Darlington's Green Fair

On Sunday 12 May we celebrate Darlington's Green Fair in South Park between 11.00 am and 4.00 pm.

After the fair is over, we are seeking Litter Pickers who would be prepared to spend half an hour of their time in the tidy-up.

Equipment will be provided, and this will be a great opportunity to meet other like-minded, socially aware and community focussed people.

Meet in the park at 4.00 pm - look for Darlington Street Scene.

Note that on Friday 10 May, the Environment Agency will be clearing the Skerne banks

Apparently, they will be leaving the pram until after the chicks have hatched

South Terrace in Bloom

Our South Terrace garden competition in February saw winners and losers. Then, only no 24 managed to produce any winter colour, so today the blogger decided to re-run our prize draw. What staggering results! The May bank holiday weekend has brought out our intrepid gardeners and the results speak for themselves.

  

Sainsbury's: first to know

Emily Pattinson (Sainsbury Local Dialogue) tells me that a new traffic management system will be installed at the Sainsbury store, Victoria Road between Tuesday 7 and Friday 17 May.

It became clear that the 'ticket system' was not operating well. Even when the ticket machines worked, delays and back-up of traffic was unacceptable - but mostly, the ticket points would be surrounded by maintenance staff scratching their heads wondering why the barriers refused to cooperate with them.

The new system will involve a computerised 'number recognition' method. Vehicles will be recorded on entry. Presumably, vehicles that have overstayed will be hunted down and fined. It will, however, mean that access in and out of the car park will be unimpeded.

To achieve the work, Sainsbury's are going to re-surface the access roads, both in and out of the store. This will take place during the day on Sunday 19 May between closing at 4.00 and about 10.00 pm.

If you want to know more, you can email Emily at emily.pattinson@localdialogue.com

Theft of Lead

Message from Durham Police
Darlington police are seeing a rise in the theft of lead from both dwelling and commercial properties.

If you see any vehicles acting suspiciously, especially in and around our back lane at South Terrace please note down the registration numbers, time and location and forward the information to Darlington Police on 101.

Post 6 April: How did we do?

Previous postings show just how successful our South Terrace 'Big Spring Clean and Planting' on 6 April turned out. With sixteen adults and six children participating throughout the morning, it was a joy in both making our environment better for residents, and in adding a cohesive glue to our little South Terrace community.






Since then, our efforts have not gone unnoticed. Susan Jaleel, writing in the Northern Echo said,

 

"I wish to thank whoever is responsible for clearing the spare ground on Victoria Road between Feethams and Sainsbury's entrance. For a long time that area has been a dumping ground for all manner of detritus and an embarrassment at the main out-of-town ring road. Now transformed, even with the addition of a colourful patch of flowers, it has made a huge difference. Let's try and keep it that way". 




Mrs S Western of Hurworth was stirred to write back to 'Hear All Sides', 
"In reply to Susan Jaleel’s letter (HAS, Apr 18) regarding the very clean piece of road between Feethams and Sainsbury’s, in Darlington. A short time ago I saw a family cleaning it with two very small children who were having great fun trying to pick things up with rather large litter pickers. I hope they were proud of themselves. They should be".





Richard Reynolds, leader of 'guerrillagardening.org', and National Hero, commented about our efforts at South Terrace, 
"Tremendous. What a great transformation".

Today, in sunshine, our work looks great, as these shots show.

  

And here, the diversity of flora in the lane. 

Wheely Good Idea?

Are you ready for your new wheeled bin? Whether you are - or whether you aren't they are on their way.

Darlington's 240 litre wheeled bin collections are due to start on the week of 17 June and our collection will probably be one of the first on Monday 17 June, as our refuse collection day is being moved to a MONDAY MORNING from 29 April.

The wheeled bins have a number of environmental advantages and are quite light to manoeuvre. They should reduce stress and injury for the collectors.


Here are a few tips for South Terrace residents:

Prepare a safe place for your bin and ease of access to remove it to and from the back lane. If anyone has a problem here, contact Stephanie or me and we will endeavour to help.

Bins can be put out the night before, but be aware of the fire risk and the fact that they are accessible to the bin-raiders.

Park your bin with the wheels facing the bank, rather than the wall. This gives the collectors the quickest journey down the lane, and eases wear on the bin.

If you overload your bin, the collectors will not take the surplus - so simply save what will not fit in for next week, or contact a neighbour who may have spare capacity.

You can personalise your bin. Stephanie and I have chosen the 'beech effect' - or simply paint the number of your house on the lid.

If your bin is damaged or stolen, you should call customer services on 01325 388777.

To camouflage your bin and recycling, try one of these ingenious ideas.

If you need to check South Terrace's recycling date - click this link.

October Bulb Fest

This is looking ahead a little...in fact to October. Darlington Street Scene will support a community bulb planting, usually in early October. Any Community Group or Friends Group can arrange a planting and Street Scene will supply the bulbs, offer advice on where to plant and provide any training on the day. Advance notice of 3 –4 months will be required so that bulbs can be ordered from suppliers. I have checked with Phillippa and she will sort out the bulbs. Is anyone up for this?

If you would like to be involved, leave a message on our Facebook group page, or put a note through my door.

Incidentally, for those with Facebook, take a look at some great photos from last Saturday, posted by John and Trent.

South Terrace lead the way in the Big Spring Clean

Darlington Council delivered the litter-picking equipment on Friday 5 April, and overnight we prepared for the South Terrace 'Big Spring Clean'. By 0930 hours on Saturday we were ready to start- our pickers, sacks, sack-hoops and gloves to hand, and a trestle table with tea urn, juice, biscuits and home-made cakes prominent at the head of the lane. As St Cuthbert's Church struck 9.30, pickers and planters arrived - eventually numbering 15 adults and six children.

Our very first South Terrace Big Spring Clean will go down in the history of the terrace. Never before has the bank between the lane and Victoria Road been so tidy and organised. Our first hour was spent on litter-picking. Every accessible bottle, crisp packet, take-away box and tin can has been removed from both sides of the bank into eight sacks- and with them scrap metal, old timber and an eight foot pile of debris. Dave, who arrived from Darlington's Street Scene, looked amazed at the sheer volume as we helped load his truck.

Our second hour was spent in planting. Our initial flora count of the bank discovered a wide range of plantsalready in evidence - lesser celandine, daffodil, snowdrop, crocus, bluebell, ramsons (wild garlic), cowparsley, nettle, bramble, ivy, and fern - to which we have added a mass of daffodils, snowdrops, wild geranium, primrose, primula and forget-me-not.

We must give a huge 'thank you' to Ben (no 14) and his friends at Paddock Farm Nursery who provided the bulbs and an amazing array of annuals, which now line the entry to Feethams South.

Further thanks go to Phillippa Scrafton (Darlington Street Scene) for arranging the 'Litter Free Durham and Darlington' event, Councillor Paul Harman for his support and encouragement, Dot at no 24 for the Yorkshire tea and biscuits, Stephanie (no 8) for running the tea stall, Veronica (no 11) for organising the troops. But the biggest thanks go to everyone who attended to make the event a social, community and practical success.

One week to go til the Big Spring Clean and Planting

Next Saturday 6 April is the South Terrace 'Big Spring Clean and Planting'. 

 We meet in the lane from 0930 hours onwards. All welcome - whether to litter-pick, plant, fetch and carry, or simply support and drink tea (by courtesy of Dot).

Equipment will be provided, but those with a fork, trowel, secateurs (or even a horse-drawn plough) will be especially useful. If you have any seeds, bulbs or primula that have flowered - bring them with you.

This week, do ask your friends, and people at work if they have any shade loving plants that they can spare.








Ferns are a real favourite and will add density to the lane side.







A short walk along Victoria Embankment today showed just how effective a little planting can be.