Jesmond Community Festival

A Musical Teddy Bear Trail

The Teddy Bear Trail is organised by the Friends of Jesmond Library. Jez the Ted says thank you to all his 32 friends and their hosts, for taking part in this year’s festival.

The overall favourite bear this year, by a small margin, was Amy Bearhouse, styled and dressed by Boilerhouse. The four close runners up were Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Ted Sheeran, Bear Necessities and Sting.

We look forward to another exciting, fun trail in 2024!

Photographic Competition

Sponsored by Jesmond Community Forum and the Friends of Jesmond Library. The theme for the 2023 competition was “A Different Jesmond”, and the winner was David Whinham with his striking image of Jesmond Parish Church under an unusual sky: “Noctilucent clouds over Jesmond”. Runners up were Fiona Clarke with “Exhibition Park Wave” and Nick Lambert with “Misty Morning, Osborne Road”.

Many thanks to the judges, who were Felicity Mendelson, Catherine Walker, Pat Hughes, David Houpt, Marjorie Dodds and Chris Sutcliffe. The judges’ 13 favourite photographs will appear in a 2024 Jesmond Calendar, now in production. When printed, copies will be available in Jesmond Library. 

Glorious Gardens Awards 2023

The 2023 winner in the Large Garden category was Julia Murden of 47 Larkspur Terrace, with the Pocket Garden category being won by Peter and Penny Udall of 60 Holly Avenue. Catherine Snowdon of 34 Kingswood Avenue won the Container category, while the best Wildlife Garden was entered by Jamie Jones of 2 Wolseley Gardens.

Many thanks to Waitrose and Acorn Hardware, who donated prizes, and to this year’s competition organisers, MaryLou Downie and Lesley Greenwood.

Festival 30-day Cleaner Air Challenge

A festival initiative by Climate Action Newcastle www.climateactionnewcastle.com .

The organisers were delighted with the response to the challenge, with many wonderful ideas and discussions generated. For more information contact climatenewcastle@gmail.com .

Plastic Free Jesmond and Sandyford

The winner for North Jesmond was Pink Lane Bakery and Cafe, Acorn Road, while the South Jesmond winner was Urban Green Cafe in Exhibition Park.

The 2023 award concentrated on the use of reusable coffee cups and their promotion for takeaways.