Last year, the Durham Area Action Partnership (AAP) and local Parish Council undertook a residents' survey in order to assess the most pressing concerns felt by those living in the area. The survey revealed that Esh residents were most troubled by road safety, local employment, and environmental issues.
On Thursday 6th June, the mid-Durham AAP staff team, County Councillors and Parish Councillors will be holding a 'chat and a cuppa' drop-in session in St Michael's RC Primary School between 4-6.30pm to discuss plans to improve the matters raised by the survey and to hear residents' views on how best to work more closely with the community on a variety of projects and initiatives.
Members of the Esh Village Residents Association (EVRA) will be dropping in on the session from 5.45pm onwards to chat about the work we have been doing of late - namely the litter picks, the flower displays, the social and sport groups, and the grants obtained for the local primary schools- and to find even more positive ways to work with the County and Parish Councils on matters relating to road maintenance and safety. All are welcome to the session - the more the merrier!
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!
With impeccable timing, the swallows arrived back in Esh yesterday, signalling that maybe - just maybe - summer is finally on its way. Traditionally, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the first passeriformes should be the sand martins sometime in March, followed by the house martins, with the swallows appearing in the second half of April. Aristotle might have been sceptical, the Greek philosopher being responsible for the saying, 'One swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day', but here's hoping avian activites in Esh are to prove him wrong this year!
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!
Last night, with lasers, precision measuring, masking tape and a mop, a full-size badminton court was marked out in the Parish Hall... meaning that the Badminton Club is now ready to be launched! The first meeting of the club will take place next Tuesday, 23rd April; for more information about membership, please visit the Tourism and Leisure page. To see the transformation of the court, from bare floor to a pristine white grid that Sport England would be proud of, take a peek at the slideshow on the Gallery page of the blog...See you on Tuesday!
Durham County Council are looking for volunteer Festival Makers
to help run this year's Lumiere festival in Durham. The four-day festival, which turns landmarks such as the Cathedral and the city's medieval bridges into illuminated works of art, was a huge success in 2011 and this year promises to be better than ever. The event will run from 14th-17th November 2013 and the organisers expect even larger numbers to attend; 2011's Lumiere saw 150,000 people coming to Durham to see the cathedral's fire garden and the white flying figures over the Bailey.
The Council are running a volunteer drop-in session on 16th April from 5 - 7pm at the Gala Theatre in Durham for anyone who is interested in taking part: people of all ages are welcome, and there are lots of ways in which you can get involved. To find out more about the people behind Lumiere, visit www.artichoke.uk.com
Hmm, how ironic. Only yesterday we posted tips from Durham Constabulary on how to keep village property safe this summer, and last night the wooden owl sculpture by Hill Crest was damaged by vandals.
Why do people get a kick out of petty acts of vandalism? It isn't cool, it doesn't make you look big or hard, and it's disappointing to think that someone would derive enjoyment out of wrecking something that gives the rest of the village so much pleasure. The owls are a quirky feature around Esh and something to be proud of - let's keep them that way!
