May 2016
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May 2016 - Editorial
Dear Consett Magazine Readers, It is with great pleasure that we bring you the May edition of the free Consett Magazine. We are delighted to have so many great local readers, writers, photographers, and even social media followers who actively engage with Consett Magazine each month. Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed, including new writers Annette Storey, Nicola Parry, and Helen Cook.
If you’d like to have your say, shout about an event, inform us about your charitable organisation or just tell us how we’re doing, call us on 01207 438 292, Email: editor@consettmagazine.com or find us on Facebook. As many of you know we support the great work done by Brian Harrison (Consett Magazine’s resident historian) and the Consett & District Heritage Initiative team. The Initiative have an Exhibition this month (See page 4). Our latest feature is the “Where am I?” photo teaser, with many of you enjoying and taking part in this on Facebook, we’ve decided to add a “Where am I?” to the print edition. If you can guess where this month's photo was taken, please email us : editor@consettmagazine.com or message us on Facebook. Have a great day, The Consett Magazine Team
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Disclaimer: Consett Magazine and consettmagazine.com make sure to only use reliable sources and we try to verify all content as much as possible. We cannot accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions. All details are believed to be correct at the time of printing. We recommend that readers check information with any venue about times and dates of events in advance. Readers are welcome to send photographs, letters and other content to Consett Magazine and Firefly New Media UK but we cannot guarantee they will be featured in the publication. Firefly New Media UK reserves the right to neither use submitted material in print and online publications nor return it. The views and opinions expressed in advertisements and content do not reflect that of Consett Magazine and Firefly New Media UK. No part of this publication/website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from Firefly New Media UK. Permission is only deemed valid if approval is in writing. To reduce environmental impact, once finished with please recycle this magazine or pass it on to friends and family. Firefly New Media UK - All Rights Reserved
Brian Harrison Barry Kirkham Marco Elsy Frank Bell Neil Sullivan Lorraine Weightman Annette Storey Malcolm Clarke (Online) Jim Callan Helen Cook Dr Jacqui Molyneux Nicola Parry Marie Burns
The Front Cover If you have a great photograph you would like to share, then send it across and it could be your photo we use - send any photographs to: editor@consettmagzine.com
Advertise Get your story, photograph, or adverts to us by the 15th May 2016! Call 01207 438 292 or email sales@consettmagazine.com
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Where am I?
PS In next month's edition, we will be following Consett Festival which is at Consett AFC on the 4th and 5th June. In the meantime, for more information on this local festival and how to book tickets visit: www.consettfestival.co.uk
Contributors
Your Free May 2016 Consett Magazine
Welcome
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Mystery in the Mine - By Brian Harrison
Your Free May 2016 Consett Magazine
M YS T E RY I N T H E M I N E Consett & District Heritage Initiative have an Exhibition on in May. Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Saturday 14th May. From 10am - 4.30pm Thursday and Saturday and Friday 10am - 8pm at Consett Methodist Church. As always it is free and there will be some great displays by both ourselves and other local groups.
It all started on 10 am on the night of 20th November 1904. Robert Minks, a Master Shifter at the Derwent Hunter Pit, had started his shift as normal. He was making his rounds underground. At about 2.30 am the following morning he was talking to one of the Hewers an elderly man by the name of Ashby, then promptly disappeared. When he did not check out that morning and did not arrive at home, the alarm was raised. Initial thoughts were that he had been pinned by falling stone. Six search parties were sent out but to no avail. Rumours began to circulate that he had made it out of the pit unseen and simply left the area. However, these were quickly squashed by the colliery management who extended the search. www.consettmagazine.com
A week later Robert was still missing. His son William, who also worked in the pit, was determined to get to the bottom off the whole affair. He demanded bloodhounds be taken into the pit which the management promptly agreed too. But once again nothing was found. William
was undeterred and decided to request the help of one Mr W Rushford, a clairvoyant. William and his mother Elizabeth visited him at his home in South Shields on Thursday 19th and had brought with them a waistcoat of the lost man. He was said to have given a description of Robert and also the inner workings of the mine in great detail also stating clearly that “This Gentleman is dead�. He described an incline some distance from where the lost man had last been seen telling them that this is where he would be found. After some initial resistance Mr Rushford agreed to visit the mine to see if he could ascertain more. The following Monday at 6.30pm he made his descent into the mine accompanied by Mr R S Swallow the manager along with members of his team, including William Gibson, like Robert Minks, a Master Shifter. Rushford traversed the mine quite easily to the point in which Robert had been last seen, but as his vision's had only shown him to this point
he had to be lead further by others. He asked about an incline but they were unable to verify where this could be. It was now after midnight and once again the search was fruitless. Mr Rushford returned home, later stating in the press that if he had been given more time and the area had not been so contaminated by others that he would have found the man. However, a month later on 14th December in an abandoned, secluded part of the mine the body of Robert was found lying on top of a pile of rubble by another Master Shifter, James Steel. His lamp had been laid neatly at the side as was his cap with no damage to any part of his body other than his head. It was never stated whether it was down an incline or not. It transpired that the day prior to his disappearance Robert had been in a detailed conversation with William Gibson about the strength of the detonator caps and how long they took to burn. William had taken one and placed it on a brick, when it detonated it smashed the brick in two to which Robert stated “ That is strong enough for anything." On the night of the 20th no explosions were needed, however, Robert had asked Gibson for the key to the store, which he had initially thought nothing of. At the inquest it was decided that from all the evidence Robert had simply found a secluded area in the mine, placing his equipment and hat neatly to the side had lay down, placed a no.8 detonator cap on his head lit the fuse and ended his own life.
TOP TRIMZ
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Come to our Open Evening Monday 9th May 6pm - 9pm and meet Devon the Crufts Best in Show Winner 2016
Anyone interested in becoming a Professional Dog Groomer can come along and talk to one of our Highly Qualified tutors regarding the grooming courses we offer. Past Students will be performing grooming demonstrations. Talk to them about their experience at TOP TRIMZ. Pet owners can come along to see our new facilities, your pets are welcome to come along too. You can ask a qualified groomer for advice about grooming your pet.
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MAY 1956
Diamond Days, Golden Years Sixty years ago this month a baby girl was born in the Richard Murray Hospital in Blackhill. Only daughter to a steelworker and his dancing dressmaking wife, she was taken home to live the first part of her life in the 'prefabs' with an older brother and a dog named Timmy. With a devoted extended family, she grew up in the community spirit of the time. Doors were never locked, children played in the street, chalking cricket stumps on the walls and hopscotch squares on the pavement, while the Monday washing billowed on lines across the roads.
murmured good night's outside her bedroom window. During the day she played on the pavements with the other kids using her bucket and spade to make pies from the thick black and silver dust which filled the gutters next to her home. She watched as the Mams' placed their kitchen chairs outside and wiped the red dust from their windows with chamois leather cloths after scrubbing the step and a semicircle of pavement. From the age of three she explored the streets around her home, walking past The Stirling Castle to Florries sweet shop on the corner. For fun she raced bogies down Berry Edge Road, built from discarded pieces of wood and old pram wheels. She shopped in Doggarts, Mortimer's and Collinson's with her Mother and had her feet measured in Gibsons for Start-rite shoes and sandals. On Sunday's she joined a huge congregation at Saint Patrick's; afterwards, slipping
She walked to Allensford with a bottle of Fentimans pop, cheese sandwiches, and a homemade apple pie, spending the afternoon stepping over stones and catching tiddlers in the river. Clapping her hands when her family recited poems close to the piano, she joined in with Danny Boy and Paddy McGintys Goat when the singing began, laughing till bedtime. On rainy days she learned how to play board games. When the sun shone she was out on her scooter and bike. Later she learned to cook and wallpaper, shopped in Donaghy's and Thackery's, then brought home pork sandwiches from Yager's as a special treat, not forgetting to hand over slips of paper at the betting shop for her Dad and Uncles. Now, as she clicks 'invite' on her 60th Birthday Party Facebook page, her life flashes by in a series of colourful snapshots; remembered like yesterday! So it's fitting she should want to celebrate where it all began in the club next to the betting shop where Crock of Gold came in at 100 to 1!
www.consettmagazine.com
At the age of two she moved to Alexandra Street in Consett, close to her Aunties and Uncles and fell asleep to the roar of the steelworks and the constant belly rumbling sound of men grafting through the night. She listened to the muted sound of footsteps as the shifts changed and heard the
into Rossi's for milky coffee, ice cream and a catch up; before coming home to the wonderful smell of roast Sunday dinner meandering from the kitchen.
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Your Free May 2016 Consett Magazine
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7th May 1956 - By Lorraine Weightman
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Low Frequency Noise Sufferers - By Helen Cook
Repossession? Marital dispute?
Since September 2014, a group of Derwentside residents have been plagued by a disturbing low frequency droning noise in their homes, most prevalent at night and its driving people mad. The noise causes headaches, nausea, anxiety and sleep disturbance for most who can hear it and earplugs offer little respite from the drone. Over Christmas 2015 it got so bad that some of the residents formed a group on Facebook and made an appeal to the local community for other sufferers to come forward and asked the local authority to begin an investigation into the problem. Over 60 people have joined the group so far, all spread over different areas of Consett, Blackhill, Bridgehill, The Grove, Delves Lane and there are even a few residents who are affected in Lanchester village over four miles away. The purpose of the group was to raise awareness of the disturbance and offer support to sufferers and let them know they’re not alone. Low frequency noise can have adverse effects on health and is often mistaken for tinnitus but more often than not sufferers have normal hearing.
If the noise is affecting you in any way, you can contact Consett Low Frequency Noise Sufferers on Facebook or call the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 807060.
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The Environment Agency is now conducting an investigation into possible sources of the noise and there is a hotline for residents to report the nuisance at any time. The more people who come forward and report any incidents, the better.
Times are becoming increasingly difficult in this economic climate. Selling your house can take forever and be stressful and costly. Perhaps you're thinking “I need to sell my home fast” because of a family bereavement, broken property chain, or even personal injury. Whatever the reason, we can help. We offer private and confidential support if you're keen to sell up and move on quickly for any reason - no one needs to know. As private investors we can help you by making a genuine cash offer on your house in days.
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Property Tips - By Annette Storey
WHY HAVING AN ESTATE AGENT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Annette Storey
Your Free May 2016 Consett Magazine
PROPERTY TIPS:
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Sales and Lettings Negotiator
So your property has gone up for sale and you have your first viewers booked in to come and look around, what can I do to make the place look the best I possibly can you may be thinking. Well, don’t panic we have some very simple and useful tips for you to use and every month we will be bringing you something new to try out.
A quick hoover and clean will make such a difference to anyone walking into your property for the first time, just the smell of the cleaning products can make a good first impression. But don’t just
Your gardens should also go through this treatment as very often your front garden will be the very first thing a potential buyer will see, even if they haven’t yet booked a viewing and are just looking around. Is your grass cut, kids toys put away, animals cleared up after and bins out of sight ‘if possible’? You don’t need to be Alan Titchmarsh just do the simple things well. These are all everyday things
that we all get so used to that we don’t even think about them, but in a property viewing can make a lasting bad impression. When someone views your property they are weighing up their lifestyle and assessing whether they could live there. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to imagine living in and enjoying your property. Think about new build show homes – they’re never messy and everything is in its place. So follow our handy tips and don’t just stop at general cleaning, think from a viewer’s perspective and create not just a clean, but a tidy, de-cluttered and inviting environment. The two images above are of a well presented house currently for sale. North View, Medomsley, 3 Beds, £139,950.
www.consettmagazine.com
Let’s start with perhaps the easiest and simplest tip but one that has a major impact on any viewing and is so often easily overlooked, ‘Tidy up’. This may sound like an obvious tip to mention but it is amazing how often people can either get caught up in preparing something else or just totally forget altogether to tidy around the house.
stop there try to think of yourself as being a complete stranger walking into your property for the first time, we are all guilty of becoming a custom to everyday clutter; a pile of magazines by the side of the sofa, an ironing board in the spare room, the kids toys on the floor, a pile of shoes & coats at the front door, washing on a clothes horse, recycling bin, piles of washing, dirty dishes and unmade beds.
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CMI Craig Keers has one of the most interesting and admirable jobs in County Durham. Out and About is a professional companionship service which helps disabled, elderly, or anyone who needs a little help getting “out and about”. If you or someone you know is disabled, elderly and finding it hard to be mobile, or just in need of some help getting to where they want to go, give Craig a call.
Craig can be reached on 07415342801, he is DBS checked, and is the proud founder and owner of “Out & About”.
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The Consett Music Scene In 2016 - By Nicola Parry
THE CONSETT MUSIC
SCENE IN 2016 As a lover of live music as well as a huge supporter of local bands, it saddens me to say we are losing what could be called the best venue in Consett town. Stephs, The Club That Rocks is not only a place for music, it's a place where everyone can feel welcome. Since Stephs has been open it has had some local legends play on their stage such as Slipknowt, Damaged Inc, Sister, Fallen Mafia, Smash To Pieces and Talk Of The Town.
Attending local gigs is a lot more about just the music, I find it's just as much about bringing the community together to share something that is mutually enjoyed, after years of feeling like I didn’t belong, having a place like Stephs bar makes you feel, shall I say normal? Like I belong somewhere at last.
Your Free May 2016 Consett Magazine
There are plenty of gigs coming up in the lead up to the Club closing including the Rock for Mick event taking place on May 14th which will include live music from Metallica cover band, Skinflint and Fallen Mafia just to name a few. The clubs events are all advertised on their Facebook page and website.
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Now is your chance to visit an amazing venue before it closes its doors on May 28th with their last event 'The Club That Rocks, The Final hooraaaa'. The live music scene is becoming more popular every day, now in Consett, many pubs choose to show live music, whether a band or singer, music is the future to our community.
CONSETT AFC FUNCTION ROOM Ava i l a b l e f o r h i r e
We have the newest high quality 170 sq metre function room in consett catering for all events.
We provide for all parties including weddings, engagements, birthdays, anniversaries, parties, fund raising events with full in house catering & room decoration for all events. The facility is also available for daytime bookings such as funerals and conference facilities. Inside the bar we also have Sky TV & BT Sport covering all the major sporting events on large TV's & 3 metre screens.
For Enquiries And Reservations Contact: 01207588886 Or 07710 133694 or 07983464062
www.consettmagazine.com
We also have 5 and 7 a side floodlit facilities on our all weather state of lab star 2 pitches which are available for hire from 4 pm to 10 pm Monday to Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday.
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£5,000 for local charities.
Willowburn Fundraising - By Lorraine Weightman
Ollie and Nina - By Neil Sullivan
Your Free May 2016 Consett Magazine
Youth crime in County Durham downFUNDRAISING 51.5 percent in Five Years FOR WILLOWBURN
a range of restorative justice You may have noticed that Consett that benefit not only MagazineMembers very rarely will report on of The Rotary Club of projects Consett are those directly crime, it’sseen part of presenting our policya to here blood pressure monitoraffected by crime, but the spread positive and Hospice. feel good to WillowBurn The majority of wider the community. news to money the area. wasThis raisedpiece at theofAnnual Cricket Day It also included working with local information, however is a positive which takes place on August Bank Holiday organisations, undertaking step in the right direction for our Sunday at Shotley Bridge Cricket Club. County. Consett Rotary Club join forces environmental with Derwent- projects, building side Round Table to play cricketmaintenance in memory ofand potentially any other County Durham’s YouthStewart Offending their member Weightman whoproject lost his that a victim suggests - especially if it helps Service (CDYOS) recently battle with cancerrevealed in 2006. develop that overConsett the past five give yearscontinuing the Rotary supportatoyoung their person’s skills. number local of hospice young people and fund raise throughout the committing Charitable initiatives, including year.crime has fallen by young people making poppies for 51.5 per cent, with the number of crimes they downneeded by 46.8for theRemembrance Thecommit extra money blood pressureSunday, Christmas spring per cent. monitor was raised at the clubswreathes, Annual Golf Day flower baskets and summer nesting boxes, have, held in September. last three years, helped Each year the youth offending Dr Carole Patterson who is seenover herethe accepting raise nearly service works with from both President young John the monitor Brierley and £5,000 for local charities. people who offend, and victims, on Lorraine Weightman, expressed her thanks and
HAVE YOUR SAY! Do you have an opinion on this subject or others? Contact us at editor@consettmagazine.com
highlighted that it will be in daily use at the hospice. WillowBurn who has been treasuring lives since 1989 currently provides a friendly supportive environment for people who's illnesses are no longer curable. Their aim is to control symptoms, relieve physical and emotional distress while embracing and supporting both the patient and their carers.
The team at WillowBurn are constantly fundraising to provide and upgrade the facilities they offer. They are currently looking for £5 million to build a new hospice. With the help of the local community organising and taking part in their fundraisers they have successfully completed Phase 1 of their project but they still have phase 2 and 3 to build. www.consettmagazine.com
If you would like to find out more about WillowBurn Hospice or The Rotary Club of Consett please get in touch:
01207 523900
www.rotaryconsett.freeuk.com rotaryconsett@freeuk.com fundraising@willowburnhospice.org.uk
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