The Story Durham

With the 2024 Paris opening ceremony taking place on Friday 26th July, we’ve been searching our collections, and will be sharing some photographs over the coming weeks. Some events have already started including Rugby Sevens, we love this photo of soldiers of the 8th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, playing rugby during an annual camp at Millom, 1961 🏉

If you are local to Pelton, do consider coming along to our new Local History group starting on Wednesday 31st July in partnership with County Durham Libraries We'd love to hear your stories.

Are you interested in sharing your history, or the history of your local community?

Come to Pelton Library for 6 weekly "Know Your Neighbourhood" sessions, starting on 31st July at 2pm and bring along your photos and memories!

Unbearlievable summer incoming! Join Rory at The Story for fun activities across the holidays - including crafts, object handling, learning and having fun with our collections. All activities are free and bookable online. For more:

Rory's Summer Activities - The Story Join Rory from The Story for a summer packed with family fun activities. Join our own Rory from the Story for family friendly, interactive activities this summer. Including crafts, object handling, and opportunities to learn with our collections in a fun, accessible way. Each week's theme links to o...

We're all set up for our Mini Archaeologists day at The Story Durham Join us for drop-in activities from 11:00-13:00 and 14:00-16:00.

Good luck to everyone taking part in today's Durham City Run Festival 5&10k races, including some of our own team! 😊Photograph from our collection showing teams of soldiers competing in a cross country race, c.1956 🏃

We are looking forward to our Family Activity Day on Sunday. Join us for a range of indoor and outdoor activities. The weather forecast is looking good 🌞 so come and enjoy our grounds and outdoor café seating area too.

Thank you players 😀

Join us on Sunday 21st for our latest family activity day. All welcome, but most suitable for children aged 5+

A great afternoon at Dene House Primary School, Peterlee showing an exhibition of Year 5s' work with Carl Joyce - Films & Photography Photographs from our collections were used to create incredible 'merged images' showing how Peterlee has changed in the last 60 years. The pictures look fantastic and the pupils were a credit to the school throughout the project. Our thanks to Carl, Museum Development North and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their support in this work.
**The full image reel will be available to view on our website in due course**

Couldn't help but share a few more photos from our opening weekend activities! 📸😃

The votes are in! After yesterday, we have counted and verified the results and one name came out on top... Meet... Rory from The Story! Thanks to everyone who suggested names, we had so many amazing options, but quite a few people clearly knew our bear looked like a Rory. Birth certificate signed ✅🐻

Thank you to everyone for coming along today and making it a fantastic time! I'm signing off now - we registered so many teddy bears we lost count! Thanks to all who suggested a name for me - I'll get my birth certificate tomorrow! The team have promised they'll share it with everyone once they have chosen the winner - Teddy Bear Over and Out

Had an offer I couldn't refuse to do some research with real documents in the Collections Room. I met a lovely pair of bears, named Paddington and Fred Ted, doing their own research - Paddington wouldn't stop talking about marmalade (I didn't want to be the bearer of the news that Durham Mustard is better)

So I've had a great morning - got a bit carried away dressing up, but I think I look pawesome. I even managed to research some family history. Still loads of activities to come this afternoon too!🥳

So this is what Durham used to look like - I found lots of generations of grand-teddy homes on the map, and there's a place called BEARpark?! Definitely checking that out next weekend

When you're waiting to meet and greet all of your friends

Hi everyone! I'm in charge today. I've arrived at The Story a bit early ready for all of my teddy friends to show up. I can bearly believe it. The Story team haven't named me yet - there's a competition to give me a name - apparently I'll find out today! Going to head inside and see what is going on

What a start to the weekend! Thank you to everyone who visited today! 🥳

Tomorrow promises to be even more action packed and fun-filled - we are open 10am-5pm!

Come along for Teddy Bear registration, which will run from 10am to 3pm so bring your teddy bear 🐻 - and we will be hosting a teddy bear picnic at 12pm with lots of music & play for your little ones (the café will be open too!) We will also have multiple live performances across the day, including the debut of The Story's song, written and performed by Citizen Songwriters. For more info go to: https://www.thestorydurham.org/the-story-opening-weekend-14-16-june/

Plus, bear in mind our social media channels tomorrow - we will have a very special guest in charge of our socials (they'd only let me take a photo of their t-shirt)

Journey through time with Small Stories - every week you and your little one can handle historical objects, hear stories, learn, sing and play together!
Day & Time: Thursdays 10.30am – 11.30am
Price: £2 Per family
For more information and booking, visit:

Under 5’s - The Story Join our Learning Team on Thursday mornings for our weekly Under 5s session, Small Stories.  Learn, sing and play with your little one as we explore our exhibitions and archives at The Story together. Journey through time, handling historical objects, role playing, music making, storytelling and ta...

One of our wedding parties yesterday arrived in style 😎 looking forward to welcoming more happy couples and visitors today! Remember we are open across the weekend with lots of activities planned and, as always, free to visit! https://www.thestorydurham.org/the-story-opening-weekend-14-16-june/

Preparing to celebrate more than just our opening this weekend ♥️ it's rather nice around here isn't it? 😍

2 days left until we open our doors ⏰ If you are thinking of visiting over opening weekend (of course you are), find out about the events taking place here:

The Story - Opening Weekend – 14-16 June - The Story The Story’s opening weekend promises a rich array of interactive experiences, educational activities, and special events, making it a memorable start to Our Story. On Friday we will celebrate opening day, and on Saturday we will continue our festivities with fun activities and events.  Sunday is ...

You're a bit early sir, come back any day after June 14th and you can go nuts 🌰

Lights, camera, action! We're going to be on TV! Keep an eye on the local news over the next few days 👀🎥

As Volunteer Week ends, we just want to say a massive thank you to all our fantastic volunteers!
We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have a wonderful group of volunteers who support The Story as a place to discover the past, celebrate the present and create the future of County Durham.
Volunteers are key to unlocking and sharing Durham’s stories, which we can’t wait to share with everyone when we open Friday the 14th of June. 🤩