Spectator's Notes
| NORTH YORKSHIRE |  | | | CLEVELAND | | | COUNTY DURHAM | | |
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A good time for Mr Darlington to take a bow
THE achievements of the
man known as Mr Darlington
were justly celebrated
at a special lunch last
week.
Spectator was privileged to be
there and to hear the great and
good pay tribute to the selfless service
of Alasdair MacConachie,
OBE, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of
County Durham, soon-to-be High
Sheriff of the county, honorary
doctor of the University of
Teesside, supporter of too many
causes to mention and, as he is
wont to remind us, our "friendly
local Vauxhall dealer".
What struck me most was that it
made a change for Mr Mac-
Conachie, who is so quick to heap
praise on the work and contributions
of others, to be the subject of
other people's tributes. They were
all well deserved.
Crass commerce
Apologies to John Aston, the county
council solicitor turned author,
who was one of the speakers at the
Dales Festival of Food and Drink
in Leyburn. John was in the
Richard Whiteley Pavilion on Saturday,
reading extracts from his
excellent "fishing autobiography"
A Dream of Jewelled Fishes when
the announcer decided to promote
the Darlington & Stockton
Times festival hamper draw when
Mr Aston was in full flow. Spectator,
who was in the pavilion,
cringed. Oh crass commerce.
One particular person it was good
to see at the food festival was
Mandy Reed of the Swaledale
Cheese Company, freshly recovered
from her turn-of-the-year
flooding debacle. Having brought
home a piece of her Swaledale
Blue, I can confirm her cheesemaking
skills have not suffered
during the interruption in production.
We also bumped into Katrina
Palmer of Bluebell Organics of
Forcett, near Richmond, who was
proudly clutching her certificate
for being the most environmentally-
sustainable producer, as judged
by the regional food group Deliciouslyorkshire.
Katrina made the point that it is
pointless being a local producer if
you send your produce half-way
round the country. A restriction of
30 miles on their fresh veg and
fruit deliveries may limit their
market, but makes environmental
sense.
In a haze
THAT Richmond's delightful Georgian
Theatre Royal doesn't lend itself
to large-scale production techniques
would seem to be
self-evident to anyone who has
been inside. Not only is it one of
the country's oldest theatres, it is
also one of the tiniest. So, zero out
of ten for the person responsible
(the stage manager, the production
director?) for letting the
smoke effects overwhelm the final
scene of Romeo and Juliet last
week - not once but twice.
2:20pm Friday 9th May 2008
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