Celebrating its tenth anniversary at Allen Mill this year, the delightful Red Onion Kitchens design studio has also undergone a change of leadership, as a few years ago owner Chris Charlton passed responsibility for the business on to his daughter…
Year: 2019
The Catton Line Dancers
I spent a very jolly and laugh-filled twenty minutes or so in the company of the Catton Line Dancers last week, on the invitation of their leader Valerie Sparks, and I tried to capture some of their movements on camera….
The Catton Women’s Institute
Just in time to note the Catton WI’s Christmas Party this evening, Melanie Pepper sends this lovely piece describing the group’s activities in Catton and around the houses: “Catton WI is a thriving group, part of the Northumberland Federation of…
The Burnlaw community and the Bahá’í faith
In midsummer of 2020, the Burnlaw community will celebrate its 40th anniversary. I had a lovely long chat with Garry Villiers-Stuart the other day, both of us fading now into our later years, but still, I think, fizzing with the…
Allendale Sports Hall
You’re never quite sure just what facility people are talking about, when you hear the words ‘Sports Hall,’ because they could be meaning the ‘Sports Club Pavilion’ over at the playing fields, or the big ‘Sports Hall’ beside the Primary…
Rehearsals for the ‘Peter Pan’-tomime in full swing
One of the things I always thought this diary could document is the cyclicity of events: how things are developed one year, and then re-developed on and into the coming year. The cycle of life in these parts, essentially. So…
Rural Touring: Highlights North, at Allendale Village Hall
In what must be a truly remarkable tour de force, a one-person show arrives at Allendale Village Hall this evening, courtesy of Highlights North, the Rural Touring facilitator which contributes a great variety of arts and culture to remote village…
The Tea Dance
Mary Gibson invited me specially to drop in this afternoon to chat with the regulars at Wednesday afternoon’s Tea Dance Society in Allendale Village Hall. So I’ll certainly have more stories and information about this beloved institution in Allendale, later…
Peter Dodd Contracting at Langley Sawmill
It was Sunday, so the gates were shut at Langley Sawmill, but the photo from the road deep in the Langley Bends reveals the significant enterprise that Peter Dodd has developed there. We were lucky to get Peter and his…
Whitfield Church of England Primary School
These days the lovely little school at Whitfield is a primary school academy, managed by The Good Shepherd Multi-Academy Trust. According to the school’s website, it was the first in Northumberland to be taken under this trust’s wing. I dropped…