A MUSEUM in the North-East will be paid an official visit by the Countess of Wessex at the end of the month.

The Bowes Museum, at Barnard Castle, County Durham, will welcome the Countess on Wednesday, May 30.

She will see the museum's famous Silver Swan in action, before viewing the exhibition, Watercolours and Drawings from the Collection of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, which opens on May 19.

Lord Eccles, chairman of the board of trustees, and the museum's director, Adrian Jenkins, will accompany the Queen's daughter-in-law as she takes a tour of the Streatlam Galleries and unveils a plaque to declare them open.

Traders from Barnard Castle Farmers' Market will set up on the terrace of the museum, where David Blackie of Teesdale Marketing Food Project will introduce them to the Countess, after which the stalls will be open to the public.

Middleton and Teesdale Silver Band and the Castle Players will provide entertainment.

The Countess will meet with representatives of local community groups in the museum's Jubilee Room, which was refurbished in 2002 during the Queen's Golden Jubilee year.