PARENTS, staff, volunteers and children clubbed together at Middleton-in-Teesdale Primary School’s early years centre to give the outdoor area a spring clean.
In return they enjoyed tea, coffee biscuits and bacon and sausage sandwiches.
Early years teacher Angela Douglas said: “There was lots to keep everyone busy – painting the play house, sheds and fences, weeding and planting plants and seeds in the garden, washing the outdoor toys from the builder’s yard, mud kitchen, water area, sand pit and securing the chicken run for our new chickens which were hatched by little nursery.
“The children thoroughly enjoyed working alongside their parents, who had volunteered to help out. We would like to say a big thank to our parents for their hard work and for helping us to prepare the garden for the children for summer.”
Parent Ryan Meeson said: “It was great for parents to be given the opportunity to stay and help with Ground Force Day.
“The play area looks so much brighter already. It’s a lovely little area for the children, and the chicken, to enjoy. Let’s hope we get some sunshine soon. We can’t wait to watch the new seed-lings grow over the next few weeks.”
Grace Crawford added: “I really enjoyed getting stuck into the spring clean of the nursery garden today.
“It was great to be able to work in the sunshine together with the children, staff and some other parents to get the garden ready for lots of fun over the sunny days ahead.”
![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)
