Esh Village Burn's Night 2018

Come and join us to celebrate Esh Village Burn's Night on Friday 26th January 2018, from 7pm onwards in the village Parish/ Sports Hall. 

There'll be musical entertainment, games, a quiz, a tombola and a raffle as well as a buffet supper and lots of fun. 

Tickets cost £5.00 for adults, £1.00 for children and include the buffet and one glass of wine or a soft drink. The funds raised will go towards the Friends of St Michael and All Angels Church in Esh. 

Tickets available from: Gillian - 14 Green Court, Kay - Esh Hall,  Judy - Craiglynne Front Street

For more information, please telephone 0191 3731415

Esh Carol Service, 19th December 2017

The Esh village Carol Service will take place on Tuesday,19th December at 7.00pm at St Michael and All Angels church. All are welcome- it's always lovely occasion and will be followed by mulled wine and mice pies in The Cross Keys.

Esh Village Defibrillator Installed!

After many months of fundraising, we are delighted to announce that Esh has its own public defibrillator which is installed and ready for use.

It is located next to the post box in the centre of the village, outside the CoE primary school. Should you need to use it, please dial 999 and give the postcode DH7 9QR. The operator will then give you the code to access the defibrillator, which is fully automated and will talk you through how to use it on the patient whilst help arrives.

The Esh Village Residents' Association and the two schools are working to organise defibrillator and CPR awareness and training sessions in the new year so that you can familiarise yourself with what to do in the event of an emergency. Watch this space for more details...

A huge thank you to everyone to helped to fundraise, organise, and install the defibrillator and ensure that it is compliant and linked in to the North East Ambulance Service. Local residents, the Esh Women's Institute, the parish council and our County Councillors have given their time, expertise and energy to achieve this - a real community effort! Thank you.

Halloween Party, Friday 3rd November 2017

Dust off those fangs, hone those apple bobbing skills and join the Esh Village Residents for the spookiest night of the year!

We'll be holding a Halloween Party on Friday, 3rd November, from 7-9pm at Whitefield House (just off Front Street).

There'll be a prize for the best fancy dress costume, quizzes and raffles and plenty of drinks and nibbles...

All are welcome: tickets are available in advance from 2, Whitefield House or 24 Green Court, or on the door.

See you there... if you dare!

Heritage Open Days, September 2017

Esh village will feature twice in the national Heritage Open Days festival this year, opening both of its historic churches to the public in September 2017:

Old Esh - St Michael’s RC Church

Esh Laude, DH7 9QN    

A Grade II Listed Church. St Michael's is one of the oldest churches in the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Built to resemble a farm steading to blend in with surrounding area the church was constructed in 1798 and features listed stained glass windows. St Michael's was originally the mother church for the Lanchester area and served the growing population of miners and workers moving into the area. Volunteers will be available to talk to visitors about the history of the building and the surrounding area and history leaflets will be available.

No booking required

West side of Esh Village, 1 mile from Ushaw College

Sunday 10 Sept: 13.00-16.00

Additional Information:  This site is not normally open to the public; the event is especially put on for Heritage Open Days 2017; full wheelchair access; on-site disabled parking; on-site accessible toilets; pushchair/pram friendly; hearing loop; assistance dogs welcome; parking; baby changing/breastfeeding area; refreshments; toilets on site. 

Old Esh – village church and inn

Front St, Esh Village, DH7 9QR

The Church of St Michael and All Angels (13th century) was rebuilt in 1770 and improved in 1850 to current appearance by the remarkable Temple Chevallier (Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at Durham University) incumbent from 1835 to 1873.

A village trail will point visitors to other areas of interest in the village.

Volunteers will be available to show visitors areas of interest in the church.

Refreshments and toilets are available at the nearby Cross Keys Inn, a historic drovers inn.

1 mile from Ushaw College, opposite the Cross Keys Inn

No booking required

Sunday 10 September: 1300-1600

Keys to be included: event specially put on for hods; refreshments, toilets, public convenience disabled; partial disabled access

Mid-Durham AAP: Esh Village Drop-In Session, 21st June, 16.00-18.00

Would you like the chance to win £500 for Esh and help bring in £millions for Mid Durham?

The AAP, County Councillors and Parish Councils are working together to create 16 new Village Action Plans for 2017/20. 

The last village plans for 2013/16 helped bring in £2.6 million into the area, (you can find out more about the last Esh Action Plan here) so the AAP would love you to pop into their drop in session in the village on 21st June, 16.00-18.00, in the village hall, and tell them about our village and if you have any ideas on how together we can improve it.  

As an added incentive they are also giving those residents who belong to a local community group the chance to come along and put their groups name into a draw to win £500! 

'Sapphire Scones & Tea': Celebrate H.M. The Queen's 65th Jubilee on 16th July

An evening with John Grundy, historian, broadcaster and author

We would like to invite you to an evening with the historian, BBC broadcaster and author John Grundy, who will be giving a talk about local history and unveiling our new banner at St Michael and All Angels Church, Esh, on Monday 3rd April. The evening starts at 7.30pm - entrance is free, but all donations will be gratefully received and will be in aid of raising funds for the village defibrillator and the Esh Leaves WI.

For more information, or to ask any questions about the event, please contact Gillian Wesson (tel. 0191 3731415) or email gillianwesson@hotmail.co.uk

Thank you from the Friends of St Michael and All Angels!

A huge thank you to everyone who came to support the village Burns Night supper in Esh last Friday.

Despite the cold and the rain, over sixty joined the celebrations and helped to raise £505 in aid of St Michael and All Angels CofE church, which will go toward the maintenance and repair of the building. Please take a look at the church's new(ish!) website, which has a lovely description of the evening and the works planned for the church this year:http://www.stmichaelandallangelsesh.btck.co.uk/NewsEvents.

Esh Burns Night - Friday 27th January 2017

Christmas Carols in Esh

The festive season is upon us, and Esh has a host of activities over the coming month to enjoy the Christmas spirit.

With any luck, the village tree will be up any day now, thanks to a generous grant from our Councillors and kindly sourced by friends from Blackburn Farm in Langley Park.

A few dates for your diary:
- Monday 5th December, 4pm: Carols around the tree with the children from Esh CofE and St Michaels Primary Schools. All welcome; hot drinks and mince pies in St Michaels afterwards.

- Sunday 4th, 2.00-3.30pm, Sundays 11th and 18th December, 2.30-3.30pm: Rehearsals for the village carol service in St Michael and All Angels church.

- Tuesday 20th December, 7.00pm: Esh Village Carol Service.

- Wednesday 21st December, 7.30pm: Carols around the tree.

Esh Village Play Area Refurbishment - Consultation

Groundwork NE & Cumbria have been working with Esh Parish Council to secure £27,000 to refurbish the play site in Esh Village.  

Groundwork will be in the Esh Village Community Hall from 3pm till 5.30pm on Friday 16^th December with copies of the design proposals put forward by companies who would like to carry out the work.  

We are inviting children, parents and residents to drop in and help us to choose the final design alongside Cllrs from the Parish Council.  Please pop along for a few minutes and help us choose the right play area for you. 

Coffee Morning: Saturday 3rd December

The next village coffee morning takes place on Saturday 3rd December 2016, 10.30am-12pm.

Hosted by Vanessa Tyres and held at Kirdavane, Front Street, the morning is a great opportunity to catch up with friends old and new over lots of homemade cakes and fresh tea and coffee!

All proceeds go towards St Michael and All Angels Church n Esh.

Charity Concert: Esh Gospel Choir

Charity Concert

Esh Gospel Choir and Friends

Saturday 19th November, 4.00pm

St Michael's RC Church, Laude Bank, Esh, DH7 9QN

All are invited to the Esh Gospel Choir charity concert: admission is free and donations will be collected in aid of Maggie's, an organisation which provides free practical , emotional, and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends. For more information, visit www.maggiescentres.org. Maggie's is a registered charity, No. SC024414.  

The next wine tasting event, hosted by EVRA and The Pip Stop, takes place on Friday 14th October, 2016 at 7pm in the CofE school. 

The tasting will focus on white and red wines from the New World and tickets cost £15 each (to include all wine and nibbles). 

Tickets are available from Mandy (07930932306) or Vanessa (07949038446), although limited tickets will also be available on the door. 

Hope to see you there! 

Esh Harvest Supper

Come and join the Esh Village Harvest Supper on Friday 7th October 2016, from 7pm in the village hall.

All are welcome: it promises to be a great evening, with live music, games, and competitions as well as homemade food and drink included in the ticket price. The proceeds will go towards the Friends of St Michael and All Angels Church to support the work they do to maintain the church.

For more information and details of how to book tickets, please click on the poster to the right. See you there!

Esh Village Area Action Plan and Council Budget Survey

As regular readers of the blog will know, the Mid-Durham Area Action Partnership has been working the residents of Esh village since 2013 on a wide range of community issues including traffic speeding and congestion, the local environment, and the provision of council services. You can see an updated report on progress made to-date by going to the Village Action Plan tab at the top of the page.

As part of our work with the County Council, Esh residents have been asked to feed into a county-wide consultation concerning how local government funding is best allocated and spent. Over the last five years, the County Council has had to make savings of more than £180 million; this figure needs to reach £250 million by 2020.

To hear more about these budgetary changes and to have your say in guiding the council in how to streamline their budget over the next three years, please join us at the next EVRA meeting, 6th October at 7.30pm in The Cross Keys. Andy Coulthard from the Mid-Durham AAP will be on hand to talk us through the process so far and to survey residents.

Heritage Open Day in Esh

On Sunday 11th September, St Michael's and All Angels C of E church and St Michael's Roman Catholic church will open their doors to the public as part of the national Heritage Open Days scheme. Free admission to both buildings will be available between 1pm and 5pm, whilst refreshments will be available at The Cross Keys pub.

St Michael's and All Angels originally dates to the 13th century, although it was extensively remodelled in the latter half of the 18th and first half of the 19th century as part of a refurbishment by Temple Chevallier, the celebrated theologian and astronomer.

St Michael's RC Church, meanwhile, is a Grade II listed building and one of the oldest churches in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Built to resemble a farm steading so that it blended in with the surrounding buildings, it features beautiful stained glass windows and was the mother church for the Lanchester area.

Follow the links above to find out more about the Heritage Open Days in Esh.

This year's Summer Party takes place on Saturday 16th July 2016, from 2pm on the village green.

There will be a great range of games including volleyball, rounders, and quoits and lots of free tea, coffee and juice on offer throughout the afternoon.

Feel free to bring blankets and picnics - let's hope the Great British weather is kind and that the sun shines!

Esh Village Wine Tasting Evening, 3rd June 2016

Aragonez? Barolo? Chablis? Dobričić? On Friday 3rd June, 7pm, Esh is hosting it's first village wine tasting eve in partnership with The Pip Stop, the speciality wine and beer store just outside Lanchester. 'An Introduction to Wine Tasting' promises to be fun for everyone and will include a range of classic and more unusual wines from around the world as well as the option to purchase bottles on the night. Ben from The Pip Stop will be on hand to share his knowledge and give handy hints on tasting and pairing wines.

The event will take place at the Esh Cof E (Aided) School - although this is strictly adults only! - and tickets cost £10 each. To buy or reserve a ticket, please contact Mandy (07930 932306) or Vanessa (07949 038466). Cheers!