YOUNGSTERS at a Barnard Castle nursery have been actively involved with the move to their new premises.
Children from Kirklands Day Nursery have been helping to move some of their toys and equipment from Bede Road to their new site in the former Startforth Morritt Primary School building.
Since the school closed in 2016, volunteers have reopened the site as a community centre. Kirklands Day Nursery is the latest group to make use of the redundant space.
Nursery owner Janice Duffy-McGhie has operated the nursery on the ground floor of her family home on Bede Road for the past 34 years.
She believes the space in the former school will give greater scope for learning.
She said: “We’ll have a separate room for music, exercise and yoga sessions and a separate area for eating.
“We’ll use the hall for ballet lessons. The outside area is three times larger with a little wooded area, outdoor classroom and vegetable garden.
“We have had several visits and talks about our new nursery. Parents have been visiting on Saturdays so everyone is well prepared.”
Recent weeks have seen the former Startforth reception and nursery classrooms redecorated in time for the big move on Monday, March 5.
New flooring and a new kitchen have also been fitted. An official opening day is expected to take place next month.
Ms Duffy-McGhie added: “All four of my children went to Startforth Primary School. I loved the location with the views over Barnard Castle, fresh air and lambs bleating in the fields.
“It was a shame when the closure happened.
“As demand rises, especially with all of the new building in Startforth, it might warrant the whole place open again.
“We could be the start of that. I hope our relocation will bring the building back to life.”
![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)
