THIS week 15 years ago, ship enthusiasts turned out in their hundreds to welcome the replica of the HMS Endeavour back to the birthplace of its famous captain, explorer James Cook.

Prince Andrew visited the ship shortly after it was docked at Middlesbrough and met the crew who travelled the world as Cook did 235 years ago.

Captain Chris Blake said the royal visit was great.

He said: “He seemed to really enjoy it and could not believe how cramped it is below deck and how people used to live down there for so long.

"He was comparing it to his own naval days and said he could identify with how small the cabins are."

Also, that week, a group of film lovers came together to create their very own village cinema.

Residents of the small village Waterhouses, in County Durham, were fed-up with the lack of cinemas in their area.

Embracing the latest technology, Waterhouses Community Association decided to build a cinema in their village hall.

They have been able to show top films to this day because of a screen and sound system bought with a £9,300 lottery grant.

Secretary of the community association, Rhona Foster, who applied for the grant, said:

"Anyone who wants to go to the pictures from here has to go to Newcastle, which is a two-hour bus journey.

"I hope it will be used by all the villages in the Deerness Valley - everyone from elderly people who don't want to visit the centre of Newcastle at night, to families with young children."

At that time, students from Durham University raised £12,000 to tackle poverty overseas.

The event, in Durham Market Place, was set up by Save the Children to highlight its Beat Poverty Day campaign.

Energy bars, similar to those given out at refugee camps, were sold to shoppers for the sterling equivalent of an American dollar.

Sheila Wright, the charity's North-East manager, said: "A dollar a day is the measure of absolute poverty by the United Nations. More than 600 million children have to live on a dollar a day or less and it doesn't have to be this way."