A BURGEONING pleasure ride is looking forward to its third straight year welcoming young farmers to a beautiful setting.
Raby Castle will host County Durham Young Farmers (CDYF) on April 29 to help raise funds for the charity and keep it running.
Enthusiasts can enjoy either a five or a ten mile ride and all abilities of rider are welcome to take part.
County organiser Janice Barker said the event was growing year on year.
She added: “It’s getting more and more popular.
“It’s all day and we do a figure of eight around the grounds.
“People can do half the ride or the full one. It’s for all abilities and there are no jumps – it’s a nice family day out.”
Each of the gates will be manned by young farmers and anyone who wants to attend is welcome.
The cafe will also be open during the day.
Ms Barker also paid tribute to Raby Estates and Lord Barnard for allowing them to use the grounds.
She added: “We’re very grateful to Raby Estates for allowing us to use this fabulous facility.
“They are very supportive of the young farmers.”
Past pleasure rides have raised money for the Great North Air Ambulance Service and other charities alongside the CDYF.
More than 200 people attended the ride last year and committee member Claire Boyes had her fingers crossed for an upturn in the weather.
She said: “It’s a massive thing for young farmers – other than being at school or college, it’s a chance for them to mix with other people.
“The ride is in a part of Raby you don’t really notice – you see the other side of the castle and how pretty it is.
“It’s welcome to everybody, not just young farmers.”
The first riders can enter the grounds at 10am with the earliest arrivals permitted at 9.30am.
The last entry is at noon with young farmer member entry costing £15 and non-members’ tickets coming to £20.
Dogs are not allowed.
Weather conditions will determine whether the ride goes ahead or not – updates will be posted on the CDYF’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
For more information, contact the CDYF office on 0191 3864388 or email durhamyfc@btconnect.com.
![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)
