A GROUP hoping to encourage more high street visitors is asking residents to take a trip down memory lane, and then share their reminisces to help chart the changing face of Barney’s high street.
Barney Then and Now is the latest event organised by Making Barney Brighter Together, a group aiming to reinvigorate the high street for residents and tourists. It will be held at The Witham, in the Witham Room, from 12.30am to 3.30pm on Saturday, January 11.
Sandra Moorhouse, from the group, said: “What we’re hoping to do is have a drop-in event for people to pop in and share their memories, mementoes and photographs of Barney, to build a picture of how the high street has changed.
“We’ve got a great history of the town, of famous people, kings and gentry, but the ordinary folk who really made Barney what it is need to be recorded as well.
“It’s amazing how much the town centre has changed in such a short space of time and we want to make sure this is recorded.”
As part of the drop-in event, there will be a display of photographs of the town, as well as leaflets and advertisements from businesses that were based in Barnard Castle.
She hopes author Carol Dougherty, who co-wrote Barnard Castle Shops, Pubs and Trades Through Time, will be able to be at the event and added: “I think it is our duty to record what has changed in the town.
“Even though it’s just six years since Carol’s book
was published, a lot has changed in that small space of time.” She said the event was not being billed as a workshop because she didn’t want people to feel it would be dull and boring.
She added: “It’s more about sharing information, photographs and memories.”
There will be facilities in place for people to drop in documents, photographs or leaflets and have them copied for the file.
Durham County Records staff will also be on hand to answer questions residents may have about starting their own social history search.
