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Day Ten - John Hewitson 

I'm John 42 I live in Darlington, County Durham. I have a martial arts gym for people with rage anxiety n mental health issues. I have an array of quirks myself. Taking pictures and exploring allows me to escape and imagine. I believe everything comes from somewhere if you look far enough back, I also want to see everything no matter how dark or weird at least once in my lifetime...

For inspiring posts and more wonderful pictures follow John on Instagram @jhewits

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"This local legend has always fascinated me and I wonder when I walk there, and see the white froth or the green reeds….It allows me to imagine and be somewhere else for a while" – J Hewitson

The Legend of Peg Powler

The River Skerne flows for 25 miles from its origin in the Magnesian Limestone hills, to where it joins the River Tees at Hurworth Place. Meandering through farmland and the outskirts of Darlington, the river is home not only to a plethora of wildlife but also to one particularly notorious local resident, Peg Powler.

Tread carefully along the river bank lest you come face to face with this most odorous of hags. For Peg lurks just under the water's surface, her long, straggly, green tresses camouflage her amongst the weeds where she will wait. Wait for her next victim to pause on the bank and to maybe dip a toe into the temptingly cool water on a hot summer’s day. Then her long arms will strike out from the depths, her cruel sharp claws will grasp their legs as she takes them down to the dark depths of the river to drown. And as the water becomes still once more, all that will remain is a trail of dirty suds and foam floating on the surface showing that Peg has been.

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Today's church door... 

St Margaret, Lyng

The interior layout of St Margaret’s is curious in that the chancel is offset to the nave, giving it a somewhat disjointed appearance. The oldest part of the church is the west tower which dates from the 13th century, with the nave coming later in the 15th century.

The chancel was rebuilt in 1912 and houses a stunning altar cloth displayed in a glass case. 

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