 16th May, aged 75.Geordie, as he was
known by all, had been a parish coun-cillor for 45 years and one of three Durham City Councillors rep-resenting Bowburn and the rest of Cassop-c u m - Q u a r r i n g t o n from 1987 till it was superseded by the new unitary County Council in 2009. His lifetime of ser-vice was a family tradition. His father, Tommy, had been a Rural District and then a City Councillor – and a Freeman of the City – before him, and his son, Jason, is a Parish Councillor to this day.
Church will celebrate 10th year with funTHE new Christ the King Church
will be celebrating its 10th anni-versary in September, with a week of activities.
The religious ceremony will be a dedication service, on Thursday 13th September – but even that will involve the serving of food afterwards! Then, the following week, there will be birthday fun for children and families.
On Tuesday 18th September, a free disco will be held for 4 to 7 year olds attending Bowburn Infants and Cassop Schools, from 5 to 6.30pm. Then there will be another one for 7 to 11 year olds from Bowburn Juniors and Cassop, on Thursday the 20th, from 6 to 8pm. Hot dogs and pop will be served at both events. Admission will only be by ticket, which will be issued, free, through the schools.
Then, on Saturday 22nd September, there will be a mini-fun day in the church garden. Games and stalls will depend on the weather. This will also be free, for all ages, and will be from 11am till 4pm.
Eid MubarakBLESSED celebration to everyone
on 15th June – Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
page 6
Dear Parishioners,George Marsden (Deceased)
I am deeply saddened to report that one of the Parish Council’s long-est serving Members passed away on
May 16th 2018. George served the Parish as a Member for Cassop for many years and he rarely missed a Meeting of the Parish Council. Our thoughts are with George’s bereaved family at his very sad time.
General Data Protection Regulations 2018
New Regulations came into ef-fect on 25th May 2018, which offer greater protection to individuals,
whose personal details are held on computer by the Parish Council. The new Regulations replace the Data Protection Act 1998. Amongst other rights, individuals have the right to request to have data removed from Parish Council records if they wish to protect their privacy. Under the new arrangements, a Data Protec-tion Officer (DPO) will be appointed by many organisations to oversee the protection of individual rights (al-though Local Councils are likely to be exempt from the requirement to appoint a Data Protection Officer).
The only personal information held by the Parish Council on com-puter files are contact details of all of the Parish Council’s allotment and garage site tenants in Bowburn & Tursdale (around 60 files) and contact details of those persons on the Allotment Waiting List (around 20 files). This information is held so that the Parish Council can demand
the annual rents of allotments and garage sites (when due) from tenants and contact them if a complaint is made about one of them.
I can assure Parishioners that the Parish Council does NOT share this information with any other organi-sation or individual. The informa-tion is treated as strictly confidential.
Anyone who wishes to check whether or not any personal infor-mation about them is held by the Parish Council should contact the Parish Clerk, Peter Thorpe, at 33, Scargill Drive, Spennymoor DL16 6LY or by e-mail addressed to <[email protected]>.
The new Data Protection Regime in England is overseen by the In-formation Commissioner’s Office, (ICO) and he/she is based at Wycliffe House, Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Peter ThorpeClerk to Cassop-cum-Quarrington
Parish Council
Parish Council Members’ Names, Addresses and Contact Telephone NumbersCllr Andrew Shutt, 27, Park Hill Estate, Coxhoe, Durham, DH6 4JH
(Tel: 0191-377-0904; e-mail: [email protected]) (Chairman, re-elected at the Annual Meeting, May 2017)
Cllr Sylvia Raine, The Grange, Old Quarrington, Durham, DH6 5NN (Tel: 0191-377-2728; e-mail: [email protected]) (Vice-Chairman, re-elected at the Annual Meeting, May 2017)
Cllr Janet Blackburn, 10, Grange Park Crescent, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5BW (Tel: 0191-377-0653; e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr John Johnson, 10, Horton Crescent, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5EJ (Tel: 0191- 377-0004; e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr Dawn Love, “Hillcrest”, Old Cassop, Durham, DH6 4QB (e-mail: [email protected]) (Joined Parish Council in May 2017)
Cllr Jason Marsden, 24, Luke Avenue, Cassop, Durham, DH6 4RD (Tel: 01429-821329)
Cllr Dennis Morgan, 26, Durham Rd West, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5AU (Tel: 0191-377-0553; e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr Alan Richardson, 61, Ramsay Street, Tursdale, Durham, DH6 5NS (Tel: 0191-377-9957; e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr Jackie Richardson, 27, Monteigne Drive, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5QB (Tel: 377 3574; e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr Martin Ridley, “The Brambles”, 27, Durham Road West, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5AU (Tel: 0794-912-3886; e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr James Robinson, 4, Steavenson Street, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5BA (Tel: 0191-377-1655; e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr Frank Salisbury, “Woodside”, 5, Wylam Terrace, Coxhoe, Durham, DH6 4JA (e-mail: [email protected])
Cllr John Spoors, 8, Grange Way, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5PN (Tel: 0191-447-5970; e-mail: [email protected]) (Joined Parish Council in May 2017)
Cllr Mike Syer, 8, Clarence Street, Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5BB (Tel: 0191-377-1491; e-mail: [email protected])
33, Scargill Drive,Spennymoor,Co. Durham,
DL16 6LY.Mobile no.: 0798-631-9443
E-mail: peter.thorpe@ mypostoffice.co.uk
Parish Council Website:www.ccqparishcouncil.org
June 2018
Cassop-cum-Quarrington Parish Council
Quarterly Parish Council Newsletter No. 39 (2018)
Printed locally by The Coronation Press Ltd., Coxhoe
Assist Accounts & Payroll
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page 7
Nature Notes by Richard Cowen
CAT kills are always unwelcome but
sometimes they bring us specimens that we would not have known existed in our area.
My cats have not infre-quently brought in mice, voles and shrews. This year however, a water shrew was brought in. While water shrews are not considered in any danger of extinction, they are far from common in this country. They are our largest shrew, noticeably larger than the common shrew or the tiny pigmy shrew. They live near water and I have seen one by the ditch alongside the Old Quarrington road.
I took this cat kill to a taxidermist who told me that, in 50 years, this was only the third specimen of a water shrew he had received. Since then, the cat has presented us with two more.
This time last year, I mentioned greylag geese nesting at the ponds in the Crow Trees Local Nature Reserve. Earlier this year, I counted 13 greylag on the f ields next to the Reserve and thought we were going to have a bumper number nesting this year. But they all seem to have disap-peared. Instead, a pair of Canada geese now appear to be staying and may be nesting.
Meanwhile, other birds at the ponds are now nesting. A few mallard are present, and moorhen and coot can be regularly seen. The dumpy little grebe, or dabchick, is also present and can some-times be heard trilling. However, it tends to stay more in the reeds and not show itself.
In the last issue of the Interchange, I mentioned the first butterflies to
show are the orange tip butterfly. Quite a few have been out this year, perhaps more than I recall seeing before. I saw seven specimens around the entrance to the quarry in mid-May plus a few others around the gen-eral area. The male is very conspicuous with his orange tipped wings. This is something the female does not have, her wing tips being more a smudged black.
Other butterflies have been out and about as well, mainly the striking peacock butterfly but also a few small tortoiseshell.
Last year, there was an abundance of red admi-ral butterflies. They have not been flying yet this year, at least up here, but it would be nice to see a similar number or more in the summer.
Other common butter-flies in our area are the meadow brown and ring-let. Perhaps not the most striking and beautiful of butterflies, they are still a welcome sight.
Both are brown butter-flies, the meadow brown with an orangish tip to its wing with a spot on it. The ringlet has a number of small rings on the edge of its underwing that gives it its name.
As people may have noticed, there has been a considerable amount of work being undertaken
at Quarrington Quarry. Restoring the landscape at the Quarrington Hill end of Cold Knuckles has meant that the eastern end of the old quarry face has now all but disappeared under huge quantities of spoil taken there. This land is due to be treated for nature once it has settled a little, probably during the autumn of this year and returned, in the main, to the Magnesian Limestone grasslands that exist in this area.
One small butterfly that inhabits our region is the northern brown argus.
In our area, it is com-monly called the Durham argus. A bright brown with orange dots around the wing edge, it is an attractive little butter-fly but quite rare. I have found some on one of the paths into Cassop Vale. I understand that, when the works at Quarrington Hill can be planted, it is hoped to introduce the Durham argus back here. This will need planting some common rock-rose, a plant on which the cat-erpillars of this small but-terfly feed.
Our garden pond is currently full of newts, smooth and palmate, and toad tadpoles. Great crested newt is missing but this is well established in our area. A count was undertaken at the ponds in Crow Trees Local Nature Reserve in April and nearly 200 specimens were found. Numbers like that make this a very important site for this protected species.
Roadworks aheadSOME very disruptive roadworks can be expected next year, with roadworks
to be done at the motorway Junction 61 roundabout.
Methodist Church NewsBOWBURN Methodist Church
will be holding a Strawberry Tea on Thursday 2nd August, starting at 3pm. Adults £5, children £2. Every-one is welcome.
The Church has also started its “Beetle Drives” again. They are held on the last Wednesday of the month, starting at 1.30pm, followed by a short prayer meeting and refreshments, and will con-tinue through to October. Everyone is welcome to join these, as well.
Bowburn Youth FC get new sponsorsby Anne Grendale
WE'VE had a very busy end of season at Bowburn Youth FC, due to matches being called off for almost five months because of all the rain we
had, which made Bowburn Park unplayable.
Footpath newsTHE countryside footpath across the Integra 61 site, from behind
the dentist’s surgery to Bowburn sewage treatment works, is still open.
Some people have thought it had been closed, because all the hedges (and stiles) have been removed along the way. However it remains a right of way – a public highway – until such time as it is officially diverted or closed (even temporarily).
Citrus, the owners of the site, did apply for this right of way (Footpath No. 10) to be diverted, under the Highways Act 1980, but the Parish Council objected. Councillors were upset that the proposed new route would be much longer than the one shown in Citrus’s original master-plan and would, moreover, just go round alongside the roads in the new business park.
Citrus have since said it would apply for a diversion that reverts to its original (masterplan) route.
However an application for that diversion has not yet been submitted.
In the meantime, the existing right of way stays open.
Parish Councillors also told Citrus that it would have liked another, entirely new countryside foot-path to be created, running from the bridleway opposite Bowburn Community Centre, alongside Bowburn Beck to and beyond the sewage treatment works.
They wondered why this had been shown in Citrus’s earliest con-sultations, in 2015, but then been dropped.
Citrus have replied that this was because of objections from ecologists.
They had been told that opening a footpath along this route would have encouraged dogs and threatened wildlife. Given the loss of the much larger habitat over the whole of the site, Citrus accepted that this should be kept as a wildlife corridor.
A number of Bowburnites are taking part in the Great North Run this year. Some have not yet decided which charity they will be supporting.
But we wish all of them, and their causes, well.
We have raised funds to buy all of our teams new away strips, with two new sponsors helping us considerably. Our Under 12s United (which will be Under 13s next season) have been sponsored by Taylormade Timber Ltd, and we are extremely grateful for this. We have also formed a new Under 7s team (which will be Under 8s next season), and are very grateful that The Stephen Thompson Foundation has sponsored not only them, but our current Under 8s team (Under 9s next season) too.
The pictures here show the Under 13s United and the Under 9s in their new away strips, ready for the new season. I'm happy to say that the newly formed Under 7s, who had only 10 weeks play-ing together, managed to come third in their league, playing against teams that had been playing together since last June. So well done to them.
On Saturday 2nd June, we held our annual sponsored penalty shoot out competition, which all of the children enjoyed tremendously, and raised a large amount of money for new equipment for the boys. We are now looking for-ward to our presentation night on 16th June, where the boys will be rewarded for all of their hard work and dedication to the Club and have fun too!
On behalf of all of the children and the Management Committee of Bowburn Youth Football Club, we would like to thank all of our very hard working coaches for giving up their spare time to work with the children all year round. They are very much appreciated.
Roads leading on to it from Bowburn, Tursdale and Park Hill will all be widened to three lanes. And all roundabout junctions will have traffic lights, too. This will mean laying new signal cabling under the road surface.
The work will be done by Durham County Council , on behalf of Highways England, and is expected to start in January.
When it is finished, traffic should travel through much more easily than now. Pedestrians, however, will find walking between Park Hill and Bowburn less so, as none of the traffic lights will give them priority. Cyclists could also find the rounda-bout more difficult. So the
possibility of providing a new safe pedestrian and cycle route between Parkhill and Bowburn is being investigated.
Less disruptive, but still important , roadworks
coming up will be creating the entrance to the new pri-mary school, through the top of Bowburn Park, and connecting the two new roundabouts on the A688 Tursdale road. (See page 1.)
Next season’s Under 9s (above) and Under 13s (below), in their new away strips
Great North Runners
Those that Bowburn Interchange knew about, before this edition went to press, were:• Nicholas Briggs – Tommys (funds
research for miscarriages, stillborns and premature births)
• Paul Brown (ex-Gateshead, now run-ning in the GNR for the fifth year in a row!) – Smile for Life (a north east based children’s charity)
• Kay Cairns (see page 1)• Paul Mussett• Andie Shutt (now of Gateshead) – The
Christie (cancer care, research and education)
Race for LifeJULIE Gray and Joan Beck did
the Race for Life on 10th June, at Darlington.
Their funding page is at: <https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/julie-and-joan>.
A way was cleared in the Park, before the nesting season, to allow access to the new Primary School. (See page 10.)
page 8
If approved by Cabinet on 13th June, the County Durham Plan Preferred Options will include the protection of a route for the long wished-for relief road (aka “industrial estates access road”), west of the village, running alongside the disused Leamside rail-way line.
One-year-old Rainbows by Laura Morris
BOWBURN Rainbows recently celebrated its first Birthday. During this past year we have given girls from Bowburn and the surrounding villages the
opportunity to try new things whilst having lots of fun.
Coming soon at Bowburn Community CentreTHREE of the newest regular
group events at Bowburn Com-munity Centre are:• Stroke Association – every other
Friday, 1.30 to 3.30pm• Spinners – 1st and 3rd Monday of the
month• Pound (keep fit class) – Mondays, 5.30
to 6.30pm.Some of the larger events coming soon are:• Sun 1st July: Toy Fair• Sun 29th July: Militaria Fair• Sun 9th Sept: Toy Fair• Sun 16th Sept: Budgie Show• Sun 30th Sept: Militaria Fair• Fri 5th Oct: St Leonard’s School Ceilidh• Sun 20th Oct: Rug Makers Craft Fayre.
In addition there are Bird Sales once a month, on Sundays – 24th June, 22nd July, 19th August – and various Dog Shows on Saturdays and Sundays.
County Durham and Darlington Fire & Rescue Service celebrated its 70th
Anniversary on 1st April
Fire & Rescuetraining eventsDID you know that Bowburn
North industrial estate is home to one of the newest and most ad-vanced firefighter training centres in the country?
As well as training County Durham’s newest generation of firefighters, it hosts national firefighting competitions and community events, including dementia-friendly coffee mornings and fundrais-ers for their charity.
On Saturday 2nd June, they hosted a National Extrication Competition, where seven teams from across the UK competed in various emergency scenar-ios set up for the extrication of casualties.
On Saturday 30th June, they are run-ning a charity event where two local driving instructors have offered to give driving lessons to Under-17s, in the yard behind their Training Centre, which has a road layout. The students will give a donation to the Firefighter’s Charity for their lesson. On the same day, they are running a Road Traffic Accident Course for their Fire Crews, which means that they will be able to show the Under-17s the consequences of not driving safely, as they will see the crews cutting casual-ties out of a car.
On Saturday 7th July, they will host a Breathing Apparatus Competition, with fire crews from around County Durham competing in the hot fire facilities. A number of people from the community will also be able to have a go at the Fire Service Drill Ground Fitness Test. This is also in aid of the Firefighter’s Charity, promoting Health and Fitness and showing how fit operational crews have to be.
Jack AllisonJ OHN (Jack) Allison, of
Steavenson Street, died on 6th May, aged 87.
A dear brother of Doug, Jean, Irene, Harry and the late Evelyn and Mary, he was also a dear friend to many others.
Jack was born in Bowburn and never knew his father, who had been killed at the colliery a few months earlier. His mother re-married and he grew up as the oldest of seven children. He worked on a farm, when he left school, but then as a blacksmith at the colliery.
He and his generosity were well-known in the village, not least when he was Club chair-man and for the yearly “old men’s trips” he organised from there – for which he raised funds throughout the year.
Jack’s portrait is on the Centenary Banner and his friends are now raising money for a seat in his memory, as well. Contributions can be given to Linda Jones or Susan Teasdale, or left at Anderson’s Bakers.
Jacky JohnsonJOHN (Jacky) Johnson, of
Clarence Street, died on 15th April, aged 77.
Beloved husband of the late Edith and devoted dad, father-in-law, granda & great-granda, he will also be missed by many others.
Permanent memorials to Jacky will long survive in Bowburn Community Centre. His portrait is on the Bowburn Centenary Banner (on the VIP balcony, next to Dennis Skinner), in one of the three magnificent banner cases that he himself designed and constructed.
He made these from the pews of the “pineapple” Church of Christ the King – donated for this purpose before the church w a s d e m o l i s h e d i n 2 0 0 7 . Another of his unique artefacts is the pedestal case that con-tains Bowburn’s World War II Book of Remembrance. That was made by Jacky from old pews from Bowburn Methodist (formerly Wesleyan) Church, in 1998. (See page 4.)
Jacky was a Sacriston miner, who moved to Bowburn in the 1970s. He had two pit lamps - one of which was used as a model for one of his banner case carvings. His family has kindly donated these to Bowburn Banner Group. They will be displayed in one of the banner cases, together with a Bowburn Colliery pit token. That had belonged to Edith’s father, Charlie Morgan.
It is possible that Jacky’s “pagoda” pigeon loft will not survive as long as his works of art and craftsmanship in the community centre. But memo-ries of him will surely do so.
Western “by-pass” still in Local PlanAS this edition of the Interchange was being prepared for the printers, an im-
portant report to the County Council Cabinet was published, about the new County Durham Plan. It included a number of references to Bowburn, most nota-bly about the Integra 61 development and traffic congestion.
We have:• learned all about Rainbows,• had a visit from a Guide Dog to help us
complete our Disability Awareness badge,• "flown" around the world visiting dif-
ferent countries for our Global Adventure badge (India was a particular favourite where we learned to tie a sari and tasted Indian food) and
• had fun getting messy making slime.We have also contributed to national
efforts to get girls’ voices heard on the issues that matter to them, such as bullying and gender stereotyping.
Rainbows is for 5 and 6 year olds, and runs on Thursday evenings, in Bowburn Methodist Church hall.
We have spaces available. So if your daughter is interested in joining the fun you can sign her up. Or you can place a younger girl on the waiting list at <www.girlguiding.org.uk/get-involved>.
Or, if you would like more details, please contact us at <[email protected]> or phone 0782 820 2579.
For many years, developers have been required to leave a corridor for this road, to make sure it can eventually be built… when funding becomes availa-ble. They were not allowed to build on a strip of land along the western edge of the Grange housing estate (former Cape site), the Lumsden & Carroll depot and the Fire & Rescue training centre. And one of the planned estate roads on the new Integra 61 develop-ment follows the relief road’s likely route. It allows that to be built at some future date – though (sadly, in the view of local campaigners) it will not itself be to the standards that will one day be required.
A corridor (shown in yellow) will continue to be protected from the
Integra 61 site to the Jet garage
“Crowtrees” (left) and Peat Edge farm have been demolished to make way for roads into the Integra 61 business development.
page 9
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Top two bowls teamsBOWBURN’S two carpet bowls teams vied with
each other to become champions of the Durham County Community League knock-out cup.
Four teams – Bowburn, Hamsteels, Landsdowne and Tudhoe – made it to the semi-finals and met at Bowburn Community Centre on Friday 18th May. At the end of the night, after two hard-fought and good-humoured games, Bowburn and Lansdowne were through to the final.
On Wednesday 23rd May, the two played each other, again at Bowburn Community Centre – the home ground of both finalists.
As with the semi-final, a large crowd came to watch them battle it out for the trophy. Both teams were evenly matched and the games were long but again played with a good sense of humour. At the end of the night Bowburn came out as winners and lifted the trophy.
Police newsBOWBURN and surrounding villages
has a new PCSO (Police Community Support Officer), after Stephanie Young moved on to become a Police Constable on 1st June.
PCSO Shaun Banks (8297) now covers Bowburn , Ke l loe , Coxhoe , Cassop , Quarrington Hill, Shincliffe, High Shincliffe, Croxdale, Hett and Sunderland Bridge.
In addition to being around at various times, Shaun’s first regular monthly PACT walkabout will start in Bell Avenue at 10am on Friday 6th July.
To contact him, ring 101 (ext. 744820) or e - m a i l <[email protected]>.
Summer Specials–All Homemade: £3.95!Monday: Lasagne with salad or chipsTuesday: Quiche with salad & coleslaw or chips &
beansWednesday: Corned beef pie with chips & gravy (or
beans)Thursday: Chilli con carne with nachos (or chips)
and topped with cheeseFriday: Chicken curry with chips
Our specials sell quickly, so ring and order yours on:
page 10Please address correspondence to Bowburn Interchange, c/o Bowburn Community Centre, Durham Road, Bowburn, DH6 5BB, or e-mail <[email protected]>.
Views published in this newsletter do not necessarily represent those of Bowburn Village Celebration (BVC). No responsibility can be accepted for any damage that may arise from the publication of erroneous information received and published in good faith. A copy of BVC’s Editorial Policy is available on request or on our website.
Printed locally by The Coronation Press Ltd., Coxhoe
Big Meeting Day – Saturday 14th JulyTHIS year’s Bowburn parade on Dur-
ham Miners’ Gala Day will be as forecast in the last Bowburn Interchange.
The Junior School building will then be demolished, and hard play and foot-ball pitches will be installed where it now stands. An access road to the north, next to the football pitch in the park, will lead to a turning area on site. To ensure the new drive will have adequate visibil-ity for turning on to the road, trees at the edge of the park have been removed
The County Council held a consulta-tion event with architects and officers in Bowburn Community Centre on 18th April. It was well-attended and residents seemed enthusiastic about the plans. Some families came with children in pushchairs – some of the first infants to attend nursery and reception on the new school site.
However, before the planning applica-tion for the new school can be submit-ted, testing must be completed to check that the coal seam beneath the proposed building is stable. After several weeks, engineers have now completed the tests. Their report has not yet been released, but initial surveys suggest that the site will be safe for construction.
As a result of the testing, the opening date for the new school building has been postponed by a term (till January 2020), to allow the designs to go through the planning process. The Infant & Nursery and Junior Schools’ formal amalgama-tion will still happen in September 2019. Both staff and students will receive sup-port for the term when the school oper-ates on split sites.
Discussions have also been ongo-ing with Sport England, who look after playing pitches in the UK, and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, who own the freehold of the park, to ensure that the school and community has ample provision for sport and play, once the new building is in use.
When the planning application is submitted, everyone can read the docu-ments on-line and be consulted again.
Donation boost for Fun DayA wonderful boost
has been given to the organisers of the annual Family Fun Day, at the Youth Cen-tre and Bowburn Com-munity Centre, with a donation of £250 from Joanne Ridley.
Joanne, who runs a fundraising football draw every year, has long been donating to local causes. Her choice of the 2018 Fun Day means there will again be a good range of showground rides and other attractions, at low prices that all local fami-lies can afford. (And she’s also donated £250 to the Youth Club!)
It was already certain that the Fun Day would take place this year , thanks to the Tescos – and their Dragonville customers, who voted for Bowburn last year. Now success is certain.
The Fun Day is on Saturday 29th September. As usual, stalls or table tops can be booked by groups and residents – to do their own fundraising, or to let people know more about what they do, or to add an attraction to the festivities. The stall charge is again only £5.
Booking forms are avail-able at the Community Centre office.
Holiday playscheme wins praise… and funding?THE success of a new holiday playscheme at Easter left everyone determined to do it again this
summer. “Thank you for letting us come to your fantastic club”, was just one of the many com-ments left by the children that were there.
T h e s c h e m e , i n Bowburn Youth Centre, ran for eight days. 58 different children (years 3–6) attended, with a limit of 35 on any one day. Normal youth club sessions also ran in the evenings. So over 90 chil-dren and young people, aged between 7 and 17, received one or more meals during the holiday, as well as enjoying a wide range of fun things to do.
This was planned as a pilot, to learn lessons for the future. So the really positive comments made by all the children were most welcome. The activ-ities and menus were all clearly appreciated. But staff and volunteers also reflected on the need for better kitchen equipment;
to limit the number each day to 30, and to set a charge that does not exclude any local families.
Funding for this pilot came from the Parish Council. It was man-aged by Joanne Eden, Bowburn Youth Project’s lead youth worker, while Jan Blakey, who chairs the youth project’s commit-tee, took responsibility for the food. Experienced auxiliaries worked with the qualified youth work-ers, and a total of 116 vol-untary hours were given, to help ensure safety and success.
A p p l i c a t i o n s h a v e n o w b e e n m a d e t o fund a further play-scheme this summer and, indeed, next year. In this, Bowburn Youth
Project is working with Bowburn Community Association, which will allow, in future, the use of the community centre, as well, and Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership. These three are all registered chari-ties, and used to planning things together – they organise the annual Fun Days in September.
Depending on the suc-cess of funding bids, it is hoped to run a Holiday Club for three days a w e e k , t h i s s u m m e r . Subscriptions will be 30p per child per day (but with donations also wel-come). Anyone now at Junior School is eligible. When news about fund-ing is known, dates and arrangements wil l be
posted on Facebook and sent to Bowburn Junior School. Meanwhile, a list of children wanting to attend will be put together before the end of term.
Parents and carers should enrol their chil-d r e n b y c o n t a c t i n g Joanne, by calling in at the “youthie”; ’phoning 0778 827 7321; e-mail-i n g <[email protected]>, or using Facebook to send a mes-sage to Bowburn Youth Project. (A consent form must be filled in before your child attends.)
New school makes progressWORK continues on plans for Bowburn’s new Primary
School. Architects plan the new school building to go on the Junior School’s football field and part of the meadow, with the rest of the meadow used for staff parking and a drop-off point for families.
T h e s u p e r b K i p p a x Band and our local ban-ners will gather near the Jones Court Aged Miners’ bungalows in time to set off at 8.15am.
Stopping for the band to play at a number of points on the way, the parade will then go from Lawson Road, past Bowburn Junior School, and down Surtees Avenue and the bottom of Bede Terrace, to Romaine Square.
From there it will go up Tweddle Terrace and Castle Street. Then, with-out marching, everyone will walk up the Mary Terrace South footpath to Prince Charles Avenue, where the miners’ hymn, “Gresford”, will be played by the mining and war memorials.
Roads along the route will be officially closed from 8.15am till 9.15am. In practice, however, they will re-open after the parade has passed by.
Buses will leave Prince C h a r l e s A v e n u e a t 9.15am, to join the Gala in Durham. Return fares will again be £1 adults, 50p children, on a first-come, first-served basis. (Return is from the New Inn at 4pm.)
New volunteers are again invited to help carry the banners, either through Bowburn or in
Durham. Anyone inter-ested should contact Bowburn Banner Group. Phone: (0191) 377-0553 or 377-1491; e-mai l : < b o w b u r n b a n n e r @icloud.com>, o r l e a v e a m e s s a g e a t t h e Community Centre. (Or just ask on the day.)New banner portraits
Bowburn’s Centenary Banner came back this month from Chippenham Designs, of Norfolk, after some minor paintwork repairs and the addition of more mini-portraits. There are now 101 of these in the Gala Day crowd scene of “The March of Time”.
They will first be on dis-play the night before this year’s Big Meeting.Free eve of Gala Concert
The Banner Group is again giving an open invi-tation to a family-friendly concer t in Bowburn Community Centre, the night before the Gala – Friday 13th July.
Music will be provided first by Pittington Brass and then The Backroom B a n d , t h e f o l k - r o c k group, both returning by popular demand.
Admiss ion i s f ree , thanks to local fund-raising. Bar and doors open at 6.30pm.
Surgery passes with flying coloursJUST eight months after Bowburn
Medical Centre was heavily criti-cised by the Care Quality Commis-sion (CQC), it has shown significant improvement in all areas.
A CQC inspection in July last year found Bowburn’s surgery wanting, with improvements needed in all areas. Since then, the staff have worked hard to turn things round. The inspection on 8th March reported three out of five of the areas investigated (Safety, Effectiveness and Leadership) as “Good”, including the two which had previously been rated “Inadequate”.
In the other two, the CQC noted that a great many improvements had been made and appeared set to continue.
The surgery has consequently been removed from special measures, recog-nising “the significant improvements made to the quality of care provided by the service”.
While satisfaction ratings in the National GP Patient Survey in July 2017 were low, two local surveys – CQC com-ment cards and the Friends and Family Test – provided a contradicting picture. A further survey of patients was carried out by Bowburn Medical Centre itself, using anonymous questionnaire forms at reception. The response rate was very good.
When this Interchange went to the printers, this survey was not yet com-plete. But the team hope to use it to guide them in making further improve-ments to any areas patients identify, as well as finding out which aspects of the surgery people are most pleased with.
Reports from the CQC can be viewed at <https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-2502814101>.
Bowburn lad will fight for UKBOWBURN’S Josh Shaw will compete for his
country this summer, in the prestigious World Muay Thai (Thai boxing) championships.
For the fourth consecu-tive year (a record, for the North East), the 16-year-old has been chosen to join the team GB squad, in August. They will line up against the most elite fighters in the world, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Josh trains five or six days a week at the Erawan A c a d e m y , b a s e d a t Trimdon Grange, under coach Steven Wright.
If any business would like to sponsor Josh, or if anyone would like to make a donation to help pay for Josh’s training and
travel, contact Steven, by e-mailing: <[email protected]>.
Meanwhile, a fund-raising day has been arranged for Saturday 21st July at the Black Bull pub, Trimdon Village, with entertainment for families. It starts at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.