The last calendar year before lockdown, since Covid struck these shores in March 2020, was an incredibly fortuitous year to have documented. If someone in the future wants to investigate what life was like throughout the East and West Allen…
Category: Access and Inclusion
Apparently, joy is the new bleak
Perhaps we don’t think that writing follows trends, but according to @thebookseller (yes, I’m gradually getting my head around the twittertariat) the zeitgeist is moving towards joy. Agents and publishers are looking for manuscripts that deal with that particular emotion….
Proofs accepted; printing in process
Well, let’s see . . . a fair bit of work has gone into the compiling of all the components for the big ‘book of the blog,’ but it’s all finished now, and the proof came back by 1st Class…
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…
Christingle Celebration
Sylvia Milburn, who notes that she’s no longer responsible for the service now, having passed that lovely duty on to Craig Atkinson, Alison Fothergill and Helen Forbes, sends this enchanting piece on the Christingle service, which will be held today,…
The High Forest Community Centre
Just about on the road coming down from the ‘heeds into Sinderhope, the High Forest Community Centre has become rather a busy hall over the past few years. Rescued from its near-derelict state by a combination of significant and timely…
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…
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…
A word, or two, about meetings
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve heard, or heard of the phrase: ‘I’m happy to do something, but I won’t go to meetings.’ And then the listener nods sympathetically, and wonders, silently, “Well, that’s fine, but how…