AN Olympic-inspired exhibition celebrating sporting legends has been granted £11,000 funding.

The Heritage Lottery Fund granted the money to the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, for its Our Sporting Life exhibition.

It will be officially opened on Sunday by Teesdale’s former Olympic event rider Karen Dixon, who won a silver medal in the 1988 games.

Organised with the assistance of the Friends of The Bowes Museum, the exhibition is part of a national Sports Heritage Network initiative and celebrates the area’s sporting heritage.

Among the items on display are Sir Ian Botham’s entire medal collection, including his MBE and knighthood, polar explorer Robert Swan’s sledge, which he dragged to the North and South Poles, and a replica of the Thomas Lipton Trophy, classed as the first football World Cup, won by West Auckland FC in 1909 and 1911.

Other local heroes celebrated include t r i - a t h l e t e Ross Landon, from Cotherstone, County Durham, who has loaned the bike he rode to win silver at last year’s World Duathlon Championships, while swimmer Cathy White, originally from Startforth, has loaned her silver 1982 Commonwealth Games medal.

Gerald Blake, chairman of the exhibition’s organising committee, said: “When a small group of us embarked on this project we had no idea of the breadth and depth of our sporting heritage in and around Teesdale.

“It has surprised us all, and I suspect that many who come to see the exhibition will be similarly inspired.”

Ivor Crowther, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North- East, said: “This project will not only capture people’s memories – creating a record for future generations – but in doing so will give different sections of the community the opportunity to come together and learn about their past.”

Teesdale MP Helen Goodman said: “Teesdale has a rich and interesting sporting tradition that deserves greater recognition and I very much hope the exhibition will help raise awareness of this.”

The exhibition opens on Saturday and runs until August 27.

An Our Sporting Life family fun day takes place, on Sunday, from 10am to 4pm, at the official launch of the initiative.

Entry is free for under-16s accompanied by an adult, for whom normal admission applies.