A NORTH choir is looking forward to renewing an ancient link between two dales when it performs in a 12th Century abbey.

Crook and Weardale Singers will sing the first two parts of Haydn's Creation in the church of St Mary, at Blanchland Abbey, County Durham, tonight.

The monks who built the abbey once rented farmland in Crook and used Weardale as a retreat. The choir is hoping that its visit will renew the links the abbey shared with Weardale 800 years ago.