At 1pm on Shrove Tuesday, the Sedgefield Ball Game tradition was kept alive as
David Adcock started the game by passing the ball through the bull ring in the
centre of the village.
As always, hundreds of people took to the streets with the usual scrums
running and kicking. Congratulations to this year’s winner, Rob Adcock, pictured
above.
Our Canadian Rector of the Parish of
the Upper Skerne, Reverend David
Lucas was in the Parish Hall at St
Edmund's Pancake Coffee Morning
when "miraculously" the ball arrived in
the Fletcher Room.
We cannot confirm that the ball was
blessed in any way, however it was
another first for Reverend David since
his arrival in June 2024! Is this the
first time a Canadian has had their
hands on the Ball Game ball, or the
first time held by a priest?
Many thanks to all involved with
cooking, waiting or running the raffle
at the fundraiser. It raised £253 for
church funds, half the total going to
the Parish of the Upper Skerne
(POTUS) anniversary activities to be
held later this year.
The Pancake Fundraiser is an annual
event, so please put it in your diaries
for next year - Shrove Tuesday, 17
February 2026. It usually starts and
ends before the mayhem!
We would like to use this month’s article to make all of our school
families aware of the ‘Sedgefield Swap Shop’. Our ‘Swap Shop’ is very well
stocked with many items of brand new or like new school uniform. All items of
school uniform, including shoes, are available to ensure all of our students are
able to wear their school uniform with pride.
We know that many of our students feel passionately about the environment
and are keen to do everything that they can to avoid waste and encourage
recycling. Using the ‘Swap Shop’ is a great way of putting this desire to be
environmentally friendly into practice. Making use of clothing from the shop
avoids unnecessary waste with pre-used uniform that is still in good condition
being thrown away.
For any of our families who would like
to make use of the ‘Swap Shop’,
please contact your child’s Year
Manager and they will be able to make
the necessary arrangements for this
to happen.
Equally, if you do have any
existing uniform that is no longer
being used and you would like to
donate this, please send washed
items into school that can be dropped
off at our main office.
In the future, we’re keen to promote further use of the ‘Swap Shop’ to make sure
we’re doing our bit to avoid unnecessary waste. Do look out for school events
where it will be possible to drop in and browse the uniform items available.
Sedgefield Hardwick Primary Academy was transformed into the world of
Oz recently as we celebrated World Book Day!
The children gathered
together in their costumes to help the characters from Wicked and The Wizard
of Oz prove Elphaba's innocence and the Wizard's wickedness! A fantastic
range of costumes were on display, including the Teletubbies, Ghostbusters,
Gangster Granny and Willy Wonka himself!
The morning began with an assembly, where Glinda, Dorothy, Tin-man, Lion and
Scarecrow explained to the children that the Wizard had cruelly made everyone
in Oz believe that Elphaba was evil, calling her the Wicked Witch of the West!
However, there was a letter the Wizard was guarding which proved that Elphaba
was innocent!
Over the course of the day, each class had to sneak into the
Wizard's office to retrieve a fragment of the letter. The Wizard and his
henchmen kept pulling children out to interrogate them, but the children didn't
give away the mission!
At Sedgefield Primary School we have
something that we believe is special
and a very important part of our
school life. Our Family Groups are well
established and are intrinsic to the
ethos of our school.
Each Family
Group is named after a jungle animal
and each group aim to collect as
many points as they can each
week. Family Groups meet every other
Friday afternoon and are a mixture of
Reception -Year 6 classes.
The groups complete activities based
on various personal development
themes. All of the children enjoy
meeting up with their friends, siblings
and family members in the mixed year
group classes. The older children
particularly enjoy supporting the
younger children and this ethos
continues throughout school life.
At Sedgefield Primary we hold
traditional values of care and support
paramount for all pupils to achieve
their true potential both in terms of
character and academia. We see
ourselves as an extended family unit,
who learn together for life.
On Sunday 11 May, Durham Bird Club
are holding an event to celebrate their
50th year. The Club has a bird hide at
Castle Lake, near Bishop Middleham,
and given the range of birds which
can be on seen, this is the perfect
venue for our celebration.
Castle Lake
Conservation Group, which seeks to
protect the long-term future of the
lake, have also arranged multiple
events on the day in Bishop
Middleham Village Hall.
Castle Lake is very special, with nearly
200 bird species being recorded,
including many scarce species,
making it one of the best places for
birdlife in the county.
The site is
botanically important too, particularly
for its rich calcareous grassland
habitat. In addition, the site also
contains the earthworks of Bishop
Middleham Castle, the principal seat
of the former Prince Bishops of
Durham leading to DigVentures
recently carrying out archaeological
excavations.
Events for the day include:
- An early morning ‘Dawn Chorus’
walk
- Experts on hand at the hide for
you to see the Lake’s birds
- Guided Walks (depending on
numbers) to see birdlife, botany,
landscape and archaeology on the
site
- Conservation organisations in the
Village Hall.
- Presentations and talks on
Durham’s birds, Castle Lake birdlife,
the Great Fen conservation project,
and the archaeological history of
the site.
Everyone is welcome to join us on this
celebratory day. For more information,
timings and event updates head to
durhambirdclub.org.uk/dbc-at-50.
We hope to see you there!
Durham Bird Club and Castle Lake Conservation
Group
Local author, published poet and playwright, Lucy Atkinson has opened
an independent bookshop in Sedgefield. Known to many in Sedgefield
through being a part of the Sedgefield Players, Lucy has recently completed a
PhD in Creative Writing at Durham
University.
As part of the PhD she
wrote a novel about the Newcastle
witch trials that will eventually be for
sale in the shop.
Back of Beyond Books is located in
what was the Lost Robot on Church
Street. There is a curated range of
books, including children’s and North
East writers. Browsers will be able to
have coffee and cake, sit and watch
the world go by.
As well as books,
there are tote bags, cards, pins, D&D
dice for sale and buyers will be given
a bookmark and a loyalty card. There
is also a second hand section and
also a book library where you can
swap books in return for bringing one
in, and a “Blind Date with a book”.
Please come along and support this
new and wonderful addition to
Sedgefield.
Opening hours are Tuesday - Saturday
10am till 5pm and Sunday 12 till 4pm.
A large-scale industrial waste plant is
coming to your doorstep - it is an
imminent threat to our community!
This huge plant is NOT agricultural
scale. Its size makes it far better
suited to an industrial development
area.
If approved, it will process
89,500 tonnes of waste annually,
including food waste, animal waste,
bloods and syrups, to produce biogas
and will operate 24/7.
This application is NOT approved, it
will be reconsidered and a decision
will be made at Durham County
Council Planning Committee Meeting
at 10am on Wednesday 2 April 2025
at Durham County Hall, DH1 5UL.
We
urge you to attend!
We need YOUR voice to help protect
our homes, environment, businesses,
and way of life. Together, we can
preserve the character and integrity of
Sedgefield and its surrounding
villages for future generations.
Areas for concern:
- Scale of The Development
- Odour & Air Pollution
- Traffic Congestion & Safety Risks
- Visual Impact
- A company with a history of
environmental violations
- Noise & Nuisance
- Impact on Public Rights of Way
- Impact on Local Amenities
ACT NOW!
Have your say before it is too late!
Submit your objections by 1 April
2025 using the planning portal at
durham.gov.uk or by email to
planning@durham.gov.uk.
Use the reference:
DM/24/00903/WAS - Proposed
Anaerobic Digestion Plant
.
Concerned resident, name & address supplied.
Editor’s note: It now looks highly likely, due to
the high volume of correspondence, that this
item will be postponed until the June Planning
Committee. You can check on the County
Planning Committee web page.
The Parish of the Upper Skerne
which extends from Bradbury and
Mordon in the South to Deaf Hill and
the Trimdons in the North, is this year
celebrating twenty years since its
formation to incorporate the churches
of
St Alban's, Trimdon Grange
St Catherine's, Fishburn
St Edmund's, Sedgefield
St Mary Magdalene's, Trimdon Village
St Michael's, Bishop Middleham
A wide ranging and varied series of
events are planned across the Parish
starting at Easter when the children
from all the Primary Schools will be
decorating eggs for display between
1pm and 3pm in their local churches
on 19, 20 and 21 April.
On 11 May there is a Choral Evensong
in St Michael's. Followed by a talk on
Sunday 25 May at St Alban's Church in
Trimdon Grange on the Lindisfarne
Gospels by Michele Brown, the
acknowledged expert on the subject,
when a facsimile of the Gospels will
be available to view.
Later in the year will be a Parish
Eucharist on 15 June at St Edmund's
Sedgefield celebrating the twenty year
anniversary.
Later still are concerts by the Lyric
Singers, Songs of Praise, Murder
Mystery Night, a possible visit by
Hartlepool Male Voice Choir and
much, much more.
ALL ARE WELCOME AT ALL EVENTS.
Further information is available from
John Burrows on 07870 210269 or
jandeburrows@gmail.com.
Alternatively visit upperskerne.org.uk.
The Thorpe Thewles
History Group (TTHG) are
planning to produce and showcase a
documentary film based on their
recent discovery of a set of diaries
written between 1911 and 1913 by the
teenage son of a farmer in the village.
These diaries present a young man’s
stories of life in rural south east
Durham and beyond in the years
leading up to the Great War. TTHG will
invite local people of all ages to act,
read extracts of the diaries for the
camera and to work behind the
scenes.
This is one of a number of exciting
projects that the group are
undertaking with funding from the
National Heritage Lottery Fund
and the Lambs Hill Wind Farm
Community Fund.
Other projects
include creating a replica of the
Thorpe Cross, a drone based survey
of Grindon Church and a series of
public engagement workshops.
Thorpe Thewles History Group
(TTHG) carries out research as well as
holding monthly talks. TTHG are
always happy to welcome new
members. You can find out more on
Facebook or get in touch at
tthg@outlook.com.
Before the 20th Century development of a large housing estate to the west of the Durham Road in Sedgefield, and the construction of a new road to divert the A177 as a western bypass to the settlement, the eastern boundary of Hardwick East Park was marked by a high brick wall into which was inserted a decorative iron and steel gateway, catering for both carriages and pedestrians, as seen in this early photograph taken over 100 years ago.
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