FORTY years since the inaugural fun weekend was held in Cotherstone, villagers are preparing for an action-packed anniversary event.
The very first fun weekend was organised in 1983 as a one-off event to raise funds to help buy a dialysis machine. The event, which saw lots of activities including football matches, sports and a barbecue, raised £842.
Residents enjoyed the event so much, however, it continued to be held, raising funds for a variety of organisations over the years.
To mark the 40th anniversary fun weekend, organisers have pulled out all the stops to make it even more memorable with activities including dog show, scarecrow trail, sporting contest, duck race, afternoon fete and open church events spread over three days. The popular fancy dress contest takes centre stage, with a procession through the village.
Fun weekend organiser Kelly Green said: “We haven’t run the procession on the road since 2018. The cost for the closure and traffic management takes a huge chunk out of our budget, but this year, thanks to donations from Teesdale Action Partnership, J and JG Gill and Sons and WS Hodgsons and Co, have made it all possible.”
The weekend kicks off on Friday, July 21, with a quoits contest from 6pm. On Saturday, the procession is schedule to start from the Fox and Hounds at 1pm, ending at East Green for judging by the Rev David Tomlinson and his wife Davina.
An afternoon fair with refreshments, entertainment from Middleton and Teesdale Silver Band, tombola, stalls and traditional games will take place in the school grounds from 1.30pm. The annual duck race on East Green is at 5pm.
On Sunday, there will be a fun dog show, when there will be refreshments available, at 10am on East Green.
An open church event at St Cuthbert’s, where there will be strawberries and cream as well as Pimms on offer, takes place between 1.30pm and 3.30pm. There will also be the opportunity to explore the church tower.
This year there is a bumper number of entries in the scarecrow trail, which has a theme of favourite books. Maps for the trail are available to pick up from the Red Lion, Fox and Hounds, Doe Park Caravan Park and the Chapel shop. It costs £1 to submit an entry to be in with a chance of winning a prize.
Fun weekend volunteer Rachel Atkinson said: “We’ve got 42 scarecrows this year and it’s the most we have had since I took over. People have really gone to town.”
![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)
