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…
Category: Business
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…
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…
A hymn of praise to local builders
It would be remiss if we missed out on a small window of opportunity to offer up a hymn of praise to local builders currently working throughout these valleys. We might not be able to fit every tradesperson in the…
Red Onion Kitchen Design
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…
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…
Jill’s Catering, Jill’s Catering
It was the chorus of the sing-along Pantomime song some years back, accompanied by framing hand gestures, that we all sang along to with great gusto. That was back in the time when Jill Wilkinson was parking her little van,…
The Elk’s Head and Whitfield Estate Partnership
I seem to have spent some time traversing the West Allen valley over the past week or so, trying to make this diary a more comprehensive recapitulation of the entities in the whole patch. The Elk’s Head is the last…
Whitfield Village Pantry
I dropped into Whitfield Village Pantry the other day to deliver the new (October) update to the Allendale and Allen Valleys Pocket Directory. While I was there, Janet Marriott graciously (it was lunchtime!) answered a few of my questions, so…