Regular readers of the diary may recall the appearance of some pages of the tourist guide called ‘The Roman Wall District’ a couple months ago. A very tatty and bedraggled copy, we wanted to refresh it for convenient viewing by…
Category: Cultural Life
Rave on again!
Tonight it’s specifically the turn of the under-18s to experience the rave dance scene. The concept, developed I believe between Anna Harrison and David Porter, has followed on from August’s successful DJ-driven disco. Arriving as the half term finishes out,…
Pat Ashton-Smith, Textile Artist
Pat Ashton-Smith writes in to chat about her life on a hill above Allendale over the past decade. Pat runs bi-weekly embroidery courses at Catton Village Hall, and other workshops by advertisement, in addition to her own artistry endeavours in…
The Farmers’ Masquerade Ball
The Farmers Masquerade Ball (you don’t have to be a farmer) is tonight the 12th of October at 7pm at Allendale Village Hall. The tickets at £30 have all been dealt out (food reservations meant that ticket sales were finished…
2nd Thursday evenings: traditional music session
Jos Mahon writes to Allendale area notices to announce the regular traditional music session, now being held on the second Thursday of the month at the Golden Lion (they had been held at The Crown in Catton, before it closed)….
A word about crockery
Many of us, perhaps especially on the male side of the gender balance, are happy to eat our meals on whatever holds the food conveniently. Utilitarianism is sort of our middle name. But there’s an aesthetic to eating socially that’s…
A Festival of Angels
From Seraphic Sopranos and edible Biscuit Angels, through Angelic Choirs, Angel Mosaics, Angels Amongst Us, and Angels from South African HIV Clinics, these few photographs represent some of the most moving submissions at the Angel Festival held in St. Cuthbert’s,…
Allen Valleys Folk Festival
The programme for this year’s folk festival is the biggest ever, and the weekend looks like an exciting jaunt through contemporary folk music. The festival workshops are an annual component of the festival, as led by local tutors, and the…
Hadrian Clog in the Allen Valleys
Georgia Shorrock, who recently moved into Allendale, has been active in the Hadrian Clog Dance group for some time, and sends us this fulsome report on their activities: “Hadrian Clog has become a familiar sight around the Allen Valleys over…
Pots in the Byre
I dropped in to Steph Jamieson‘s annual ‘Pots in the Byre’ show at Broadwood Hall Studios, yesterday, just before the heavens opened and the rain came down in a deluge, to see some of the pottery displays. The day before,…