Another Royal visit for North East next week

PRINCE Charles is heading to Northumberland on a Royal Visit.

The Prince of Wales will be in the county for two days next week and will pay visits to Hexham Abbey, Alnwick Garden and a gin distillery.

His first engagements will be on Wednesday, where he will start off by visiting the National Landscape Discovery Centre in Bardon Mill.

Here is a full list of Prince Charles’ engagements: On Wednesday, he will visit: The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre, Bardon Mill.

A farmers’ market in Hexham and then tour Hexham Abbey.

Kirkharle, the birthplace of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. He will then attend a reception for beneficiaries and supporters of the Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services group, who are marking their 25th anniversary.

Kielder Salmon Centre and Hatchery, Kielder Water and Forest Park, Kielder. On Thursday, he will visit: The Moorland Spirit Company Ltd’s Hepple Gin distillery.

The Alnwick Garden to visit the ‘Elderberries’ drop-in centre to tackle loneliness in the elderly and then attend the Lord-Lieutenant’s Garden Party for Volunteers and Carers at The Alnwick Garden. Reporter HOW special was the Great Exhibition of the North?

Organisers have released initial results as the 80-day festival draws to a close – and they say they’re overwhelmed with how it has gone.

It’s estimated more than four million people have visited Newcastle and Gateshead over the summer.

The numbers are likely to be up on previous years, especially thanks to the Rough Guide designation of the area as the number one place to visit in 2018.

Hotel bookings reached “record levels” over the summer, with more than 363,000 hotel rooms occupied during the festival.

According to surveys carried out on behalf of the organisers, 32% of visitors this year cited the event as the main reason for their visit, while 75% are said to have engaged with the exhibition’s content during their trip.

Initial findings collated by the team behind the exhibition suggest the four key venues involved – the Sage, Baltic, Great North Museum and Discovery Museum – saw a boost in visitor numbers.

On average, they all saw 55% more visitors this summer compared to last.

They say “one of the biggest draws” was Robert Stephenson’s Rocket, one of Britain’s most famous feats of engineering, with hundreds of thousands of people visiting the Discovery Museum to see it.

In total, 1,175 people – the youngest 16, the oldest 78 – volunteered, giving over 20,836 hours to greeting visitors, guiding school tours and supporting events.

One of those involved was volunteer Roy Davis. He said: “Getting the opportunity to be a Get North Volunteer this summer has truly been a pleasure.

“It has helped me personally in so many different ways and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting involved, meeting new people and sharing knowledge with visitors and my fellow team of volunteers.

“Great Exhibition of the North shows exactly what can be achieved when people come together and I’d encourage anyone and everyone to consider volunteering opportunities in the future.”

The event hasn’t been without its issues – or its critics.

In March, BAE Systems withdrew its sponsorship of the event following protests by several acts.

Then a couple weeks after the launch, the 80-metre fountain on the Tyne was damaged after a boat hit it.

Ouseburn-based visual artist Theresa Easton also set up the grassroots group the ‘Other Great Exhibition of the North’ in response to some of the problems she saw with the initiative.

She questioned how successful the exhibition had been at engaging locals.

She said: “I feel disenfranchised with this event and I would consider myself fairly aware of what’s going on culturally in the North East.

“If I feel like this, how do my neighbours who live on the council estate I live on feel? Ask them and they know very little about GEON, other than what they hear from me or have seen in the media.”

Mrs Easton argued money could have gone on “less glitzy”, longer-term projects engaging disenfranchised communities with the arts.

Meanwhile, Kami Kundi, chair of Newcastle’s Quayside Business Forum, questioned the economic impact of the project, arguing that many visitors hadn’t necessarily added significantly to takings for smaller local enterprises.

“Although it has benefited a lot of schoolchildren in learning about science, designs and architecture, we don’t feel we’ve seen it or felt the economic impact reflected in the businesses around city centre,” she said.

Despite the criticism, leaders are labelling the event a “great” success.

They say more than 10,000 contributors, including artists, scientists and inventors, got involved with free events and performances.

Exhibition chair Sir Gary Verity said: “I’m hugely proud to have been involved in such a great exhibition shining a spotlight on all the fantastic creativity and innovation in the North, past, present and future. “The success of the exhibition is down to every single contributor, large and small, from world class venues, to hidden gems in Newcastle and Gateshead and across the wider North. “The support of our ambassadors and huge team of volunteers, who’ve helped things run so smoothly, has been invaluable. “The exhibition has inspired future creators, inventors and innovators who I believe will continue to carry the North forward towards the brightest of futures.”

It’s also said to have inspired events in other towns and cities, with 537 ‘Inspired By’ events taking place across the wider region.

As the closing weekend approaches, Newcastle and Gateshead are preparing for a visit from Prince William, before a closing ‘invite-only’ performance is held for some of those involved. Members of the public can watch it live on BBC online from 9pm today, or in a BBC One programme on Sunday. Sir Gary Verity