Glendale Live January-February 2021

Contents 3 6 7 9 10 11 15 19 20 22 23 29 35 37 39

Preserving the past in Glanton Wooler Common faces bird feeding problem Bid to help refugees Exploring new paths Book Boxes launched Life of a campaigner Wooler Parish Council News catch-up What’s on Arts project planned Taking on the world A Glendale Life - Yvette Hope News catch-up Praise for Glendale Pete Loam

Thanks to Patrick Sheard for our cover Photograph this month.

If you have a photograph you think would make us a cover picture, please send it as a jpeg to editor.glendalelive@gmail.com

Who would have thought that there would come a time when the thing most of us would be looking forward to was having a needle stuck in our arm.

Covid-19 definitely feels like a guest who has more than out-stayed their welcome.

Communities in the villages throughout Glendale have done a brilliant job in supporting each other and generally keeping life ticking over, but everyone will welcome the return of a little freedom.

Meanwhile, we bring you a variety of distractions in this issue of Glendale Live to help while away January and February.

That’s not to say we won’t carry with us forever some of the behaviours we’ve learnt during the year no more laughing at masks, perhaps fewer hugs for all and sundry and still carrying hand sanitizer.

Maybe by March we will be able to start expanding the What’s On section again - now that would really show that we’re all back on the road to normality again.

or the edit

Hopefully by spring, we’ll start getting our social lives back!

Next editorial deadline January 31 - editor.glendalelive@gmail.com Next ‘what’s on’ deadline Feb 7 - whatson.glendalelive@gmail.com To book advertisements - advertising.glendalelive@gmail.com Facebook - Glendale Live

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Glanton points the way to protecting our heritage Susan Coulson finds out how Glanton is keeping its vintage look with a little help from the local Heritage Group.

Ten years ago, Sue Rogers chanced to look inside the red telephone box in the centre of Glanton and discovered that BT planned to remove it.

phone box adopted by the parish and restored it themselves. This action sowed the seeds of what became the Glanton Heritage Group.

Sue, now chair of Glanton Heritage Group, says rescuing the phone box sparked her interested in the history of the village and eventually led to the current signpost restoration project.

Galvanised into action, Sue and a handful of local residents got the

In the eighteenth century, Glanton was a bustling staging post for coaches travelling the turnpike road from Newcastle to Coldstream, its thriving businesses serving the surrounding area. Evidence of former shop windows can be seen today on the fronts of houses in the main street.

The village has been designated a Conservation Area and at a local authority meeting to discuss this status, Sue pointed to the sad state of the fingerposts at the parish’s

Photograph by Tony Meikle

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four road junctions. She describes what remained of one of them: “No arm, no finial, no paint, just a grey post.”

finials. Embossed on the original posts was “Alnwick Foundry”.

The restoration team included Richard Verrill and Dave Holdsworth, whose practical skills have been invaluable, including making the moulds from parts of old signs, finding a foundry to undertake the casting, digging holes for the posts, installing the arms and finials and doing the painting.

The plight of the signposts inspired a “kitchen table” gathering of a small group of interested residents to form the Glanton Heritage Group, to “record, catalogue, research and preserve the heritage of the village and parish.”

Discovering the dauntingly high cost of having the fingerposts professionally restored, the group began to discuss how to raise the money and also whether they could do the work themselves.

The first two signs were completed in 2016 and have been much admired. The team also restored a sign in the same distinctive design in a neighbouring parish.

Fundraising goes on, and it is hoped that work can soon start on the third signpost. The group were unfortunately unsuccessful in a recent bid for funding from the Calor Rural Community Fund, but the bid did bring publicity and donations from over 150 supporters – not only local people but also, as Sue says: “People who are just keen on signposts.”

They had the great luck to be given a typed manuscript telling the story of a local family from 1859 to 1965. After several years of effort, digitising the manuscript and photographs, proof reading, fundraising and searching for a publisher, Singin’ Hinnies was published in 2014. Sales provided funding for the signpost restoration work to begin.

The signposts are not only useful for visitors, but also attractive and distinctive reminders of a village’s heritage. Completing the project will not only contribute to the character of the local built environment , but also perhaps encourage other communities to do the same.

Road signs today tend to use a uniform design and standard typeface, with the arms made of aluminium or plastic. Traditional fingerposts were made entirely of cast iron or wood, with distinctive local design variations. Some, for example, would have a roundel at the top, while those in Glanton have cone-shaped

Singin’ Hinnies is available from Brands in Wooler or email info@glantonheritagegroup.org 5

Ratty muscles in on free food from bird lovers Wooler Common birds found themselves on reduced rations this autumn after a complaint about rats.

rats around Wooler Common area and a formal complaint was made to Forestry England by a concerned local resident that someone was scattering bird feed on the ground and this was encouraging rats out into the Wooler Common car park.

For years bird feeders have been topped up daily by one of the Friends of Wooler Common but the concern is that some visitors might have been scattering seed on the ground.

“Bird feeding by Friends of Wooler Common and local people has been taking place responsibly using bird feeders for a number of years but we do agree scattering bird feed on the ground and encouraging populations of rats is not welcomed. As we know, rats carry disease and it is distressing for visitors.”

Fatballs were tried to replace loose seed but ground feeders like dunnocks and blackbirds are not able to feed from them. They usually clear up the small amount of seed that gets dropped from the feeders.

In November matters took a sinister turn when all the Common bird feeders were stolen. Several had vanished earlier in the year but had been replaced.

Friends of Wooler Common chairman Steve Revell said: “There's been a rat or two living up at the ponds for many years. I think perhaps they are more apparent now as they may have become a tad braver in daylight.”

This time the Wooler Common snatcher took the lot.

A spokesman for Forestry England, which owns the Common, said: “For some time it would appear there have been occasional sightings of

As Glendale Live went to press the mystery of the missing feeders had not been solved.

The brown rat (Rattus Norvegicus) was introduced in the 1700s by ships travelling here from Asia. It subsequently spread to most of the world except Antarctica. The Mammal Society estimates there are at least 6.5 million in the UK. A female produces up to 60 young in her year-long life.

They’re omnivorous and as well as living in rubbish tips and out-buildings they burrow in hedgerows and banks.

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Diana Wrangham and her mum Ali collecting winter clothes for refugees

Collecting cast-offsais al C to save lives #Coats4 Your old winter coat may have outlived its usefulness but for thousands of refugees living rough in northern France and Belgium it could be a life saver.

Birmingham collection point.

“Diana discovered there was no near collection point for clothes for refugees so we set one up here,” says Ali.

Ali Wrangham, who farms at East Lilburn, listened to her daughter Diana and friends planning to help refugee camps in Calais and decided to give a hand.

“We’re contemplating taking a trailer across to Calais, if Covid restrictions permit, and helping distribute.”

Ali has set up a collection point for the charity Care4Calais in a grain store at the farm and plans to take trailer loads of warm clothing throughout winter to the charity's

Care4Calais is desperately looking for winter clothes – trousers, jumpers, hats and gloves as well as blankets, tents, sleeping bags, tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar and dried 7

goods still in date.

and she's aiming to work for a NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO) or a charity.”

“When Diana lived in London she spent a couple of nights a week distributing water and food for a charity helping the homeless,” says Ali, “She's now doing an International Development Masters Degree, including a sustainable food module, care4calais

care4calais

care4calais

care4calais

Clothes and donations can be dropped off at collection points like the one at East Lilburn farm.

care4calais

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care4calais

care4calais

care4calais

If you have no old warm clothing, the charity’s website says a £20 donation would pay for a coat to keep someone warm throughout the winter months

care4calais

care4calais

They say there are more than 3,000 refugees sleeping in woods in northern Europe and their goal this winter is to provide them and refugees newly arrived in the UK with a warm winter coat. care4calais

Judy Kirby

care4calais

Care4Calais is a volunteer-run refugee charity working in northern France and Belgium.

care4calais

You can leave donations at East Lilburn Farm, NE66 4ED or the family can collect. Call 07970 857603.

care4calais

Trail-blazing a new path

Our article on the new Doddington forest spurred several folk to contact us and ask where the entrance to the new 5k path was, so we sent a team member out to explore...

Go out of Doddington on the Berwick Road (B6525) for two miles and you will see the large wind turbines to the left.

o to the left further on. Both will take you on a loop through the woodland plantation area.

It is an easy walk which will give you 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside. There are various types of new tree growth interspersed with grasses, heather, fungi, rock formations and bogs.

We saw raptors, pheasants and other bird life along the way.

Just before you reach them there is a bell-shaped entrance leading to a large metal fence with an EU sign attached - if you pass a right turn to Belford you have overshot it.

There is limited parking to each side of the gravel path in front of the fence. Make sure not to block the entrance road to the farm on the hillside.

The walk took about one and a half hours and we passed though several metal gates which need to be closed to prevent deer getting in and destroying the young trees. There are no recreational footpath signs because this is a working forest. The loop is open to the publi as a permitted path. Enjoy.

Walking though the large gate on a gravel pathway, you will come to a right fork onto a sandy/stone path.

You can take this right turn or carry straight on and take a similar path q The parishes of Ford and Etal, Lowick, Kyloe and Ancroft are to get a new vicar - Rev Charlotte Osborn.

expected to move into Lowick Vicarage, reports The Forum community newsletter.

Rev Osborn, formerly assistant curate on the Oakham ministry team in Peterborough, will take up her half-time post early this year.

The parishes have been without resident clergy since 2018. Rev Osborn and her husband Leo are 9

Connecting folk with book boxes A good book is a boon for many and a new scheme to make them accessible even where there aren’t libraries has been launched by Glendale Connect.

Setting up the first box outside the Glendale Book boxes, each takHall - Patrick Sheard of GGT, with Geoff Dade ing about 20 books are and Patsy Healey of Glendale Connect being put up in villages around Glendale. Anygrants fund, the National Lottery one is welcome to pick up a book and North Northumberland Volunand return it or pass it on to sometary Forum, with books donated by one else when they’ve read it.

Alnwick Lions.

People with good reads to spare are q Covid-19 does not survive well on invited to pop books into the box. paper, but Glendale Connect recommends leaving the book you choose The boxes have been funded by for 72 hours before reading it.

Glendale Gateway Trust’s small

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Driving through Durham, former Wooler resident Ann Dawson chanced to pass the University's Josephine Butler College, spurring her to look back at the life of Glendale’s renowned Victorian reformer, campaigner and feminist pioneer.

“Truth before everything”

Josephine Butler

Upstairs in the Cheviot Centre is a bust of a middle-aged Victorian woman. People pass her by every day, but how many visitors have any idea of the courage and passion that drove her to campaign ceaselessly for what her peers would have described as 'fallen women' ?

Born in Milfield in 1828, the fourth child of John and Hannah Grey, Josephine Butler was the niece of Earl Grey of Howick who was Whig Prime minister from 1831 to 1834.

While most well-to-do Victorian ladies led sheltered lives, Josephine grew up in a home where political issues were debated and the

children’s interest in them was fostered by both parents. Her father campaigned for the abolition of slavery and for the Reform Bill which aimed to extend the right to vote.

Both parents were staunch believers in the importance of education – for women as well as men.

From their earliest years, the Grey children knew the true facts of the physical, mental and sexual abuse of slaves by slave owners and overseers.

Growing up on the farm in Milfield and then Dilston, they rode with their father on visits to their tenants and were at ease talking to all social classes. Josephine saw the rural 11

spoke to her and gave her a mission in life.

She set about helping women whose poverty had forced them into prostitution. While living in Liverpool, she opened hostels where the women could gain skills, such as needlework, that would help them find work. She even took sick and dying prostitutes into her own home to tend to their needs.

Image: wikipedia commons

poverty and ignorance that existed and her father's efforts to alleviate them. By the time the family moved to Dilston all his Milfield tenants could read and write.

In all her work she was supported by her husband, George Butler, who was a source of her strength, accompanying her when possible and looking after their four children when needed. He also worked as an academic and headteacher.

A devout Christian, Josephine's faith was severely tested when, on a visit to Ireland, she witnessed some of the horrors of the Irish potato famine – watching men, women and children dying in front of her eyes.

She emerged from this 'dark night of the soul' convinced that God

Josephine certainly seized life with an incredible level of energy. Travelling in Europe and England, she was a wonderful orator who was capable of holding audiences spellbound as she urged justice for the oppressed,

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ignored and downtrodden women and children, slaves of sexual abuse.

For Josephine it was “Truth Before Everything”, the title of one of more than 50 pamphlets she wrote. No matter how unpalatable the facts, she presented them unvarnished to her audiences and readers.

Her life was not without tragedy.

Her greatest anguish was caused by the death of her daughter when, aged five, she fell over the bannisters at home onto a stone floor. This was what finally pushed Josephine into her greatest work - her successful campaign to abolish the Contagious Diseases Acts.

If found to have a venereal disease they could be imprisoned in 'lock hospitals' for up to a year. No attempt was made to control soldiers and sailors using prostitute.

The campaign gained pace when politicians threatened to extend the law beyond ports and army towns.

In 1886 it was finally repealed.

In 2006 on the centenary of Josephine Butler’s death, Durham University opened a new women’s college in her honour.

The college’s coat of arms rightly pays tribute to Josephine and her husband, George Butler, not just in the motto taken from a Butler family armorial bearing but also in the covered cups and the open book. The book symbolises learning, applicable both to George and Josephine, and the covered cups are symbolic of the Eucharist, perhaps referring to the couple's Christian faith.

The two lions show a connection to Earl Grey and also reflect Josephine’s undisputed courage in exposing the hypocrisy of her own social class even if it threatened herself or family.

The first Contagious Diseases Act was introduced to control widespread venearal disease in the British Army and Royal Navy.

The law, introduced in 1864 in ports and army towns, meant prostitutes or even unaccompanied women could be arrested and forced to undergo invasive medical examinations – described by Josephine Butler as surgical or steel rape.

While investigating the effect of the Acts, Josephine discovered that some of the prostitutes were as young as 12 and that young women and children were being trafficked from England to the continent for prostitution.

She fought child prostitution with help from the campaigning editor of The Pall Mall Gazette, William Thomas Stead. Stead 'bought' a 13 year old girl from her mother for £5 and took her over the Chanel to illustrate what was happening before bringing her back.

The subsequent outcry led to the raising of the age of consent from 13 to 16 years and measures to stop children becoming prostitutes. Her final campaign was in the late1890s, against The Contagious Diseases Acts which had continued to

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be implemented in the British Raj. In the course of her work she was viciously reviled, beaten and covered in excrement. Once, antagonists set fire to hay below a loft where she was urging support for her cause.

As a widow, she returned to her roots, living first at Galewood before moving to 10, Queens Road (pictured right) where she died in 1906 at the age of 78 years. She is buried in Kirknewton churchyard.

Editor’s note: Ann Dawson helped celebrate the centenary of Josephine’s death in 2006 by writing a musical play about her life, drawing on music hall songs from the era. It was performed by Wooler U3A.

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Local farmer and chair of Wooler Parish Council Mark Mather looks at how Covid-19 has affected the council’s day to day work and some unexpected positive outcomes.

Bringing out the best while beating the bug Prior to the impact of Covid-19, Wooler was a very busy, active Parish Council with lots of projects ongoing and in the planning stage.

sponse to Covid-19 is immense. The “can-do” attitude has made the job of chairman easier.

Our volunteers were exceptional, always stepping up when asked and our GP/prescription medication delivery service is still running now.

Des, our local taxi driver, has been a huge asset in supporting the wider rural community. Service with a smile is Des’s motto and he lives up to it each day!

When Covid-19 hit and lockdown began, a re-thinking of priorities was necessary to ensure that we led a quick and pro-active response for our parishioners but also maintained the work already started in the town. All while in the “thick” of the lambing season.

Support The Covid-19 response developed into a multi-parish council/agency working group which we feel has benefited not only Wooler residents but the wider community. By strengthening relationships with neighbouring Parish Councils we have made it easier to act together when facing bigger problems.

One of the more difficult tasks has been to find out who may need a little help and how to deliver without offending. We are still concerned that we may not have reached some people that could do with either a regular phone call or help with food support.

The pride felt in the community re-

While the calls to our helpline have 15

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decreased, we want to remind everyone that we are still here if needed. Don’t worry if it is only a small thing, we are more than happy to help or if we can’t help, to find someone who can.

return to our regular lives and we continue to support those shops that have been there for us all during this trying time - and those High Street businesses that haven’t been allowed to trade normally.

As things have settled into the new “norm”, the PC felt it especially important this year to make a great display of the Christmas lights - extending to South Road and Padgepool Place so even more residents can be cheered at this difficult time.

Big plans Looking to the future, we have some big plans to invest in sites like the Tory, the school farm field site, the community orchard and playgrounds.

Also we will continue negotiations with Northumberland County Council over critical highways problems such as Ramseys Lane, the Co-op crossing, South Road crossing and Common Road as well as fighting for the much needed extension to our cemetery in Burnhouse Road.

All this while running a busy farm, gritting roads and trying to plan a wedding!

The lights also play a part in making Wooler High Street attractive to shoppers and we’re keen to support local shops in this way. Our thanks go to the councillors and volunteers whose help in putting the lights up was invaluable.

We sincerely hope that the fantastic community spirit continues once we

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q Would you like to help the young people in your community?

Wooler First School and Glendale Middle School are looking for coopted school governors.

“The role is both challenging and rewarding,” says chair of governors David Wilson.

Children enjoying hot chocolate in the ‘forest school’

“Experience in such areas as health and safety, finance, legal or management would be particularly helpful but not essential.”

If you are interested in being considered for this role, you can find out more by contacting the school office on 01668 281470 or by email on: glendalemiddle@woolerandglendale.co.uk

news round-up...news round-up...news round-up site and got Jim Mattheson and Ian Brown who were used to herding sheep on horseback, to round up the cattle,” says Ian Newton.

Ian, who was 17 at the time, says: “When I robbed the bank I couldn’t get back on my donkey. I didn’t know there was a right side to get on and it kept going round in circles.”

The shoot out was filmed in Wooler High Street at six o’clock on a Sunday morning to avoid traffic and the saloon scenes were taken in The Angel.

Forget Hollywood and Bollywood, the latest classic film adventure to hit YouTube is from Woolywood.

Shot way back in the 1970s by Wooler’s keen photographers, the spoof western Carry on Ramrod pays more than a passing nod to spaghetti westerns and Ennio Morricone as the cattle-herding bad guys head into town to rob the bank.

“We did another two films - Treasure Island, shot at Bamburgh, Seahouses and Beadnell and The Gull Ponds Monster,” says Ian. Karl Wait, who helped Ian transfer the original VHS onto DVD a decade ago has now uploaded it onto YouTube, says “It features some real ‘infamous’ local characters.”

“We used horses from the caravan 19

What’s On Most village halls are still closed and few clubs meeting but there are some groups that have started up again. We will publicise group activities and events here free if you are a non profit organisation. Send details, with a contact phone number to whatson.glendalelive@gmail.com The deadline for our next issue is February 7, 2021.

Circumstances are changing all the time so please contact organisers for updates.

Weekly events Monday Wooler FC Juniors (6-12yrs) training. Wooler Football Club. 6-pm. £2.

Saturday morning games in the Glendale League at Alnwick. Contact Wendy Hogg on 07754 829373.

6-7pm at the school farm field site.

Contact Mark Napier on 07712 042424 or 1stwoolerbpscoutgroup@gmail.com Thursday Scouts and Senior Scouts (girls and boys, 11-17yrs) 7-9pm at the school farm field. Contact Mark Napier on 07712 042424 or email 1stwoolerbpscoutgroup@gmail.com

Tuesday Tai Chi and Qigong Beginners Class. Cheviot Centre, Wooler. 23pm. £6. 30 minutes for an extra £2 for more advanced participants.

Contact Amanda 07885 682078.

Wooler Tennis Club. Members welcome to use the courts at any time with priority given as follows: juniors up to 6.30 pm on weekdays; ladies - Tuesdays from 6.30pm; men - Thursdays from 6.30pm; club night - Fridays from 6.30pm. For more details contact Fiona on 01289 388525 or 07581 362857.

Wooler FC Men's training. Wooler Football Club, 6-7.30pm. Saturday afternoon games in Northern Alliance Development League. Contact Tristan Jeffrey: 07941 049741.

Wooler Wolf Cubs (girls and boys, 810yrs) 6.15-7.30pm at the school farm field. Contact Mark Napier on 07712 042424 or 1stwoolerbpscoutgroup@gmail.com

Wooler Bowls Club is also open, though not accepting new members at present. Contact 07733 662545 for more details.

Wednesday Weeklybiz. Local online networking 12.30 -1.45pm. Also Thursday, 89.15 am. Free. Call Charlie on 01665 577084 to book.

The Cheviot Centre, Wooler, is open from 10-3pm weekdays.

Wooler Hospice Shop is open four days a week (Mon 10-3,Wed, Fri, Sat 10-4). Donations welcome at the back door.

Beavers (girls and boys, 5 to 7yrs) 20

January events Wednesday January 13 Glendale Local History Society Zoom meeting - Wooler in World War ll - a defended village. Contact GLHSoc@gmail.com from January 7 onwards for meeting link. Members only.

Tuesday January 19 Wooler Carer group for carers of patients of Glendale Surgery and Cheviot Medical Group. Meeting room, 10am-noon. Coffee and a chat. Please check notice board in surgery or ring Val, 01668 216136, to check the current position.

February events Wednesday, February 10 Glendale Local History Society outdoor meeting at 10:30 am. Topic to

be confirmed. Members only. Contact GLHSoc@gmail.com Saturday February 13 – Sunday 21 Blow away the winter cobwebs with a heart-warming Snowdrop Walk on Ford & Etal Estates. This early spring flower blooms in great swathes on the Ford & Etal Estates, you might even spot some shy primroses too. Come and put a spring in your step. Contact 01890 820338 Tuesday February 16 Wooler Carer group for carers of patients of Glendale Surgery and Cheviot Medical Group. Meeting room, 10am-noon. Coffee and a chat. Please check the notice board in the surgery or ring Val, 01668 216136, to check the current position.

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Bid to set up ‘arts fest’ A pilot study is taking place over the next few months in a bid to set up a community-based arts project in Glendale later in the year.

A group of arts enthusiasts have set up 'Wooler Arts' and raised funds to bring in Jodie Russian-Red, currently artist in residence at Durham University's Josephine Butler College, to find out how different areas of the arts – painting, poetry, theatre, music etc – appeal to residents and then develop a programme of activities.

A series of free workshops will be set up, led by professional artists, actors, writers and musicians, with the work produced being show-

cased at the end of the project. The overall theme will be 'Landscape'.

“Our vision for the project is not only to bring interesting arts events to the area, but also to actively support the residents in participating, to commission new art and other creative projects around the area’s heritage and stories, and to connect them to current life in Wooler and the Glendale area,” says Jodie. “We also think the arts can be used as a way of encouraging visitors to the area to both appreciate and respect the countryside.” Anyone who would like to find out more can contact Rev Suzanne Cooke – 01668 283502.

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Remember the flooding of 2008? Is that what climate change has in store for us?

From words to action Liz Anderson tells how Covid-19 restrictions turned members of her book group into climate change activists

I love my book group. I joined up 17 years ago. Most months since, I've travelled the world and the centuries; looked onto the future and the minds of the brilliant, the inspiring and the crazy - all from a comfortable chair and in good company. We don't even drink wine!

sciousness, only to be drowned out by the issues of the day, Covid-19 being a big one.

I heard a great talk a couple of years ago at Hay Book Festival by Professor Mike Berners-Lee (brother of the internet inventor) when he launched his book, ‘There is No Planet B’.

So, imagine my surprise when Rosemary Hartill, leader of our group at Alnwick's Barter Books, suggested we took time out from our mainly literary themes to tackle something more pressing – the fate of our planet.

His thoughtful, unaggressive and practical approach impressed me greatly. But the seed had only just begun to germinate and what could we do anyway, retired and living in rural Northumberland?

Like most people, I had allowed some of the harsh facts and harrowing images about climate change to creep around the corner of my con-

As lockdown bit into our lives, our book group members began to get to grips with meeting online.

So, back to our comforting gather23

ings round a novel? Rosemary had other ideas. She discovered that a series of talks was taking place online with some of the big names in the climate world, launched by Sir David Attenborough under the wing of the Climate Change Committee a group of independent advisors to the Government.

They had brought together 100 plus people of dierent ages, ethnicities and walks of life, to form a UK Climate Assembly.

The assembly would listen, learn and report to parliament. These

talks were put online for anyone to study (www.climateassembly.uk/).

It was a great opportunity to get my head around those worrying facts in the company of my trusted book group friends. I began to realise that I could no longer accept 'business as usual' in my life or in the global community. We can't sit on the fence.

Rosemary drew up a timetable of online talks and produced helpful revision notes. We agreed a name for the group following the course – Green Light.

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We began in mid July and after six weeks of online discussion and background readings we felt positive and ready for action. But what could a group of people from a small rural community - ranging from a pig farmer to a priest actually do?

Liz Anderson...

First, we each made a list of changes we could make in our own lives. I decided to drive no faster than 55mph, turn the heating down and move to a bank that didn't invest in fossil fuels, among other things. ...driving slower and biking more Next we agreed to gather and store information, write letters and join groups that were supporting local initiatives.

lect committees. Select committees are the places where MPs investigate the important issues of the day, ďŹ nd out what’s going on, then make recommendations to parliament.

The committee asked the public for ideas on how ďŹ nancial stimulus packages to help the economy re-

Then an interesting opportunity to do a bit more came up, thanks to the Environmental Audit Committee, one of the key Government se-

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cover from Covid -19 could also be used to tackle climate change and other environmental problems.

They asked for ‘evidence’ on specific themes. Six of the areas covered were ones we had studied: housing and the home, transport, energy use, food, farming and land and climate justice. So we put together our evidence and wrote a covering letter saying we were appalled at the gap between Government targets and what was being achieved annually.

We said that avoiding a climate crisis requires revolutionary changes in society and in our day to day lives.

a well-funded public education campaign.

Our submission appears on a Government website and will be debated in Parliament later Green Light is urging this year, along the Government to: with evidence from academics and q Improve our health, save other green groups. on bills and create many jobs by retrofitting UK's cold, poorly insulated houses.

q Make sure all new houses are built to a high green spec that does not damage the planet q Develop renewable energy much faster, like solar and offshore wind farms q Encourage more walking and cycling and improve public transport q Create more beautiful green spaces in our towns and cities q Provide a healthy, low meat diet in our schools.

Since then we have circulated our evidence to green organisations, friends, local and national politicians, the media and more.

We have had some encouraging responses – but this is just the beginning.

If this strikes a chord with you and you would like to find out more, please get in touch by emailing me, Liz Anderson, on

anderson926btinternet.com

We ended up calling for a clear, joined up Government strategy and

You can read Green Light’s submission online by going to the Glendale Live Facebook page and looking for Green Link

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A Glendale Life...A Glendale Life...A Glendale Life

A ‘southerner’ who’s helped keep the Glendale community ticking over

Yvette Hope - in panto mode

If you think the lady who helps run Mike Hope's garage in Wooler has a different accent it's not entirely surprising.

year) then moved to Wooler in 1986 and married Mike Hope a year later.

He had a garage in the Market Place, behind what is now Trotters.

Yvette Hope was actually born in Newcastle, but moved to Australia at the age of six when her dad got a job in the early days of the computer industry.

“I remember a small fire starting there,” says Yvette. “We called the fire brigade who stopped in the narrow entrance to the garage and then tried to open their doors. Oops – not enough room!”

Six years later the family moved again – this time to Papua New Guinea. And at the age of 16 she returned to England.

Yvette and Mike's two children, Nichola and Jamie, arrived in the late 1980s and when they started at Glendale playgroup Yvette joined the committee.

“I keep getting asked if my accent is southern. I just reply that it's probably from a lot further south than they think.”

Thus began a long and very varied 'career' of community activities in Wooler. She became chairman of the playgroup and when the children moved to First School she joined the

She spent ten years in Alnwick (becoming Alnwick Fair Queen one 29

PTA committee – and again at the Middle School.

“During that time we had bought the old Middle School cookery and metalwork building and converted it into a garage and a house which we lived in.”

The Hopes outgrew that garage and decided to build a new one – but where?

There was a small plot next to their house and they did a barter deal with the local farmer: they got the plot, the farmer got a Yamaha ATV. Yvette as Alnwick Fair Queen

“That sort of thing doesn't happen these days – unfortunately,” says Yvette.

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their travels with the speedway and they wondered where they'd be the next week.”

The speedway days, with husband Mike, far left

The garage was a successful business and once again they outgrew the premises. They asked Robert Croall of Croall Bryson's garage (who owned a plot next to their garage) if he would sell it to them.

“He just said 'I think we'd better talk', and after a few meetings held in the congenial atmosphere of the Blue Bell at Cornhill we ended up not just buying the plot but their whole garage on South Road where we are now,” says Yvette.

But the Hope family aren't just interested in garages. Yvette's husband and her brother Graeme were regular visitors at Berwick Speedway and enjoyed their Saturday night trips.

“One morning I opened the Gazette to find Mike had joined a conglomerate and bought the club! I had no idea till then,” she says.

Yvette was also involved in the ‘mammoth task’ in 1996 of moving the speedway operation back to its original home at Shielfield Stadium in Berwick. “Running a meeting for 3,000 people was a bit daunting but we had a great group of fans behind us. We left the speedway a couple of years later – and a lot lighter in the pockets!”

Yvette joined the Wooler Carnival committee for a few years and was then persuaded to join a group that was resurrecting the Wooler Panto.

She'd been involved with other productions when she was in Alnwick.

“So I jumped at the chance to take part in what was to become ten years of great fun with some amazing people.”

Husband and brother Graeme helped out with the sound – and some of the sketches.

David Wilson, the panto's director, was ill one year and the cast asked Yvette to organise a show. “I'm no director – I can't control them the way David could. Thank goodness

So Yvette found herself involved in the day to day running of a Speedway operation along with helping run the garage – and two young children.

“I had a very busy life and I loved it. The kids' teachers used to tell me they loved reading their diaries as they were all about

On stage at panto time 31

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he was well enough a few weeks before to pull it all together.”

Yvette - Looking forward to ‘granny’ duties

Yvette's next project was the Fountain restoration project.

Six years of hard work followed and while it proved impossible to achieve their initial goal - a replica of the original fountain - they have created “a lovely addition to the market place,” says Yvette, adding: “That's finally finished and I find I'm now just concentrating on the garage and my beautiful grandchildren.”

Frank Mansfield

33

34

Opening rural lifelines q Jane Reed has taken over as wellbeing officer for RuralUS which supports people who are feeling lonely or isolated. “RuralUS recognise that poor access to services and the sparse population of North Northumberland make social life even more difficult,” says Jane.

“Anyone feeling isolated can get in touch for a confidential chat. Maybe we could find a group or activity to suit? Or, if you have an idea or interest that isn’t served in your area, we can offer practical support to set up your own group and a grant of £100 to assist with the cost of room hire, materials or tutor time.”

Contact Jane on 07493 971706 or janereed.ruralusproject@gmail.com q

q

q

q

Free deliveries of logs for fuel are available from the Northumberland Log Bank for people in need. That includes those with financial constraints, poor health, advanced age or rural isolation. The logs are free but donations are welcome.

The Log Bank is also looking for volunteers to help run the service. To request logs or volunteer, email: Kate Thick on katethick@hotmail.com or ring 07900 963234. The Log Bank is a non-registered charity supported by Northumberland County Council.

35

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Praise for a Glendale welcome

Richard and Fiona Garwood

We didn’t know the Glendale area before we bought our static caravan at Barmoor Castle Country Park early in 2019.

and got another warm welcome. I’ve had some enjoyable games, though the wind can be challenging!

On the medical front we found that registering with an English medical practice from Edinburgh wasn’t straightforward, but the Glendale Medical Surgery staff have a “can do” approach and arranged for us to be temporary patients.

Living in Edinburgh, it was an easy journey, so when we sold our family home in September and had two months before our new-build apartment was to be ready, we decided to stay at Barmoor.

What a wonderful welcome we have had. It started at Barmoor with the Lamb family, Ann, Jamie, Jodie and wee Freddie, who run the country park, in its stunning setting. Because we were between homes, we were able to stay when the park closed in the second lockdown.

Shopping in Wooler, pre lockdown, was rewarding - I could have spent ages looking at wool and patterns.

In Ford, we had A ‘bubble car’ supper at The Old Dairy - a top class meal, cooked on the premises and delivered to our car - parked facing views across to the Cheviots.

At the Lowick Village Store, Ritchie and Karen stocked The Scotsman so we could keep in touch with matters north of the Border. He gave advice on local cycle routes and, more importantly, how to tackle the formidable Wooler Golf Course where we had two rounds, rewarded by the spectacular views.

We’ve loved the bracing walks on Cocklawburn beach, cheery lunches at Pot-a-Doodle Do, teas at the Lavender Tearoom and eating out at the Black Bull in Lowick where the welcoming new owner, Hendrik Van Boeckel, kindly gave us sloes, so we could make our favourite sloe gin in the caravan.

Wooler Common was another discovery for us. We loved seeing all the birds.

Our stay here may be extended as our new home isn’t ready yet. We can’t think of a nicer place to spend the extra weeks. So, thank you everyone for making us so welcome.

Being away from Edinburgh for two months, I missed my regular tennis, so I contacted Berwick Tennis club

Fiona Garwood 37

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There has been a lot on TV and in the farming press recently about ELM (Environmental Land Management) - the UK Government scheme that will replace the funding farmers used to get from the EU to support agriculture.

Crunch time for farming?

Instead of payments based on the area of land held, ELM will pay farmers for environmental improvements such as protecting stone walls and hedges, reducing pesticides and 'capturing carbon in soils' plus planting new woods, restoring peatlands and a range of animal welfare changes.

to three generations but modern tenancies can be as short as five to 10 years.

These environmental ideals are great on paper but on the land they take years to come to fruition. It’s not realistic to plan major changes halfway through a 10 year tenancy.

Unless tenant farmers are given long term commitments they will opt out.

Farmers have been aware of the broad plans for ages but even now are no clearer about the details of what these schemes involve.

No one disputes the importance of environmental management - the benefits of the hedge planting and set-aside areas for wildlife, funded through the UK Government’s Countryside Stewardship scheme over the past 25 years, should not be underestimated. Much of this was carried out by the big estates which get such a bad press.

Given that we can only work with the land we have - and that can vary from good arable land, to middling land and hill farms - not all farmers will be able to apply for all environmental schemes.

You can only plant trees if you have suitable land spare and you can only take part in schemes to slow down waterways and avoid flooding if you have a river running through, for example.

Also, let’s not forget that Brexit is still not sorted as far as livestock farmers are concerned and many feel that is just as important.

In addition there’s the relationship between landowners and tenants.

Tenancies can be very variable some of the small print would amaze you.

For ELM to work, it needs profitable, willing farmers to engage with the changes. We can only wait and see what happens.

Some tenancies (and landlords) will be understanding, others more prescriptive when it comes to changes.

Pete Loam

In the past a tenancy could last up 39

40

Church contact list Wooler, Kirknewton, Doddington, Ilderton (Cheviot Benefice) Rev Suzanne Cooke, 01668 283502, suzanne@cookehouse.co.uk Rev Judith Dobson. judedob@gmail.com Wooler URC Jean Armstrong (Secretary), 01668 216205, jean.arms50@gmail.com www.woolerurc.org.uk Wooler St Ninian's (Roman Catholic) Father David Philips, 01665 574240 Wooler Evangelical Church www.wooler-evangelical.org.uk Chatton, Chillingham, Eglingham, Ingram, South Charlton

(Breamish & Till Benefice) Vacant Milfield Methodist Rev Kim Hurst, 01289 306291, www.lindisfarnemethodistchurches.org.uk Wooler Christian Brethren David Pulman, 01668 216520 Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Community of the Holy Mother of God and St Oswald.

Reader, John-Michael, 01668 215397, email, ikons@gmx.com Lowick, Ford, Etal, Ancroft, St John the Baptist - the Rev Charlotte Osborn takes up her new post shortly.

Useful telephone numbers continued from back page Cornhill Parish Council

parishclerk@cornhill-on-tweed.co.uk 01890 820501

Bowsden Parish Council

01289 388871(Clerk Mike Simpson)

Ingram Parish Council

01665 578906

Carham Parish Council

clerk@carhamparish.org 01890 850 336

County Councillor:

01668 281062(Cllr Anthony Murray) Anthony.Murray99@northumberland.gov.uk

Glendale Gateway Trust:

01668 282406 ggtadmin@wooler.org.uk

U3A:

01668 281362 ww.u3asites.org.uk/wooler/home

Samaritans

call free any time on 116 123

Useful contacts Cheviot Centre, Wooler:

01668 282406

Glendale Hall, Wooler:

01289 388387

Kirknewton Village Hall:

01890 850285

Chatton Village Hall:

ggtadmin@wooler.org.uk kirknewtonvillagehall@gmail.com villagehall@chatton.uk

Lowick Village Hall:

01289 388285

Bowsden Village Hall:

01289 388543

Etal Village Hall:

hgew13@gmail.com www.etalvillagehall.org.uk

Crookham Village Hall:

01890 820446

Ford Village Hall

07790 457580

Bolton Village Hall

01665 574689

Ingram village hall

01665 578980

Wooler First School:

ladywaterfordhall@ford-and-etal

01668 281470 www.wooler.northumberland.sch.uk/website

Glendale Middle School:

01668 281470

Ford Village School:

01890 820217

www.glendale.northumberland.sch.uk/website www.ford.northumberland.sch.uk/website Lowick First School:

01289 388268 www.lowickholyislandschools.org.uk/website

Glendale Surgery:

01668 281740

Cheviot Medical Group:

01668 281575

Glendale Pharmacy (Wooler):

01668 281343

Opticians (Wooler)

01668 281066

Wooler Tourist Information:

01668 282123

Wooler Police Office:

101 (Non- emergency only)

call

Wooler Parish Council:

Clerk: Kerren Rodgers 07501169591 woolerparishcouncil@yahoo.co.uk

Kirknewton Parish Council:

0191 257 1948 clerk.kirknewton.pc@gmail.com

Lowick Parish Council:

01289 388205 lowickparishcouncil@btconnect.com

Ford Parish Council:

www.northumberlandparishes.uk/ford clerk.fordpc@btinternet.com 01890 820566

Milfield Parish Council

0785 657 7181

Tillside Parish Council:

milfieldpc@gmail.com 01289 306365 tillsidepc@btopenworld.com

Continued on inside back cover