http://www.lambtoncastle.co.uk

AN aristocrat has announced plans to transform part of his North East estate into a wedding and entertainment venue.

Renovation work is being carried out by Lord Durham on the grade II-listed Lambton Castle, near Bournmoor, County Durham, to turn it into a venue for upmarket civil weddings, classical concerts and parties.

Biddick Hall, an impressive grade I-listed country house that was home to the Lord’s mother, Lady Lambton, until her death in February 2003, will also stage small weddings, celebrations, weekend breaks, a monthly supper club and it will also host the bridal party for weddings in the nearby castle.

The estate is also home to a small chapel which will be available for religious wedding ceremonies. Estate chiefs have been in touch with the Bishop of Durham to have it re-consecrated.

They are also looking into licensing a walled garden and a pavilion for a variety of entertainment as well as a large field by the river where they hope to hold proms in the park-style events and large concerts.

Edward Lambton, the 7th Earl of Durham, hopes transformation of the 1,400-acre private estate will generate income which will go towards the vast upkeep of the historic properties and land.

Estates manager Bob Duff said: “The estate has always been owned by different generations of the same family. The area of Washington used to belong to them before it was compulsory purchased from the family to build the new town.

“The Lord of Durham’s mother lived in Biddick Hall until her death a few years go. After that the home was just used by the family periodically.

“Lord Durham got in touch with me about a year ago about the progression of the estate. Estates such as this get more expensive to run and difficult to keep. The family has an estate in Northumberland and a home in Italy.

“The plans were his idea and he employed me to oversee the development.”

Lambton Estate has already set up a number of events. These include a music night on April 15 featuring tenor George Bartle, soprano Susan Parkes and pianist Warren Mailley-Smith and Universal Horror on April 16, a film night hosted by Oscar-winning film maker Kevin Brownlow. On May 8 Lord Durham will open the estate to the public when they stage the Lambton Run, a 5k and 10k race, in aid of Willow Burn Hospice in Lanchester, County Durham and The Rainbow Trust.

North East chef Anthony Brown is also holding monthly supper clubs and cookery classes.

Lord Durham inherited the Lambton estate after the death of his father, a one-time Tory MP for Berwick, in 2006.

The current Lord married for the third time earlier this year, wedding 29-year-old model Marina Hanbury at a register office in London.

Lions Lived in grounds of castle

LAMBTON Castle, the family’s ancestral seat, is steeped in history

In 1800 the first Lord of Durham commissioned the building of the structure which was built around the existing Harraton Hall, an 18th Century mansion.

The Lord – also known as “Radical Jack” and a son-in-law of Earl Grey – wanted the property to be in the style of a Norman Castle.

The family lived in the property but there was a problem with subsidence, ironically caused by the mineworking in the area on which the family fortune was built. It was rebuilt in the 1860.

In 1930 the family moved out of the property following further issues with subsidence and it fell into disrepair.

In 1972, Lambton Lion Park opened on the estate. It closed in the early 1980s due to lack of funds and problems with escaping animals.

Mr Duff said: “The county council took it over as a teacher training centre for a while then in the seventies the estate was ran as a safari park.

“There are wonderful stories about baboons on the A1 and hippopotamus in Chester-le-Street.

“People still talk about the safari park now with the giraffe house and the bear pit.

“A lot of people came to the estate back then and they still think of it like that today.”

For more information please goto http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/03/16/lambton-castle-to-become-wedding-venue-61634-28343663/2/

Durham Wildlife Trust

Saturday 5th June 2010 11am – 4pm

Free Admission

Learn about wildlife and have fun, with displays and activities for all ages, including rare breed livestock, birds of prey display, conservation exhibits, face painting, tradition crafts, live music and daning, refershments and much more. FREE – no booking requried. Some activites may charge.

 

For further information call Cheryl Nicholson on 0191 512 8948

 

Event information may be subject to change or cancellation, please check before travelling. Sunderland City Council makes every effort to maintain the accuracy of the information on this website but cannot accept responsibility for any error or alteration to details which may occur.

  

The Visitor Centre at Rainton Meadows offers a shop, café, informative displays, a classroom, conference room and a viewing station where visitors can spend time watching birds feeding in the winter months.There is also a Wildlife Garden with spring and summer meadows and examples of what can be done to attract wildlife to your own garden.

The Nature Reserve is a haven for wildlife and has a variety of habitats including grassland, scrub, mature woodland and ponds. Mute swan, skylark, short-eared owl, brown hare, lapwing and many types of wildfowl are regularly seen at the site.

Within Rainton Meadows is a 4 hectare Site of Specific Scientific Interest known as Joe’s Pond. A haven for bird watching, the hawthorn and willow scrub surrounding the Pond provides shelter for over 140 species of birds. Fox and roe deer can also be seen around the Pond.A series of events are hosted here throughout the year, details of which can be found on our events page, or in the visitor centres.

Rainton Meadows and Joe’s Pond can be found by following the brown signs from the A690 between Durham and Sunderland. By bus, the services 222 and 220 regularly leave Park Lane in Sunderland, or the bus station in Durham and set down at the nearby Mill Inn. There’s a short walk under the A690 continuing until you reach the last roundabout of the industrial estate. The entrance to the Reserve is called Mallard Way.

Contact us on 0191 584 3112 for more details

With thanks to  Mervtheswerve’s Photos from Fliker.

2009 is the 80th Anniversary of 1st Burnmoor Scout Group. As part of this years Summer Camp at Bassenthwaite (22nd to 29th August) a birthday party will be held on the second Saturday. Details of further events to celebrate this landmark will be announced shortly…

Massive thanks to all those who gave up part (or in some cases all) of their Good Friday to help out at the Metro Centre to raise funds for the group.1st Burnmoor took over the charity stall near the cinema, offering face painting for the children (and the GSL), tombola, games, crafts and sweet shop. Well done everyone involved.

The Group would like to say a big thank you to DSGi (Curry’s) who donated £350 as part of their “Switched On Communities” scheme. This money has been used towards a laptop computer which can be used by all Sections. They also donated the same amount to the Group in 2006 and £500 in 2005.

We would also like to thank Howard & Elizabeth, proprietors of Strawberry Hill Farm, who donated a sit-on petrol lawnmower to the Group.

For More infomation Please Visit

1st Burnmoor