A 10,000-YEAR-OLD axe, ancient animal skulls and flint tools were just some of the Stone Age artefacts that children at Gainford Primary School examined during a special workshop.
The session was made possible through a visit by The Bowes Museum’s education officers as part of their outreach programme.
Education assistant Diane Simpson told the children that the flint tools Stone Age people used were quite sophisticated and took a long time to make, but would not last long.
This changed, however, when they discovered metal.
She said: “They learned that if they heat up different metals they change and get stronger.”
After examining the different Stone Age objects the children tested their artistic skills by making sketches of them.
Later they made their own coil pots.
Ms Simpson said the outreach programme was initiated to encourage organisations and groups involved with the museum when they would otherwise not be able to afford to, or have difficulties attending.
Other themes the education officers offer include Tudor times and the Egyptians.
![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)
