www.regmeuross.com .

Today, Friday 30th March is the day children from Wark School break up for the Easter holidays and you could still join them for their Easter service at St Michael’s at 2.30pm. It’s probably worth keeping an eye out for them as they walk up to the church before then, as they’ve been encouraged to bring spring-themed Easter bonnets which they’ll be wearing on the way up.

With the Northern Cross pilgrims staying in the Hall on Monday and it being Easter Monday the week after, the Wark History Group have decided to cancel their April meeting. Details of a May meeting are still being developed and we’ll let you know about those in due course.

The Parish Council last week heard from the organizers of the survey into play provision in the parish and I understand there was quite a positive outcome of the meeting. The parents who’ve been looking into this will be working with the Sports Club to revamp and possibly extend the current play area there, while the Parish Council will investigate the possibility of having a safe walking route from the bridge to the sports club on the other side of the bridge.

Finally a quick mention of a couple of AGMs coming up. The Town Hall will be having its AGM on Monday 16 April while the Sports Club is having its AGM the following week, on Tuesday 24 April. The Town Hall AGM starts at 7.30pm and the Sports Club at 8.

I’ve had a special request to thank all of you who supported the coffee afternoon a couple of weeks ago in support of the Let’s Get Cooking initiative at the school. The event raised £115 which will help cover the cost of this project which give kids the opportunity to develop some cookery skills. It was a great event and the children enjoyed selling their scones and bread and making the biscuits to go with the teas and coffees.

Finally the last call for the gig by Reg Meuross and Bethany Porter at the Town Hall tomorrow, Saturday 24 March 2012. The show is called ‘Songs about Tom, Dick and Harry’ and is part of the Highlight Rural Touring Programme. Reg and Bethany will perform a range of original songs about luminaries such as the poet Thomas Chatterton, Dick Turpin and Harry Farr, the 1st World War soldier, shot by his comrades for ‘cowardice’. Tickets for this show are available from Judith Weir on (01434) 230250 and on the door. You can also expect a bar and the usual raffle. The show starts at 7.30pm.

The Murder Mystery in the Town Hall last Saturday was set in Casablanca in the early 1940s just before the Germans overran that Moroccan city. The plot revolved round the murder of an airline pilot who was supposed to fly the last plane out and involved multiple spies. The people there questioned the suspects and scratched their heads but in the end no one really worked out what was going on. So the murderer got away with it. The Snod’s Edge Players did themselves proud and a great evening was had by all.

This afternoon, Friday 16^{th of March, you’ll have an opportunity to join the Mothers Day Service in Wark First School. The service starts at 2.30pm and everyone is welcome, not just mothers.}

On Saturday the 17th March you’ll have an opportunity to join ‘Once and For All’, an evening with singer Gareth Davies-Jones. There will be refreshments available on the night and although the event is free, there will be an opportunity to give a donation. Please let Sally Napier or Jane Abrams know if you plan to come. The event takes place in the Town Hall.

Then, again in the hall, St. Michael’s Church will be holding their annual prize bingo in the Town Hall on Tuesday 20 March 2012. The bingo starts at 7.30pm and all are welcome.

On Saturday the 24th of March the Town Hall will host another Highlights event with Reg Meuross and cellist Bethany Porter. They are performing a show called ‘Songs about Tom, Dick and Harry’. Tickets for this show are available from Judith Weir on (01434) 230250.

Finally, you’ll have noticed that the Town Hall is featured regularly in these dispatches. If you haven’t been in recently, you really need to call in sometime soon to see the transformation of the meeting room at the front of the building. This is the last of the rooms that needed to be restored and I’m pleased to be able to report that this is now complete. The walls and the coving have been repaired, the whole thing has been beautifully painted and last week the carpet was fitted. All in all we’ve ended up with a community facility we can be truly proud of.

There’s plenty of interesting stuff happening before then. First there’s the murder mystery evening with the Snod’s Edge Players also at the hall this Saturday, 10 March. ‘Murder in Morocco’ promises to test your thinking and deduction skills and you’ll have a great night out. There will be a shared supper, the evening will start at 7 for 7.30 p.m. and tickets cost £5. They are available from the Town Hall secretary on (01434) 230250.

Then on Saturday the 17^{th, again at the hall, you’ll have an opportunity to join ‘Once and For All’, an evening with singer Gareth Davies-Jones. This exciting multi media event shows what the world looks like through the eyes of the poorest people, and what each of us can do to help those in poverty out of poverty. Using powerful personal stories, stunning images and beautiful, original songs Once and for All reveals how we can all help bring hope to those crippled by poverty all over the world. There will be refreshments available on the night and although the event is free, there will be an opportunity to give a donation. Could you please RSVP to}

Jane Abrams on (01434) 230393 or Sally Napier on (01434) 230223?

Then on Saturday the 24th of March the Town Hall will see the welcome return of Reg Meuross in the Highlights Touring Scheme. This time Reg will be joined on stage by the superbly talented Bethany Porter on cello in a show called ‘Songs about Tom, Dick and Harry’. The show consists of original songs about luminaries such as the poet Thomas Chatterton, Dick Turpin and Harry Farr, the 1st World War soldier, shot by his comrades for ‘cowardice’. Tickets for this show are available from the Town hall Secretary on (01434) 230250.

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We’ve got a lot of news from the school this week.  First an update on the money raised at the jumble sale.  It managed to raise and excellent £420 for the school and a huge ‘tahank-you’ goes to staff and parents who gave up so much of their time to organise this event.

You might spot a lot of outdoor activity in the school grounds this afternoon, Friday 2 March. The children with some adult help will be planting a load of willows which eventually will grow into a living willow sculpture.  Money for this project has come from a grant from Johnson Controls, a company which one of the parents works for.

Next week looks like being a busy one in the school with a range of different activities outside school hours as well as all the stuff that goes on during the school day itself.  First, there’s the annual bingo in the Town hall, organized by the Friends of Wark School starting at 7.30 p.m. Then children from Year 3 have been invited to take part in an inter-schools tournament at Haydon Bridge High School on Wednesday afternoon.   And finally the school is holding an afternoon tea to celebrate and raise funds for Let’s Get Cooking. The produce will contain Fair-trade ingredients to raise awareness of the forthcoming Fair-trade Fortnight, which we’re right in the middle of.  You’d be very welcome to join both the bingo and the afternoon tea.

In other news the Town Hall will be hosting another murder mystery night by the Snods Edge players on Saturday 10 March 2012 in a piece called ‘Murder in Morocco’.  I’ve been to a few of these and I don’t think I’ve ever managed to work out just what was going on!  There will be a shared supper, the evening will start at 7 for 7.30 p.m. and tickets cost £5. They are available from the Town Hall secretary on (01434) 230250.

Finally, the Wark History Group will meet on Monday 5 March when Phil Wanless will take a historical look at courts and the law in a talk called ‘Justice in Wark’. The history group starts at 7.30p.m. and non-members are very welcome.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, a Zumba class for children is about the start. Shelley, who has been teaching Zumba to adults for a while now, has branched out and is doing sessions for 7 to 13 year olds. Zumba- Atomic starts on Thursday 1 March and sessions run between 6 and 6.40pm. Classes cost £3 per session.

Finally a quick mention of the bingo by the Friends of Wark First School. This annual event will take place in the Town Hall on Tuesday 6 March 2012 and it starts at 7.30pm.

info@northtyneplan.org.uk. You have to get your views in by 24 February 2012. Next the Steering Group will be looking at the responses, then options will be developed on which you will be consulted again in the summer. From those options and the consultation a draft Neighbourhood Pan will be developed.

I’ve been asked to give you advance warning of further work on the chestnut tree on the Green. The Parish Council is about to commission some more work which will result in about 25% of branches being removed. If I remember rightly the tree was originally planted to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1891. They are supposed to live for about 100 -150 years so at well over 100 years old it is definitely in its old age. Perhaps the Diamond Jubilee Committee should consider planting another tree on the Green this year, which could be its eventual replacement.

As you’d expect Wark Parish Council is closely involved in the Neighbourhood Plan and also has to take the decisions about the chestnut tree. The existing Parish Councillors are very keen to talk to anyone who might be interested in joining as there is a vacancy to fill. Initially this would only be for about a year as we’ll be having Parish Council elections in 2013.

A new line dancing class is starting in Stonehaugh this Sunday. The sessions starts at 1p.m., last for three hours and cost just £3, which is clearly a bargain. As it’s quite a long session there will be refreshments available. For more information you can contact Ann Hutchinson on (01434) 230680.

If you’re reading this on Friday you can still make it to the quiz night at Birtley Village Hall on Friday evening. The £5 entry will buy your supper as well as the quiz itself. The quiz night has a 7.30 for 8pm start.

The School Jumble Sale last Saturday seems to have been quite a lively affair.  It looked very well attended.  I’ll let you know how much was raised when I get the information.

You’ll remember that the next meeting of the Wark Local History Group is this coming Monday, 13 February in the Town Hall. The speaker will be Dr Ian Roberts who will talk about the Hareshaw Ironworks. The talk will start at 7.30pm.

I’ve been asked to let you know that Birtley Village Hall is holding a quiz night on Friday 17 February. The Birtley Quiz Nights are always fun to attend and I’m sure this one will give you a great evening out.  The £5 entry will give you not just the quiz, but also supper.  There will be a raffle- as you’d expect- and some fun prizes.  The quiz night has a 7.30 for 8pm start.

Finally an early warning for some longer term dates for your diary. There will be a murder mystery evening  on 10 March: entitled Murder in Morocco. Then on Saturday 17 March there will be a Christian Aid event called ‘Once for All’ with singer Gareth Davies-Jones. The evening will also give you a chance to see how your donations to Christian Aid are being used.  I also understand that a Zumba class for youngsters between 7 and 13 is starting in early March, again, details to follow.

 The Senior Citizens Meal a week or two ago went very well and people seemed to have had a very enjoyable evening. John Cooper has asked me to let you know just how great it was to have so much help with the planning and preparation and especially with the work on the day. He told me he had an excellent team of young people helping serve the meal.  Financial support for the meal came from the Giles Heron Trsut, Wark Parish Council and both the Angling Club and the Leek Club.  Staff at the Battlesteads helped with the preparation and cooking of most of the meal and thanks go to all of you who helped in one way or other.  It’s great to see this village tradition revived and I’m pleased to be able to report that this year’s organisers intend to meet shortly to start planning the next one for December of this year or for January 2013.

While we’re on the subject of meals, I’ve been asked to let you know that the second sitting for the Wark Charity Lunch on Wednesday May the 9th is already sold out but that tickets are still available for the first one which starts at 11.30.  Tickets are £14 and this year’s proceeds will go to The Northern Brainwave Appeal which raises funds for the Regional Neurosciences Centre’s High Dependency Unit which cares for patients who are severally ill through head injury including following stroke and neurosurgery. The Unit cares for patients from all over the North of England.  You can get tickets by contacting Judith Weir on (01434) 230250.

The next meeting of the Wark Local History Group is on Monday 13 February in the Town Hall and the speaker will be Dr Ian Roberts who will talk about the Iron Works in the North Tyne.  This date is a week later than usual.  The talk will start at 7.30pm.

 Finally a reminder of the event taking place at Wark Town Hall on Monday 6 February between 6 and 9 pm.   to start developing a neighbourhood plan (www.northtyneplan.org.uk) for the area covered by Wark, Bellingham and Tarset with Greystead Parish. The event provides an opportunity for people to come along to say what they think is good about their area and what they think can be improved.  People can just drop in for as long or as little as they want, it’s informal and refreshments will be provided.    

While we’re on the subject of meals, I’ve been asked to let you know that the second sitting for the Wark Charity Lunch on Wednesday May the 9th is already sold out but that tickets are still available for the first one which starts at 11.30.  Tickets are £14 and this year’s proceeds will go to The Northern Brainwave Appeal which raises funds for the Regional Neurosciences Centre’s High Dependency Unit which cares for patients who are severally ill through head injury including following stroke and neurosurgery. The Unit cares for patients from all over the North of England.  You can get tickets by contacting Judith Weir on (01434) 230250.

The next meeting of the Wark Local History Group is on Monday 13 February in the Town Hall and the speaker will be Dr Ian Roberts who will talk about the Iron Works in the North Tyne.  This date is a week later than usual.  The talk will start at 7.30pm.

 Finally a reminder of the event taking place at Wark Town Hall on Monday 6 February between 6 and 9 pm.   to start developing a neighbourhood plan (www.northtyneplan.org.uk) for the area covered by Wark, Bellingham and Tarset with Greystead Parish. The event provides an opportunity for people to come along to say what they think is good about their area and what they think can be improved.  People can just drop in for as long or as little as they want, it’s informal and refreshments will be provided.