Lockdown & Locked In...

Northallerton has a dark secret past and it sits just behind the High Street.

Between 1788 and 2013 there was a prison that accommodated the local ne'er-do-wells and the misfortunate. At one time it had the largest treadmill in the world!

In 2015 the site was acquired by the local council who had the foresight to see its potential and with other partnerships have gone about redeveloping the old buildings and land into something for the future.

Work continues even during these testing times and hopefully, soon it will have a new life and fantastic use for the locals. The C4DI logo is just part of the scheme. It stands for Centre of Digital Innovation which will be a community of tech specialists who will focus on AgriTech, the use of technology to improve agriculture, horticulture and food production. 

Also planned is a cinema, shops, start-up offices, public space plus the usual coffee shops and restaurants. I'm looking forward to seeing it completed. 

They have even given it a historic name, The Treadmills...

In other news: Looking at the huge queues outside Wickes this morning a lot of the locals will be decorating again over the next 4 weeks!