ON SONG: Singer Louise Beagle and musician Darren Stubley entertained shoppers in Barnard Castle with an impromptu busking session
ON SONG: Singer Louise Beagle and musician Darren Stubley entertained shoppers in Barnard Castle with an impromptu busking session

A SINGER who set up a social media group during lockdown providing an outlet for other singers and musicians to share their musical videos entertained visitors with a busking session in Barnard Castle.
Louise Beagle, who was born and bred in Barnard Castle but now lives in Darlington with her partner, musician Darren Stubley, entertained visitors with an impromptu set, playing in Horsemarket.
She said: “We came through to Barney for the day and stayed over in the motorhome.
“We asked permission to do it and it was great to be performing in front of people again.
“We’ve learnt a lot of new songs and it’s a great way to get feedback. You know if you see a few eye-twitchers, it’s not quite right, but we didn’t have any of those.”
During lockdown Ms Beagle set up Barney Musicians Share group on Facebook, to give artists an outlet to perform following the closure of all performance venues due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The group has been popular with professional and amateur musicians who have been unable to perform in public since March and it now boasts more than 1,800 members.
Music venues had been set to reopen to the public on August 1, however with 24 hours’ notice the Government pushed this date back by a fortnight.