The Kathmandu Durbar Square holds the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city. Along with these palaces, the square surrounds quadrangles revealing courtyards and temples.
Postbag: readers divided over new parking charges at the station car park
Few subjects fill our postbag faster than parking, and the new daily charge at the station car park has done exactly that. This week we print a selection of the many letters received, lightly edited for length.
Commuters have been the loudest voices, arguing that the charge punishes those who have no choice but to drive to the early train. Several point out that the bus does not run early enough to connect.
The other side of the square
Not everyone is against it. A number of town-centre shopkeepers write in support, saying the free car park had become a dumping ground for all-day commuter cars, leaving nowhere for customers to stop.
- Commuters: the charge hits early-shift workers hardest
- Shopkeepers: free spaces were clogged all day
- Several readers ask for a cheaper short-stay tariff
- Others want the money ring-fenced for local road repairs
The parish council says it will review the scheme after three months and publish the figures. We will, of course, print them, and no doubt a fresh sack of letters alongside. Have your say at the address on this page.
Related: Council & Planning news · Weldale bridge closure
Further reading: How parking charges work
River clean-up pulls three shopping trolleys and a bike from the Weldale
Some forty volunteers in waders and wellingtons spent Sunday morning dragging rubbish out of the Weldale, in the biggest turnout the town’s twice-yearly river clean has ever managed.
Between the Mill Road bridge and the recreation ground the group filled dozens of sacks, but it was the larger finds that raised eyebrows: three shopping trolleys, a rusted bicycle frame and a car wheel still on its rim.
Why it matters
Organisers say the clean is about more than appearances. Debris in the channel snags branches and worsens the flooding that hits the low ground after heavy rain.
- Around 40 volunteers across a two-hour session
- Roughly 30 sacks of litter removed
- Larger items lifted out with the help of grappling hooks
- Wildlife spotters recorded a kingfisher and two herons
The next clean is pencilled in for the spring. Anyone wanting to help is asked to bring stout boots and gloves; the group provides litter pickers, sacks and, crucially, hot tea afterwards.
Related: More community news · Weldale bridge repairs
Further reading: About fly-tipping
Autumn fair returns to the market square this weekend
The Thornley Autumn Fair takes over the market square this Saturday from mid-morning, bringing the biggest gathering of stalls the town centre sees all year. Organisers are promising a full programme whatever the weather.
The fair doubles as the annual produce show, where growers from the Foundry Lane allotments compete for the heaviest marrow and the best jar of chutney. Judging takes place at noon in the parish hall.
What to look out for
Alongside the usual craft and food stalls, this year sees the return of the vintage machinery line-up on the far side of the square.
- Produce and baking show, judging at 12 noon
- Vintage tractor and engine display
- Live music from local bands through the afternoon
- Tombola and cake stall for the minibus fund
Money raised goes towards the community minibus, which ferries residents to the market and hospital appointments. The square will be closed to traffic from early morning, so organisers ask drivers to use the station car park.
Related: What's On listings · Market square fountain reopens
Further reading: What is a fair
Foundry Wanderers hold on for first cup win in eleven years
Foundry Wanderers ended eleven years of hurt on Saturday, grinding out a one-nil win over Coldbeck United to lift the Weldale Cup in front of a noisy home crowd at the recreation ground.
The only goal came just before the hour, a scrappy finish bundled in after a corner. What followed was thirty minutes of last-ditch defending, a cleared shot off the line, and a great deal of shouting from the touchline.
A long time coming
The Wanderers had lost three finals since their last triumph and had spent much of this season mid-table. The turnaround, players said afterwards, came from a settled squad and a run of dry pitches that suited their passing game.
- Final score: Foundry Wanderers 1, Coldbeck United 0
- Winning goal on 58 minutes from a corner
- Attendance the best the recreation ground has seen in years
- The cup returns to the clubhouse trophy cabinet after 2013
The club now turns to its winter fundraising, with a new set of nets and a repaired changing-room roof top of the wish list. Celebrations, it is fair to say, ran late into the evening.
Related: Schools & Sport · Thornley Primary gardening award
Further reading: About association football
Thornley Primary wins county gardening award for wildflower yard
Thornley Primary has been named the county’s top small-school garden after pupils transformed a bleak corner of the playground into a buzzing wildflower patch.
The project began when the school’s gardening club dug up a strip of broken tarmac behind the hall. Two summers on, it is thick with cornflowers, poppies and ox-eye daisies, and the children have logged the bees and butterflies that visit.
Learning outdoors
Teachers say the garden now doubles as an outdoor classroom for maths, science and art. The judges praised the way older pupils mentor the younger ones through the growing seasons.
- Weekly gardening club open to every year group
- A wormery and compost bins fed by the school kitchen
- Seed-swap mornings run with families from the estate
- A pond, fenced and supervised, planned for next spring
The prize comes with a modest grant, which the school intends to spend on water butts and tools. The club’s youngest members, meanwhile, are lobbying hard for a scarecrow.
Related: Schools & Sport · Weldale river clean-up
Further reading: About wildflowers
Volunteers reopen the market square drinking fountain after 30 years
The ornate iron fountain in the market square is flowing again for the first time in a generation, thanks to a small group of residents who refused to let it rust into the paving.
The fountain had stood dry since the 1990s, its basin used as an oversized planter and, more often, an ashtray. Over eighteen months the restoration group raised money through raffles, a sponsored valley walk and a stall at the Christmas market.
How it came back
The work was trickier than anyone expected. The original supply pipe had been capped underground, and the cast ironwork needed careful stripping before it could be repainted in its proper deep green.
- New water supply connected and pressure tested
- Basin relined to stop leaks into the square below
- Ironwork repainted to match the original colour
- A small plaque added recording the town’s mill history
The group says its next target is the neglected horse trough near the old station yard. Donations, and volunteers handy with a wire brush, are welcome.
Related: More community news · Autumn fair in the square
Further reading: About drinking fountains
Councillors reject 42-home plan for the old creamery site
Plans for forty-two homes on the derelict creamery site off Foundry Lane were refused at Tuesday’s planning meeting, after more than an hour of debate and a packed public gallery.
The committee voted to reject the application on two main grounds: the low-lying part of the site sits inside the Weldale flood zone, and members were not satisfied that local infrastructure could absorb the extra families.
The sticking points
Residents from Foundry Lane and the surrounding terraces had objected in numbers. The recurring worries raised in the chamber were familiar ones.
- Surface water flooding after heavy rain on the creamery ground
- No spare places at Thornley Primary, already running at capacity
- A single access road onto an already busy junction
- Loss of the last open frontage along the river walk
The applicant may appeal or return with a smaller scheme. For now the creamery, empty since the dairy pulled out years ago, stays boarded up. Several councillors said they would welcome a revised proposal that built on the higher ground only.
Related: Council & Planning news · Station parking charges debate
Further reading: How planning permission works
Weldale bridge to close for six weeks as repairs finally begin
The Mill Road bridge over the Weldale, a bottleneck that Thornley drivers have grumbled about for a decade, will close completely for six weeks while its worn deck is stripped out and replaced. Contractors are due on site at the end of the month.
The crossing has carried a three-tonne weight limit since a survey found rust eating into the steelwork beneath the tarmac. Buses and delivery lorries have been detouring through Netherford ever since, adding the best part of twenty minutes to some rounds.
What the diversion means
During the closure, all through traffic will follow a signed route via Coldbeck Lane and the A-road roundabout. Pedestrians and cyclists will keep a temporary walkway on the eastern side.
- Closure runs for approximately six weeks, weather permitting
- Emergency vehicles will retain access at all times
- The number 4 bus will start and terminate at the market square
- Foundry Lane residents keep access from the town side only
Highways officers say the work is the first stage of a longer plan to bring the bridge back to a full weight limit. Whether the budget stretches to the second stage remains, as ever, the open question.
Related: More town news · Weldale river clean-up
Further reading: About bridges