VISITORS to Durham are coming face to face with a variety of scientific material at the four-day Durham Festival of Science, Engineering and Medicine. They include 14-year-old Ryan Davey, above, of St John's RC School, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, who is looking at a skull cast during the event. The festival, which finishes tomorrow, allows visitors the chance to take part in a range of activities and demonstrations. Daytime activities are being laid on for local schoolchildren while those in the evenings are designed for families and the public. During the course of the free event, at Durham University's school of biological and biomedical sciences, off Stockton Road, Durham, visitors can experience more than 25 hands-on activities and attend three evening lectures. The festival, which has been running since 1995, aims to increase awareness of, and interest, in science, engineering and medicine, and last year attracted 1,500 youngsters. Picture: MIKE URWIN