A FLOWER festival has helped mark a church's 150th anniversary. The recent flower festival at North Road Methodist Church, Durham City, is part of year-long celebrations to mark the church's 150th anniversary.

The church's first foundation stone was laid in May 1853, when the building was known as the Bethel, and about 900 people crammed into the church to attend its first evening service in August 1854.

At the time, the church was built, the nearest buildings were an engine works, a corn steam mill, the Bridge Hotel and the Crossgate Union workhouse.

Once the railway station opened in 1859, more developments and houses began to surround the site.