February 7, 2026

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Making the news this week..

Businesses in Barnard Castle are staging a late-opening event to offer residents a safe shopping experience

Babul’s restaurant and the TCR Hub are among those who have pledged children will not go hungry this half term

Meet “bird man” Ken Jordan, who is putting his carpentry skills to good use and raising money for a cancer charity

Villages across the dale are being “let down” over speeding traffic according to members of one parish council, while a campaign to highlight the problem has been launched in Hamsterley

Plans to channel more traffic through Startforth as part of the A66 dualling project have been described as “a very bad idea indeed”

The dale’s railway links are being celebrated as part of a heritage festival

Film crews have descended on the upper dale again – but mystery surrounds the production

Mum-of-two Amy Bainbridge has used the activities she devised to keep her young children entertained during lockdown as the inspiration for a new business venture

The popular Christmas market in the grounds of The Bowes Museum will go ahead again this year with new arrangements in place to ensure it is Covid-secure

Find out why it’s going to be a real thriller at a dale community centre this Halloween

In sport, football is being played in Etherley for the first time in decades

Plus… What’s On, Bob Garton’s weekly quiz, a farming update, family notices, Remember When and all our readers’ letters…

All in this week’s Mercury, out today