Here is what is happening in your town and village.

Wylam

Robin Piette

The next volunteer sessions for Wylam Community Orchard will be on Sunday June 13th from 2-4pm. Jobs: weeding and mulching the fruit trees and soft fruit bushes, mowing the paths, litter picking and having a small bonfire if conditions are right. These sessions follow current social-distancing guidelines. Please bring your own tools and hand sanitiser. They are a relaxed and friendly group, everyone is welcome, including accompanied children. They will have a chat afterwards, please bring your own refreshments if you wish. Last time volunteers mowed the paths, weeded and mulched the fruit trees and planted 70 red campions on the woodland edge. In the last month the bench has been thoroughly cleaned and treated with wood preserver. A reminder that subs for 2021 are due. Members are entitled to pick their share of the fruit crop in the autumn.

There are some more free books outside Pauls to Go – get there and grab one!

And talking of books .. you can again request books from all Northumberland libraries to be sent to our branch and be told when they are ready to collect. You can make the request online at mylibrary.co.uk using your library card number and PIN, or telephone the library. You can find all the books available at mylibrary.co.uk.

Plans for the Falcon Centre are moving forward, and the group are happy to announce that the Centre is now registered as an Asset of Community Value with Northumberland County Council.

Hexham Book Festival is looking for young keen volunteers.

U North Tyne

Sarah Hallberg

There will be a Communion service at St. Aidan’s, Thorneyburn, on Sunday 13th June (2nd Sunday after Trinity) at 2.00pm. Please remember to bring your masks with you, as the social distancing restrictions and rules still need to be applied until at least the 21st June. The service is open to everyone in the community, so please do feel free you go along if you would like to.

Just a quick reminder that in order for me to include your info about news and events in our area in the Village Notes, you will need to let me have your details/info/posters, etc. by close of play on the Sunday before the Thursday paper goes out each week. The email address to send your info to is: saharagirl@btinternet.com and it’s worth remembering that not everyone is part of email lists or accesses local information online, so the info in the courant is useful for various folks! Please feel free to forward anything you think might be interesting to the community.

Prudhoe

Ian Warburton

The Prudhoe branch of u3a will meet on Zoom on Monday 7 June, commencing at 10:00am. This will be the group’s Annual General Meeting and will be followed by some presentations by members of interest groups. For details of the Zoom link, please email u3a.prudhoe@gmail.com For general information relating to u3a, please visit u3a.org.uk

Northumberland County Council has started distributing lateral flow home testing kits via its Mobile Distribution Unit in the car park of Prudhoe Waterworld from 9:30am to 12noon on Tuesdays and this will continue on 8, 15, 22 and 29 June.

Prudhoe Youth Group has a new project. The Girls’ Group is aimed at young women aged 8 to 13 and will be based at the Parish Hall, Front St. The sessions will be held every Wednesday during term-time, from 5:15 to 6:15pm, and the first session will be on Wednesday 9 June. If you would like further information, please contact Gemma via email on gemma@prudhoeyouthproject.org These sessions are funded by Prudhoe Town Council.

Ovingham

Malcolm Cairns

Now is the time to get busy making your scarecrows for this years competition. Have your creations of film or tv characters on display from the 12th of June. The Parish Council will organise judging which will take place on the weekend of 19th and 20th.

Another event which started last year is also to become annual. The Village Garden Competition, again organised by the Parish Council, will go ahead again this year. Categories are, large garden front or back, small garden front or back and the most attractive house frontage. Prizes will be awarded and judging will take place in the second week of August.

If you find you have time on your hands this half term why not put it to use supporting the Great British Spring Clean. A great way to get exercise and fresh air and also keeping your environment clean, try a spot of litter picking with all the family.

Redesdale

Emma Anderson

The plant sale held last Saturday at Rochester Village Hall raised a remarkable £411 from the sale of plants, raffle tickets and refreshments. The organisers will donate the amount to Tynedale Hospice at Home. Happily, the weather was kind for the event which was held outdoors because of the continuing Coronavirus restrictions. There was a terrific turnout from across upper Redesdale and beyond, all enjoying the sunshine and the welcome opportunity to catch up with friends and neighbours. The organisers would like to thank all those who attended and contributed to the success of the event.

The Committee of Rochester village hall will hold its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 15 June, starting at 7.30pm. Because of continuing Coronavirus restrictions, members of the public wishing to attend the meeting must state their intention to do so in advance by contacting David Pentney on 07721 627461, (01830) 520751 or by email at davidrpentney@gmail.com.

Stocksfield

Ian Warburton

Stocksfield Plants & Gardens Society has had to cancel its big Annual Plant Sale at the Community Hall and instead has organised a series of small garden-gate sales, open to anyone who would like to come and buy a few plants grown by members. You can expect the usual quality plants, just fewer of them. The next of these pop-ups is this coming Saturday, 5 June, from 10:00am to 12:00 noon at 51 New Ridley Road, Stocksfield NE43 7EY. Parking is extremely limited on New Ridley Road, so please walk if possible. If you buy more plants than you can carry, a plant crèche will be available and you can collect your purchases a little later. Payment is by cash only, so take lots of change plus your own bags and boxes. Outdoor Covid rules will apply, including the 2-metre distance rule.

Horsley

Maurice Holliday

If I had to recommend one walk from Horsley village it would be the four mile Spital round. The route offers fantastic views and a wide variety of flora and fauna. You leave the village along Lead Lane crossing the A69 to Horsley Hills. Take the lane towards Harlow Hill then the byway through Spital to the ford. At the ford turn south towards Whittle and return to the village by Horsley Barns along the old A69. The parish website has a map of local walks.

The parish council is keen to support community tree planting this autumn after the success of the family tree planting event at the Hearth. The initiative is being encouraged by the Woodland Trust.

Dog owners in the parish need to be aware of the toxic hazard relating to rape seed. The Dogs Trust is keen to remind people that the plant can cause blindness and damage the nervous system as well as causing a wide range of other health problems for dogs. Fortunately this year only a couple of rights of way in the west of the parish cross fields with a rape seed crop.

The lease on the village play areas has only another 5 years left to run with no option for an extension. Horsley parish council who pay the rent for these play areas and maintain the equipment intend to contact Alnwick Estates who own the land to discuss the issue. The council have invested a great deal of money over the last few years improving the play areas for children. Horsley has no public spaces for recreation.

Members of Horsley village church held their first Sunday service after the recent lockdown. The service was held in a private garden. The church remains closed for the time being.

Horsley Book Club members are meeting in the Hearth cafe at 2pm on Friday June 4th. The group meeting will include a book swap. New members are always welcome.

Heddon

John Stewart

Congratulations to Heddon United Football Club who were crowned winners of the North East Combination Football League Subsidiary Cup last Sunday at the John Spence Community High School after seeing off AFC West End Tigers on penalties following a full time draw. Well Done to all the players, management team, supporters and sponsors who have contributed in making this a hugely successful week for the local team.

It is fantastic to see some businesses back up and running in the village which have been very well supported over the last couple of weeks. Thank you to all the businesses who have been able to open ensuring that they are Covid safe and secure. Lets all do our bit and help control the virus.

Yesterday (Wednesday 5th) it was World Environment Day which is a United Nations initiative that has been encouraging awareness and action on protecting the environment since 1974.So I would encourage you to do your bit for the environment and continue to use the various waste bins within the village and keep the lovely village of Heddon nice and tidy. I would also like to send my appreciation and thanks to the family of the village who collect litter on their daily dog walk.

I would also like to praise the fantastic NHS staff and volunteers at the Hexham Mart which is the seventh large vaccination centre for the region. I found that that it is very well organised and has been well attended by so many local residents. If you are eligible to get your Covid-19 jab, I would encourage you to get booked up and can reassure you that the venue is Covid safe and the staff are there to give you the reassurance.

Hexhamshire

Ruth Marlee

So last week the Dandelions looked ‘splendid’. This week they have turned to infuriating floating time-bombs! Thankfully, good news has come from ‘Shire clubs who are keeping going despite the challenges.

The Leek Club has been holding meetings via Teams and managed a good show of leeks last year (leeks left at central points, collected and delivered to Chris Chomse and Roger Stewart for judging). They have already contacted judges and are optimistic about holding a show on 18th September at Whitley Chapel Parish Hall. They will have a Teams meeting on 3rd of June to discuss and plan for this. Updates will be emailed to members.

Hexhamshire WI has continued to meet using Zoom during lockdowns. They obviously miss meeting in person and having wonderful suppers after the meetings. Especially missed are the members who either can’t use zoom or don’t like it (can’t blame them). One advantage is that they have had some very interesting speakers from all over the country. They also run a book group on Zoom, which is going well, introducing some very interesting and diverse books. They are hoping to meet again in the Parish Hall in September. Until then, there will be a talk on “Making the most of your garden” by Isobel Shaw on 2nd June, and hopefully in July, they will meet for afternoon tea outside the Parish Hall. The WI is a very friendly group and if anyone would care to join, contact Jane Wrighton 07745 328929.

Slaley, Healey and Hexhamshire Environment Group is a small group of people working together to address some environment and community issues. Started during the lockdown in 2020, they have promoted recycling at Slaley Village Shop and planted 6 fruit trees on the main street. To celebrate World Environment Day on Saturday 5th June, between 4-5pm, members are congregating at Slaley Commemoration Hall with electric cars, bikes and an electric tandem. The group is also collecting CDs, computer games and books to be recycled. For more information visit the Slaley Parish Council website.

Riding Mill

Carole Craig-Gilby

Welcome to first week in June and the Parish and Millennium Halls welcome groups back. Judy Wilthew, of the Village Hall Trust, said: Welcome back. It is good to see everyone now that the halls are coming back to life after such a long absence. We are looking forward to welcoming you back to our halls and the village returning to some form of normality. Life will never be quite the same. However, we still need to be cautious as different variants emerge. We ask you to respect and honour the changes that may be asked of your group. In order to re-open the halls, we have to comply with the necessary conditions required by our insurance company, so that our policy is not invalidated. To do this, it may be necessary to alter the timings of the booking that you had prior to lockdown. This may be by only half an hour, but it will give us the time to clean between bookings. Why? - because the hall has to be ventilated and sanitised before the next group can come in. We need to keep everyone safe and for them to know that they are safe. Covid like any other infection is invisible. If all restrictions are lifted on June 21st, we will still continue with the same system. We want to keep our village and our residents safe.

Riding Mill drop-in is back on Tuesday 15th June in the Millennium Hall, Church Lane All are welcome Don’t Miss Out Do drop in. We spent a very enjoyable open afternoon in the Parish Hall last month when we were very pleased to welcome so many friends old and new to our open afternoon. The conversation flowed freely while we helped ourselves to tea or coffee, cakes and biscuits. We exchanged ideas for developing our regular meetings with activities to add to our current menu of board games, including Scrabble, dominoes, cards and puzzles. You can arrive when you please and stay as long as you please. You can choose an activity you enjoy or simply join in the relaxing chat over refreshments Don’t Miss Out …. Do Drop In - Tuesday 15th June in the Millennium Hall any time between 2pm and 4pm and every Tuesday onwards.