A heart-rending story about a bride-to-be lies behind an eye-catching quilt which was on display this week in Newbiggin Methodist Chapel.

The pink and green cotton satin work of art, a superb example of the traditional quilting, is owned by Sylvia Scott, from Middleton-in-Teesdale, who was at the chapel when I was there.

She explained that it was made in 1934 by Elizabeth Nixon, from Fieldhead, Newbiggin, who spent months putting in thousands of stitches to create its centrepiece of a rose and feathers, with borders of feathers and intricate edging.

Elizabeth made it for her marriage to Alan Gargett, from The Rigg, Lartington. It was to be a feature of the bedroom they were to share. But she died at the age of 25 shortly before their wedding day.

Mrs Scott said the grief-stricken Alan never married, but died some years later in his 40s. The quilt was never used.

It was greatly admired by visitors to the exhibition, an event arranged, along with two workshops, to ensure that this ancient craft is kept alive.

A delay in completing the Bowes Museum may have led to the shelving of plans for a hydrotherapy clinic in Barnard Castle. As mentioned here last week, proposals for the 120-patient clinic were announced in 1875, but never went ahead.

The initial publicity stated that it would be three minutes' walk from the museum, which was then being built, and was due to be completed in about two years. The museum was expected to attract people from across the region, no doubt boosting the clinic's chances of success.

But, John Bowes started running short of money and the cost of building the museum proved to be far more than expected. By the time Bowes died in October 1885, it was not finished. It did not open to the public until June 1892.

A provisional committee, set up to promote the clinic, was chaired by Thomas Witham, the wealthy Lartington priest. It included other well-heeled men like RA Morritt, from Rokeby, WT Scarth, from Staindrop, and William Watson, from Startforth Hall.

It is possible that the problems they heard about at the museum, including a slow delivery of stone from Dunhouse quarry, and increased wages commanded by local craftsmen, made them realise it would be too risky to go ahead with their own ambitious venture.

Ken Lee, who helped to create many jobs in the area when he was chief executive of the Teesdale Enterprise Agency before he retired in 1995, will be showing off some of his other talents.

He is now an accomplished watercolour artist producing some striking work, much of it based on his memories of the scenes, tools and animals he knew as a boy growing up on a family farm at Cockfield.

He has teamed up with four other artists - Janet Crow, from Cotherstone, Jenny Angold, from Westwick, Geoff Hewitt, from Cotherstone, and Neville Dawson, from Whorlton - to form a group called Art Connections.

They are staging their first exhibition at the Witham Hall, starting on June 2, for six days. "We'll be staging two further shows during the autumn," Mr Lee said.

Following last week's tale of a tragedy at a Tees ford, I've been reminded of another. This one happened on New Year's Day in 1790, when Joseph Foster was heading home to Middleton after a night of revelry in Baldersdale.

When he and friends came to the ford at Step Ends, the river was raging. The others agreed to walk downstream to find a safer crossing spot but Foster, no doubt emboldened by the drink, decided to wade over, and was swept to his death.

Oddly, his body was not found for seven months. It was washed up at Gainford, where he was buried on August 1.

* I'll be glad to see anyone who calls with snippets of news at The Northern Echo office at 36 Horsemarket, Barnard Castle, on Mondays and Tuesdays, telephone (01833) 638628.