The Village of Wark

Archive for the ‘Wark Notes’ Category

According to the guys who brought the classic military vehicles to the VE Day last weekend, ours was the only village in Northumberland marking the day in any way.  That alone would be something to be proud of, but there was very much more than that. Whether it was the contributions from the children in the school, the wonderful display in the Town Hall, the great tea or the excellent dance in the evening, they were all memorable and worth remembering for many years.  I was particularly struck by the personal things that people generously lent out for the exhibition, photographs, uniforms, very small items like a tiny spoon with the image of the Dutch queen, or food coupons; all contributed to a very touching and personal way of marking 65 years since the end of World War II. The dance in the evening brought together about 70 people.  I was really interested to see the great age range and the tremendous lengths people had gone to to look the part.  The music was brilliant, the dancing entertaining and a good night was had by all. Days like that don’t happen without a huge number of people playing their part and it is just about impossible to thank everyone who’s made a contribution, in the months of preparation, by providing memories, mementos or exhibits from the war, by providing food on the day, giving of their time on the day, donations for prizes, sorting out the evening entertainment, providing dancing tuition or making the Green car-free on the day. They all played an important part and deserve heartfelt thanks.  Like last year, there were quite a few people taking pictures and I dare say they will become available before too long.

You will remember that I mentioned the book sale in St Michael’s Church last week.  I bumped into the Rev. Michael Thompson at the weekend and he told me that the sale raised over £800 for church funds, a tremendous achievement.

And finally, this week the Hall will be filled to the gunnels, not once but twice on one day. Yes, it’s the day of our annual Charity Lunch.  Booked up weeks ago and looked forward to by many, many people. Another event that depends on many people working together and requiring lots of planning. Look out for the full report next week.

.

Well, this weekend see another big history event with the celebrations of the 65^th anniversary of VE Day.  Members of the Wark Local History Group have been preparing for months, going through various ups and downs, but here we are, ready to roll.  I’ve been asked to point out that, contrary to what was published last week, you’re asked to bring a contribution to the Victory Tea on the Green.  It is also worth reminding you that there are competitions for ‘Best dressed family’ and ‘Best Dad’s army lookalike’ and a tug of war competition, all happening after 3 o’clock on the Green.  It’s not too late to get tickets for the dance in the Town Hall in the evening.  You can get them on the door at £3.50 each.

About 50 people were treated to an absolutely wonderful event at the Town Hall last week, when Hugh Lupton and Chris Wood brought their ‘On Common Ground’ to the village as part of the Highlights programme.  ‘On Common Ground’ tells the story of the poet John Clare, who lived through a wholesale change of the English landscape, in the first half of the 19^th century when the area that he lived and grew up in, Helpston between Peterborough and Stamford, was enclosed. What the performance brought out more than anything else, was that for Clare, the land and the landscape were part of his being, so that, when that all changed , he lost himself.  The CD that goes with the performance (as is customary on these occasions) says: “This is a performance that explores the porous boundaries between language and place, madness and exile, love and loss.”  If you ever get the chance to go and see, and especially hear the performance, do so.  It’s brilliant.

Word has reached me that 4 people from the village will be doing an epic sponsored walk at the end of the month.  Robert Baty, Mary Robinson. Jim and Linda Famelton will join another 4 from Bellingham and walk from Carter Bar to the Anchor at Kielder in aid of the Northumberland Air Ambulance on May the 30^th.  You can find sponsorship forms in the butcher’s or at the post office and support this very good cause.

At the time of writing, there is still a full day to go at the Big Book sale at St. Michael’s Church.  I found some gems when I called in earlier and I understand that a fair number of people came through the doors on Saturday.  I dare say I’ll find out later this week how much was raised over the three days and will report in due course.  It’s worth mentioning that many people contributed to its success, ranging from people donating books, making biscuits, cakes and preserves to sell or doing a stint in church.  Special thanks go to John and Cyril Cooper who have been responsible for getting all the books together and sorted.

.

Those of you who have been reading these ‘Notes’ for a while, will know that I, like many in the area, keep an eye on the returning of particular birds on our patch.  After a long winter the singing of a blackbird can help lift the spirit.  One of the birds that I always look (or listen) out for is the curlew.  I’m pleased to be able to report that I heard my first one on the 16^th.  This is a bit later than normal, but only by a day or two.  In the mean time kingfishers have also been spotted on the river and I also spotted a yellowhammer singing away near Blindburn last weekend.  Is spring on its way?

In news from Wark First School, I’ve been told that all parents, family and friends have been invited to attend a musical fundraising afternoon on the last day of term, Thursday 1^st April from 2pm until 3pm organised by the children to raise money for the Haiti disaster. This will be an afternoon of music and song with whole school, group and solo performances. Entry fee will be £1 and refreshments, cakes, biscuits (made by the children), tea and coffee will be available. The school newsletter had a reply slip attached which you should complete and return if you can.  If you don’t get the school newsletter, I’m sure you’d still be welcome, but please let the school know that you’re coming.

Also in the school, Miss Coulthard is needing plastic bottles, any size, but especially 1 litre. I think the idea is to create a plastic bottle greenhouse for the new school allotment.  You can send these bottles into school at any time.

You’ll have spotted the article in last week’s Courant about the bridge and the assurance from the County Council that there are no plans at the moment to close it to traffic.  One thing you might have missed it that someone set up a Facebook page to save the bridge which achived a fantastic following in a very short time.  Within just a few hours there were more than 100 people who’d signed up and the number linked to it last Sunday was more than 470.  That’s a great achievement. 

If you get to read this column on Friday (or even on Thursday night) you might still get yourself to Stonehaugh fro the official opening of the new Community Hall on 26^th March 2010.  The official ribbon cutting will be done by Kathryn Tickell at 2 p.m. and the Community Hall will be open all afternoon for anyone to come and have a look at.  The celebrations will continue with an evening of music with Landermason.

The rain last Saturday showed up a number of places where water was coming into the Town Hall.  The theft of the lead flashing had made this almost inevitable.  I’m pleased to be able to report that the two quotes for the repair have been submitted to the insurance company and the Town Hall Committee hopes to be able to get on with the work sooner rather than later.

Word has reached me that a petition is underway in Wark and surrounding villages to try and get the powers that be to take notice of the tragic state of the bridge over the Tyne.  Last Friday night both our County Councillor Edward Heslop and the Conservative Parliamentary candidate Guy Opperman attended a meeting in the Grey Bull initiated by George Tait. You can find copies of the petition in various locations round the village, so please add your signature it.  We’ve got to keep trying to get the bridge repaired or replaced.

Some 50 people came together in the Town Hall last week to celebrate the 90^th anniversary of the Wark branch of the Women’s Institute.  There was an evening of entertainment by Eddie Milligan, Mike Tickell and one or two others.  Mike used an old WI cookbook as the inspiration for one of this pieces which was a very nice touch.  There was a wide range of old programmes of WI events on show, including one of the very first year of the Wark branch, 1920. The birthday cake was cut by the oldest serving members present, Stella Robson and Norma Coulson.  Both started their WI careers in other branches in the area but are now members at Wark.  There is one older current member, but unfortunately Mrs. Babs Pattison can no longer attend the meetings although she remains a member.

Preparations are now well underway for the next big event organized by the Wark Local History Group.  You’ll remember the tremendous success of the Yesteryears event in June last year and this year the group will be holding VE Day Celebrations on Saturday the 8^th of May.  You’ll have had a flyer through the door a few weeks back encouraging you to contact the organizers with any war time stories, any artifacts you might be willing to show and anything else relation to World War II which you think might be of interest.  The group is particularly keen to find out if anyone has pictures of the original 1945 celebrations on the Green.  There are a couple of pictures in the collection that the history group scanned a few years ago, but there might well be more.  You can contact Fransje Samsom, Philip Wanless, Ged Short or any other members of the Local History Group

Monica Munzinger of the Building Research Establishment (BRE) visited the Sports Club recently to have a look at how they have managed their renewable energy installations and how it is all working.  I understand from Philip Wanless that she is likely to use the club as a case study showing best practice in this type of work, which would be a very nice bit of recognition.

I mentioned the official opening of the new Community Hall in Stonehaugh a few weeks ago, well, that opening is now fairly imminent. The date set for this event is Friday 26^th March 2010 starting at about 1.30 p.m.  The official ribbon cutting will be done by Kathryn Tickell at 2 p.m. and the Community Hall will be open all afternoon for anyone to come and have a look at.  The celebrations will continue with an evening of music with Landermason.

Joseph Oliver and Friends played for hours on Saturday night entertaining a group of people just large enough to fill the Hall with dancers.  With accordion, fiddle, keyboard and drums they played a mixture of ballroom-type dances and ceilidh and with help of some able dancers just about everyone had a go.  As always the shared supper worked a treat. It is quite amazing that you can feed a Hall full of people when everyone brings something and even more amazing to think that the balance of different foods is almost always about right.  I understand that the evening just about broke even and that everyone had a great night out.

The Friends of Wark First School are planning their annual Bingo fundraising night for Tuesday 2nd March and a call has gone out to see if you can help provide suitable items as Bingo prizes. They need about 30 prizes to hold this event.  Chocolates, bottles, gift sets or anything else you think is suitable would be appreciated. The Friends of Wark First School would be grateful if you could drop off any prizes at the school as soon after half-term as possible.

I’m sure you’ve remembered that it is the Table Top Sale at the Town Hall on Saturday 20^th of February. The sale will start at 1 p.m. with sellers being able to set up from 12 noon.  You might still be able to book a table by contacting Judith Weir (01434- 230250), otherwise, do come and have a browse to see what’s on offer.  Entry is just 50p per person and that includes a cup of tea.

Finally, a reminder for the play by the Northumberland Theatre Company on Saturday 27^th February 2010 again in the Town hall.  They are bringing us ‘A Village Life’.  Based on a wide range of conversations that the writer, Mary Cooper had with people for different rural areas, including Wark, the play explores modern village life in rural Northumberland.  It’s a comedy so expect a laugh, by I suspect it will be quite recognizable.  Tickets for the play are £8 and £5 for concessions and are also available from Judith on the telephone number above.

You may not be surprised to hear that the Charity Lunch for 2010 is already in preparation and I am sad to say that the second sitting is already fully booked all on word of mouth! This year the Charity Lunch will be on Wednesday May 12^th and it clearly promises to be a sell out again.  Between the two sittings, the first one between 11.30 and 1 p.m. , the second one starting at 1.30, 200 people are catered for by an extensive band of volunteers.  The Charity Lunch is coming of age this year, its 21^st birthday and a phenomenal amount of money has been raised over those years.  It started with £722 for Hexham Hospital in 1990 and last year more than £3500 was raised for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.  All in all nearly £43000 has been raised in the past 20 years.  This year’s good cause is Tynedale Hospice at Home and I’m sure people will dig deep for such an important charity.  If you want a place at the first sitting you’d better be quick.  You can book by contacting Annm Bell on (01434) 230259.

Wark History Group had a visit from our neighbours from Chollerton Parish last week.  The Chollerton Parish History Society has carried out a village atlas project and brought their display and a talk to our village.  It was fascinating to see both the differences and the similarities between two areas so close together.  The area around Barrasford Quarry seems to be littered with very early pre-historic sites, which aren’t anywhere near as common in Wark Parish (or maybe they’re just not known about).  The field patterns around Barrasford also clearly still show small cow pastures, areas where smallholders would be able to graze their cow and perhaps a few sheep.  You can see the same near Birtley, but I have never heard about such small fields near Wark.   All very fascinating.

There was a bit of a ‘to-do’ on the bridge in the night between Friday and Saturday last weekend, when someone managed to get their car wedged between the bollards on the bridge.  The driving must have been ‘particularly interesting’ because normally you wouldn’t want to try something like that!

It is not too late to book a table for the Table Top Sale at the Town Hall next weekend, Saturday 20^th of February. The sale will start at 1 p.m. with sellers being able to set up from 12 noon.  You can book a table by contacting Judith Weir (01434- 230250).

And finally a reminder for the dance with live music from Joseph Oliver and friends,  this Saturday, 13 February.  Tickets cost £5 and you’re asked to bring something for  a shared supper.  There will also be a bar of course.  The dance starts at 8.00 p.m.

Last Saturday night the Hall was just about filled to capacity for an evening to celebrate the individual effort of people supporting the British Legion in our area.  People who have been involved in the Poppy Appeals in the area between Humshaugh and Kielder were given awards, medals and commendations by the Duchess of Northumberland, who is this year’s Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland.  It was wonderful to see this tremendous effort being recognized by such a large group of people.  The awards ranged from commendations to the First Schools of Wark, Humshaugh and Chollerton, to awards for almost incredible 50 and even 60 years’ service!  One of the members of the audience was Mr. Jeff Lodge MBE, one of the Trustees of the British Legion, who told me that he had only once before seen 60 years’ service recognized.  He also explained that the Poppy Appeal had already raised £30million since November 2009.  That seems a very large amount of money, but it compares with the £100 million that the British Legion spends every year on welfare.  After the awards Mrs. Liesbeth Langford from Humshaugh gave a very moving talk about her experiences as a young girl in occupied Holland in the Second World War.  Mrs. Langford talked about the everyday difficulties and especially about the ever present dangers from the occupying Germans.  Mrs. Langford’s talk was very much appreciated by the audience.  The evening was rounded off by cheese and wine and music from Mike and Di Gibson and Stephen Fry.

Word has reached me that the new Stonehaugh Community Hall will be hosting taster sessions of a couple of activities in the next few weeks.  On the morning of Tuesday 9^th February Chris Blain will give you a flavour of Tai Chi.  That session is between 10 and 12 noon.  Then on Tuesday the 16^th of February you’ll have a chance to have a go at fitness training with John Familton.  The fitness takes place between 7 and 9 p.m.  Anyone interested can contact Alison Dennis on (01434) 230431 or Ann Bulman on (01434) 230624.

I told you last week about a number of things coming up in the Town Hall.  On Saturday February 13^th, Joseph Oliver and friends will play at the Town Hall for a dance.  I understand that Joseph is the grandson of the ‘Cowan’ part of the Kirkcowan Sound and is a very accomplished traditional dance musician. Tickets are only £5 and you’re asked to bring something for a shared supper. 

With regard to the Table Top Sale in the Town hall on the weekend after, the 20^th of February, I failed to mention that the sale will start at 1 p.m. with sellers being able to set up from 12 noon.  That failure to mention the time, hasn’t stopped people starting to book tables though; I understand from Judith that they are going well.  Those tables are £6 each and you can book them through Judith Weir (01434- 230250).

You might remember that I mentioned the vacancy on Wark Parish Council before Christmas.  This vacancy had arisen because Craig Moore and his family moved to Hexham last year and Craig resigned his seat.  When the Parish Council met last Monday it appeared that just one person had put themselves forward to join the Parish Council and Margit Stoksted was duly co-opted onto the group. 

The Mid Tyne Business Forum also met last week and elected a committee to run its affairs.  The Business Forum has been created to encourage like-minded business owners to meet regularly and to share ideas and experiences.  The group intends to hold Forum meetings every quarter with the next one being in Wall in March.  At these Forum meetings there will generally be one or two speakers.  In addition they will hold networking events at local cafes and tearooms around the area.

The Town Hall is heading for a busy February.  Next Monday, February 1^st, Wark History Group will have a speaker from the Chollerton Parish history Society to talk about the history of Barrasford and Gunnerton.  There will be refreshments and tickets are £2.

Then on Saturday February 13^th, Joseph Oliver and friends will play at the Town Hall for a dance.  Tickets are only £5 and you’re asked to bring something for a shared supper.  On the weekend after, the 20^th, the Hall will host a table top sale, which always proves to be very popular.  Tables are £6 each and you can book them through Judith Weir (01434- 230250). A great chance to try to turn some of you unwanted stuff into cash.

Then right at the end of the month, on Saturday 27^th of February, the Northumberland Theatre Company will bring their play ‘A Village Life’.  You might remember that the writer Mary Cooper came to our Friday Coffee Morning some months back to talk to people about village life and those conversations (and many others in other locations) have now culminated in this play. Tickets for the play are £8 and £5 for concessions and are also available from Judith.

Thankfully, much of the snow and ice seems to have disappeared for the moment at least, although there are some treacherous patches still in odd corners.  What all this snowmelt has revealed is just how shockingly back all this stuff for our roads and pavements.  Never perfect at the best of times, we seem to have acquired a complete new series of potholes and broken up bits of tarmac.  One of the most intriguing is the pronounced hump that has appears at the village end of the bridge.  From a distance it looks a bit like a small speed hump, just at the point where the access onto the bridge has been narrowed.

One of the more positive things to appear from under the snow, is some early signs of approaching spring.  I know there could be much more winter weather under way, but I can’t help being cheered up by the first signs of snowdrops.  You may well tell you that you’ve seen snowdrops out in various places, but along the riverside I noticed some where the white of the flowers is just showing.

On a more mundane note, I can let you know that the Mid Tyne Community trust will be holding its AGM in the Town Hall on Thursday 28^th of January starting at 7.30 p.m. Issues on the agenda include ‘Becoming the Community Forum for the Mid Tyne area’, there will be a report from the Mid Tyne Business Forum and talks from our own Philip Wanless and Colin Earnshaw of the Northumberland national Park Authority about renewable energy and sustainable energy.  Anyone living or working in the Mid Tyne area can be involved in the Trust, so you will be most welcome at the AGM.

Those of you who made it to John Kirkpatrick’s performance before Christmas, would probably agree with me that Carolling and Crumpets was a real treat. What you might not have realized that we were very lucky to have been early in the series of concerts in the North of England: I understand the performance at Haydon Bridge on the following Saturday was cancelled because John wasn’t well enough to perform. At the Wark preformance the Hall was well filled and people were in pretty good voice, joining in with the choruses from the very start. Mr Kirkpatrick is clearly a very accomplished concertina and accordion player, but his lyrics are pretty special too. There were great wassailing songs from Shropshire and Gloucestershire as well as more well know traditional carols such as the Boar’s Head Carol and the Holly and the Ivy. All in all another fantastic evening of traditional music, thanks to the wonderful Highlights programme.