These images from Stephanie Atkinson of this morning’s great clear-up of the square remind us of last year’s similar images. Thanks Stephanie! Today the diary turns the corner into another year. Stephanie, who is always up early to walk her…
Category: Community
New Year’s Eve . . . only the Tar Bar’ls will do
This is Allendale, after all, and tonight the ‘guisers will be out in full force, marching away from the Lych Gate in front of the Golden Lion and the King’s Head, and down around the Dale, turning left at the…
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….
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,…
Christmas Dinners at the Village Hall
Somehow it seems as if the time is right, joining with the rest of the Allendale Lions Club to enjoy a Christmas Dinner evening at Allendale Village Hall, with a view to seeing the profits from the event go towards…
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…
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…