Weardale Community News June Edition

www.wcng.org
New friends and support for
bereaved with Embark 2 holidays
Embark2 members stop for a rest on one of their organised walks
EMBARK2 was set up by
John Webb in August 2019 to
offer not-for-profit holidays
for widows and widowers.
John was widowed in
2013 with the death of his
wife Joyce, and it was then
that he discovered that
holidaying alone was not
much fun.
Apart from the feeling
of loneliness, even in
company, there was also
the ever-present reminder
that holidays were usually
happy times shared with his
wife. There was also often
a single person supplement
of around 30% making the
holiday quite expensive.
There had to be a better way.
Nearly 20 years ago, John
became a volunteer leader
for a local Duke of Edinburgh
Award Scheme. This
involved supervising young
people whilst they were
undertaking their Award
Expeditions in and around
Weardale, and so started
John’s love of walking in
the area. On the very day
that social distancing was
enforced due to Covid-19,
John was assessing a walk
near Crawleyside for a
planned future Embark2
walking holiday.
John has provided notfor-profit
Embark2 escorted
holidays exclusively for
widows and widowers
both abroad, to Barcelona,
Cyprus and Portugal, and in
the UK to Northumberland,
Keswick, Edinburgh and
North Yorkshire. Embark2
also offers an online chat
forum and many widows/
ers say they receive a great
deal of support and grow
in confidence by attending
Embark2 holidays, as well as
making new friends.
Due to the Coronavirus
pandemic, all holidays up to
the end of August 2020 have
been cancelled. However,
we are ever mindful that
the vast majority of widows
and widowers live alone;
members are able to access
Saturday night virtual chats,
weekdays we offer Ladies
that Lunch chats and, in
the afternoon, we offer
‘The Men's Shed’ virtual
chats. Some members of
Weardale Community News, June 2020
Embark2 have little in the
way of a support network
and Embark2 volunteers
telephone those members
regularly during the week
to ensure that they have
someone to talk to.
Many of those who have
been recently bereaved
during Covid-19 face the
daunting prospect of
grieving alone, without
the physical and emotional
support usually provided by
their family and friends, due
to the social distancing rules
and for some, it was not
even possible to attend the
funeral.
In these uncertain times,
Embark2 has developed its
services to offer members,
and especially those who
are newly bereaved, peer
support and friendship,
either online, by virtual
chats or by telephone
contact to help through this
crisis. However, Embark2 is
not a counselling service.
Membership of and the
services offered by Embark2
are free of charge. Joining is
easy at embark2.co.uk.
Garden waste collections to start
after being postponed
GARDEN waste services
in County Durham will
now be able to go ahead,
with changes to collection
dates, after they were
initially postponed due to
Coronavirus.
In April, Durham County
Council had to postpone
garden waste collections
in order to maintain
its essential refuse and
recycling services during the
Coronavirus outbreak.
After reviewing its
operations, and as part of its
plans to reinstate services,
the council is now able
to once again deliver its
garden waste collection to
residents.
The council is aware of
how valuable this service is
to residents so, to ensure
it will be able to continue
in conjunction with normal
waste collection services,
it will be changing garden
waste collection days to
Saturdays and Mondays. This
will allow continued support
to rubbish and recycling
collections which operate
from Tuesday to Friday.
Residents who are
scheduled to have their
usual collection on a Tuesday
or Wednesday can expect
their new collection day to
be on a Saturday while those
who are scheduled to have
a collection on Thursday
or Friday can expect their
new collection to be on a
Monday.
Collection dates can
be checked online via
MyDurham at www.durham.
gov.uk.
The council continues
to monitor government
guidance and will keep
the service under review
over the next four months.
Customers will be given
advice on remaining
collections beyond this time.
Information on collection
dates is being updated
on MyDurham and
correspondence detailing
changes to garden waste
collections is being sent
to residents who have
subscribed to the service.
Cllr Brian Stephens,
Cabinet member for
neighbourhoods and local
partnerships, said: “We
know our residents value
the garden waste service so
we are pleased to be able to
continue it under these new
collection days.”
By Barrie Hardwick
About two years ago I was
invited to search about an
acre of grazing land adjacent
to an old farmhouse, using
my metal detector.
The person who had bought
both was interested in the
history of the farmhouse
which is on a hillside up in
Weardale. The invite stated
that: tea and biscuits would
be provided!
On arrival at the farmhouse
I received a very warm
welcome from Bob, the new
owner of the farmhouse.
The garden between the
house and the field was
grassed over so I decided
to start my search there.
First signal was a bit of
foil. Second signal, I cut a
divot and turned it over
and looking up at me
was a small framed
photo of a man and a
child, dressed in what
appeared to be clothes
of the Victorian period.
Research put the
date of the photo at
around 1860/61; it is
a coated glass plate
type. Around that time
there were several
families staying/lodging
at the farmhouse (lead
mine workers). The national
census of 1861 showed that
one of the families had a
four year old daughter. The
frame size of the photo is
about 4 x 3 inches.
Searching the small field
required several trips to
the site and after the initial
search I took my detecting
Page 9
A picture from the past
Metal detector finds in Weardale
The old photo Barrie found on the property
An unusual livery button
mate Dave with me.
After a random search
for an hour we decided
it would be best to do a
systematic search of the
field using marker pegs, a
slow procedure requiring
several visits to the site. Our
searching produced several
well worn copper coins;
the oldest only dating back
to George III, the best coin
we found was a Victorian
Jubilee head sixpence.
We also found a thin strip
of silver – possibly a Cane
Ferrule which has the date
letter for 1823, a name
brooch (Annie) plus the
usual collection of buttons.
Most of the buttons are
plain but one, a Livery
Button that I found,
proved to be of interest.
These buttons are a fairly
common detecting find
but while all show the
family crest very few show
a family motto, but this
one did. Research showed
it to be the motto of the
Galton family of Hadzor
Hall in Worcestershire.
The crest is of a Phoenix
looking towards the sun.
The motto: Gaudete Luce
Videry translates loosely
to: He rejoices in the
light. So, how did a Livery
button from the coat of a
servant at a country pile
in Worcestershire come to
be lost in a field of a small
hillside farm up Weardale?