Please see the poster below for details of events taking place during July 2026.
Durham Explorer Bus Service- Ticket to County Durham’s key attractions
Three new bus services are launching across County Durham to help visitors and residents explore its key attractions.
The Durham Explorer services will run on weekends and bank holidays between 23 May and 31 August 2026.
Each service will connect Durham City to a range of visitor destinations including Locomotion; Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens; Beamish, The Living Museum of the North; The Auckland Project; Raby Castle, Park and Gardens; The Bowes Museum; and High Force Waterfall; with many venues also offering discounts to those who arrive by bus.
The new Durham Explorer buses, operated by Northstar, are:
- The Durham Dales Explorer (873) which runs from Durham City to The Auckland Project; Raby Castle, Park and Gardens; Barnard Castle; The Bowes Museum and High Force Waterfall. View timetable here.
- The Time Traveller line (874) from Durham City to Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens; and Beamish, the Living Museum of the North. View timetable here.
- The Tracks Through Time line (875) from Durham City to Shildon and Locomotion. View timetable here.
All buses have accessible access, with dogs also allowed on board.
An adult day ticket is also available in County Durham for £6, allowing unlimited bus travel, while passengers can also purchase a regionwide adult day ticket for bus and Metro travel for £7.50. A regionwide day ticket for young people costs £3. Children under 11 can also travel without charge during the school holidays as part of the Kids Go Free initiative, offering travel at no cost for up to three children when accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket or a concessionary pass holder. All children will be issued with a ‘goody bag’ and if they wish to complete the A-Z eye spy game they will be entered into a prize draw.
For more information, visit www.durham.gov.uk/CountyDurhamByBus.
For more information on discounts to regional attractions through the North East Combined Authority’s Days Out by Bus scheme, visit www.northeast-ca.gov.uk/daysoutbybus.
Wheatley Hill Mothers Club
Wheatley Hill Mothers’ Club have been going strong for 77 years and they are looking for new members.
If you are female and over 18 why not join the Mothers Club. They meet every Wednesday from 6pm to 9pm. They have a variety of entertainment through the year; quizzes, competitions, crafts, guest speakers and much more. It costs £2 per week.
Why not pop along and give it a try. The first week is free as a guest.
Please see the poster below for more information.
Cuppa with a Copper
Residents are invited to come along and have a chat with your local neighbourhood police team. A cuppa with a copper will be held on the following dates at 1.30pm in Wheatley House.
Thursday 23 July 2026
Please come along and have an informal chat with your local Neighbourhood police team. Everyone is welcome.
CrimeStoppers
CrimeStoppers are a charity that gives people the power to speak up to stop crime. By phone and online, 24/7, 365 days a year. Every year they help stop thousands of crimes. Speak up. Stay safe.
Everyone who gives information stays 100% anonymous.
CrimeStoppers will not ask your name. They won’t judge. Just listen to what you know. When you hang up the phone or click ‘send’ on their anonymous online form, you’re done.
No police contact. No witness statements. No courts.
There may be times when information received by CrimeStoppers is passed on to our trusted partner organisations. CrimeStoppers will only share this information to help keep communities and workplaces safe.
Telephone CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit their website at Crimestoppers
PACT Meetings 2026
Please see below a schedule of PACT meeting dates for 2026.
Thursday 9 July 2026
All meetings are held at 6pm in Wheatley Hill Community Centre.
Everyone is welcome so please come along to address any concerns or issues you may have with your local beat team.
The James Etherington Award
The James Etherington Award was set up in 1980 to support young people who wish to further their training in singing or the playing of musical instruments. The Award is presented annually following a competition between selected entrants. Young musicians who reside, or attend, an educational establishment within the DH postcode area, are invited to apply for the Award which is set at £500. The Runner-up receives £250, and all other selected entrants receive £75.
The competition for the award will be held on Saturday 7 February 2026 at the Methodist Church (Cornerstones), Chester-le-Street DH3 3TF.
Please see the attached poster for further details.
Wheels2Work County Durham
Wheels2Work County Durham is a registered charity that provides scooter (125cc) and bicycle transport for people who struggle to get to work, education and volunteering opportunities by any other means.
Their services are not the solution to everybody’s transport problems and cannot replace a fully operational public transport system or transport owned personally by all that need it, but until that time they can help County Durham residents that need it most and without which find themselves disadvantaged in terms of both employability, income and social mobility.
Since their inception in 2017, they have supported more than 500 people living in County Durham to find a pathway into improved physical, mental and economic wellbeing and out of poverty and isolation.
Please see the attached flyer and brochure for more information.
Remembrance Sunday 2025
On Sunday 9 November 2025 at 10.45am there will be a Remembrance Service held at All Saints Church, Wheatley Hill.
Following the Church service residents are asked to make their way to the Cenotaph in Wheatley Hill Cemetery where Trimdon Brass band will be playing.
At the Cenotaph there will be an opening prayer and hymn which will be followed by the laying of wreaths. The Exhortation and sounding of the Last Post will then take place before a two minute silence. This will be followed by Reveille, a closing prayer, The Dedication and the National Anthem.
The Heritage Centre will be open for refreshments before and after the service.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
Connecting to the Slow Ways national walking network
Would you like to contribute to the creation of Slow Ways – an ambitious crowd-sourced, community-verified national walking network that connects all of Britain’s towns, cities and national parks.
Do you want to help boost walking and wheeling. Slow Ways is a great resource to help achieve that goal.
Supported by the National Lottery Community Fund, their mission is to make it easier for people to walk and wheel between places. Having a network of recommended and trusted routes is key to unlocking this – and you could help.
Contributing to the Slow Ways walking network will help your community across multiple agendas including:
- Health and wellbeing
- Connecting people and communities
- The Climate Emergency
- Active Travel
- Tourism, Leisure, Culture, Heritage
- Accessing Nature
- Planning
- Levelling Up
- Cost of Living
- Happiness and joy
Residents from across the country have already drafted 9,000 routes that stretch for over 80,000 miles.
Now these routes need checking on the ground to make sure they are good enough for people to follow.
So far 1 in 5 Slow Ways have been checked and verified by people across the country.
They now need your help to scale-up their national effort and verify the whole network. Each route requires at least three positive reviews and a survey for it to become part of the Slow Ways trusted network.
The aim is for every place in the network to be 100% checked. Once that’s happened you will have helped to create a national network that everyone can use. Every place in the network has a place page like Kimberley does, why not search for a local town here to see how it’s getting on?
Can you help check your local part of the network?
Learn more – Download our toolkit to discover how and why to help.
Walk the walk – Choose a suitable route from the Slow Ways website or iPhone app, walk it and then leave a review. You can do this on your own or organise a day for the wider community to walk all of the Slow Ways in your area.
Share this message – Do you know people or groups in your community who would like to get involved? Please share this opportunity by forwarding this message and posting it online.
Stay in the loop – Would you like to be kept up to date with the progress of Slow Ways? Sign up for the Friends of Slow Ways newsletter.
To find out more information please visit the Slow Ways website.
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