Talk 14th July
Pam welcomed Andy Clarey from the Heritage Action Zone, he gave an excellent talk on how Northallerton was chosen as one of 34 towns of historical interest in the UK that needed help to lift them.
The ethos behind the 3 year project is that town centres are failing and this project is trying to make them more than just retail so people will come and visit.
There are three strands to the project
Shop Front Project
They are currently looking at a number of facades in town to see if they can make them more open so people will look at them it will also take them back to their historical history.
Augmented Reality
They are looking at the remains/outline of the Bishops Palace in the cemetery.
They have teamed up with academics from York University who will assess what it would have looked like originally.
You then access an app on your phone and hold it up in that area and images pop up where rooms etc. would have been
The Golden Lion (an old coaching inn) and the Tickle Toby Yard that had numerous shops in it are also being considered
Cultural Fund
There will be money available for Public Art
At present they are focusing on the Prison, where there will be a statue of Sophie a 10 yr old girl who was imprisoned for 10 weeks in 1846 for stealing a loaf of bread.
As dreadful as it was, it was actually the making of her as she was taken out of poverty and was sent to reform school
However the rest of the story is missing and they hoping to fill in the gaps.
There is a Heritage Hub in the old Oxfam Shop on the High St, well worth a visit, it’s only open for 6 months so do pop in