On a cold damp morning last week the Mayoress and myself welcomed our counterparts from Hartlepool to our lovely town. Meeting at our town council offices we introduced Mayor Cllr Brian Cowie and Mayoress Cllr Veronica Nicholson to our key staff and had a commemorative photo taken beside the chamber trophy case which contains, amongst other memorabilia, the spade used to cut the first sod of earth removed and the casket which holds it.
Our next port of call was St Andrew’s church in Aycliffe Village which is 1200 years old and I attempted to recite some of the history of this very important and impressive building. Sadly, I neglected to inform our clergy that we would be calling and found ourselves locked out, even worse Reverend Ann Anderson was not available to give us one of her interesting talks about the building. This did not put off our visitors who remarked upon how beautiful the church is.
On the journey back onto the industrial estate I was asked to stop by the Hitachi train plant and our visitors marvelled at its size, which is most impressive, and led to the next stop on our tour. The Locomotion pub at Heighington Station stands testimony to times past and is said to have been the worlds first train ticket office. Of course, this sparked a conversation about history and our guests asked about the famous Aycliffe Angels and the munitions factories during the war years. Many of the buildings from that period are still evident and naturally this then took us to ROF59 and ready for a cuppa. As an ex Royal engineer, Brian took an interest in the old photos displayed proudly on the walls and the walls themselves which have been preserved in their original paintwork.
Boys will be boys and we couldn’t resist having a photo session beside the climbing walls although none of us participated preferring to watch instead those brave souls who knew what they were doing. At this point we were escorted by Donna Martin from the 5 Acres group to meet some of their members and (given a cuppa) talked through the exciting plans which they have for the future. Donna then showed us around the very impressive facilities which they enjoy at ROF59.
Our guests were extremely impressed by the size and diversity of our industrial estate and the variety of occupants from engineering, electronics, educational and, of course, fun places such as Fish Tank, Planet Leisure, Ruff and Tumble and, of course, ROF59 which have turned us into a mini tourist attraction. Thinking outside the box we next headed to the Veterans Hub where we were given a warm welcome and an enthusiastic tour of the building which contains Veterans Woodcraft, arts and leisure facilities. Having met some of their members we were impressed by the facility and our guests promised to put them in touch with similar organisations in Hartlepool.
Of course, all this work makes one hungry and thirsty so we decided to take a break and head to our wonderful OakLeaf for a spot of refreshment. As a warm hub providing warmth and food, the prevailing smell of ham broth was exceedingly inviting and of course I couldn’t resist. Whilst waiting for our food to be served we took the opportunity to observe some of the activities taking place in the centre and our guests were very impressed. Always nice to talk to fellow residents and we fell into conversation with a family whose father was, I believe, 94 and it wasn’t long before a football connection with Hartlepool was established. This is a part of the job I love.
Feeling refreshed, our little group moved on to our next port of call the Pioneering Care Partnership to meet the lovely Carol Gaskarth who not only manages the facility but gushes about its performance and never tires of talking about the groups outstanding development. Another cuppa later and we were shown around the building and introduced to the lovely Options Group who are always pleased to welcome us.
Time never seems to be on my side and we made a swift call into West Park with its beautiful lakes and wildlife before waving our guests off home. Another superb day out in Aycliffe and some more guests taking the best of our town home in their memories.
Have you or your organisation got a special spot we can point out to our next group of visitors? Let the Mayor know through his secretary Sharna Stretch on 01325 300700
Cllr Ken Robson Mayor and Mayoress Elaine Robson