On the site of the former railway spur line from Catton to Hexham, which once hauled lead out of the Allen Smelt Mill nearby, and latterly milk from the valleys’ dairy herds to Tyneside, stands Allendale Caravan Park, a static…
Year: 2019
Susie Tate, dancer
In an earlier item, I promised to feature Susie Tate’s work in the diary, and I’ve spent a delightful half-hour chatting with her on the phone for this piece today. Recall that Susie was featured on Look North for her…
West Northumberland Foodbank
There’s been a Foodbank collection point at Allendale Co-op for some years now. But the need has not diminished; rather it’s grown — over the past six months and into this summer the West Northumberland Food Bank based in Hexham…
Allendale Beekeeping
Paul Mingard writes in to chat about his sleuthing adventures into the realm of beekeeping: “If you had to choose the perfect area in which to keep honeybees, you wouldn’t choose Allendale. It is well above the warm and fertile…
Zumba!
Joan Morgan has recently started attending the Zumba classes at Allendale Village Hall, and sends us a report: “Although ‘Zumba’ sounds like a character from ‘The Lion King’, it is in fact a fitness programme created by Columbian dancer and…
Bridge End Farm Camping Field
At least three camping, caravanning or motorhome groups hold private rallies on the big Baynes Field at Bridge End, during the clement months. For example, the Dunelm Caravan Association were there during this year’s May Fair, as shown in the…
Allendale Agricultural Show
Early in the week, in response to anxious queries about the weather and state of the showground, Dani Henderson, Show Secretary, was putting on a brave face: “A few people have been asking if the show’s going ahead. Well, the…
A rave in the hall . . . how times change
It does sound like fun, and a long evening of dancing frantically to music lined up by a small host of DJs . . . a rave by any other name, and a great evening of excitement after the day…
Pulling the nettles
It’s not my favourite job, I can say that! But somebody has to try to keep the nettles at bay, and now that it’s relatively dry, and yet with damp ground in near-perfect conditions to release the root tangle, it’s…
The Dalek wins a reprieve . . .
The news came through yesterday afternoon about 4:00pm from the Hexham Courant as Breaking News after the Tynedale Local Area Council (ie the West Northumberland subsection of Northumberland County Council) had voted for a year’s reprieve, but was then featured…