It was Lewis Carroll, writing for Alice in Wonderland, who coined the phrase to which, I imagine, the cheerful enterprise Curious Tent Hire owes its name. I had a lovely chat with Bryony Villiers-Stuart, who runs the growing company headquartered…
Higher Ground Repair Day
So I bustled out, after a lovely dinner, in the freezing cold (-3ºC by the little Fiat’s thermometer), venturing down the icy track to The King’s Head for a small informal meeting called by Jane Pryde of Higher Ground who’d…
Willow whips in the boggy bit
I guess just about everyone around here knows what to do with that old bath that’s come out of the renovated bathroom: put it in the field and run a field drain into the fellside where the spring is emerging,…
Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey
The Buddhist Abbey at Throssel Hole, Carrshield, welcomes visitors on Festival Days to experience their contemplative service, meditation and ‘dharma’ (loosely translated as ‘the teachings’) for themselves. And afterwards to enjoy the fellowship of a lunch with the acolytes and…
Sinderhope Pony Trekking Centre
I called Lisa Collingwood-Philipson on 01434 685266 the other day to chat about the pony trekking centre up at Sinderhope that she’s run since about ’99. It’s no wonder the enterprise is such a success, since she’s so down-to-earth friendly!…
Allen Valleys Local History Group
Yesterday evening I spent an intriguing hour with the Local History Group as Paul Mingard explained the fascinating story of some old glass plate negatives delivered over a decade ago into the hands of Margaret Stonehouse, then District Councillor. I…
Milestones at Natural Ability
Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Natural Ability is a local success story in the charitable organisation sector. An important milestone was marked last month, as the charity attended the 2019 North East Charity Awards as a short-listed Finalist for…
Escape back home from the south
Eee but it’s great to be back home away from the hustle and bustle of the south. When the M6 moves on from Manchester, the traffic thins dramatically, and from there on past Lancaster, Tebay services (the best motorway services…
The hands fall off . . .
I know there’s a metaphor in there somewhere. The minute hand especially keeps falling off our big kitchen clock. I take it all apart, screw the little round nut back on, on top of the minute hand, and set it…
Remembrance Day
Every Canadian of a certain generation learned several poems by heart. In my day, this was one of those poems: In Flanders FieldsBY JOHN MCCRAEIn Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the…