Find out what is going on in your neck of the woods.

Prudhoe

Ian Warburton

Prudhoe Town Council will host its Annual Meeting/Planning, Contract and Works Meeting at the Gate Church, Swalwell Close NE42 6EX, on Wednesday 19 May, commencing at 7:00pm. Members of the public and press are welcome to attend or watch the meeting on live stream, details on www.prudhoetowncouncil.gov.uk If attending in person, please contact the Clerk in advance to ensure that the social distancing and attendance protocols are fully understood and adhered to.

Stocksfield Retired Men’s Association will meet on Zoom on Thursday 20 May, commencing at 11:00am. Those living in Prudhoe are very welcome to attend. Full details can be found in the Stocksfield Village Notes.

Following the success of the Seniors Open Texas Scramble on Thursday 29 April, Prudhoe Golf Club and the Seniors Section are looking forward to the Charity Day on Friday 2 July. This may be booked online via the website (www.prudhoegolfclub.org.uk, then go to Opens), by calling the office on 01661-832466 or by visiting the office or shop. The cost is £80 per four-person team (gents/ladies/mixed), including a snack meal. The format is Texas Scramble. The charity being sponsored this year is Epilepsy Action and donations of money or raffle prizes would be very welcome. Please hand these in at Prudhoe Golf Club, marked fao Larry Hindmarsh, with your contact details, so that a thank you note can be sent. For further information, please contact larry.hindmarsh@btinternet.com.

Stocksfield

Ian Warburton

Stocksfield Plants and Gardens Society will host a Zoom talk by Pip Bensley on Tuesday 18 May, commencing at 7.30pm entitled “Garden Snippets”. Pip’s beautifully illustrated talk will feature the selection and cultivation of flowers for cutting for the house, which also look great in the garden. Visitors (£3) are very welcome to our talks. Contact Sue Sinclair on stocksfieldpg@gmail.com. For more information, including upcoming talks and events, visit the website

www.stocksfield

plantsandgardens.co.uk and follow the Society on Facebook.

Stocksfield Parish Council will host its Annual Meeting in the Community Centre (SICA) Hall on Wednesday 19 May, commencing at 7:30pm. The meeting, which will be kept short, is open to the public and press. All attendees will have to comply with Covid-secure requirements. Owing to technical issues, it will not be possible to live steam the meeting.

Stocksfield Retired Men’s Association will meet on Zoom on Thursday 20 May, commencing at 11:00am. The human brain weighs about 3lbs, it has the texture of blancmange and is made up of around 100 million nerve cells. Dr Bob Pullen will shine a spotlight on the human brain, how we feel and think, what we say and do, which is so central to what we humans are. If you would like to join this event, please send a message to the Stocksfield Retired Men’s Association Facebook page and they will send you the Zoom link.

Slaley

Stella Douglas

It was a long day for the election officials who braved the snow on 6th May: perhaps you went to vote and saw the super Commemoration Hall facilities. For those who wish to book the Commemoration Hall, look on the Village Hall page of the Parish website to check availability and contact stellacdouglas@gmail.com, 673001.

Slaley Commemoration Hall AGM is 19th May at 7.30. Slaley folk are welcome to attend in this covid-secure space.

Another AGM is that of the Parish Annual Church Meeting. This is held after worship, in the St Mary’s on 23rd May at 11am. St Mary’s beautiful churchyard is maintained by volunteers. If you can help Brian Wilson, call him on 673043. The beauty of Slaley parish depends on volunteers who often do jobs which are unsung and sometimes unrecognised.

Thanks to two Slaley volunteers. Jim and Fiona work really hard to keep the Slaley News interesting and informative. Due to them we can all find out about activities and events.

Thanks too for those who are building the new Slaley Business Directory. If you want your business included, contact Pat.

Thanks are due to volunteers Jon, Katie and Ian who have renovated the area around the Parish Seat by weeding, edging, pressure washing and varnishing: it looks fabulous. The PC will replace the bin.

That’s just a very few Slaley volunteers.

Finally, thanks to all the volunteers who cleaned Slaley parish roadsides, the prize for the most unusual item goes to the finder of the bedpan!

Newbrough

Rob Tindall

I look over the garden and wonder whatever happened to global warming. And as Pete Seeger didn’t quite sing in 1962, “Where have all the swallows gone, long time passing.”

The local elections have come and gone and we have a new councillor and a new colour. Thank you to Rupert Gibson for what you did for us in the last council and our best wishes to Councillor Nick Morphet who now has to pick up the loose threads.

The Mossy is usually the subject of adverse comment but for a change, some words of praise. The trimmed hedges on both sides look fantastic; well done, Robert and the lads.

The Produce Show may have set the date but when can we expect to see other village organisations resuming their traditional format and meetings? The Stanegate Readers and Newbrough W.I. are warming up on the starting line waiting for the Town Hall’s starting pistol to convert from online to face-to-face. Where do the Bowls Club, Badminton Club and Local History Group stand? Can a date and destination be set for the Senior Citizens’ outing, or will our more mature residents still be chary of venturing forth?

At the other end of the age-scale the school constantly amazes me with topics they are studying. Had you a working knowledge of fulcrums, levers, loads and pulleys, or researched William Shakespeare with a view to writing a biography before moving to secondary school? Class 1 have even constructed their own obstacle course!

Humshaugh

Herbie Newell

Last Thursday’s elections resulted in Nick Morphet being selected as our new Northumberland County Councillor. Outgoing Councillor Rupert Gibson has represented the Humshaugh Division for eight years, and residents are very grateful to Rupert for his service to our community.

The seven councillors elected to our Parish Council last week are Ian Batey, Kev Dodd, Rupert Gibson, Jerry Oliver, Chris Robinson, Peter Woodward and your correspondent. Very many thanks to all those who put their names forward for election. Parish Councillors who have retired after many years honourable service are Geoff Elliot, Kirsten Francis, Davey Harrison and Mark Stephens, and the community are extremely grateful to them all for their tireless work for the Parish of Humshaugh.

The first meeting of the new Parish Council is at 6.30pm next Monday 17 May when the Annual Parish, Annual Parish Council and Bi-monthly Parish Council meetings will be held. The meeting will be online and the agenda and details of how to join the meeting are at https://northumberlandparishes.uk/humshaugh/.

The Crown Inn is greatly looking forward to welcoming customers back next Monday 17 May. The community is very grateful to David and all the staff at the Crown for the many hundreds of tasty takeaway meals that have been served during the pandemic.

There is an in-person Ascension Day Holy Communion Service at St Peter’s today, Thursday 13 May, at 10.00am. The main Sunday Worship continues to be an online Deanery Service at 10.00am, please contact rogerlangford37@outlook.com.

Upper North Tyne

Sarah Hallberg

Falstone Tennis Club are holding an open meeting to discuss the future of the tennis court in Falstone. A socially-distanced meeting will take place at the court on Thursday 13th May at 7pm. If you are unable to attend, but would either like to be involved in the discussion or have any ideas to contribute, please contact Helen Banks and let her know your thoughts.

If you have anything you would like to see published in the Courant’s Village Notes, please let me know (via email saharagirl@btinternet.com) by close of play on the Sunday before the Thursday paper goes out each week. Not everyone in the area has online access or is part of the local online Mailing lists, so the Courant is the ideal way to let people know about events, invites and local news. If you let me know about things, I can include them in the notes - so please do let me know if there's anything you would like to publicise or even just to share with the rest of the community...particularly as it looks like we are on track to see a lifting of restrictions from June 21st and the resulting welcome return of a number of regular activities and entertainment in community buildings and businesses in the area.