For families throughout this patch, today is probably something of a let-up from the pressure to be nice over Christmas Day itself. Back to normality then?! Shopping, anyone? Some of us will be resting after the excesses of the day…
Christmas Day Feast
This year for a change, we’ll join the ranks of the ‘waifs and strays’ who are often welcomed at the traditional family feast. Everyone must play their part in the annual Christmas pageant, of course, and this year it’s our…
Allendale’s Evacuee Stories
And Linda Beck promised one from her daughter Anja as well. Allendale Primary School Year 6 class have been studying the local history of evacuation to the rural countryside during WWII. The diary has also featured another evacuee story which…
Last-minute shopping
Today somehow feels like the last convenient opportunity to get out to the local shops and snap up the critical stocking stuffers that you know will be especially appreciated by your beloved on Christmas morning. At least, that’s what I’ve…
Nine Lessons and Carols
It may not quite be up to the musical standard of the choristers at King’s College, Oxford, but the annual carol service at St. Cuthbert’s this evening at 6pm is still a delightful highlight of this festive season. The church…
The horsey community in the Allen Valleys
Rosemary Granger sends in a lovely description of the joys of riding a horse out on the lanes, bridleways and byways of these valleys: “At this time of year, as I struggle into waterproof trousers, warm coat, gloves, scarf and…
The Pub Leagues
Long long ago, when I was rather younger than I am now, I learned how to hoie quoits at a target of a stubby post that barely stood proud of the soft squishy clé-ay pit in which it was ensconced….
Our local tradespeople
We’ve been fortunate, over the year, to have garnered in stories of a few tradespeople in this patch (like Glenn Nattrass, electrician; or Nigel Baynes, Calor gas distributor; or Peter Dodd, fencing; or Trudie McConnachie’s mobile hairdressing; Jill’s Catering pre-prepared…
The Barber Bus
Just in time for Christmas, the peripatetic Barber Bus is making its grand tour around Tynedale, stopping off this afternoon in its regular slot at Allendale’s Market Square. I was able to drop in for a couple of photographs, as…
Santa at the Tree, Carols in the Square, & Young Notes!
This evening rather a lot of Christmas season festivities occur all at once! The brightly lit tree on the green, carefully decorated by ageing Lions Club members who nevertheless managed to finish the job without mishap up several different ladders,…