HEXHAM Abbey came to the rescue for stallholders disappointed about the cancellation of the Hexham Christmas Market due to strong winds on Friday and Saturday.

The team at the Abbey, which held its annual Abbey Christmas Fair on Saturday also hosted around 30 stalls, originally planned for the market, upstairs in the Great Hall function space.

The market was scheduled to take place on Beaumont Street on Friday and Saturday, but the decision to cancel was made on Wednesday after a weather warning for strong winds on Friday.

Visitors to Hexham Abbey’s annual Christmas Fair were spoilt for choice with the extra stalls as home-made gifts and food were in abundance.

Owen Mills, general manager of Hexham Abbey, said: “Full credit to Hexham Community Partnership. They were able to turn it around at such short notice – especially with all the time and effort that goes into planning the market.”

Lorraine Reay from Hexham Community Partnership said: “It was a very difficult decision to make, but we ensured we let everyone know about the news.

“It was great to see a lot of community organisations coming together to help each other out.”

Owen added: “We benefited from increased traffic and although I haven’t seen the figures yet, we’re hopeful this has been our best year yet.

“I’m glad we could help out.

“There’s now definitely the opportunity of working together again in the future.”