Coming up this Saturday, 13 July, is Witton Gilbert’s local live music festival, the Wittfest!
It will be at the carpark of the Traveller’s Rest pub. Doors open at 11am, and first band goes on at 1pm.
Entry is by wristband and tickets are on sale behind the bar at The Travellers Rest pub at £15 each (card or cash) or message John Nixon and Jon Reynolds on Facebook.
Children under 16 are free, although the festival is quite crowded.
The festival raises money for Witton Gilbert’s own community group CHAD Children’s Hopes and Dreams. All of CHAD’s activities are funded through local contributions and events such as the Wittfest.
This is a Witton Gilbert fund-raising organization which supports lots of community and charity activities for children in the village and further afield.
Some of the activities for summer 2024:
Free football coaching on the field, usually every Wednesday evening through August.
A qualified CrossFit trainer puts on four sessions.
Supporting the much loved Woodland Wonders children’s holiday sessions with lunches and other support.
According to Jon Reynolds, one of the organizers: “We put a Halloween party and Christmas party on at the club, all free. We also do other things during the year like the pantomime horse race”. The horse race is an annual event since 2021 and the date is to be confirmed.
Jon added: “Last year we put guitar lessons on and supplied the instruments, but that is yet not confirmed for this year.
“We also designed a programme with suicide prevention charity If U Care Share to go into year 5 in Witton Gilbert Primary School for six weeks to prepare the kids for going to the “big” school. This went down really well with the kids and parents so we are raising money to do this again and want it be a yearly thing. This cost us £3,500 for the first year but will only cost us £2,000 moving forward as it is all designed.”
Children’s hopes and dreams was originally set up nearly 30 years ago in memory of a local serviceman, Michael Stephenson, who was in the Royal Marines and died from a heart embolism at the age of 23 years. Here is a story in the Northern Echo.
Since then they have organized a football tournament in his memory for many years and have continued to raise money for different causes, including the primary school, local playgroups and the Treetops children’s ward, at the University Hospital of North Durham.
Screaming Chimp is world-class chilli sauce made in Witton Gilbert – and the first chillis were grown here too.
Cragside resident Niall McKay-Mount said his friend Paul initially gave him some chilli seedings in 2015 when he was suffering from depression: “Grow them mate, they may take your mind off things.”
Niall developed sauce recipes and distributed to family and friends for special events and, in February 2016, trademarked the name Screaming Chimp. He launched operations in June.
The first of many years of awards came in 2017, and in the first three years Niall and Mrs. Chimp Vicky produced 30,000 bottles from the kitchen in Cragside.
In 2019 they outsourced some production – which helped them survive lockdown in 2020 – but Niall told us he still produces limited edition bottles, chimponnaise, chilli peanuts and designs new recipes at home.
After lockdown and arrival of baby Albi Edward, 2021 brought on board new stockists. The Screaming Chimp chilli sauces from the NorthEast are shipped worldwide to Australia , Belgium, Netherlands and the UAE, as well as lots of collaborations with top restaurants, pizza makers, burger shops and other great taste specialists.
Niall spends many of the weekdays in production and marketing at his local business. At weekends he is often on the road to shows to sell sauces, test recipes and meet new customers. The varieties available are:
Chimpotle
Chilli Oil
Chimponnaise
Original hot sauce
Pineapple
Screamer
Mon-key Lime
Rhubarb, Ginger and Chilli preserve – limited edition this June/July
Chilli peanuts
What’s Niall’s advice for budding entrepreneurs in Witton Gilbert? He says: “Be prepared to change, and to pivot your operations” and “listen to advice, but don’t try to follow it all”.
Martin McAloon, formerly bass player of Witton Gilbert’s megastar band the Prefab Sprout, is touring again in 2024. This follows his very successful 2023 tour.
I saw Martin at The Cluny in Newcastle last year and the gig features lots of the Prefab Sprout favourites. His excellent arrangements for guitar amazingly bring the big Sprout sound into just him and his guitar. It was great! It was also fantastic to catch up with him after the show, and get the t-shirt.
According to the tour press release: “Although born with the open road in his blood, Prefab Sprout appear to have had a 40-year aversion to playing live and he hope these new shows “40 YEARS: A VERSION” will address his gigging addiction.
“He’ll be revisiting the repertoire written by his brother Paddy, that stretches back through the classic Prefab Sprout albums: Swoon, Steve McQueen, Protest Songs, Langley Park to Memphis, Jordan: The Comeback, Let’s Change the World With Music, Andromeda Heights, The Gunman and Other Stories, I Trawl The Megahertz, and Crimson / Red.
“Expect all the hits and pared-back acoustic versions of Prefab Sprout’s most beloved songs, along with some storytelling and the opportunity to meet Martin after the show.”
Live shows in the North East include:
16 August – O2 City Hall in Newcastle, where he is opening act for top electronic producer Thomas Dolby. Get your ticket here. (Martin is opening for all the tour)
15 December – The Cluny Newcastle, a friendly venue where you get to see Martin up close. This one sold out last year – get your ticket here.
See all the tour gigs below, including the Irish concerts in October.
Here is Martin McAloon’s website with all his tour dates, including the first tour to Ireland after 25 years.
Here is our #PrefabSprout page, linking back to an excellent 2017 post on the wonderful Sproutology website. It gives detailed description of the layout, activities and local memories of the McAloon garage on both sides of Front Street, when it was run by Tommy McAloon,. No doubt many in Witton Gilbert village remember it.
Here is an old Guardian article where Paddy McAloon and Thomas Dolby remember working together on the album Steve McQueen and playing and composing music in Witton Gilbert village and in Consett and London.
Martin McAloon of Prefab Sprout from Witton Gilbert village music tour 2024
Witton Gilbert’s own music festival is coming up on Saturday 13 July, the annual Wittfest. It is held at the lovely Traveller’s Rest pub.
Entry is by wristband and the early-bird price £10 wristbands are on sale tomorrow, 18 May from 2pm-5pm, only at the Traveller’s Rest. After tomorrow they are £15 each. Traveller’s Rest is also having a bottomless brunch tomorrow.
Here is the line-up for the Witfest, with bands all afternoon and evening from 12:30pm – 10pm:
Congratulations to Witton Gilbert Parish Council and the team for the beautiful website they created. You can find it here https://wittongilbertparishcouncil.uk/.
Go to the website for news of their activities, decisions and work for the community. You can find details of the council meeting agendas and minutes. With the latest minutes being for the March meeting.
Next Monday 13 May is the Annual General Meeting and will be at Witton Gilbert Community Centre. There are actually two meetings: The Annual Meeting of the Parish will be held at 6.30 p.m. which is fairly procedural. Then at 6.35 pm comes the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council.
Residents of the village are welcome to attend meetings of the Parish Council. They may speak on any agenda item at the discretion of the chairman but they may not vote.
If you want a copy of the agenda for the AGM, have a look here.
The new date for the Witton Gilbert Big Spring Clean is this Tuesday, 23 April 2024. It starts at Witton Gilbert Community Centre and runs from 10am-noon. For more details, call Bev on 07771-840947.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has decided to add Witton Gilbert War Memorial to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The memorial is now listed at Grade II.
Please follow the link below to download a copy of our advice report, which gives the principal reasons for this decision. The List entry for this building, together with a map, has now been published on the National Heritage List for England, and will be available for public access from tomorrow. This List can be accessed through The Historic England website.
Sensing the Seasons A 60 minute guided Mindfulness walk through Witton Dene, suitable for most abilities
Next walks: Fridays 10-11am 29th November 27th December 31st January 28th February 27th March
Whatever the weather, come prepared. FREE
To find out more, contact Gillie breath-
ingspacedurham@gmail.com
Tel: 0191 3711387 /07508 471522
Meeting place:
St Michael and All Angels
Church, Coach Lane,
Witton Gilbert, DH7 6SX
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