Craft hub opening for people to learn new skills
Ben McConnellA heritage craft hub is opening in a village to teach people of all ages new skills.
Ben McConnell and Chris Lidgerton are putting the finishing touches to a new warehouse in Annfield Plain, County Durham, where they will offer lessons from blacksmithing to wood carving and longbow crafting.
Local Reform UK councillor and deputy council leader Darren Grimes said he it was a "fantastic initiative" and encouraged people to "learn to make something with their hands".
McConnell said he wanted the centre to be "for everyone", letting people pass on skills and introducing others to entirely new interests.
The 38-year-old said: "We want it to be a creative place where people can learn, there's nothing up here for that at the moment.
"Woodwork might not have interested everyone at school but soon people can come here and learn if they want to."
In 2025, the Heritage Crafts charity added another 20 traditional crafts to its red list of endangered crafts, joining 165 which were already at risk.
A heritage craft is defined as "a practice which employs manual dexterity and skill at the point of production, an understanding of traditional materials, design and techniques, and which has been practised for two or more successive generations".
Ben McConnellThe crafts which people will be able to learn at the workshop include cabinet making, using a lathe, longbow making and even replica gun making.
"Three years ago we did handyman jobs and we noticed the jobs were beyond basic," he said.
"People don't have the skills to put up a picture and we want to help teach people."
McConnell said he wanted to transform part of the warehouse into a space for local bands and to help them create their own instruments.
Grimes said the project was "exactly the sort of thing Annfield Plain needs".
"A proper space where people can walk through the door, pick up a tool and learn to make something with their hands," he said.
"Heritage crafts aren't a museum piece round here, they're the trades this county was built on and there's real appetite among people of all ages to learn them."
True North Trades is planning to open on the Morrison Industrial Estate within the next four to eight weeks.