Tuesday, 25th November

The weekend passed very quickly and was most enjoyable.
On Saturday I went with Geoff and Julie and the kids, to Newcastle which is about a 40 minute drive from Durham. We went to the Northern Children's Book Festival Gala Day, at Newcastle Civic Centre . http://www.ncbf.co.uk/
The Northern Children's Book Festival is organised, sponsored and run by the above library services in the region.The Northern Children's Book Festival is organised, sponsored and run by the above library services in the region.The Northern Children's Book Festival is organised, sponsored and run by the 10 library services in the region.
This free event is OPEN to all and is the largest annual reading celebration for young people in Europe. It gave children the opportunity to meet 10 of their favourite authors and illustrators, bringing the world of books to life via interactive sessions held throughout the day. The fabulous line up includes: Steve Barlow & Steve Skidmore, Steve Weatherill, Korky Paul, Debi Gliori, Julia Donaldson, Steve Cole, Julia Golding, Liz Million, Jeremy Strong, David Almond and Nick Butterworth.
It was a fantastic event and I talked with some of the librarians , took photos etc . the kids loved it, as each library service had a theme and there was a craft or activitiy associated with it.
After an hour os so here we headed to the main shopping street, in absolutely freezing weather and looked in Fenwick's Dept Store window at the Christmas display which is 'Oliver' this year. Absolutely magical for the children . Then we had an early dinner at Luigi's Italian restaurant and headed back to Durham . Temperature was zero degrees.
Woke up Sunday morning to SNOW covered houses, cars and gardens. Most picturesque.
Went to the 11a.m. service at St Oswald's and sang in the choir with Geoff. Back to their place for a quick lunch and then off to the school hall for a mini-fete , at which I helped on the bookstall (can't get away) Lot's of fun, but don't ask me how much I spent trying to win a bottle of wine - you had to choose three bottles for a pound and some were only filled with water. If you got one filled with wine - it was your's. Three goes later...
Barbara and I had dinner at home that night. she had driven to Barnsley for the day to visit a terminally ill friend and then she had more pupils in the evening, because of their exams the next day. Still very cold, but snow melting.
Monday was the worst day for weather, that I have encountered. Freezing winds and driving rain and sleet -yuk. I ventured out fro a couple of hours, but retreated and spent the rest of the day doing research from music magazines of Barbara's for my project.
In the evening I went along to listen to a rehearsal for the Durham singers which both Geoff and Barbara sing in. http://www.avfj47.dsl.pipex.com/ They are rehearsing for a Christmas program.
Today I have been to Newcastle by train (15 minutes) and wandered around by myself . Started off at the Lit and Phil http://www.litandphil.org.uk/html_pages/LP_home.html - such a truly British organization.
The music library at the Lit & Phil is one of the largest in the North East, with an extensive collection of classical, jazz and folk music, together with a good collection of spoken word (audio books). The collection includes:
Recorded music
7,000 CDs: classical, jazz, folk and spoken word (audio books)
Music DVDs and videos
CD-ROM sheet music
LPs and 78s
Printed music
5,500 scores
Miniature scores
Sheet music
Related material
Books on music
The Grade II* listed building was opened in 1825 and the magnificent reading rooms remain largely unchanged. Our collection is coupled with an extensive set of periodicals, providing an exceptional resource for both general reader and academic researcher.
In addition to the library, the Society hosts a wide range of events including book launches, concerts, lectures, readings and workshops that cover a variety of topics and issues. Both members and non-members are welcome to attend these events, which are mostly free.
After looking around St Nicholas Cathedral http://www.newcastle-ang-cathedral-stnicholas.org.uk/ , grabbing a sandwich and having a quick chat with the guys who were tuning the organ for the next day's national broadcast of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3 I headed for the Quayside and walked across the Milennium Bridge to 'The Sage' and its library 'ExploreMusic' .