Ceddesfeld Hall Beer Festival 2025
What a super weekend with glorious evening sunshine, which brought out the
crowds from 6pm till late on both nights. All beers were from local North East
breweries, with BBQ meat and buns from George Bolam’s of Sedgefield and
Robinson’s of Wingate. Special thanks to ‘Mamma Said’ for their lively, popular
music, enjoyed by all. Many thanks must go to a dedicated bar committee for
organising the weekend, to the Beer Gadgies and to the numerous, amazing
volunteers who helped set up, take down, sell tokens, collect and wash glasses,
cook food and serve on both bars – all busy shifts!
Thank you too of course, to all visitors for coming along. ‘Save the Date’ for next
year – Friday 10 July & Saturday 11 July 2026!
Upcoming events at Ceddesfeld Hall
Mayor’s Afternoon Tea – Wednesday 6 August – 1pm to 4 pm - £15
Join Sedgefield Town Council Mayor Peter Hinde for a special afternoon tea,
with good company and entertainment, all in the name of fundraising! There will
be bingo and live music from Geoff Wright. The bar will be open too. Tickets
available from STC offices (01740 621273).
Mayor’s Quiz Night – Saturday 16 August – 7:30pm for 8 pm - £5
Trivia and cash prizes. Bar open.
Tickets from STC offices.
Family Fun Afternoon – Sunday 24 August – 1pm to 4 pm - Free
Do come along to enjoy a fun
afternoon for families with younger
children (0 to 12 years). There will be
soft play equipment, ball pool and
animal hoppers for youngsters aged 0
to 5 years in the main hall.
Outside
activities will include various garden
games, play equipment, tennis,
football, swing ball, rounders,
skipping, quoits, boules and croquet,
as well as a face painter!
Outdoor
tables and chairs will be set up and
feel free to bring a picnic! The bar will
be open.
Ceddesfeld Autumn Quiz Night – Saturday 27 September
This very popular quiz begins at 7:30
pm (bar from 7pm) and includes a ‘Pie
& Pea’ supper, all for £10 a ticket! –
Tickets from Pat, Sarah and/or Peter
Hinde or from behind the bar, on a
first come first served basis. Teams
of 6 or less.
Sedgefield Lyrics Youth Choir (SLYC)
- Ruby Celebrations – Save the Date!
Congratulations and all best wishes to
SLYC in this, their 40th anniversary
year. What a fantastic achievement! A
very special reunion concert is due to
take place at St Edmunds Church on
Saturday 20 September.
Sedgefield is
fortunate to have such a thriving
family of choirs, including Sedgefield
Lyric Singers, SLYC and Lirica. All
three choirs rehearse at Ceddesfeld
Hall. They are currently in summer
recess and begin their new term in
September.
As I write this article it has been pretty warm and as a result I have been
seeing more butterflies around – definitely more than last year which is good
news. The large whites have been hanging around my brassicas with
occasional jaunts to lay their tiny yellow eggs. Other garden butterflies seen
include Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and more recently Comma.
These are generalist butterflies, and they are not too fussy about their habitat
requirements and can be found in a number of habitats.
I have also been doing
a bit of butterfly twitching i.e. going to specific habitats at a particular time of
the year where butterflies are active as adults. This has included a trip to
Hawnby in late spring for Duke of Burgundy, Bishop Middleham Quarry for
Dingy Skipper and Durham Argus and more recently Wingate Quarry for the
splendid Marbled White.
The Marbled White is a distinctive,
medium-sized, white butterfly, with
black-chequered markings. Adults are
on the wing in the summer, from June
to August.
So you still have a chance
to see them if you go soon. The adults
can often be seen feeding on purple
flowers, such as field scabious,
common knapweed and wild
marjoram. The caterpillars feed on a
variety of grasses, but red fescue is
especially important.
August is a good time to count butterflies, and the Big Butterfly Count is a
nationwide citizen science survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our
environment.
It was launched in 2010 and has rapidly become the world's
biggest survey of butterflies. Over 64,000 citizen scientists took part in 2022,
submitting 96,257 counts of butterflies and day-flying moths from across the
UK. The Big Butterfly Count 2025 takes place between 18 July and 10 August.
It’s easy to take part, simply count butterflies for 15 minutes during bright
(preferably sunny) weather in any habitat. You can even do it using an app.
More information can be found at bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org.
Myself, Peter Hinde, and my wife Jamie Hinde were re-elected as Mayor and Consort at the Town Council AGM. This will be our second year and, after
awarding donations to 16 organisations at the Annual Town Meeting, we are looking forward to a even busier year.
