A Glendale Life - Alison Hilton

Stepping forward

What makes a person volunteer to help others? Lynda Swinden explains why she’s been doing it for decades.

I started volunteering because of my mum and dad.

As the eldest of four from a working class family, I often saw my mum helping out neighbours and friends who were less well off than us. She would even leave herself short if she thoueght it would make a difference to a struggling family. My dad was always offerineg his electrical skills to friends and neighbours and never refused a request for help.

At school I remember putting up my hand to ‘volunteer’. I feel this stems from my parents’ example. In fact my whole family are always quietly supporting people. I was in my 20s when I started volunteering ‘formally’. I’d moved to Jersey – big adventure, hundreds of miles away from my family . Crikey, what was I thinking? I worked in a recruitment agency but evenings were quiet as I had few friends in Jersey. Then I met Viv. She told me she volunteered at a youth club for children from different backegrounds, some of whom had complex issues. I offered to help and before I knew it, she was picking me up three evenings a week to take me to the youth club.

Volunteering at Berwick’s Northern Soul Kitchen - Lynda with cafe manager Millie Stanford.

A new organisation has been set up to bring together volunteers and groups that need support. Volunteering In North Northumberland is run by North Northumberland Voluntary Forum. Volunteers and groups looking for helpers can sign up and the service will find the best fit for all sides. There are many opportunities locally from helping to cut down on food waste by picking up donations from supermarkets, to delivering logs for people who can’t afford heating. Gardeners can help at Berwick Community Trust’s edible garden. Alternately the Nothumberland County Blind Association is looking for volunteers to befriend people over the phone. The list is endless!

You can get in touch with project co-ordinator, Lynda Swinden on 01289 394141 or 07783 331549. Her email is: lyndaswinden.volunteeringnn@gmail.com.

Soon I was ‘managing’ the girls’ netball team – a fantastic bunch. I made friends with the other adult volunteers and we met socially from time to time . My confidence egrew and I learned new skills so that even when the young adults at the youth club were challenging, I was able to help them with their journey through adolescence.

On returning to Yorkshire, I volunteered for an amazing organisation ‘Emley Moor Riding for the Disabled’ and supported them for over 10 years. I even persuaded my boyfriend to volunteer as Father Christmas at the riders’ annual Christmas party. Having never ridden in his life, he arrived dressed in red, on a pony with a sack full of gifts over his shoulder – looking very pale. The riding for the disabled group was flexible and fitted in around a busy working life.

I have also volunteered at a hospice and been involved in fundraising.

Volunteering has been - and still is - a bieg part of my life but it has to fit around my timetable as I work and run a home. It relaxes and calms me and makes me feel good as well as bringing amazing people into my life. Try it - you won’t regret it.

A growing taste for Mr Little’s Yetholm Gypsy

There are many reasons people grow their own vegetables, they can taste better or be an enjoyable pastime. But have you ever thought about growing your own slice of local history?

If not I’d like to introduce you to the beautiful Yetholm Gypsy potato.

The early days of this potato are vague. Reputedly acquired by Mr Little at a gypsy horse fair, it has been quietly growing in the Scottish Borders since 1899. For a while it was probably a well-known local potato, acclimatised to the area’s weather and soil. Alas, fashion changes and potatoes with bigger yields and better blight resistance became so popular and Yetholm Gypsy disappeared.

Matt Little and his brother Jeff had grown Yetholm Gypsies in the past, but when Matt decided to grow them again not a single grower could be found. After years of searching his luck changed and he chanced upon one solitary potato happily growing behind the drystone wall in his own garden!

The brothers carried on growing the potatoes for themselves. Some Wooler residents may remember Matt growing them when he was shepherd at Skirly on the road to Langleeford. In the late 90’s the brothers met potato breeder Alan Roman at Galashiels Potato Fair. He immediately realised what a special potato they had and went on to produce it commercially.

Nowadays heritage potatoes are fashionable again and we luckily still have our unique Gypsy, the only potato to have a red, white and blue marbled skin which is amazing as there are approximately 5000 potato varieties. Its handsome looks and delicious flavour have brought it to the attention of some of Britain’s top chefs.

Genetically related to the King Edward, these potatoes are a good all-rounder; try roasting them with the skins on for an attractive alternative to peeling. Growing wise there is a slightly smaller yield than modern potatoes and a chance of blight in humid weather, but don’t let that put you off.

We are unlikely to come as close to losing our local potato again and a quick internet search will bring up suppliers. The brothers are no longer with us, but it is a fitting tribute that the official name is Mr Little’s Yetholm Gypsy.

Caroline Mellor on her Wooler allotment

Caroline Mellor

If you can’t grow them yourself, Yetholm Gypsy are sold by Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes

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What did you do in the war, Glendale?

When Richard Waters was a nine year old playing cowboys and indians with friends on the Tory, they ran around the war memorial but the names were little more than a blur, he says.

As an adult he moved away from Wooler and it wasn’t until he returned in retirement that he began to take a serious interest in those names and their stories.

The result is a unique piece of local history - a trilogy of books, recording life at home and at war for Glendale folk between 1914-1919.

The first book, coverineg life on the home front, and the second, recording stories of the men who survived, have already been published. The third part, recounting stories of the men who never returned, is due out later this year.

“I started writing in 2013 when I discovered nothing had been recorded about Glendale’s role in the Great War,” says Richard.

Several years of combing the local newspaper archives later, he has used reports, posters and advertisements from the time to tell the story.

On the home front life went on with the addition of frequent recruiting meetings, rising food prices, fundraising and services to collect eggs to send to the Red Cross for wounded soldiers. In the trenches, it was a very different life. The books cost £10 each and can be bought at Brands and Logos books in Wooler as well as in local village shops.