The Village of Wark

Archive for February, 2011

As many of you are aware, the road round the Green has been pretty badly potholed for some while. People do repair jobs on it but those repairs don’t seem to last. The Parish Council working with the people living around the Green has now taken the initiative to scare off much of the stone that’s there now and to relay a new layer of whinstone. The whole thing will be topped off with a layer of whin dust which should bind the top and protect the surface. By the time you read this most of that work should have been done and the road should be in a decent state for a number of years. Just in time for the work on the bridge starting!

We’re having a spate of Bingos in the Town Hall these few weeks. Last week saw the Town Hall bingo that was postponed from before Christmas. It raised a amazing £520 for Town Hall funds. Prizes for these things come from a large number of individuals and businesses and of course, the organisers are very thankful for them all, but I have been asked to especially mention all the shops and pubs in the villages, the Coop, Ringtons, M&S, Tesco and Egger in Hexham, and SCA in Prudhoe. The next bingo is in aid of the school and will take place on Tuesday 1 March. The following week, on Tuesday 8^{th March the Town Hall will host the bingo in aid of St Michael’s Church. Both those bingos start at 7.30pm and you’d be very welcome at both of them.}

The Town Hall will host a Northumbrian Folk Music night featuring Clockwork, Jessica Lamb and friends on Saturday 5 March 2011. We are very lucky in this part of the world that so many young people play traditional music and it’s exciting to have a music evening devoted to these young performers. Tickets for the evening are £5 and £4 for concessions. There will be a bar and a shared supper and tickets are available from Judith Weir on (01434) 230250 or Peter Samsom on (01434) 230605. The evening starts at 7.30 p.m.

I note from the school newsletter that Thursday 3rd March is World Book Day and that the children have been invited to come dressed up as their favourite book character. There will also be book related activities throughout the day and parents have been invited to come in and read a favourite children’s book to the pupils. It you’re interested in doing this, please contact the school as soon as possible.

While many eyes were on events in another North African country, Wark School featured in a Libyan National Newspaper last week. Although the article didn’t quite knock neighbouring Mubarak’s downfall from the headlines, the school got quite a lot of column inches and photos covering a visit to the school by a group of Libyan teachers last Summer. A single copy of the newspaper is available at the school if anyone is interested to look at it– or wants to brush up on their Arabic!’

You may have noticed that a newsletter regarding the impending bridge works has appeared in the Post Office.  It confirms that the proposed start date for the work in 28 February, but stresses that this timescale is subject to weather, river levels, and delivery of steelwork and deck plates. Quite a few things that could delay the works, then!  There’s more text in the newsletter that I could reproduce here, but ‘highlights’ are confirmation of the idea of having certain times in the day that the bridge will be open to pedestrians and a request to restrict parking on the south side of the road approaching the bridge through the village.  Wark wouldn’t be Wark if these hadn’t  provoked a lot of comment.  I’m told that there’s another Bridge Liaison meeting happening in the next few days, so watch this space!

The Town Hall will host a traditional music night featuring a range of young talent from West Northumberland on Saturday 5 March 2011. The stage will be shared by Jessica Lamb from Bellingham, Clockwork, a folk band from Hexham and two students for the Queen Elizabeth High School, also from Hexham. Further details will follow next week.

The village was plunged in darkness last Friday when the power went off in the high winds. We’re still quite accustomed to the odd powercut although the situation has been much improved over recent years. This one was a big one though. The shops closed and the streetlights didn’t come on at the end of the day, houses were illuminated by candlelight and people made do with making a cup of tea on camping stoves. And once the lights come back on again, it’s interesting to see where they didn’t get switched off: the windows of the butchers were illuminated all night and the lights in the Town Hall stayed on for some considerable time.

The bridge liaison committee met at the end of January and discussed the timetable for the impending work. I understand that the expectation is that work will start in earnest at the end of this month. For a while walkers will still use the current deck of the bridge to walk across but eventually a parallel walkway will be constructed. There is also going to be a schedule of times when you’ll be able to do so, which means you’ll not be able to walk across the bridge at every hour of the day. I hope to be given the schedule in good time so that we can publish it well in advance of it taking effect. It would be quite difficult to be stuck at the wrong side of the bridge with just your legs to carry you!

The Highlights performance by Kate Fox, Julie Matthews and Ruth Notman brought a diverse crowd to the hall on the 29^{th of January. People travel from all over Northumberland to these gigs and judging by the comments that Judith gathers in the comments book, they are greatly appreciated. The first half of the evening was filled with a variety of pieces with Kate Fox’ poems, for me at least, being the highlight. After the break the trio performed songs and poems for their collaborative piece’ All Along the Wall’ which they created with a number of others in 2010. The whole thing is very difficult to capture: it takes inspiration from both history and today, ranging from the Romans to the Border Reivers and the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease, now ten years ago. Touching and funny, thought-provoking and clever. All in all another great night. In the process the Town Hall raised £120 for its own funds, which isn’t bad either.}

Finally a quick reminder of the PTA jumble sale in the Town Hall this weekend, on Saturday the 12th. You’ll remember that they are currently raising funds for some new equipment in the school playground. The jumbles sale opens at 2 p.m.

?