Esh Residents' Monthly Meeting

Our next EVRA meeting will take place tomorrow night, Thursday 9th July, at 7.30pm in The Cross Keys.

We are delighted to be joined by Andy Coulthard from the Mid-Durham Area Action Partnership and our country councillors, Joe and Barbara Armstrong, who will be leading a discussion on the work done by the AAP in the area and their aims and plans for the coming year.

Andy and his team have been instrumental in working with EVRA to ask for better service provision to the village: emptying street drains, cutting grass verges (yes, there's still more we can do on this one!), cracking down on litter and dog fouling, and seeking ways to tackle speeding and inconsiderate parking in the village. Everyone is very welcome to join us tomorrow night - the more the merrier!

EVRA AGM: 12th February 2015

A quick reminder that the Esh Village Residents' Association will be holding its Annual General Meeting tomorrow night, 12th February 2015, at 7.30pm in The Cross Keys.

Everyone is welcome: items on the agenda include traffic and speeding (with input from our local police officers), the development of the new village playground, and planned events and new clubs for 2015. Our invited speakers are Father John Marsland and Peter Seed from Ushaw College, who will be introducing the new plans for Ushaw as it opens its doors to the public. To see the full agenda, please click on the image to the left. See you there!

Esh Photography Competition 2013

Entry to the village Photograph Competition has now closed - thank you to everybody who has sent in their pictures! 

We've had a great response and there are some fabulous shots in all three categories (under 11, under 18, and over 18) - it's going to be a difficult job to pick the winners. The photos will be on display in the Cross Keys over the weekend and judging will take place on Sunday, 15 September at 5pm - do come along, whether or not you've sent anything in - it would be lovely to see you! Andrew Heptinsall has kindly agreed to judge this year's competition - a professional photographer, Andrew specialises in architecture, tourism and editorial features and will be sharing some of his tips and tricks on Sunday. You can check out some of his work here. 

Take Notice!

Check out the latest addition to the village - a shiny new noticeboard! 

Shared between the C of E Primary School and the Esh Village Residents' Association, the noticeboard is designed to replace the old phone box for village and school notices and announcements. If there's something you'd like to put on the noticeboard, please get in touch at eshresidentsassociation@gmail.com

Please note that all notices will be subject to approval by the EVRA committee. 

Esh Village Residents' Association Meeting

A quick reminder that the Esh Village Residents' Association's monthly meeting takes place tonight, 7pm, at the Cross Keys. 

Items on the agenda include planning events and activities for next month's Heritage Weekend, the Photography Competition and the upkeep of the village environment (I feel another litter pick coming on...). Everyone is welcome - the more the merrier! See you there...

BIG Lottery Funding in Esh

Lots of recent village projects, events, and collaboration with the two village schools, Esh CofE Primary School and St Michael's Esh Laude Primary School, have only been possible due to a generous grant from the BIG Lottery Fund. Check out the new slideshow on the Gallery page for a few shots of what the grant went towards...

Who knew road drains could be so exciting?!

From this...

To this!

Yesterday, a momentous happening occurred in Esh: the road drains were cleared! The Residents' Association had been in regular contact with the County Council for several months regarding the blocked drains and localised flooding, and yesterday afternoon all the accumulated surface debris, horse manure and mud was cleared out and the drains restored to sparking (and fully-functioning) condition... just in time for a downpour to give their newly-acquired drainage power a test-drive! A big thank you to the brave souls from the Council who grappled with the grates, the garbage, and the grime to free Front Street from the floods and floating manhole covers. 

Action-Stations!

Following a very productive meeting with the mid-Durham Area Action Partnership and members of the Parish Council earlier this month (see post below), the AAP have written back to the Residents' Association with a comprehensive action plan designed to highlight specific local concerns and the intended means by which to address them. 

Issues raised by village residents included road safety (stationary traffic blocking main access routes through the village, speeding, road crossings, and overgrown verges obscuring road signs), dog fouling and horse manure on pathways and the road, the regeneration of the children's play area, and ideas for opening community-run initiatives such as a village shop. 

The action plan has its own page on the blog so that all residents can see what is planned and the partnerships involved - indeed, rumour has it that the drains are due to be cleared imminently... do watch this space! 

Road Drains in Esh

A less positive post today...has anybody else noticed the poor state of the drains in the village?!

Front Street is particularly badly affected - the drains are almost overflowing with mud, horse droppings and other general debris from the road - and several residents have been trying to remedy the situation outside their houses in an attempt to prevent localised flooding.

The County Council have been informed on a regular basis about this over the past few months to no avail, although the Residents' Association have repeated been assured that our concerns have been heard and that action will be taken.

Please add your voice to those requesting that the Council urgently attend to the drainage issues in the village by emailing the Highways Action Line at Hal@durham.gov.uk and quoting the following reference number: 32113867.

Next Village Residents' Meeting

The next Esh Village Residents' Association Meeting will take place tomorrow evening, Thursday 6th May, in the Cross Keys at the slightly earlier time of 6.45pm. 

We will be at the meeting with the mid-Durham Area Action Partnership and Parish Council beforehand at St Michael's RC Primary School (see post below for more information) before moving on to the pub; all are most welcome to join us at the former and/ or the latter! 

As well as general updates on village life and goings-on and the contents of the forthcoming newsletter, the meeting will be discussing the possibility of financing and sourcing a village noticeboard... a more complex affair than one might think!

Litter Pick - Saturday 4th May

The recent (and continuing!) high winds have meant that even more rubbish than usual has been gathering on the verges and in the hedgerows around the village. The Esh Village Residents' Association have organised a litter pick this Saturday, 4th April, at 9.00am - everyone to meet by the seat on the village green. The Association have arranged the loan of litter pickers, high visibility vests, and refuse sacks from the Council so there's no danger that we won't look the part!  

Wild Flowers

In addition to the amazing daffodils that traditionally mark the approach and entrance to Esh, the Residents' Association are planning to lay wild flower seed mats on the roadside verges which will give a lovely spray of colour to the banks on either side of the road into Esh throughout the summer months... We might even get a hive of resident bees too! Watch this space for details of when the Association will be out clearing and planting the verges - everyone is very welcome to join us! 

Esh Happenings...

The next village Residents' Association meeting will take place this Thursday, 11th April, from 7.15pm in the Cross Keys. The meeting should last about an hour and everyone is welcome... whether you have something to raise or just want to listen! 

Meanwhile, the blog has been getting lots of interest recently (hello to our international visitors!) and is hopefully starting to represent a better picture of just how busy life is in the village - check out the Village Calendar for details of church services, coffee mornings, lunch clubs, the gospel choir, knit and natter... with more to follow soon! 

As always, please feel free to comment on what you find here - what you like about the blog, what you'd like to see more of - and if you have a feature you'd like displayed on any of the pages or included in the Calendar, please use the contact form to get in touch. 

A quick reminder that the next Esh Residents' Association meeting will tale place tomorrow evening, Tuesday 12th March, at 7.30pm in the Cross Keys. Items on the Agenda include the launch of the Badminton Club, the Village Open Day and Heritage Weekend, and this very blog...  Everyone is welcome to come along - a cosy pub is just the place to hole up of an evening in this weather! 

Hopefully everyone has received the Residents' Association's February update through your letterboxes with details of the Photography Competition, the Badminton Club, the Knit and Natter drop-in session and other events to look forward to as the weather (hopefully) gets a little milder... All of the information on the update can be found on this blog too, so don't worry if you've misplaced it.

Despite the latest cold blast, the tubs have been replaced and replanted in Hall Road and are just starting to show a flash of spring colour! Roll on March...