Fears of a ‘catastrophic’ collapse prompted the complete closure of Whorlton Bridge
Meet the Meighans, who have pulled out all the stops with the Christmas decorations this year
Young Ingleton brothers Freddie and Archie Swinburne organised a fundraising effort at their school which will help a dozen homeless people this Christmas
Despite the effects of Covid-19, the dale’s dedicated fundraisers handed over £40,000 to Cancer Research UK
Plans have been submitted to convert the Strathmore Arms, in Holwick, into a house
It was party time at Gainford Primary for all those who had birthdays in the Covid-19 lockdowns
A free fruit and veg scheme has been introduced to Evenwood thanks to the Auckland Project
A call has been made to axe next year’s 1940s weekend in Barnard Castle
The Bowes Museum has been given the green light to hold its popular festive market this weekend
Happy Christmas! We’ve all you seasonal messages
In sport, football returned last weekend – but a travel ban has badly affected the dale’s teams
For this week’s Q&A feature, we meet drummer Tom Whittaker
Plus… rural news in our farm and country section; family notices; Bob Garton’s brainteasers; readers’ letters; community news and much more… all in this week’s Mercury
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
