The Village of Wark

Archive for October, 2009

You’ll recall that I mentioned the Town Hall Local Music Night in the Town Hall this Saturday in this column last week and I am unashamed to do so again this week.  Ranging from Celtic harp to saxophone and from barbershop to North East England traditional and Scottish songs, the night promises to offer something for just about every musical taste.  And as with many of our local events, the evening offers an opportunity to have a bit crack with your friends and neighbours and raise some funds for the Town hall at the same time.. You can get tickets (£5 each) from Judith Weir on (01434) 230250 and there will be a shared supper and a bar.  Tickets will also be available on the door.

 I also mentioned the Christmas Fayre at the school last week of which I really only had the date then.  In the mean time I have been given some of the exciting detail.  There are more than 20 stalls booked for a huge range of different businesses.  They include food, wool products and clothing, games and toys, gifts and books, pamper stuff and photography.  The Friends of Wark School have done a great jobs in getting that many people to sign up and it promises to be a fayre worth attending.  The organizers have had a large number of flyers printed so the hope is that quite a few [people from outside the village will find their way to Wark and the school.  The Friends of Wark School Christmas Fayre takes place on Thursday 19 November between 3.30 and 7.30 p.m.

Also relating to the school, I understand Mrs. Henry is very keen to find a willing volunteer to help with the school garden.  If you have some gardening skills and are able to help the school, please let them know.

Finally a quick reminder of the bingo in aid of the North Tyne Hunt which will take place in the Town Hall on Tuesday 3 November.  The evening starts at 7.30 p.m. and all are welcome.

Members of the Leek Club gathering for their AGM in the Grey Bull last Sunday heard how the club is in a financially sound situation with enough money in the bank to ensure the future for another few years.  As a result it was decided that subscription will stay the same for 2009/10, as will the prize money.  As usual there was some discussion about the various classes.  Few people have entered long beetroots over recent years so members decided to end that class for now and replace it with a class for any cabbage.  The cake for next year will be a chocolate one, baked in one tin and with a filling of any description.  Jams will be strawberry and blackcurrant and by deciding that now members have plenty of time to prepare for that for 2010! The Committee was re-elected en block with Jocka Armstrong as president and Robert Baty as Chairman.  All in all, the club can look back on a successful year and look forward with confidence to 2010.

Children at the school have been planting spring flowering bulbs with members of the local community this week.  The new head teacher, Mrs. Henry is keen to develop the links between the school and the wider community so there may be more opportunities in due course.  In the mean time it will be interesting to see what will come up in the spring.  The school will be having a whole host of  Christmas activities a little bit later in the year, which I will mention in November, but for now you might just want to make a note of the Christmas Fair organized by the Friend of Wark First School on Thursday November 19^th at 3.30 p.m.  A number of craft stalls have already confirmed their attendance, so the fair will give you n opportunity to do some Christmas shopping while helping the Friends at the same time.

As you may remember, there will be a Fashion Show next week, on Thursday 29 October 2009 at the Town Hall.  The Fashion Show is showing clothes from Get Smart II from Blagdon and the whole evening is organized by St Michael’s Church Ladies’ Guild.  Tickets are £8 which includes a glass of wine and a light supper.  The Fashion Show starts at 7.30 p.m.

Then on Saturday the 31^st of October- yes, on Halloween- there will be a Local Music Night at the Town Hall with local musicians and singers performing in aid of Town hall Funds. Included on the bill are locals like Mike Gibson and Stephen Fry, but also musicians from a little further afield, like Tristram Robson, who is a champion player of the Celtic Harp.  There will be songs and tunes with guitar and flute, a swinging saxophone quartet, the Unlikely Ladies Barbershop Singers and Marilyn Framrose and Ian Dunsmuir with a range of songs from Scotland, Ireland and beyond.  All in all it promises to be an excellent night. You can get tickets (£5 each) from Judith Weir on (01434) 230250 and there will be a shared supper and a bar.  Tickets will also be available on the door.

If you’re quick and reading this on Thursday night or early-ish on Friday, you might still be able to get a place or a team into the Quiz Night at Birtley Village Hall on Friday evening.  Tickets are £5 per person with under 16s being just £3.  As well as the quiz itself, that will buy you soup and a roll.   There will also a bar and a raffle.  If you want to make a last minute booking, please contact Lesley on (01434) 230210, Andrew on (01434) 230970 or Bob on (01434) 230728.  The quiz starts at 7.30 for 8 p.m.

 Members of the Leek Club are cordially invited to the Grey Bull for this Sunday, the 18^th of October at 1 p.m. for the Club’s Annual General Meeting.  I wrote about the Leek Show and all the work that surrounds it just a few weeks ago and in a way the planning for next year kicks off at the AGM.  It offers an opportunity to review the past year and to discuss any new ideas.  If you’re not a member but keen to join the club, you are of course very welcome.

The book group which meets in the Town Hall every last Wednesday of the months, has started its reading for the autumn and winter.  They have decided that they’ll read The Ginger Tree, by Oswald Wynd for 28 October. Then for November 25^th, the book will be The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams.  They’ll skip December, after all, that particular last Wednesday falls in the middle of the Christmas period, but they’ll be back at the end of January, on the 27^th, it’s the turn of Sebastian Faulkes’ Birdsong.  If you’re interested in reading, and discussing the books, you’d be very welcome to join the group. You can just turn up on the night or contact Mary Martin at Pasture House.  All the book group meetings start at 8 p.m.

Looking towards to tail end of this month, do remember the Fashion Show on Thursday 29 October 2009 at the Town Hall.  The Fashion Show is showing clothes from Get Smart II  from Blaydon and the whole evening is organized by St Michael’s Church Ladies’ Guild.  Tickets are £8 which includes a glass of wine and a light supper.  The Fashion Show starts at 7.30 p.m.

 The fourth Wark Apple Fair had people from all over the district flocking to the Town Hall again last Saturday. With the current interest in growing your own food  and things like food miles, more and more people realize that those fruit trees at the bottom of the garden might be worth finding out more about.  Trevor Rogers, the apple expert who’d travelled up from Lincolnshire, was kept busy throughout the day with a whole lot of challenges.  This year for instance, there seemed to be more Lane’s Prince Albert apples than in previous years.  One very interesting apple was one brought in from Ovington.  Locally known as the Ovington Apple, it has a very distinctive long shape and Trevor was very clear that the only known variety like that is Lady’s Finger of Lancaster and the colour was all wrong for it to be that.  On the while, the hall was full of families doing fun activities like making apples out of felt or having a go at nestbox building and trying a huge array of different varieties of apples. The Apple Fair was again generously supported by a number of people in the village who had made their favourite apple-related cakes for the teas and coffees and any takings for the ID and sales go to help offset the costs of running it.  The feedback on the Apple Fair has again been very positive so perhaps we’ll have another one in 2010.

If you’re interested in quizes, you are still in good time to get yourself a team together for the Quiz Night at Birtley Village Hall on Friday 16^th October 2009.  Tickets are £5 per person with under 16s being just £3.  For that money you’ll not just get a great night of entertainment and competition, but also soup and a roll.  There will of course be prizes and a bar and you can also expect a raffle.  If you want to come, please reserve a ticket by contacting Lesley on (01434) 230210, Andrew on (01434) 230970 or Bob on (01434) 230728.  The quiz starts at 7.30 for 8 p.m.

The group that many of you will know as Mothers and Toddlers which meets in the Town Hall in Wark every Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. would be very keen to make contact with any adult looking after small children at home, whether you’re a mum, dad, gran or granddad or any other relation.  The group provides a welcome point of contact, a bit chat and a coffee for the adults, while the little ones have an opportunity to play with some different toys from those at home.  You’d be made to feel very welcome.

Word has reached me that the Stonehaugh Community Hall is at last nearing completion.  The original social club will soon be closing its doors and will be reopening in the new building.  The transition will happen at the end of October with a farewell part on Friday the 30^th followed by a Halloween party on Saturday the 31^st.  Both old and new buildings will be open.  It would be lovely to see anyone with connections to the village and the social club, be they past or present and you’re even welcome if you want to develop those connections for the future!  If you have any questions about the transition or the parties, you can contact Anne Bulman on (01434) 230624.