OPEN DAY 2004

2004 was the first Open Day held by the Friends of Houghton Hillside Cemetery.  It was held on 7th August 2004 and over 150 people attended.  The Group also hired a vintage hearse drawn by 2 horses.  Unfortunately when the day dawned and the horses arrived the entrance was not wide enough for the hearse to pass through.  Sadly the horses only attended and the hearse left on the back of its transporter!  The event was the first fund raising event held by the friends.  It was to become an annual event.

OPEN DAY 2005

Open Day 2005 provide to be as successful as the previous year despite the group not having enough funds in order to hire the hearse and horses.

OPEN DAY 2006

Open Day 2006 saw the launch of the Back to Life Project.  It was the biggest ever event that the group had hosted and was a huge success.  The group had secured a large sum of money in order to restore the Lych Gate and Railings at the entrance of the site and had also been awarded funds in order to purchase costumes to mark the event.  Once again the hearse and horses were hired but this time the hearse was able to pass through the gateway after several of its parts were removed to aid this!

OPEN DAY 2007

Open Day 2007 again proved fruitful.  The group had carried out a sponsored Graveyard Gallop earlier in the year in order to raise funds to pay for the hire of the hearse and horses.

GRAVEYARD GALLOP 2007

In May 2007 the group carried out a sponsored graveyard gallop.  The group visited 15 churchyards/cemeteries throughout Co Durham & Tyne & Wear in one day whilst dressed in Victorian Costume.  At each venue they were photographed to prove the visit.  The group members were sponsored in order to raise funds for the forthcoming open day as unfortunately they had not been able to secure any funding for that year.  The photo above show the group in the Municipal Cemetery on Durham Road, Houghton Le Spring.

OPEN DAY 2008

Open Day 2008 took place on 19th July 2008.  This is the groups most recent fund raising event.  For the past 4 years the event had always been held on the first Saturday in August however this year it was decided to bring it forward.  Despite the bad weather forecast the sun did shine until about 2:15pm before the rain came and forced the event to end early.

HERITAGE DAY 2008

Heritage Day 2008 took place on Saturday 13th September 2008.  The event consisted of an exhibition in the Houghton Le Spring Library on Newbottle Street followed by a tour of Houghton Le Spring which ended at Hillside.  Although the tour was not as well attended as previous years there was interest shown during the exhibition.  Heritage Day is a national event in which the group have taken part for several years.