Heritage Fayre hits a high note in Alston

"Amazing" was the overall response to the recent Heritage Fayre held in Alston Town Hall!
After weeks of hard work and planning by the Steering Group, we lived in hope that people might come and we were not disappointed!! The doors opened at 11am on Sat 16 Feb and endless visitors began to arrive. Over the course of the five hour event, over 250 streamed into the venue to enjoy an event designed to "Celebrate the diverse heritage of Alston Moor". Teaming up with Epiacum were local heritage organisations who were able to showcase and promote their own projects.
The molehill finds from last years Molehill Survey were on show. These generated much interest and enthusiasm for the forthcoming repeat of the event at the end of March.
People brought items they had dug up on the Moor and Ben Dyson of Newcastle University helped to record them.  In the coming weeks we will set up some research work to help identify some of the more obscure items.
Paul Mercer and Sue Sharp headed up activities for children (but the adults joined in too!) - archaeology workshops entertained some folk for hours and Sue's Roman Mosaic craft sessions were a big hit!

Another popular activity was the Roman pottery demonstrations by Graham Taylor of Potted History. As a Friend of Epiacum, Graham made a great contribution to the Fayre and never stopped all day!
The aim of the Epiacum project has always been to promote the area known as "Alston Moor", irrespective of county boundaries and the benefits were felt by everyone involved.
We are grateful for the contribution of all who helped to make the day such a success and look forward to next time...............but we need a bit of a rest!!