The Durham Light Infantry Collection will Move to The Story

The Durham Light infantry (DLI) collection of historic military memorabilia has been packed up ready to move into its new home.

The DLI Gallery: Courage, Comrades and Community has been shown in Durham University’s Palace Green Library Since 2017

Durham County Council and the University have been working together to preserve and display the collection in Durham and further afield through touring exhibitions.

Since 10th February 2023, the collection has been fully packed up ready to move to its new home. It will now call The Story, an exciting new heritage venue, its home.

The Story is set open in Autumn 2023. It will transform the Mount Oswald building into a historical hub for County Durham, housing both the DLI Collection and almost six miles of archives that span 900 years of local history. The public will be able to enjoy free entry to permanent and temporary exhibitions at The Story, which will also serve as an elegant wedding ceremony venue.

Cllr Elizabeth Scott, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for Economy and Partnerships said: “We are delighted that construction of The Story is progressing well….

“We will be running a programme of activities in anticipation of the opening of The Story, so there will be plenty of opportunities for people to view and enjoy the collection in the meantime.”

The former DLI Museum and Gallery will be redeveloped into a rejuvenated exhibition centre, gallery, cafe and restaurant.

Professor Janet Stewart, Executive Dean (Arts and Humanities) at Durham University, said: “Over the last six years, we have had the honour of displaying important and significant artefacts from the Durham Light Infantry collection in Palace Green Library. We now look forward to their onward journey to The Story, a new venue which is set to transform how the county’s history is told and accessed.”

If you are hoping to see items from the DLI Collection before The Story opens then you are in luck.

To ensure visitors can continue to enjoy stories and objects from the collection, a selection of previously unseen objects will become part of a touring exhibition telling DLI stories of people and places.

From spring, the items will be on display in public venues around the county like Clayport Library, Durham Town Hall, Bishop Auckland Town Hall, and Consett Leisure Centre.

Additionally, the DLI Medal Collection will be on public display at the Barker Reading Room at Palace Green Library until The Story opens. For more information on how to access the collection, visit www.dur.ac.uk/palace.green/visit

The History Of Day

This year Mother’s Day will take place on Sunday 19th March 2023. In this edition, we explore the history of this lovely holiday, which is dedicated to appreciating all of the amazing mother figures in our lives!

Mother’s Day, as we have come to know it, has evolved from traditions across several different cultures.

It arguably began when ancient Greeks and Romans would hold celebrations for their respective mother Goddesses: Rhea and Cybele.

In the UK Mother’s Day is also known as Mothering Sunday. It takes place on the fourth Sunday of Lent each year– exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday. For this reason, you may have already guessed that the holiday has some religious origins.

Originally Mothering Sunday was a Christian celebration giving thanks to and honouring the Virgin Mary. Christians across Europe would observe this day by attending their ‘mother’ church, their family's closest main church or cathedral. This gave children who usually lived and worked away from their family as apprentices or domestic servants a day off and a chance to be reunited with their families, including their mothers. Those visiting their ‘mother’ church would often also attend with offerings of thanks.

The tradition of gift giving on mothers day may have developed from this and from people giving their mothers simnel cake and wild flowers that they picked on the way home. Although these days the flowers tend to come from a florist or shop and chocolates tend to be the sweet treat of choice, it is easy to see why these have become popular Mother’s Day gifts.

Mother’s Day is celebrated across the world but some of the traditions, and even which date it is celebrated on, will vary depending on which country you are in.

For example, Mother’s Day in America looks fairly similar to the British holiday with flowers and cards being given to mothers. However, it is celebrated on the second Sunday in May every year and it has very different origins.

American Mother’s Day was created by a woman called Anna Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia. The day began as a tribute to her late mother in the early 1900s and it became an official US holiday in 1914.

Whether you chose to celebrate Mother’s Day by visiting your mum/mam or any other mother figure in your life, spoiling them with gifts or by following a unique family tradition, we hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating!