Film and food date as village celebrates its heritage for Valentine's Day

An alternative Valentine's Day celebration will take people on a walk down memory lane,
The staff at Wylam's Chemists In Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery in the 1960s.The staff at Wylam's Chemists In Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery in the 1960s.
The staff at Wylam's Chemists In Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery in the 1960s.

Blackhall Community Centre will host a vintage-style tea party on Tuesday, gathering together residents to mark the village’s heritage.

They can take part in craft activities, listen to music, watch films from yesteryear, learn about the area’s history and enjoy local performances.

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Centre manager Alison Paterson said: “What an exciting opportunity to provide an alternative event for Valentine’s Day and help spread the community love.

“It has been a great opportunity for us to do some partnership working with East Durham Creates and Cinegi Arts & Film.

“It’s an event not to be missed and for just £2 there is some tremendous entertainment to be had.”

Guests will be able to sample cakes donated by Blackhall WI and food from Haswell Mencap as part of the traditional afternoon tea.

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Blackhall Local History Group will also be in attendance, showing photographs of the village over the years.

The film footage shown will be provided by Cinegi Arts & Film, a digital film distribution service which enables local venues to screen footage from its catalogue of filmed theatre, music, dance, ballet, opera, treasures from Britain on Film and archive arts and documentary titles from the British Film Institute.

Nikki Locke, head of East Durham Creates, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Blackhall Community Centre to create a new kind of Valentine’s event that everyone can enjoy.

“This has also provided a unique way to launch the wonderful content on offer to local venues from Cinegi Arts & Film and it’s great to see how the community have made this event their own – it’s one not to miss.”

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Any venue managers interested in finding out more about Cinegi Arts & Film are invited to attend a free introductory session from 3pm to 4pm on Tuesday, immediately before the vintage tea party.

Anyone who would like to find out more at https://www.facebook.com/events/1143667252397841/.

Tickets for the vintage tea party, which takes place from 4pm to 7pm on Tuesday are available from the centre.