Bardon Mill
Bob & Mike Ducker

The clink of quoits finished at the end of August, with the Bowes Lions high in the league and the Bowes Bombers a little lower. With equinox now past it’s the football season next, and till then it remains that the champions of the Hexham & District Sunday League are Bardon Mill Bowes Lyons.

We got answers to some of last week’s questions, so thank you. The ladder stiles around Greenlee were blocked to stop sheep nipping over, because a herd was formerly hefted to the site and would be trying to get back to the grass they know (plus one was mistakenly blocked, and has since been removed). We hope to have more interesting news about management of that northern edge of our area in the near future.

Warnings have been shared locally about glass (bad for paws) around the bottle banks, which we hope is now sorted, plus something of a ravine is forming where tarmac was recently laid, at the point where pavement meets road, so be careful as you go. 

Our biggest hazard locally remains the A69 and there won’t be many of us who haven’t gasped at a near-miss or two, in particular when uncertain cars pull out from petrol station or village into the flow of traffic. We have witnessed HGV drivers with shocked faces mopping their brows – remember they literally cannot brake in time to save us from an error.

Till next week thanks to all the good neighbours who make the village safe to live in, and if you do have any free time check out the Village Hall website as new help is still needed.

Allen Valley
Robert Philipson

This Saturday, September 25,  at 2pm the plaque commemorating over 250 years of Methodist worship in the Allen Valleys will be reinstated on the wall of what is now the Dale Manor in Allendale Market Place. The unveiling will be carried out by Mrs Evelyn Charlton who previously unveiled the plaque in 1995. Everyone is welcome to attend this event in the market place for the short ceremony and afterwards for tea in St Cuthbert’s Church Hall.

Sarah Blackett-Ord is showing her watercolours and drawings in an exhibition at Allendale Forge during October. Whitfield Watercolours opens on October 1 and lasts all month. It will be open daily from 10am-4pm. The exhibition is a collection of work completed between 2019-20. From International Women’s Day in Kerala “before Covid” to a long hot summer at home in Northumberland each work is like a diary or a “Day in the Life” during this ordinary time. There are some unframed works to leaf through too. Sarah is also offering two days of watercolour workshops at The Forge, October 9 and 23 from 11am to 3pm. For full details please contact Sarah via The Forge. 

A reminder that Bingo returns to the High Forest Community Centre, Sinderhope this Friday, Sept 24 at 7.30pm. 

For any items to be included in these notes please email me at robert.philipson@btconnect.com or telephone 01434 685266 by 6pm Sunday.