Hexham's historical bandstand has attracted national attention after being discussed on BBC Radio 4.

On Sunday, against a backdrop of music from local band The Cherry Pickers – headed by Coun. Penny Grennan – town councillor Ariane Baty talked to Radio 4’s Paddy O’Connell about Hexham’s bandstand and the new council’s hopes for the future.

Ariane outlined the town council’s vision for making the bandstand a focal point for regular events, including live music and film screenings – with Paddy O’Connell even mooting the idea of Proms events being broadcast from the bandstand.

OpenHexam worked with Core Music to bring the town’s historic bandstand to national attention.

Feedback from residents on social media was overwhelmingly positive and OpenHexham said this as the first step in beating the drum for Hexham, making the town a more vibrant place to live, work and play.

Core Music plans to have a regular street music jamming session at the bandstand – HexJam –where everybody is invited to come and listen or join in.

Speaking about the interview, Coun. Baty said: “I was really excited to be able to showcase some of Hexham’s treasures to the nation in this live interview on BBC Radio 4. Even the Abbey bells chimed to the nation while I was talking about our beautiful bandstand.

“The new town council and Core Music are looking forward to featuring regular events on the bandstand – an idea very close to the new mayor’s heart.

“It was an exciting morning, there was quite a crowd assembled in the park to watch.”