The Village of Wark

Archive for November, 2009

The Christmas Fayre at Wark First School last Thursday seems to have gone really well.  I understand there was a fairly constant flow of people through the door and there was a really nice atmosphere.  I had the opportunity to talk to one of the stallholders a couple of days after the event and she was really quite happy with the amount of money she’d taken on the day.  I haven’t yet heard what the Friends of Wark First School, who organized the Fayre, but I hope the event will become a fixture in the village calendar.

As you may have spotted, the Courant reported on the success of the Allendale bid to the Village SOS scheme a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately that also meant that our very own bid, to the same scheme to develop the Grey Bull into a community hub, did not get into the next stage.  You’ll remember that a lot of time was spent over the summer, especially by Philip Wanless, to get the bid together and it is of course very disappointing not to get any further with it.  But at least we can say we had a go, after all: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

With Christmas now clearly on the horizon, you might want to make use of a couple of local opportunities to get some of your shopping done close to home.  First, this coming Sunday, 29 November, the new Stonehaugh Community hall will host the Annual Craft Fair. There will be a wide range of quality crafts to choose from, ranging from prints and cards, to books, paintings and jewelry.  There will also be a raffle and tombola, a bar and homemade refreshments.  The Craft Fair takes place between 11 am and 4 pm. 

Then next weekend, on Saturday 5 December, you’ll find St. Michael’s Christmas Bazaar in Wark Town Hall.  There will be a cake stall, a wide range of Christmas decorations, books and gifts together with tombola and a raffle.  Of course you’ll also be able to stop by for a cup of tea and a biscuit.  St. Michael’s Christmas Bazaar starts at 2 p.m.

The reopening of the sports club last Saturday went as planned with funders, committee, supporters and contractors all there to help celebrate the fact that the club is once again fit for the future.  Mrs. Allgood officially reopened the club and was very interested to hear that thanks to the ground source heat pump, the energy bills for the club have been reduced by about 75-80%.  Having reached this milestone, the committee is already thinking about what to do next.  Internally the building could do with some changes too and the group is also thinking about what other renewables they might include to give the club an income from selling electricity to the grid, something that is set to become much easier during next year.  For the next few months however, they can take a bit of a breather and enjoy the success so far!

Last week the sad news reached us of the passing of Margaret Archer after a long illness.  Margaret was President of the Wark WI for many years and their representative on the Town Hall Committee.  In addition to that she was an active member of the congregation at St. Giles’ Church in Birtley and her baking was legendary.  She’ll be much missed and we wish Robin and the family strength at this difficult time.

I’ve been given advance warning of the Annual Stonehaugh Craft Fair in the brand new Community Hall on Sunday 29 November 2009.  There will be a wide range of quality crafts to choose from, ranging from prints and cards, to books, paintings and jewelry.  There will also be a raffle and tombola, a bar and homemade refreshments.  The Craft Fair takes place between 11 am and 4 pm.

Finally, don’t forget the Annual Christmas Bingo in aid of funds for Wark Town Hall next week.  The bingo will take place on Tuesday 24 November 2009 and will start at 7.30 p.m.

Some 40 people turned out for the Remembrance Ceremony at the Monument on the Green last Sunday to hear the familiar words and the names of those men from Wark who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.  As news reached us of more British soldiers being killed in Afghanistan, it is very fitting that those of us who haven’t known war themselves, together with those that have, stood together to remember.  We remember not just those who died, but also the soldiers that are out there at the moment, risking their lives in a war that can feel a very long way away from rural Northumberland.

I’ve been asked to give you some advance warning of the Northumbrian Night that will take place at Birtley Village Hall on Saturday 28 November 2009.  The evening will be compared by Eddie Milligan and on the programme are Bob Bolam, Ernie Coe, Jim and Ivan and Mike Tickell.  Tickets are £6 (including supper) and are available from Lesley on (01434) 230210 and Liz (230612).  The Northumbrian Night is in aid over village hall funds.

Before then you can indulge in another Bingo Night, the Annual Christmas Bingo in aid of funds for Wark Town Hall.  The bingo will take place on Tuesday 24 November 2009 and will start at 7.30 p.m.  Even earlier than that, on Thursday 19 November, you’ll get a chance to do some Christmas shopping at the Christmas Fayre in Wark First School.  There will a tremendous array of businesses with a wide variety of goods, most of which are listed on the Wark website (www.wark.org.uk) .  The Fayre starts at 3.30 and will finish at 7.30 p.m.

The refurbishment of the sports club is now nearing completion with the final bit of painting being carried out this week.  To mark this achievement all the people who made this project possible- funders, contractors and volunteers have been invited to a small celebration on 14 November between 1 and 1.30 p.m. so that the club committee can express their thanks.  Representatives from the funders of the project will be on hand and will be happy to talk about the things they can support, so if you have a new project in mind, feel free to drop in any time after 1.30 p.m. to have a chat with them.  Here will be lots of information on display and the club will be using this event to start planning for a renewable energy open day at the club early in the new year.  The ground source heat pump for instance, has already reduced the club’s energy bill by almost 75% and next year the club will be investigating how they can bring that down to zero.  In the mean time, it’s ‘well done!’ to the committee members who worked so hard to reach this milestone.

Occasionally the Town Hall is filled to capacity, but to get the Hall filled to that level twice in just 3 days is very rare indeed.  It started with the fashion show last Thursday which attracted about 80 paying customers.  Held in aid of St Michael’s Ladies Guild it brought to the village high quality clothing from Get Smart II, a company run by Lady Caroline Renwick.  A number of ladies from the village has been roped in to help with the modeling and I understand that many of them, and the audience for that matter, were rather taken by what they were given to show off.

Then on Saturday night the Hall was filled again, this time for the Music Night in aid of the Town Hall itself.  People were treated to an amazing variety of types and styles of music ranging from the Celtic harp to a jazzy saxophone quartet.  The whole evening seemed nicely balanced and the audience was treated again to an amazing array of talent. As I have said before, raising money is only one element of these evenings, giving people a good night out and an opportunity to have a bit crack with friends and neighbours at least as important.  Having said that, £470 was raised for the Town Hall, which is a pretty good result.  Thanks go to all the musicians who gave their time freely, to a wonderful audience and especially to Stephen Fry for doing most of the organizing.

The fishing season came to a bit of an abrupt end last weekend.  The heavy train on Friday evening meant that the water level was rather high on Saturday and that the water colour was very brown, making fishing on the last day a bit of a no-no. As an onlooker I find it difficult to gauge how people have done this year, but the impression is that it’s been a bit mixed, with some very good days interspersed with long periods of little activity.  Anyway, end of one activity and we move immediately on to the next: the Tyne tour, the big canoeing weekend will be with us this weekend, which bring a completely different type of life to the North Tyne.

I don’t often put mention anniversaries or birthdays in this column, but I’ll make an exception this week form Mrs Babs Pattinson, who celebrated her birthday this week.  Although she is now well looked after in Hexham, I know she keeps in touch with life in Wark through both friends and through these notes.  We hope she had a happy birthday.

I mentioned the Wark First School Christmas Fayre last week, so you’ll remember its being held on Thursday 19 November between 3.30 and 7.30 p.m.  A complete list of  businesses with stalls is now of the Wark website (www.wark.org.uk) so you can check out in advance just what an amazing variety of things there will be to see.

Finally a mention to the activities organized by Tynedale Women’s Access, which have started again on Mondays.  For the next 5 weeks they’ll be doing Christmas activities, including cards and fondant icing.  Also started again is the Thursday evening yoga sessions, which also go on for 5 weeks.