HAVING established a successful village website which is attracting thousands of hits each month, traders in Corbridge are hoping an interactive app will help attract new visitors.

Centuries of Corbridge’s history from local historians and community groups could be collated and presented to a whole new audience as part of the project, which is being explored by the Visit Corbridge traders group.

“The app idea is something I first came across in Montreal and it worked by producing pop-ups of text and images about a building when a phone was pointed at it,” said Nick Oliver.

“It can be expanded upon by including guided walks and other things, but we already have a wealth of knowledge about the history of the village thanks to groups like Corbridge Village Trust and the work of David Waugh.

“This would be about presenting that in a more modern way.”

A well-known local author and historian, David has devised several historic walks around Corbridge and the local area, as well as masterminding a history exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of Corbridge Village Trust.

“There are lots of good places to shop in the county and we are competing against places like Hexham and Morpeth,” said Nick, who is the Conservative party candidate for Corbridge in the May elections.

“The app could help offer something different.”

The Visit Corbridge group is currently in discussions with potential developers about the project and hopes the app can be developed as an educational tool for visitors.

“The next steps will be to finalise the specification and explore the potential of getting grants to help make it happen,” said Nick.

“We think the idea has a lot of potential.”