Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

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Across the Wadi

John Rodgers was told by a Sergeant on his first day at Brancepeth Castle - "You're leaving home and you're leaving your mother. From now on I'm going to be you mother and father and everything for the rest of your Army life". This was the unwelcome reality for thousands of young men who were called up and joined the Army during the Second World War.