VILLAGE NOTES: Round-up of community news

Matfen
Jean Conteh 

Matfen Parish Council is still doing their regular two-monthly meetings via Zoom, and residents of the parish are welcome to join in to listen via their mobile phones – full details of how to do this are on the parish pouncil website: https://www.matfenparish.org/parish_council.html You can also read the minutes of previous meetings or get in touch with the parish clerk via the website.
If you see lots of runners on the roads round Matfen, Ingoe and Ryal on Sunday, September 20, they will be taking part in the annual 2020 Matfen 10k, organised by Run Nation. It’s taking place this year with strict Covid-19 conditions, which mean that runners won’t come into the village, there will be a staggered start and everyone will be encouraged to leave as soon as they have completed the run. The race starts at 9.30am and anyone with any questions or concerns is invited to email the organisers at richard@runnation.co.uk
Macmillan Cancer Support always have a big fund-raising effort in September, and this year, Saturday, September 26, is the day that they are aiming to have ‘the biggest coffee morning in the world’, but with a difference, due to Covid. They are asking groups to think of new ideas to raise funds, maybe in the open air and avoiding large groups gathering, which is especially important given the new ‘rule of six’ just introduced by the government. If you’d like to join Matfen’s fundraising initiative or have ideas about what to do, get in touch via the Matfen village email: matfenvillage@gmail.com

Riding Mill
Pam Pryor
THE law change, which came into force last Monday, said that social gatherings of more than six people will be illegal amid a steep rise in coronavirus cases. There are, however, some exceptions so please check with Suzanne, our halls manager, on 07587068210 as to whether your classes are running. The Foyer Café is open on Mondays 10am until noon.
I HAVE written in this regard before but mention again because your village needs you! The Government has launched the Rural Broadband Upgrade Fund and Northumberland is one of its pilot areas. The aim is to provide residents with faster, more reliable broadband. The Government will help to fund the cost of the work, but money is only available when used in group projects i.e. a number of residents have to sign up or it can be a mix of business and residential. We need to demonstrate to suppliers that there is enough interest in Riding Mill for them to consider improving broadband in this area. It costs nothing to sign up and, if we are successful, we may obtain fibre optic broadband to all homes rather than to the limited number of green cabinets around the village. The wires that are currently being used are old and broken, and there is a distance limit, so new fibre would be a vast improvement for everyone, particularly those on the outskirts e.g. up the Slaley Road, up the A68 and at Grey Court.To register – log in to https://broadband-upgrade-fund.campaign.gov.uk/

Humshaugh 
Herbie Newell
HUMSHAUGH was saddened to hear of the recent death of longstanding resident, Jack McKenzie. Our thoughts are with Pauline and all the family.
A HUGE thank you to former resident Jill Bauld, who recently retired as chair of Humshaugh Arts Programme (HAP). Jill has been HAP chair since its formation in 2012 and has overseen the extremely popular programme of Friday Film Nights, as well as numerous excellent one-off events.
THE September parish council meeting last Thursday, online at short notice due to changed Covid restrictions, covered a wide range of issues.  Residents raised concerns about traffic on the B6318 between the Chollerford Roundabout and Chesters, and highlighted an online petition calling for improved traffic calming measures: https://www.change.org/p/humshaugh-parish-council-improve-traffic-calming-measures-on-b6318. Also raised was the problem of dog mess in the wood used by Humshaugh First School on the path between the Square and the Haughton lane. All owners must ‘pick-up’ after their dogs.
OUR Georgian post box outside the Shop has recently benefited from a coat of paint and is now designated as ‘Priority’, which signifies that appropriately packaged samples for NHS Covid analysis can be posted there.
A REMINDER that the second walk-through Influenza Vaccination Clinic, in the Village Hall, is Tuesday, September 22 (8.30am-5.30pm) for over 65s and at risk 18-64 year olds.
THE first apple pressing session is September 26/27, 10am-4pm, at the Village Hall, which due to Covid restrictions, can only take apples from Humshaugh parish and Wall village.
VIRTUAL St Peter’s Church services are continuing.

Newbrough
Rob Tindall
The best laid plans…. Warden Parish Council had re-arranged the bi-annual litter-pick for September 27, with equipment organised, but it has had to be postponed. The show committee were working away until 72 hours before the doors were due to open with precautions in place. Entries were coming in thick and fast before a surge on Tyneside caused discretion to outweigh valour. The last thing the committee wanted to risk was a Courant headline, “Tynedale upsurge traced to village show.” There’s always a next time for both events.
Warden Parish Council gave its approval to the county’s plan for a traffic control scheme to improve safety past the school and is exploring the proposal to have a litter bin placed in the layby by Warden railway crossing. Traffic improvements suggested for next year are road edge consolidation on the Walwick – Repeater Station road, traffic calming through Hardhaugh and extending the 30mph limit past St Aidan’s Terrace in Fourstones. (B6319).
Visiting the school may be forbidden in the current situation but we can all take pleasure in hearing the chattering and yelling as the children cascade into the ground at breaks. It is good to have the school operating again and all praise to the staff who have worked so hard to make this happen.
A word I had forgotten cropped up last week – crouse, meaning lively, in good spirits as in “How did you find him?”. “Oh! Gey crouse.”
Holy Communion on Sunday will be at St Peter’s at 9.30.

Slaley
Helen Savage 
Please look at the Slaley Village website www.slaley.org.uk to check if village events due to take place in the Commemoration Hall over the next few weeks are able to go ahead or not. Please be reassured that every care is being taken to make sure that whatever is able to continue (and we hope that it will be quite a lot) will be Covid-safe and follows government advice about the ‘rule of six.’
This past Saturday, the Commemoration Hall witnessed the finest display of leeks for many a year. Slaley Leek Club had to limit the show just to carefully socially-distanced leeks, but the combined effects of a move to an earlier date for the show plus the care lavished on the green and white beauties through lockdown meant that no less than 24 pairs out of the leeks on show out of the 25 submitted qualified for judging. This must be a record! David Innes won (he lives next to field with very superior cow muck in it. Ian Stevens came second at his very first attempt – a brilliant effort and Trudie Jennings came in third. The best leek in show was grown by a very proud Rosaleen Doonan. I was deeply proud of my efforts, which made a highly creditable nineteenth place. Fortunately I like leek soup. They were not a patch on the magnificent leeks grown by Izzy Hunter who won the junior competition – and started school with her twin sister just last week.

Allen Valleys
Robert Philipson
Hopefully it’s not often our local electrician, Glenn Nattrass gets a shock, but he did last week when he found out that he had won the Allen Valleys and Kings Head Leek Club. On two previous occasions he had finished last but this time he found success being first from 14 entries. Sadly the public part of the show was cancelled at the last minute as it became obvious that the coronavirus was escalating and the committee decided that it was the safest decision in the circumstances. This show is a great community event and very welcoming to those who wish to give leek growing a go so why not think about joining for next year. The Leek Club has a Facebook page or pop in to the Kings Head for details.
Not to be outdone by Glenn, David Nattrass, well known at the Allendale Co-op for his van driving skills, spent last Saturday morning abseiling the walls of Langley Castle. Also performing this impressive feat was David’s wife Sue. David was fund-raising for Northumbria Blood Bikes, while Sue’s fund-raiser was for the Great North Air Ambulance Service. Well done to both of them and there is a collection bucket at the Co-op.
Please send any contributions for these notes to robert.philipson@btconnect.com or telephone 01434 685266 & the deadline is Sunday 6pm.

Ovingham and Ovington 
Malcolm Cairns
Last Saturday morning saw lots of disappointed people standing on the platforms at Prudhoe rail station.They were expecting to see the steam locomotive Tornado at the head of a train of vintage coaches instead they had to be content with a “dastardly diesel” hauling the train.It seems that Tornado was at Carlisle waiting to take over from the diesel and then continue the tour to Edinburgh and returning to York via Newcastle.
Due to changes in Government rules regarding the ongoing situation ,the planned Macmillan Coffee Morning has been cancelled. Apologies to all from the organisers. The changes will also affect other groups and clubs who have been hoping to restart their meetings.

Horsley
Maurice Holliday
HORSLEY Village Church held the last open-air service for 2020 on Sunday, September 13. 
A REMINDER to send Mandy Senior, the parish clerk, items for the next parish council meeting before September 21. The email address is parishclerk@horsleyvillage.org.uk
HORSLEY village has a rare signpost, according to an expert in this field of study. It is made of cast iron in the shape of a shield and painted in black and white colours. These signposts are only found in Northumberland and its borders. Several have been restored along the A696 road between Ponteland and Belsay. The Horsley sign indicates the mileage from the village to Carlisle, Hexham and Newcastle.
MANY long-distance cyclists and walkers on a staycation have been travelling through the village and calling in at The Hearth and The Lion and Lamb for hospitality. Most use the Hadrian’s Wall national route.

Upper North Tyne
Sarah Hallberg
The next Communion Service at St Aidan’s, Thorneyburn, will be on Sunday, September 27 at 11am. There will be a Harvest Festival Service on Sunday, October 11 at 6pm – details (and logistics) to follow.
St Aidan’s, Thorneyburn, has some maintenance tasks to carry out on the church and its grounds before winter – such as climbing ladders, tidying the churchyard, small joinery and painting jobs, etc. Please let Caroline (240210 -  caroline.waitt@btinternet.com) know if you can help in any way and she will put together a rota so that social distancing restrictions are adhered to at all times.
A quick reminder that if you have anything you would like me to include in the Upper North Tyne Village Notes, please don’t forget to let me know about it - unfortunately, I can’t highlight events that I don’t know about! If you have anything to include, please email your info to saharagirl@btinternet.com on the Sunday, so it can be included in that week’s paper.

Bellingham
Birtley Nail
TWO more popular Bellingham events have fallen victim to the Covid-19 pandemic. Both the Bonfire Night celebrations, at Riverdale, and the Bellingham and District Dramatic Society Christmas Spectacular, at the town hall, have been reluctantly cancelled. Fireworks organiser, Kate Jameson, said: “As everything is up in the air at the minute, it’s simply not possible to safely run such an event while working to the current guidelines and laws.” The dramatic society had been planning a major event this December, but spokesman Val Giles confirmed it would not now take place: “Goodness knows when we will be able to resume. The problem is not just the performances but the rehearsals as we always have such a large cast. We could all have done with cheering up as well.” Despite the two cancellations, two other festive events are so far still going ahead. The Late Night Christmas Shopping and Craft Fair is still planned for December 9 and the Twixtmas Over 60s treat, at the golf club, has so far escaped the axe. A spokesman for treat organisers, the North Tyne and Redewater Community Association, said: “We are going to leave it as late as possible before making a decision.We are looking at ways we could replace it this year with something else more socially distanced, but the backbone of the event is the communal nature of it.”
THERE was double delight for ace grower Steven Baty at the weekend, when he took first place in the main, pot leek classes at both the Bellingham Leek Club Show, at the Westlands Allotments, on Saturday, and at the Cheviot Show the following day. At both shows, Clive Hymers was runner up and Gavin Golden was third. The Bellingham Country Store donated a trophy and a cash prize for the best exhibit at both shows, with Steven Baty taking the honours at Westlands with his winning leeks, while the Cheviot winner was Roy Bell with his magnificent onions.
THE Great North Air Ambulance collection in the North Tyne and Redesdale last week raised an amazing £7,508, taking the grand total since collecting began to an amazing £89,240.

Hexhamshire
Lynda White
Jenny Stirling is selling plants sown in lockdown in aid of St Helen’s Church.
They are Eryngium ‘Blue hobbit’ Primula ‘waltonii’ and Erigeron nanus and are now all a good size.
If anyone wishes to purchase any plants please contact Jenny on 01434 600509.

Redesdale
Emma Anderson
Last Wednesday’s collection, in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance Service, raised a remarkable £7508. The sale of donated clothing contributed £6860 to the total while that of books, CDs, DVDs and other items contributed a further £648. The running total for the twice-a-year collections in Redesdale, the North Tyne and Kirkwhelpington now stands at £89,240. The charity is thrilled with the amount raised and wishes to thank all concerned for their continued and loyal support. The organisers hope to hold a collection in March or April next year, depending on the public health circumstances prevailing at the time.
Thanks are due to all those who baked for, or bought from, the cake stall last Wednesday in aid of St. John’s, Otterburn. The event was a great success, raising £100 for the church funds.
There was an excellent turnout last Saturday for the litter picking session in Otterburn. The volunteers filled many rubbish bags and the village is looking much tidier. Otterburn Parish Council wishes to thank everyone who helped.
The Rede, Tyne & Coquet Sports and Leisure Centre will hold its Annual General Meeting on Monday, September 28, at 7.30pm. Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, this year’s meeting is being held via Zoom. If you wish to attend, please contact Kevin Appleby by email at jkappleby@rtcsports.co.uk to register and obtain a link to the meeting.

Wylam
Robin Piette
STILL scheduled to take place apparently - the outdoor, socially-distanced, live concerts at St Oswin’s Church on Saturday, September 19 from 15.00-16.00 and 17:30-18:30 by Semibreve/Clara Vale Music. Here’s hoping!
SEEMS there is a bit of trouble with lads performing wheelies outside the Co-op - needs some parental attention.
THE pharmacy will have its flu jabs on September 21 – form an orderly queue!
DON’T forget, the library can be contacted on 852174, to order a book or ask Margaret to choose for you or online fill in the order form at https://bit.ly/3bgILVD. Then you can pick up your order on Tuesday or Thursday from 10.30 to 15.30 from the box outside the Library.
THE Fox and Hounds have started their weekly quiz on Thursdays at 8pm and they are offering children up to 11 free meals (accompanied by an adult, of course!)
ALTHOUGH the Macmillan Coffee Morning had to be cancelled, donations to the charity can be dropped off at the Institute, which has a locking letterbox. 
WYLAM Play Group are looking for volunteers.