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…
Category: Community
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…
The quieter village halls
Amongst the six village halls in this patch, there are three that are really very busy, and three that are quieter. Still sustained by the faithful, still solvent, just quieter. Langley Village Hall, for example, sometimes hosts an evening with…
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…
Allendale Bell Tower
Shirley Brown writes in with a lovely and fulsome description of the bell ringers at St. Cuthbert’s: “An article in the Hexham Courant in September 2019 was headed ‘Tower of Friendship and Team Spirit’. I think this sums up nicely…
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…
Higher Ground Repair Day
So I bustled out, after a lovely dinner, in the freezing cold (-3ºC by the little Fiat’s thermometer), venturing down the icy track to The King’s Head for a small informal meeting called by Jane Pryde of Higher Ground who’d…
Allen Valleys Local History Group
Yesterday evening I spent an intriguing hour with the Local History Group as Paul Mingard explained the fascinating story of some old glass plate negatives delivered over a decade ago into the hands of Margaret Stonehouse, then District Councillor. I…
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…
Christmas Mini-Market
I don’t know for sure how long the Mini-Market has been going at Allendale Village Hall, but I’m pretty sure it was initiated in Nora Handcock’s time. That might make it nearing 20 years of Mini-Markets. Brendon Jackson re-posted, or…