Craft skills festival, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, this weekend

See blacksmithing and stained glass demonstrations, talk to the experts and try your hand at a range of heritage building and traditional crafts including weaving, pottery, stone carving and much more. 

Take the opportunity to peek inside the castle in the behind the scene’s tours running at 10.30am and 1pm or the St Peter’s Chapel tours running from 10am-4pm all weekend.

For this weekend only the Chapel will look even more stunning than usual as it is filled with beautiful floral arrangements to celebrate our Week in Flowers. 

Suitable for the whole family and for anyone with an interest in building conservation or crafts.

  • Book on 01388-743750. 

The Northern Echo:

Autumn Steam Gala with Flying Scotsman, National Railway Museum Locomotion, Shildon, on this weekend, 10-5pm 

Come and see very special guest locomotives including Flying Scotsman and BR Standard Class 2MT No. 78018 as they visit Shildon, the cradle of the railways. 

Steam train rides, guest locomotives and cab access are all part of this spectacular event. Whether you are new to locomotives or experienced in all things steam.

Plus, Furness Railway No. 20 will be hauling passenger trains on the museum's demonstration line. 

The Northern Echo:

Agricultural Show, Beamish Open Air Museum, Stanley, on this weekend

Agricultural show, recreating a typical country show from the early 1900s. With cavalry displays, strong man demonstrations, birds of prey, Punch and Judy Shows, have a go archery, and a chance to meet the animals around the show, including pit ponies, alpacas, ferrets, horses and guinea pigs.

  • Tel: 0191-370 4000. 

The Northern Echo:

Autumn Flower Show, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, this weekend

Featuring fantastic ideas for your garden, stunning plant nursery displays, live expert demonstrations and great shopping, it offers everything you need to plan and perfect your outdoor space. Our famous giant vegetable competition is set to wow visitors as colossal carrots, monster marrows and podgy parsnips weigh in for the battle of the bulge.

Plan your plot this autumn Take home lots of practical ideas and inspiration from our street scene gardens, and don't miss the chance to admire our great 'message in a garden' Community Spirit plots. The Floral Pavilion hosts one of the most spectacular sights in Britain, with the country's biggest exhibition by specialist gardening groups.

Soak up the atmosphere among over 5,000 fabulous autumn blooms, where colours and scents combine to create an unforgettable experience. Autumn is traditionally a time to reap the rewards of all the hard work in the fruit and veg garden, and top chefs in the Feast!

Cookery Theatre will have lots of ideas for transforming home grown produce into super meals for all the family. Live talks and demonstrations Our popular How2 demonstrations will be back with advice and practical guides on a whole range of gardening techniques.

Those looking for top tips for growing produce at home can join the Kitchen Garden Live team for talks every day of the show. For help and advice with tricky ornamental plant problems, make sure you visit the Dig It Garden Theatre in our new Plant Pavilion, or the Garden Advice Bureau for one to one advice.

Thousands of top quality products offer great garden shopping for everything from gloves to greenhouses, while handmade crafts, lovely gifts and tempting specialist foods all add to the perfect day out.

  • For full programme details visit flowershow.org.uk

Summer Exhibition, Zillah Bell, Thirsk, runs until Oct 14
A chance to see and buy remarkable new work by leading and emerging artists handpicked from the Royal Academy exhibition by Britain’s foremost landscape artist Norman Ackroyd CBE RA.

Includes works by Sir Michael Craig Martin, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Tracey Emin and Cornelia Parker.

  • Tel: 01852-522479. 

The Sorcerer, YMCA Theatre, Scarborough, on Sunday, 3pm

Yorkshire actor and director, Graham Weston hopes to have the audience spell-bound when he takes to the stage playing the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera, The Sorcerer. 

The Sorcerer, a delightful comic opera, containing some of the finest melodies Sullivan ever wrote and his first major success with WS Gilbert.
The talented and experienced Savoyards cast is drawn from the region’s best local companies including experienced Manchester soprano Helen Fieldsend as Aline and popular local actor and director, Graham Weston as the Sorcerer, John Wellington Wells. Accompanying this not-to-be-missed production is the orchestra under the baton of Oliver Longstaff.

  • Tickets on 01723-506750.