Teesdale Mercury review of 2016 – part 2

May

A TWO-month campaign to save Forest of Teesdale Primary School from closure ended in victory.
County education bosses agreed to bring Forest, Rookhope and St John’s Chapel primary schools together with a shared head teacher.
Judith Tarn, chairwoman of the Forest school governors, said: “I don’t think we could have hoped for a better outcome. It has been a huge team effort.”
Meanwhile, just days after reprieving Forest school county education officials unveiled plans to close Startforth Morritt Memorial Primary School amid falling pupil numbers and insufficient improvement since its last Ofsted inspection.
The decision provoked anger in the village and a campaign group was set up by mums and dads to fight for its future.
It was also announced in May that Teesdale School was joining  a multi-academy trust.
In being part of the North East Learning Trust, it would link with The Academy, at Shotton Hall, Browney Academy and initial teacher training provider Shotton Hall SCITT.
The dale’s MP Helen Goodman sparked a row after a stunt to raise support for the UK to remain in the EU backfired.
Ms Goodman arrived at barnard Castle Farmers’ Market with a tractor to highlight the £5million-plus support the dale’s farmers receive from Europe.
However, no-one had told the market organisers about the stunt and the tractor was blocking access for emergency vehicles. This led to a “fractious” confrontation with the MP.
On the sports field, there was success at the triple for the dale’s teams.
Barnard Castle RUFC, having already clinched the Durham/Northumberland 2 title added the Durham RFU Junior Cup, defeating Winlaton Vulcans 40-14.
On the football field, Bowes produced an excellent performance against higher ranked Coundon and Leeholme to win the South Durham Bowl, while Sunday side Barnard Castle FC defeated Newton Aycliffe Navy Club 2-0 to win their divisional cup.

June

“WE get more sad every day. Don’t do this to us, please.”
So read one of the banners a Startforth school ahead of a meeting at which about 100 people challenged Durham County Council's closure proposals.
Officials were left under no illusion that parents felt they had been badly let down by the county council and queried what the authority had done to support the school through a difficult period in its history.
By the end of the month, a petition with more than 2,000 names had been compiled and handed over to the council demanding the proposals be dropped.
Elsewhere, there wasn’t much fun to be had.
The popular Streets Of... festival, which attracted the August bank holiday crowds to Barnard Castle, was cancelled and the town council declined to support a Party in the Park, part of the Durham Brass Festival.
In the end, The Bowes Museum stepped in and the event was staged in its grounds.
Across the dale, celebrations were held to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday, while her majesty’s big day was also a popular theme at village carnivals.
After the latest in a series of incidents in which damage was caused by traffic crossing Abbey Bridge, near Egglestone Abbey, CCTV cameras were installed. However, in Barnard Castle, more damage to the Market Cross sparked calls for action to stop HGVs coming through the town.

July

RADIO Teesdale, the dale’s community station, went off air this month after it ran out of money.
Officials had found it increasingly difficult to raise the estimated £60,000 annual running costs.
In a last ditch bid to keep the station going, the annual fundraising Radiothon had been brought forward to June, but the £4,000 raised was simply not enough.
Officials at The Witham were also facing up to a financial headache, when it was reported to the arts centre’s annual meeting that damage caused to the building during last winter’s storms could take up to three years to repair.
Bob Garton, chairman of the trustees, said balance had to be found between carrying out repairs while not disrupting The Witham’s operation.
However, the centre had received £100,000 legacy, much of which was put into a contingency fund with some money spent on funding a new position for a year.
In a further blow to campaigners trying to save Startforth school, notices were issued stating the county council’s intention to close it on December 31.
The musical director of Middleton and Teesdale Silver Band, David Dye, announced he was stepping down after four years at the helm.
During his time, he gave the band a major “pep up” and helped widen its repertoire.

August

A PARADE of 64
The event was part of a 12-mile President’s Ride from Baldersdale, across Cotherstone Moor to the town, where the breed has its origin.
There was good news for Barnard Castle’s GlaxoSmithKline factory with the announcement of a £92million investment which will secure the site’s future for years to come.
The investment will fund the construction of an aseptic sterile facility supporting the manufacture of existing and new biopharmaceutical drugs.
Plans were unveiled for a new one-day music festival  – the Barney Jam, which would feature 21 acts at seven venues around Barnard Castle as well as raising money for the Teesdale branch of Cancer Research UK.
A huge crowd turned out for one the sporting events of the Teesdale summer – the fundraising sheep grand national at Eggleston.
After a keenly contested series of races, Little Pullover was crowned this year’s winner.
Staindrop School pupil Lorna Armstrong led the way by gaining 13 A* grades as students across the dale celebrated an excellent set of results in both GCSEs and A levels.
On the cricket field, a tremendous win against title rivals Darlington on the August bank holiday Monday, put Barnard Castle CC within touching distance of their first ever NYSD league title with just a handful of games left.
Dales ponies made a historic crossing of Barnard Castle’s County Bridge before heading through the town to mark the centenary of the breed society’s stud book.