And Linda Beck promised one from her daughter Anja as well. Allendale Primary School Year 6 class have been studying the local history of evacuation to the rural countryside during WWII. The diary has also featured another evacuee story which…
Category: Education
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…
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…
Whitfield Church of England Primary School
These days the lovely little school at Whitfield is a primary school academy, managed by The Good Shepherd Multi-Academy Trust. According to the school’s website, it was the first in Northumberland to be taken under this trust’s wing. I dropped…
Music in the key of life . . .
I had a lovely chat yesterday with June Welch who embarked on a life-changing career shift in her mid-forties, to embrace the learning and teaching of music. As she says, “For me, teaching is always about learning, both for the…
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…
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…
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…
Poetry: Practice of Life
It’s often said that, like acting, you have to live in order to be able to write. I loved poetry in my youth, but then decided I needed a lot more living to be able to appreciate it. In fact,…