Join us for the annual Open Day

St Margaret’s Allotments

St Margaret’s Centre

St Margaret’s Church

St Margaret’s Churchyard

Entrance £5, all proceeds to National Garden Scheme cancer nursing charities; children free

Click here to view/download the programme.

Admissions table

Follow signs from any entrance. Cards and cash accepted

Buy your ticket or show your pre-ordered ticket (£5, all proceeds to National Garden Scheme cancer nursing charities; children free).

Collect trails for families to follow.

Buy the brilliant souvenir booklet, only £3.50, full colour, recipes, tips, history, gardening, wildlife.

Talk to members who will be available to orient you and help you to get the best out of your visit.

Sign up for the specialised tour 15.30-16.30: Archaeology and history of the allotments, the churchyard and St Margaret’s Church
Leaders: David Butler, Lynda Rollason, and Posy O’Neill

Refreshments

11.00-16.00, last orders 15.30
Old School Café (St Margaret’s Centre)

Delicious cakes, pastries, sandwiches etc. available; hot and cold drinks. Cards and cash accepted.

Toilet facilities

In St Margaret’s Centre (first floor), in Ye Old Elm Tree for pub customers, and in Riverwalk Shopping Centre (off Framwellgate Bridge).

Allotment visiting

Explore independently and talk to plot-holders.

Don’t miss

• ponds (e.g. plots 1, 16, 13, 27, 45A, 45B, 49, 59B, 68, 79)
• features to look out for  (e.g. plots 1, 3, 46)  (e.g. plot 26)
• St Margaret’s Centre education allotments (plots 24 and 33b)
• a no dig allotment (plot 49)
• a dead hedge (plot 71)
• gardening on a slope (e.g. plots 59A, 59B, 75, 76, 77)
• DIY cages (e.g. plot 44)
• ideas for water storage (e.g. plot 59A)
• challenging plots tamed (e.g. plot 36A, 45, 48, 59B)
• the best VIEW of the allotments (plot 58)

Find the SCARECROWS, note the number of the plot, and vote for the best on the Common Plot.

Shopping on the Common Plot

BUY plants, jam, chutney, homemade cakes, fresh produce

BUY crafts and greetings cards by local artists Jenny Ulyatt, Ollie Burton, and Alison Gargett, and limited edition prints by Ollie Burton

BUY the brilliant souvenir booklet, only £3.50

Entertainment on the Common Plot

Beautiful Sounds of the Northumbrian Smallpipes. The Cleveland and County Durham Branch of the Northumbrian Pipers’ Society will play traditional and north eastern tunes such as Keel Row, Bobby Shaftoe, Jimmie Allen, Rothbury Hills, Come ye not from Newcastle and Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinny.

Music from Renaissance Venice to 1920’s New York via Brazil, Ireland, Scotland and an English Country Garden.

Kathy will play traditional tunes and demonstrate and explain how the pipes function.  Visitors are warmly invited to chat with her, and she will do her best to answer any questions about the tunes she has played, or about the pipes
themselves.

Information tables (Common Plot)

Old Durham Gardens

Established more than 350 years ago, a restoration programme from the 1980s onwards has led to the laying out ot the gardens with authentic period planting. The Friends of Old Durham Gardens now continue that restoration work, providing a charming public space for everybody to enjoy, less than a mile from Durham city centre and accessible via pleasant woodland or riverside walks.

Friends of St Margaret’s Churchyard

An extensive churchyard of over six acres of green space, which has a rich history dating back many centuries, avaluable haven for wildlife and a place of peace and tranquility for local residents and visitors. The Friends of St Margaret’s Churchyard aim to maintain and improve it and to lead research on its history and its graves.

Durham County Council

Waste management, food waste recycling and garden waste composting stand

Presentation: Food waste recycling and garden waste composting

12.00-12.45, Plot 44: Durham County Council Strategic Waste Team

Archaeology and history guided walk

15.30-16.30: Guided walk around the allotments, the churchyard and St Margaret’s Church (David Butler, Lynda Rollason, and Posy O’Neill). Discover the history of the site as medieval quarry, fishponds and orchard and learn about the medieval church and its churchyard. Sign up on the Common Plot.

Wildlife activities

Churchyard Nature Scavenger Hunt

Pick up a Scavenger Clue Card from the Friends of the Churchyard table on the Common Plot. Then set out in the churchyard to test your seeking skills and see how many clues you can solve and nature treasures you can spot! Return to the Common Plot to tell us what you found and pick up a pin badge or sticker reward.

Beasts from the Churchyard

Visit the church to view the some of the creatures that make the churchyard their home. A photographic display of mini-beasts with some captive specimens, plus videos of larger furry friends seen around the churchyard.

Trails for families

Trail sheets from the admissions desk. Win a prize!

Scarecrow competition

Cast your vote by 16.00

Pick up a guide to the location of scarecrows from the Admissions Table. Find them all. Vote for the best one on the white board on the Common Plot.

16.15     Award ceremony: St Margaret’s Allotments trophy awarded to the winning scarecrow plot

St Margaret’s Centre

St Margaret’s Centre (open 11.00-16.00) is an activity and training hub for adults in County Durham who need support with their mental wellbeing. Its main aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of the community of County Durham by providing a safe, therapeutic environment for people to regain their confidence, motivation and self-esteem while learning new skills and meeting new friends.

Come and explore the Centre’s impressive workshops, which support people with their mental health through activities, groups, and structured volunteering.

Come and buy handmade homeware and gifts for your friends and family from the shop, showcasing the work of attendees at the Centre.

Bring your children to enjoy craft activities (must be accompanied by an adult, small charge for materials).

Plots 24 and 33b are the St Margaret’s Centre allotments, used for educational courses. Please come and visit them.

St Margaret’s churchyard and St Margaret’s church

St Margaret’s church open to visitors (14.00-17.00)

This historic and beautiful church will be open to visitors, with members of the church available to talk to visitors about the building and its churchyard.

Tour of the church and the churchyard

15.30-16.30: Guided walk around the allotments, the churchyard and St Margaret’s Church (David Butler, Lynda Rollason, and Posy O’Neill). Sign up on the Common Plot.

St Margaret’s churchyard (open any time)

Come and explore this extensive churchyard of over six acres of green space, which has a rich history dating back many centuries.  A haven for wildlife and a place of peace and tranquillity. Wildflower beds, memorial rose garden around the church. Includes Commonwealth War Graves and Memorials to the leaders of Durham Miners Association.

Also visit:

Friends of St Margaret’s Churchyard information table (Common Plot)

Routes around the allotments and to St Margaret’s Centre, churchyard and church

Follow signs to the Common Plot from the main entrance to the allotments on Margery Lane (DH1 4QJ). The churchyard can be accessed on foot, through a gap in the hedge bordering Grape Lane.

All ticket payments, and all purchases of craft goods, go to the National Garden Scheme for its cancer nursing and gardening charities.

All proceeds from Old School Café and Old School Woodcrafts go to support the St Margaret’s Centre mental health charity.

All proceeds from the Plant, Produce, Jam and Chutney stall and from the sale of booklets go to St Margaret’s Allotments Association to defray the costs of the open day event.