Wylam
Robin Piette

WYLAM Carpet Bowls weekly sessions restart on Wednesday, September 8, 2pm-4pm. If you would like to try out an activity that involves skill and tactics as well as friendly banter and a cup of tea, contact Viv Smith 853713 or just come along to an afternoon session. 

September 18–26, it’s Great Big Green Week, a national week of events celebrating action on climate change. Across the country, communities will join together for the biggest event for climate and nature ever in the UK and everyone’s invited! Wylam’s contribution will be a soup lunch organised by Wylam WI on Saturday, September 18 in Wylam Institute from noon-2.30pm. The menu of home-made soup, bread and a pudding will mainly be made from rescued food from local shops, restaurants and pubs, and surplus food from allotments and gardens. There will also be a stall selling jam, jellies and chutney that are already being made from similar sources.

THERE is growing concern about motorbikes speeding along the track from Wylam to Newburn. It’s illegal and a danger to children and the elderly walking there. People are urged to try and photograph the number plate and ring the police. If enough reports are made, it will speed up the action against this.

OUTSIDE 16 Hedley Road there are books read only once, we are invited to help yourself.

NORTHUMBERLAND County Council is offering free trees to residents and others.  Contact them to order one https://nland.uk/freetrees.

Riding Mill
Carole Craig-Gilby

WELCOME to the second week of September and the weather is so changeable that it feels the seasons have already changed but as always, time marches on and events are still beginning to open up and one of these is the table tennis club will be restarting in the Millennium Hall on Monday nights from September 6 7–9pm until December. The playing fees for this year are: £4.00 adults/£2.00 under 18s. The club is also wanting to start a junior’s session at 6–7pm (£2.00) but need sufficient numbers to make this work. Please contact the secretary if your son/daughter would like to learn to play. Secretary: Mark Twelftree - 07764 221942.

I AM pleased to confirm the return of the very popular jumble sale on October 9 1.00pm at Riding Mill Parish Hall in aid of St James’ Church and the W.I. Lots of volunteer help will be needed Friday 5-7pm and Saturday 9am–11am or by arrangement. Please call Linda Shepherd on 01432 682069.  

THE Friday Café will be open on September 10 in the Millennium Hall from 10am to midday  (last week I believed this arrangement was still in the discussion/practical liaison with volunteers). 

THE art club is planning an art exhibition to cheer us all up! This will be held at the Parish Hall on September, 11 and Sunday 12 from 10am to 4pm. Entry is free and there will be a good range of artwork styles, subjects and media, both framed and unframed, prints and cards. One of our members is also (very handily!) a picture framer, so you can come and talk to him if you have an awkward picture lurking at home that needs a lovely frame. To keep everyone as safe as possible, we will be encouraging artists and visitors to observe social distancing measures, wear face masks indoors, if possible, and use the hand gel, we do hope you will come along and join us and see what we’ve been up to during the past couple of years and really look forward to seeing you, just remember, Christmas is around the corner (sorry!).

Heddon-on-the-Wall
John Stewart 

CLOSE House is delighted to have recently welcomed PGA professional and former European Tour player Simon Robinson to its PGA coaching team.

A HUGE thank you to those residents who have recently volunteered in collecting clothes, shoes, bedding, toiletries and boxes in and around Heddon to help those families who will be housed in Northumberland from Afghanistan. These items have been delivered to a local collection point. 

THANK you to everyone who is continuing to donate food in the box outside the Methodist Chapel for the Newcastle West End Food Bank.

CAN you help Northumberland County Council tackle climate change? Now, residents in Heddon and across the county have the opportunity in taking the county council’s offer on the popular free tree scheme where they are offering 15,000 tree saplings to residents, schools and community groups. Details of this can be viewed on the county council’s website for further information.

Ovingham and Ovington
Malcolm Cairns

OVINGHAM Reading Room Committee is holding its AGM on Monday 27 at 7.30pm in the said premises. A zoom link will be sent on request by e-mailing bookingreadingroom@gmail.com

OVINGHAM Parish Council will hold its annual jumble sale on Saturday 18 at 10am in the Reading Room.You can deliver your items to the Reading Room on Friday 17 between 6pm and 7pm or on the morning of the sale 8.30am until 9.30am. All money raised will be used for the upkeep and maintenance of the playing field and pavilion.

THE Mothers’ Union meeting this month will be on Wednesday 22 at 1.30pm in St Mary’s Church. The speaker is Linda Benniworth.

THE Chat Club is off on their outing today to Lanercost Priory. Next Thursday 16, its back to their regular meeting in the Reading Room at 10.15am for exercise and refreshments.

AFTER 10 years of loyal service as clerk of Ovingham Parish Council, Margaret Davenport is standing down from her role. We all thank her for her dedicated and hard work over the last decade. 

Horsley
Maurice Holliday

WESTBOUND traffic was diverted through Horsley village for about six hours last Thursday afternoon after a lorry shed its load of granite on the A69 injuring the driver of a passing car.

NCC library van will visit the village on the afternoon of September 15 at the usual times and stops. Dan, the library van driver, has left a number of free paperbacks in the eastbound bus shelter. 

HORSLEY Parish Council meet in the WI hall for the September bi-monthly meeting. The agenda is posted  on the village notice boards. If anyone has anything they would like to raise, please contact Mandy Senior, the parish clerk.

HOPEFULLY, Frost’s fish and chip van will be back in Cherrytree gardens on Tuesday, September 21 from 4.30pm until 6.30pm.

THE final class of the garden club’s 2021 competitions was judged last week. The tallest sunflowers were grown by Susan and Frank with heights of 275 cms and 240 cms respectively. Belle and Hattie had grown the biggest sunflower head at 26 cms wide.

THE external walls, doors and windows of the Hearth arts centre are being repainted between September 13 and 21. Classes will continue to be held in the Hearth hall and there will be access to studios by appointment.