Friday 4th September 2015Shildon & District Town Crier Issue 731 Page 1

Published at:First Floor, Town Council Offices,

Civic Hall Square, Shildon, DL4 1AH.

Telephone/Fax: 01388 775896Duty journalist: 0790 999 2731

www.shildontowncrier.comemail: crier@talk21.comof our wonderful community

Town Crier

Shildon & District At the heart

Friday 4th September 2015Issue 731

Fully archived online at www.shildontowncrier.com email us at: crier@talk21.com

Eldon Hope Building Materials

01388 775 261

Bricks from £160 per 1000440mm x 440mm paving from £1.80

Scallop & Rope Edging £1.80Old York Paving & Circles £10 per square metre in 6 sizes

Also: Blocks, Caps & Coping Stones,Sand, Gravel, Dolomite, Top Soil,

Decorate Gravels and Slate.All prices are plus VAT

Natural Sandstone Paving from £15 per square metre

Old Eldon, Shildon DL4 2QX

MOTs, SERVICING AND REPAIRS

01388 778070BRAND NEW TYRES FITTED AND BALANCED

SPECIAL OFFER205/55/16,

MICHELIN - £60BUDGET - £35

NOT TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER OFFERS

CLEM’S FISH RESTAURANT

Shildon01388 773400

TWO MEALS FOR £10(Restaurant only. Excluding Clem’s Special)

28 Seater RestaurantOr if you fancy a drink, try the Bishop Auckland

Clem’s where we are fully licensed. 01388 665955.

OAP SPECIALSmall Fish & Chips, Tea, Bread & Butter, £4.90

Crowds flock to Shildonbury

Local Motion, South Durham and Darlington's sustainable transport project, is inviting resi-dents and businesses to support the development of walkways in Shildon by joining in on an organised walk. The walk around Shildon will take place on Saturday 12th September, starting at 10am from the Civic Hall Car Park. It will take in routes from the town centre to the train station and will conclude with re-freshments at Locomotion at 11.30am.The walk will form a Com-munity Audit and will help identify any barriers to walking, contribut-ing towards a package of measures to improve the walking environment in the area. Anyone who takes part in the walk will be encouraged to have their say on how they feel the paths and walkways

can be improved.Living Streets, a national charity working to create safe, attractive and en-joyable streets where people want to walk, will be running the audits on behalf of Local Motion. The event is open to all ages with wheelchair friendly routes being available. The number of routes will depend on numbers on the day but each will be led by a member of the Living Streets team. Councillor Neil Foster, Durham County Coun-cil's Cabinet member for economic regeneration and culture, said, “It is im-portant to us that Shildon has great pedestrian access. The more accessi-ble the town is by foot the better it is for local people travelling to work, school and the station as well as for visitors to Shildon and Locomotion.”

Have your say on town’s walkways

Gibson's Funeral Services

Established over 140 years.

Association Street, Shildon.Our office hours are

Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri 10am - 2pm. Closed Wed.Or by appointment on

01388 77224424 hour on call service.

80’s Synthpop band Heaven 17 headlined the event. Photo © David Langley Photography.

The town’s second ‘Shildon-bury’ music festival, which took place on Bank Holiday Sunday, has been hailed an overwhelming success - and it wasn’t just the weather that was on top form.The event was headlined by 80’s band Heaven 17, who entertained the crowds with their synthpop tunes, including their biggest hit

Temptation.Among the line-up were local group JD & The Woodsmen who had everyone on their feet, while Geordie band The Scandals had the crowds bouncing with their Mod and Indie covers.Earlier in the day festival-goers were also enter-tained by The Jam’d, who

played all of the popular classics, and 80’s rock cover band Permageddon, who travelled all the way from the south coast to be part of the scintillating line-up.As well as the bands, the event had a family area, with activities such as face-painting and funfair rides, catering and a licensed bar.Attendance was thought to be almost 1,000, up on last year’s inaugural event by around 200.Paul Watson, manager of the Civic Hall who helped promote and run the day, commented, “The event was a great success. The Wannasee promotion team and Town Council should be proud after all the hard work everyone put in. “Everywhere you looked people were laughing, singing and dancing. There is no doubt that the event pulled the town together and showed the positive side of Shildon and the people that live here.”Feedback from those at-tending has also been extremely positive, with one attendee comment-ing, “Absolutely loved the whole day, fantastic atmosphere with great people. The bands were all fab and I will definitely go again.”

Friday 4th September 2015 Shildon & District Town CrierIssue 731Page 2

In Memoriam Birthdays

ClassifiedsAll about local people...

On Thursday 27th August, 40 year-old Darren Wallis was arrested and charged with four commercial burglaries at Dabble Duck Industrial Estate. He was remanded in

custody until the follow-ing day and was given conditional bail until 11th September, when he will attend Durham Crown Court. A police spokesperson com-mented, “Shildon Police will continue to harass and disrupt our criminal targets until they decide to live within the same laws as the rest of the community.”

The Salvation ArmyServing the community of SHILDON

Saturday 5th September 2015 1pm - 4pm, Grassed Area, (Near SA Hall), Soho Street, Shildon

Free CommunityFun Day!

B o u n c y

C a s t l e

F a c e

P a i n t i n g

D r i n k s

F o o t b a l l C a g e

C a k e s

G a m e s

C r a f t s

Treasured memories of my special friend

Love you always, forget your never

June LynchDied Sept 6th 2014

Miss you,Christine & Allen

xxx

Birthdays

Happy 75th Birthday Tot

Tot Garlick5.9.2015

All our love, now and forever, Verna, Paul and

Ann, Jill, Paul, Colin, Rhys & Sammy T

xxxxx

75!

Ella Neve Stoker

Love you lots,Mam & Dad

xxx

Happy 3rd Birthday baby girl

3.9.12

Birthdays

Happy 3rd Birthday Lil’ Sis

Ella Neve

Love Ethan & Kylexxx

Wishing our Grandaughter a Happy 3rd Birthday

Ella Neve

Love Gran & Grandadxxx

PropertyHouse To Let

Quiet Shildon road2 Bedrooms, DG, GCH

£380 pcm. Tel: 01388 775433

ServicesMOVING A THING?

From £14. Call Phil.Phone 01325 321 084

or 07596 179 859

Burglar faces Crown Court

Lotto jackpot rises by £50The latest Shildon AFC Supporters Club lotto numbers were drawn on Sunday evening at the football ground clubhouse on Dean Street. The six numbers out of the bag were: 1, 2, 6, 8, 17 and 18. There were no winners of the jackpot, which now rolls over to £450.

The consolation prize of £25 was won by D Matthews. To win the jackpot next week, players are required to choose the matching 6 numbers from 19. Tickets cost just £2 per play and are available at various outlets in the town.

Friday 4th September 2015Shildon & District Town Crier Issue 731 Page 3

DoorRepair

Specialist

SHILDONLOCKSMITH

24 HOUR CALL OUT

We offer gain entry, Lock changes and

door & window repairCovers all local areas

Tel: 01388 741114www.shildonlocksmiths.co.uk

St. Mark’s Church in Eldon is holding its Autumn Fair on Saturday 12th Septem-ber.Light lunches are being served from 12 noon onwards and the fair will

be opened at 1pm.There will be cakes and preserves for sale, includ-ing homemade jams, mar-malades and chutneys, as well as a tombola, crafts, gifts and a raffle.

Staff and volunteers at Shildon Alive: A St. John’s Church Project, supported by Shildon Town Council, delivered the final summer ‘Fun For All’ event in Hack-worth Park recently.The afternoon’s activities were horticultural themed to link into the weekend’s Horticultural Show at the Civic Hall. Children learnt to take herb cuttings and decorate their own plant pots, whilst young people from the Shildon Ignite group refreshed some of the park’s flower planting

as part of their Green Shildon activities.Shildon Town Council’s Direct Works Manager, Glenn Gibson, was on hand to show the youngsters around the array of horti-cultural machinery.Fun sports activities were delivered by Durham County’s ParkLife who provided archery and an obstacle course for young-sters to try. 592 children engaged with Parklife activities throughout this summer’s events. Shildon’s local Morrison’s

store again provided a generous donation of fruit, bottled water and crisps for the children.There was a further kind donation from Julie’s Ice Cream Van to Shildon Alive.A spokesperson for the Town Council said that the Fun For All events have been a great success this summer, with local children engaging with sporting activities and arts ‘n’ crafts, as well as a summer of free family fun in the park.

Autumn Fair

Shildon Salvation Army on Cross Street is holding its monthly Jumble Sale on

Tuesday 8th September, from 10am. Refreshments will be available.

Jumble sale

Final ‘Fun For All’ event of the year

Children learned to take herb cuttings and decorate their own plant pots at the event, supported by Shildon Alive volunteer, Craig Dowd.

Residents oppose takeaway plans

P.J.R. PLASTERING

All aspects of PlasteringRe-skims & Rendering,

Damp proofingClean Service

Quality WorkmanshipVery Reasonable Rates

No Job too SmallPhone for aFREE quote

01388 7752750781 357 1929

BLINDS FACTORY SHOP

Phone the North East’s original master blind maker

Siesta Blinds on 01325 309003Siesta House, Whinfield Drive, Newton Aycliffe DL5 6AU

Ask about our next day fitting on vertical blindswww.siestablinds.com

£££’s

HOME SELECTION SERVICE

FREEFREE

MEaSuRE & FITTINg buy direct from the factory and save

Residents on the Jubilee Fields Estate have objected to plans for a new takeaway, which have been submitted to Durham County Council.The plans, put forward by North East Property Developments Ltd of New-castle, request a change of use from retail to hot food takeaway at the site on Jubilee Road, next door to the Nisa store.This is the second time plans for a takeaway in the building have been submitted, with previous plans being withdrawn in 2014 following over-whelming opposition from nearby residents, who are once again fighting against the opening of another takeaway in the town.This is one of the first such applications that has been put forward for considera-tion since Durham County Council made the decision to enforce a limit to the number of takeaways in the town as part of the Shildon Regeneration Framework Masterplan, drawn up in 2013. The cap

was set at 5%, however some residents are con-cerned that as the total number of takeaway busi-nesses in Shildon already stands at 8.2%, Durham County Council will have little reason to object. Councillor Peter Quinn, who himself lives on the Jubilee Estate, said that he has had several constit-uents complain bitterly to him about the application, to which he also objects.He commented, “When I first came to Shildon the town was known as the home of the Wagon Works. It is now known as ‘Takeaway City’. We do not need any more takeaways in this town - we need good quality shops. Durham County Council has set a limit but that limit has already been exceeded. I think it’s disgusting and I will thor-oughly object.”Shildon Town Council are set to discuss the applica-tion at their next meeting, which will take place in the Council Chambers on Monday 14th September.

Follow us on twitter @ShildonCrier

High Quality Gates Garden Fences - Wall Railings

- Free Estimates &Advice on any project

- Experienced Tradesmen - Friendly Reliable Fast Advice

Tel Stephen on: 07976554046Email: info@valleywroughtiron.co.ukwww.valleywroughtiron.co.uk

Valley Wrought Iron

Garden Maintenance & Grass Cutting Services

All garden work carried outNo job too small

01388 45062907738 673 201

Friendly, local, reliable service

Friday 4th September 2015 Shildon & District Town CrierIssue 731Page 4

The Shildon Horticultural Show took place at the Civic Hall on Saturday 29th August, with Joss Aldworth winning for the second week running. Falling just short of breaking the town record, he showed a very impres-sive 308 cubic inches. Michael Aldworth came second, also for the second week running, with 274 cube. Barry Woodward came in third with 252. Brian Walton in 4th won the award for Best Leek in Show. The section for three leeks: a pot, an intermedi-ate and a long leek, was won by David Snowball with 322 cube. Kenny Shaw was second with 288. Amongst other winners, G Parry won the tray of three vegetables, the long and stump carrots, flat bottomed onions, shallots and potatoes.David Snowball won the celery, the beetroot, and the award for best exhibit in show with his two dressed onions.In the flower section, Kenny Shaw won the best vase of flowers trophy with three medium dahlias, and also

the section for three large dahlias.G Hodgson won the small decs, the giants and the pom sections. Gary Parsons won the spray chrysanthemums, D Kilbran the intermediate, and G Peacock the incurve and reflex chrysanthemums. Amongst the children’s winners were Holly McKimm, Paige Geddes, Charlie Geddes, Abbie McKimm and Harry

McKimm. The organisers would like to thank the following sponsors: Shildon Town Council, Shildon AFC Sup-porters Club, Cllr Henry Nicholson, Shildon Garden Guild, Alan Walker, Gary Fitzgerald, Old Shildon Pigeon Club, Andrew Evans Fabrication, Co-op Funer-alcare, Gareth Richardson Fabrications, Alan Reed, Billy Drennan and David Snowball.

Shildon Salvation Army on Cross Street is holding an Autumn Fayre on Saturday 12th September, from 10am to 12 noon.

There will be various stalls and lots of bargains and refreshments available for purchase, including bacon butties and toasties.

Salvation Army Fayre

Residents at Holly Lodge Care Home on Maddison Street, Shildon, had a very different kind of visitor experience on Friday 28th August, when Zoo Lab took along a variety of animals, including a tarantula!A spokesperson for the

home said, “Lots of our residents enjoyed meeting the different animals and look forward to meeting them again when they return in December.”On the previous day, Thursday 27th August, the residents also received a visit from Dylan - a deaf

and partially sighted, but very friendly cat.The care home thanked Co-operative Funeralcare for organising the visit, as well as contributing towards a donation made to Ark on the Edge animal shelter in Woodlands, where Dylan was rescued.

Daily Lunchtime Specials

ERIC’S Traditional fish and chips1 Maple Avenue, Shildon, DL4 2AQ

01388 773232

BURGER & CHIPS - JUMBO & CHIPS - SPAM & CHIPSAll with sauce or a bottle of pop for £3

FEED THE FAMILY FOR £10 MEAL DEAL6 DAYS A WEEK - ALL DAY

Buy Fish & Chips Twice and get x2 Kids Meals FREE

(choice of Chicken Nuggets, Fish Fingers or Sausage)All with Chips, Sauce, Drink & A Lolly!!!

Police are looking to identify this male in relation to a recent crime which occurred on Church Street in Shildon. Anyone with information should call Shildon Police on 101.

On the afternoon of Sunday 30th August, a living room window was smashed on Pine Tree Crescent.

Do you recognise this man?

Window smashedDid anyone see who was responsible? If so, contact Shildon Police on the non-emergency number, 101.

Between 5.30pm and 5.50pm on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st August, a Fiesta motor car parked in the car park at the junction of Dean Street and Main Street had its

rear windscreen smashed with a brick. Those respon-sible are believed to have run off from the scene.Anyone who witnessed this incident is urged to contact Shildon Police on 101.

Brick thrown through window

Chris Percival from Ark on the Edge takes Dylan to meet Holly Lodge resident Ethel.

A different kind of visitor

Deputy Mayor of Shildon, Cllr Trish Pemberton, presents a trophy to Paige Geddes, who won the best exhibit in the children’s section.

Civic hosts Shildon Horticultural Show

Friday 4th September 2015Shildon & District Town Crier Issue 731 Page 5

Saint John’s Youthy enjoyed a day of cel-ebration on Sunday 30th August, as they gathered to say ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’ to Youth Worker Naomi Tomlinson, and ‘welcome’ to new Youth Worker Lucy Mann. Over the last year Naomi has encouraged the young people to be involved in life enhancing projects across the community.Coordinating four differ-ent groups, Saint John’s Youthy, Teen Spirit, Shildon Ignite, and Saint

John’s After School Club, Naomi worked with around 100 children and young people every week. The groups embarked on a number of projects in-cluding the positive poster campaign around the town, which was featured in the Northern Echo and on Radio Tees. Other projects included a youth camp at Auckland Castle where 51 young people enjoyed the run of the grounds for a weekend, trips away, and debates around issues and beliefs.

New youth worker Lucy is from Barnard Castle and comes to Shildon following youth work training and volunteering in a number of youth groups. Over the last six weeks she has been shadowing Naomi and getting to know the role. “Working with Saint John’s has been amazing,” com-mented Naomi. “The young people here are phenomenal, full of passion and drive. Lucy is going to have such a great time!”

Members of St John’s Youthy gathered to say ‘farewell’ to Youth Worker Naomi Tomlin-son and ‘welcome’ to her replacement, Lucy Mann (both circled).

Youthy says a fond farewell to Youth Worker Naomi

The Dedication of Eddie Deverell-Smith took place at Shildon Salvation Army

on Sunday 30th August.Eddie is the first child of Chris and Danielle, who

chose Tom and Helene Lockett as their little one’s Godparents.

Eddie Deverell-Smith with his parents and Godparents.

Service of Dedication

Visit Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon on Saturday 19th September, between 10.30am and 4pm, and meet the author of a new book about the local engineer, Thomas Hack-worth.George Turner Smith was inspired to write the book Thomas Hackworth: Loco-motive Engineer following his research for a previous book.George said, “I came across Tom Hackworth, mentioned almost as an aside to the life and work of Timothy Hackworth. Being from Hartlepool I was intrigued by the fact that Tom once built steam locomotives at Stockton, of which I had no previous knowledge. There seemed to be so little written about Tom I thought his life might be the subject for a magazine article and arranged to meet his family member

Jane Hackworth-Young at Locomotion. From there the project escalated to the point that Tom’s life couldn’t be encapsulated in just a few paragraphs, hence the book. I hope I have done him justice”.Thomas was the brother of the well-known engineer, Timothy Hackworth and was party to some of the early railway experi-ments, including the birth of Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly. He built some of the first locomotives on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. His acumen and engineer-ing expertise were major contributors to the growth of both Shildon and Stockton-on-Tees, where he established one of the world’s leading marine en-gineering companies. The book explores both his personal and professional life and reveals the story of a man who was over-looked by history.

Meet the author

Caught on camera

Police are appealing to readers to help them identify this man, who is wanted in connection to an alleged assault on a shop-keeper, which took place in

the Premier Store in Main Street, Shildon, on 9th July.Anyone with information should call Durham Con-stabulary on 101, quoting crime number SK1501384.

This man is wanted in relation to an alleged assault.

Friday 4th September 2015 Shildon & District Town CrierIssue 731Page 6

Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon, is inviting visitors to go along and get involved at its Have A Go Gala on Saturday 5th Sep-tember.The event is designed to raise awareness of volun-teering opportunities at the museum.During the event visitors will be able to collect an information pack about

volunteering opportuni-ties, enjoy cab access to selected vehicles and participate in short guided tours of the ‘star’ vehicles throughout the day.Visitors can also take part in diesel driver for a fiver between 1pm and 4.30pm. Sessions will last around 10 minutes and tickets (£5 per ticket) can be purchased in advance from the shop in the Collections building.

Foundations on Church Street, Shildon, will be hosting a Bake Sale on Saturday 5th September, between 10am and 2pm.There will also be other stalls as well as a raffle and tombola (main prize £50

‘Love 2 shop’ voucher).All proceeds are in aid of the South Durham Counsel-ling Service and Friends @ Foundations.“Come and join us for a cake and a cuppa,” said a spokesperson.

On Wednesday 26th August, Bradley Todd, aged 18 years, was charged with the production of cannabis and abstracting electricity.He is due to attend Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court on 3rd September. A spokesperson for Shildon Police commented, “This

sort of criminal activity has a negative impact on the community in which you live and it will not be tolerated. “If anyone has any infor-mation about criminal activity in your area then don't hesitate to get in touch.”

Crime ‘will not be tolerated’

No 1 LOCAL APPLIANCEREPAIR CENTRE

Specialists in Laundry, Refrigeration, Cooking, Dishwashing & Vacuums

Highly qualified Engineers to your door FREE OF CHARGETel: 01388 777353 / 01388 778556

A&R ELECTRICS GROUP

Have A Go Gala

Bake sale

Another of the popular Quiz Nights will be taking place at Shildon Methodist Church on Friday 11th September.The event will get underway at 7.15pm and admission is £4, which includes broth

and a bun. “All are welcome to the fun packed evening,” said a spokesperson.For further information, or for tickets, call 01388 775366 or 01388 773171.

Methodist quiz night

Greenfield celebrates improved results

This year there were double GCSE celebrations at Greenfield Community College at both Aycliffe and Shildon. Greenfield staff were de-lighted that the first set of results as an expanded school revealed high levels of achievement and great progress. Early indications show Greenfield results to be above the national average in English at both C+ grades and at A/A*, rapidly im-proving in maths and ICT, outstanding in MFL and Art and, in fact, strong across

all subjects.Staff and students are celebrating a significant increase in GCSE results at the Sunnydale Campus with 55% of Greenfield students achieving 5 A*-C grades, in-cluding English and Maths. Fifteen hard-working students achieved three or more A/A* grades and special congratulations go to: Jessica Hall and Linda Nodding for achieving the top grades in six subjects; Niamh Ellison for eight A/A* grades and to Bethany Algie Lee-Shield and Kate Bell for achieving A/A* in nine

subjects. Across the whole school, Greenfield students achieved a staggering 342 A/A* grades, with almost half the cohort achieving at least one top grade. David Priestley, executive headteacher, said, “Gover-nors and staff are delighted to celebrate such strong results on both campuses in our first year as an expanded school. These excellent results will allow our students to move into the next phase of their lives and we wish them every success.”

The students celebrating their achievements on results day.

The family and friends of baby Seth Lambert made their way to Saint John’s on Sunday 30th August for a baptism marked by the sound of happy children.With big brother Charlie helping Revd David by holding the candle, the service was a lovely cel-

ebration of life and love.The nine month old’s parents, Gareth and Danielle Lambert from Dean Street, chose six Godparents for their little boy. These were Rebecca Moyle, Abbie Fieldson, Mel Lambert, Ryan Laffey, Anth Meadows and Darryl

Meadows. “It is a joy to baptise the children of our community” said Revd. David. “It is a way of thanking God for who they are, and welcom-ing his love into their lives”. The family celebrated with a party afterwards at Elm Road Club.

Baptised at St John’s

Seth Lambert on his special day with his parents and Godparents.

Friday 4th September 2015Shildon & District Town Crier Issue 731 Page 7

LettersHave your say...

MILNER’S CLEANING CONTRACTORS

Window cleaning - Houses & Businesses from £3

Gutters cleaned & repaired from £5

Garden maintenance, home repair service, office

& domestic cleaningCALL: 01388 776150OR: 07900 281 601

NEED A VAN?JOHN’S VANLIGHT REMOVALS

ANYTHING MOVED FROM £10

01388 81828607914 032280

LICENSED WASTE CARRIER

Throughout the course of the summer holidays, Jubilee Fields Community Centre has been holding a free summer dance camp for children and young people aged between 5-16 years of age.Steph Alderson from the Dynamic Dance School has been running the summer dance camp alongside the centre’s play staff team.On Thursday 27th August, members of the dance camp held their dance show finale for all the

parents and families. A spokesperson for Jubilee Fields Commu-nity Centre said, “On the evening we were delight-ed to welcome Councillor Henry Nicholson, Council-lor Trish Pemberton and local MP Helen Goodman, who attended to see the children and young people.“They worked so hard throughout the course of the six weeks and the final performance at the dance show was amazing.

A huge well done to all those who took part.“On behalf of all the staff and children at Jubilee Fields Community Centre, I would like to take this opportunity to thank councillors Nicholson and Pemberton for the funding they contributed for the dance camp, as without this support it would not have taken place. “Also a huge thank you to everybody who attended, it was a fantastic evening.”

Dear Editor,

With obesity and type 2 diabetes spiralling out of control, an increase of 60% in the last 10 years alone, various health organisations, including the NHS, are warning it can only get worse if people do not change their diet and unhealthy lifestyles.

Shildon already has nearly double the planning allowance for fast food takeaways as set out in the County Durham Plan in 2013. Shildon already has 8.2% instead of the 5% maximum limit, and yet another planning application has been submitted to open a further fast food takeaway on the Jubilee Fields Estate, next door to the recently opened Nisa store. No wonder this town is leading the way and contributing to unhealthy lifestyles.

The Jubilee Fields Community Centre holds various courses and classes such as Slimming World and fitness classes and the Health Express is actually visiting on 24th September to sign up new clients and promote better wellbe-ing, and yet they are planning to open a fast food takeaway right next door to this venue. It beggars belief. Shildon certainly doesn't need any more takeaways whatsoever and I hope local councillors, health organisations and community groups will put a stop to Shildon becoming a junk food town.

Mr R Harwood,Jubilee Road, Shildon.

Dear Editor,

After discovering the theft of the ornate rose bowls from my late parents’ grave in All Saints churchyard, I returned with a tape rule with a view to taking measurements to replace the stolen bowls. I could not see the grave, it was so overgrown by weeds, nettles and long grass.

My parents both served in WW2 - my father with the Fleet Air Arm and my mother was an Aycliffe Angel. Close to my parents’ grave is the overgrown grave of my great-grandparents, whose five sons served in WWI. These two Shildon couples have given so much to their town and country, and yet their final resting places are so neglected by the local authorities.

As I look around the churchyard, I see the over-grown, neglected graves of Shildon names from my childhood - lovely hard working people who are part of Shildon’s history.

My question to the council is, ‘Why has All Saint’s churchyard been allowed to become such a disgrace?’

Mrs Rosalyn Langley,Braithwaite Street, Shildon

The children and young people at their dance show with their instructor Steph Alder-son, Councillors Henry Nicholson and Trish Pemberton, and MP for Bishop Auckland, Helen Goodman.

Children wow dignitaries with dance show

The Co-operative Funeral-care in Shildon was recently able to provide a darts’ mat for The Three Tuns darts team, as well as darts sets

Barbara Bates presents the new darts sets to Nigel Raine, landlord of the Locomotive.

Funeralcare ‘dart’ to the rescue

for the Ladies Darts Team at The Locomotive. Barbara Bates, from Funer-alcare, commented, “We are always keen to help

sponsor sports teams. Ap-plications for sponsorship should be made in writing to your local Co-operative Funeralcare funeral home.”

Friday 4th September 2015 Shildon & District Town CrierIssue 731Page 8

SportLocal leagues, competitions and events...

Shildon Railway Cricket Club’s first team are looking firm favourites to lift the Division 3 title and could clinch it with victory over their next opponents Maltby, in Saturday’s forthcoming away fixture (12.30pm start). Last weekend saw the Railwaymen struggle on a poor wicket at Billingham and without the in-form Bret Upton, due to sus-pension, the side slumped to 102 all out in 30.2 overs, Ihsan Ul Haq taking 7 for 35. However, a strong fight-back saw Shildon claim a

tense victory with Robert Nevison taking 5 for 25, as Billingham were dismissed for 97 in 27 overs. Monday’s typical Bank Holiday weather saw the home game against Bedale cancelled, Shildon having to make do with 6 points.So, this Saturday could see Shildon crowned as league champions to go alongside their League Cup win, both in their first season in the North Yorks and South Durham Premiere Cricket League. On Sunday the 2nd team host Billing-ham Synthonia in Sunday Division 2, starting at 1pm.

Shildon Runner Kate Avery represented Team GB in Beijing on Monday 24th August in the 10,000m, fin-ishing 15th in 32.16.19. “This is a fantastic achieve-ment and all associated with Shildon Running Club are justifiably proud of her,” commented a spokes-person.Rachel Bennett and Courtnie Mills were part of the North East Counties team which took part in the Northern Inter Counties Championship in Blackburn on Saturday. Rachel was up first in the U15 200m and won her heat in 26.37 seconds fin-ishing first in her string. In the 100m event, Rachel again won her heat in 12.88 seconds and managed 3rd place in her string. As a result of an injury picked up during the 100m, Rachel had to withdraw from the 4x 100m relay which in turn has brought her outdoor track season to a prema-ture end. Courtnie ran in the U17 300m where she put in another good performance to finish in 42.47 seconds and then went on to run the 200m leg of the medley relay where the team finished 5th in 4.29.00.Two of the club’s younger

athletes, Cody Hall and Kayleigh Readman, went to York on 16th August to participate in the Summer League. Cody had an ex-ceptional day finishing 2nd in the U11 75m sprint in 11.6 seconds and again 2nd in the Long Jump leaping 3.66m. Kayleigh competed in the U13 80m sprint finishing 3rd in her heat in 12.2 seconds whilst in the 150m she finished 2nd in her heat in 23.4 seconds and in the Long Jump jumped 3.22m.In the final NE Grand Prix Series event at Gateshead Georgia Hirst jumped 4.65 to win the u20 women’s Long Jump.The track and field season for the sprint squad was brought to a close at the Tartan Games at Gates-head on Sunday where both junior and senior members competed alongside each other. In Year 3 Girls 60m sprint Tia Hirst came in 2nd in 10.37 seconds and followed this up with victory in the Standing Long Jump, leaping 1.76m. Cody Hall capped a good season by finishing 2nd in the Year 5 Girls 60m sprint in 9.20 seconds and 3rd in the Standing Long Jump leaping 1.86m.

In Year 4 boys, Aidan Barrass came 4th in the 60m sprint in 9.60 seconds and 4th in the Standing Long Jump in 1.68m. Aidan saved the best until last winning the 600m in 1.55.96. Charlie Dixon finished his U15 Boys 300m in 44.06 seconds whilst Courtnie Mills won her U17 Womens 300m race in 42.39 seconds, following this up with a 2nd place in the 200m in 26.84 seconds. Lewis Marley was the final member of the squad to compete and he easily qualified for the final of the U17 Mens 100m fin-ishing 1st in 11.50 seconds. After a very closely con-tested final, a photo finish was required with Lewis being awarded 2nd place in 11.41 seconds losing out by just .01 of a second. In the 200m, Lewis brought his season to a close finish-ing 5th in 24.16 seconds.

Last week’s photograph of work taking place on the B.R. sports field caused quite a bit of interest. Jean Corden (nee Robertson), now in Byers Green, got in touch and told us that indeed it was her future husband Louis Gooch sitting on the digger. It was the summer of 1953 and Lou, who originally hailed from Norwich, was staying in digs in Short Street whilst

working the twelve hour shifts. This is how Jean and he first met and they con-tinued to correspond after the job had finished and Lou had returned to Ashby de la Zouche in Leicester-shire. Love blossomed and the pair married in 1956 and had two children, a son who lives in Bishop Auckland and a daughter who lives in Knaresbor-ough.

Houses To Let

In Shildon, Newton Aycliffe, Bishop

Auckland, & Leeholme

From £70 per week

01325 484 846

Shildon AFC beaten for the first time this season

Top of the league Shildon AFC suffered their first defeat of the season in the league after going down 1- 0 to second place Morpeth Town on Bank Holiday Monday 31st August, the goal coming with just one minute remaining.Shildon started well and could easily have been three up in the first 11 minutes. In the second minute, an electrifying Kyle Fryatt run found Lewis Wing whose 20 yarder hit the top of the bar with the keeper beaten. A minute later Micky Rae had a great

chance with a one on one with the keeper but his shot was weak. On 11 minutes Gary Brown fired just wide.For Morpeth, No 7 Sean Taylor had a brilliant chance but he shot over from 5 yards.Half Time: Shildon AFC 0 Morpeth Town 0.After an evenly matched first half Morpeth looked far more dangerous in the second and as the game went on they got stronger, with Shildon’s Gary Brown and Bobby Moore defend-ing brilliantly.

After 84 minutes Bobby Moore cleared off the line and after more pressure from Morpeth, Gary Brown also headed off the line, but Ben Sayer’s right footer sealed the win for Town on 89 minutes.Final Score: Shildon AFC 0 Morpeth Town 1.Subs: Greulich-Smith for Rae 46, Doninger for Fryatt 63, Hudson for Davis 71.Man-of-the-Match: Gary Brown. Shildon cannot have any complaints as the best team won. Morpeth were the only side threatening in the second half.

Shildon RAC

Title almost in the bag

Photo provides new information

TV AERIALSFull Digital - HD Ready

One room from£35Extra rooms from £10 TV tuned in free

All work guaranteedWe will match any quote

jtva.co.uk 0784 574 6531All jobs subject to available signals

Keith McLeanJoiner and Builder

01740 6516290771 875 4249

Loft and Garage Conversions,Fitted Kitchens, Roofing, All

types of Building Work.Competitive Rates30 years experience

Shildon AFC ClubhouseAvailable daily free of charge for parties, Christenings and any other celebrations

Also available for meetings & conferencesTea & Coffee making and kitchen facilities

Call Norman on 07500 874 505 for more information

Licensed Bar | Karaoke Machine | Kitchen Facilities