BUILDING work has started on the ambitious Eleven Arches project after months of negotiations.

The £27m brain-child of millionaire philanthropist Jonathan Ruffer took its first tentative steps towards completion yesterday (Friday, September 4) morning as a lone digger scraped out an access road joining the A689 with a barren Bishop Auckland field.

Former golf course Flatts Farm, situated in a South Durham loop of the river Wear and overlooked by Auckland Castle, will, by next summer, become home to the most ambitious outdoor theatre construction project ever seen in County Durham.

Inspired by the Puy de Fou medieval theme park in north-west France, Eleven Arches will be an outdoor theatrical spectacular depicting the history of the UK, seen through the eyes of the North-East.

Developers, who are working with Puy de Fou advisors on the project, say Eleven Arches will re-create 2,000 years of North East history in the style of the 2012 London Olympics.

An artificial lake with full-size boats and a 400m-wide stage will have the attention of around 600 visitors per night and draw on the skills of 1,000 volunteers, mostly from Bishop Auckland and surrounding area.

Barry Appleby, senior planner for chief contractors, Caddick Construction, who supervised the first earth being scooped, said he was pleased to be getting on with the work.

He said: “Today we are building the main road into the site to where the lake and stage will be. All the building materials and equipment will come down this road.

“The construction work will be finished at the end of May going into June.

“Then all the staging will be brought in along with the props. They are planning to bring the boats through in January.

“In early- to mid-October this year, work will be well underway.”

Damien Boissinot, Project Director for Puy de Fou, said: “All the main work will be finished around mid- to late April so we have enough time to build all the technical things and to work with the volunteers.”

Claire Byers, Director of Communications with Eleven Arches, said: “Today feels extraordinarily exciting. We never ever believed it wasn’t going to happen.

“But the pressure and the pace are on now. The starting pistol’s gone off and it’s a sprint to the finish line. We have really got to move quickly because there is so much we have to do.

“We are not going to let anybody down. We are absolutely not going to let the people of Bishop Auckland down. This is definitely going to happen.”

She added: “Jonathan Ruffer is delighted we are progressing the way we are. This is all part of his vision for doing something for the people of Bishop Auckland. This really matters to him.”