Primaries Do Us Proud
6. 6. 2001

The Minister of State for education has recently written to Fishburn Primary and other  Primary schools in Sedgefield,
Bishop Middleham and Trimdon , congratulating them on winning a School Achievement Award.
These awards are for schools that substantially improved their results between 1997-2000.
These schools are lucky enough to receive an achievement logo for their letterhead, an official certificate and a certain amount of money.
Mr. Handley, Headteacher at Fishburn said " The Minister wrote to us to commend the leadership of the school and the hard work and dedication of teaching and support staff."
Well done and congratulations, to all the award winners.

Little Village Band Is The Best In The Region 
27.3. 2001

Fishburn Brass Band has continued its success by being crowned the best in the region for the ninth time in 11 years.
Fishburn Band won the championship at the Northern area Championships at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington. Now the band is heading for the royal Albert Hall in London to take part in the national finals later in the year.
Billy Elliot , who helps to raise funds for the band said "the members were delighted". He said " It hadn't been going well at the beginning of the week but on Friday before the competition our conductor Ian Robinson was over the moon the way they had played. So he stopped the practice there and then and left it until the Sunday, when they won."
The bands success is even more remarkable because they have no sponsors. Mr Elliot said " The band at the moment is doing well and that's because they have to raise their own money and pay their own expenses, with the help of Fishburn Working Mens Club and the people of the village.

Lee's Still Bowled Over

A 13 Year old boy with cerabal palsy has become a national champion.
Lee Maddison, of St. Catherine's Close, Fishburn, has taken part in the Disability Sport England championships in Norwich. And Lee delighted his friends and families by claiming the national junior Boccia title.
Boccia is a paralympic sport, similar to bowls, where wheelchair competitors have to give instructions on the height and direction of a ramp which the bowl is rolled down.
Lee learned how to play the sport at the Percy Hedley School in Newcastle, and was chosen for the championships on the strength of the progress he has made.
Cheered on by his parents and ten year old brother Ryan, lee cruised through the early rounds. But he had to rely on a sudden death play-off to win his semi-final and won another close contest in the final to lift the title.

Former Pit Village Fighting To Revive Community Spirit
6.12. 2000

Fishburn is a village which is fighting back. Like many other former mining communities in County Durham, Fishburn has been through some hard times.
The closure of the colliery and coke works, with resultant high levels of unemployment and the gradual loss of amenities, led to a loss of tangible resource -  community spirit.
But far from sitting back and accepting their lot, people in Fishburn are determined to improve their surroundings, and they say their efforts are succeeding.
One man who is proud to have played his part in helping to revive the village is house builder Alex Chaytor.
His company Alexander Developments built the Manor Park estate, and more areas of affordable housing are planned.
He said " We are working in all former mining communities, where the national companies consider them unmarketable and unviable. They have been proved wrong".
"People have different views, but in all the places we have gone to work in , the regeneration is housing led.
Mr Chaytor said "The market in Fishburn is for people who used to live here who want to come back. Now they have properties they want to buy. "We now have got not only former Fishburn residents moving back to the village, we have got people moving from Manchester, Birmingham, London and other parts of the country".
Mr. Chaytor has more than a passing interest in the village as he was born and raised in Fishburn.
His commitment to the village is demonstrated by his purchase of the old junior school. He is developing the building, which will eventually become his firms headquarters.

Millennium Babies Arrival Marked With Momentos
16.11. 2000

Presentations have been made to the first children born in Fishburn in the  new millennium.
Bailey Tate Swainston and Shaun Louise Suddes were the first boy and girl to be born in the village in the year 2000. Fishburn Millennium Group presented the children with a silver photograph frame.
Although both children were born in January the group decided to wait  till the end of the year to make the presentation.
Families of the two youngsters attended the ceremony on the village green.

Rewards For All
14.11. 2000

The villages of Trimdon Grange, Trimdon Colliery, Trimdon Village, Bradbury, Morden, Sedgefield, Fishburn and Bishop Middleham have  been successful in obtaining lottery funding of £2,261.
The payment from "Awards for All" will fund celebrations of the Millennium year, with a community arts project aimed across the age range.
It will have a theme of past, present and future and will catalogue local social history and envisage the future through the eyes of school children.
The main aims of the project are to encourage networking between the villages to raise community spirit and give people a chance to work together, old and young, and share new art experiences.
The project is now well under way with workshops in felt making.
The finished work will include a series of panels which will include a series of panels which will come together as a major piece of art work.
Resident Artist/Craft Worker, Joan Van Hove is co-ordinating the project with the help of "Over the hedge" link workers John Davies and Claire Jones.
The frames for the panels will be made by young men from Deerbolt Young Offenders and staff and children from eight local schools will be involved in designing and making the mural.

Grant Boost for Trimdon Partners
10.11. 2000

The joint Trimdons regeneration partnership has now been awarded a grant by Shell Better Britain campaign. The grant will go towards the cost of feasibility study looking into the potential for establishing a community allotment and composting scheme for the three Trimdons, Fishburn, Bishop Middleham, Sedgefield, Bradbury and Morden. The project aims to provide opportunities for local volunteers and trainees to become involved in organised gardening activities, producing high quality, affordable organic produce for sale to elderly and disadvantaged people in the area.

Proud Village Puts Trophy On Display   
4.10. 2000

Proud villagers have unveiled the trophy they won in a tidy village competition. Residents in Fishburn have been celebrating for weeks since winning the County Durham Tidy Village Competition.
The shield which forms the Northern Echo Trophy for large premier villages is now on view on the village green near Glebe House.
Councillor Christine Luke, chairman of Fishburn Parish council performed the unveiling ceremony. She said "Everyone can now enjoy looking at the award, and anyone passing through the village cannot help but notice it."
Parish council vice chairman Bob Waller, parish council clerk  Kester Noble and other councillors were joined by members of the judging committee and villager for the ceremony
The village has won the award three times previously, twice in the 1960s and once in the 1980s. Local gardeners have had to work hard for the latest success.


Click here To Submit News