Articles September 2024

September Tweets along Archie’s Pond

As the season of Autumn progresses many birds become much more easily seen as they complete their moult and there is less foliage to hide behind. It is the last chance to see the warbler species such as Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Willow Warbler, as they move southwards on their migration. On fine days Chiffchaff will still sing. Blackbirds also begin to be visible in greater numbers, as they become less skulking and more arrive from further north. Robins will be bolder and more numerous and will try and establish their “patch” for the winter. They will sing too, but without the volume and vigour of their spring song.

As December approaches, you may be lucky and encounter a busy flock of small birds. They will usually have Coal, Great and Blue Tits, some Finches, and hopefully Treecreepers and Goldcrests. The latter two you are unlikely to see in your garden unless you have some mature trees nearby. Just stand still and see what joins in. The local birds such as Dunnock, Wren and Robin will join in the activity but remain behind as the flock progresses. These mixed species feeding flocks can be seen in hedgerows and woodlands all around the village, and indeed in forests throughout Europe and the world, temperate or tropical.

Andrew Brunt  788352


For more information about birds in Northumberland, visit the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club website at www.ntbc.org.uk

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Longhorsley Parish Council

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, 11th September, in the Village Hall, starting at 7pm, with a parishioner slot at 8pm. Meeting notices are displayed on village notice boards, with minutes and other information found on the Parish Council website.

Contact details for the current members are detailed below:

Clerk: Gillian Turner, 4 Lowther Close, Seaton Manor, Ashington, NE63 0HY  01670 812704 or  parishclerk@longhorsley-pc.gov.uk

Chairman: Norman Douglas 07485 174529 norman.douglas@longhorsley-pc.gov.uk

Councillors: Sarah Alcock, Kirsty Bell, Peter Boyle, Jennie Parker, Anne Peat and Trevor Potts.

CCTV System

We are looking into extending and upgrading the current CCTV system operating in the Village, to cover additional areas such as the newly refurbished Church View play area.

Church View Play Area

A replacement balance beam has been recently installed on site and an additional hopscotch infill will be added to the surfacing over the summer. 

Old Church Entrance Improvements

The access to the Old Church has been the subject of concern and discussion within the parish for some time. Getting into and out of the site is a safety hazard for a number of reasons:

• Firstly, the entrance off the A697 is very difficult to see, even if you know where it is, when travelling from the North in particular. It is also very difficult to leave the site because the traffic to the North is obscured by the overgrown tree line. This restricted visibility makes it dangerous for those trying to pull off the road to enter the track as well as for those trying to leave it. This not only impacts those attending funerals but also those people trying to visit graves.

• The current “throat” access point is too narrow and does not provide sufficient run in from the A697 to get a funeral cortege off road and safely away from oncoming traffic.

• There is no indication to motorists to make allowance for the Old Church junction. We would like to see road signage, including a change to the double centre white line outside of the track, to give motorists sufficient warning of the entrance.

We are currently speaking to Northumberland County Council to determine what improvements can be made to improve road safety connected not only with access and egress but also generally on this stretch of the carriageway.

Allotments

One of the allotments in the village is about to become available. There is currently no waiting list and so, anybody within the Parish that is interested should contact the Parish Clerk.

Your County Councillor

As students wait for their exam results they can all be proud of helping to get the Northumberland's Ofsted schools ratings into the top quartile for schools in England - this is a very big improvement over the years where we were once in the lower quartile. Thanks to teachers and to the County Hall team who have just been judged “Outstanding” for Childrens Services. This is a very special rating which few Councils manage to achieve. 

To keep this momentum the County Council are building three new “superschools” in Seaton Valley, Amble and Berwick, and putting new money into KEVI. 

As always if I can help with any Council issues please let me know.

Glen Sanderson  07730 979737 glen.sanderson@northumberland.gov.uk

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Longhorsley Village Fete

On behalf of the Fete committee, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported our first village Fete for several years. Despite the awful weather, we had a brilliant day. It was fantastic to see so many people out and about, having a great time. It certainly made all the hard work leading up to the Fete worthwhile. 

Also huge thanks to everyone who kindly gave prizes, rosettes, volunteering their time and judging expertise - we could not have managed without you all, thank you so much.

We also raised some money, which will give us a great platform to start financing next years Fete. We have decided to donate some of the money to local groups as well as a charitable donation. If anyone has any suggestions regarding this donation, please email them to the fete committee longhorsleyfete@gmail.com. A decision will be made regarding the recipient of the donation at our AGM. 

The AGM will be held on Tuesday 17th September, 7.00pm in the Village Hall. Everyone is welcome to come along. 

Once again many thanks to all who supported our wonderful Fete day!

Till next year!

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Northern Ark Summer Update

We’ve travelled all over the North East this summer with Northern Ark Nursery and Hedgeley Honey. Stints at Alnwick have joined our usual Saturday markets at Morpeth, Kelso and Hexham. You’ll also find us at county shows through September - check our website www.northernarknursery.co.uk and Facebook page for details. As ever, the nursery is open Thursday-Saturday from 11am - 4pm.

Essential jobs to do in the garden in early autumn:

• Catch earwigs in upturned pots crammed with newspaper or straw on canes among dahlias and destroy any you find.

• Prepare soil to plant evergreen shrubs and conifers by digging it over and incorporating lots of organic matter.

• Prune rambling roses, removing shoots that have finished flowering.

• Plant conifers, shrubs and hedging.

• Buy spring-flowering bulbs like tulips, crocuses, narcissus and fritillaries.

• Remove suckers from roses, shrubs and around the base of trees.

• Pot up herbs, such as tarragon, to use in winter.

• Divide any overgrown or tired-looking clumps of alpines and herbaceous perennials. This will invigorate them, and improve flowering and overall shape, for next year.

• Some tall-flowering perennials, such as asters, may still need staking to stop them from being blown over.

At Hedgeley Honey the bees have been busy pollinating the borage crops in Yorkshire and East Anglia, resulting in some long days of driving for us. The weather for this has been really good, making up for the very poor start to the year. The bees have brought in a good borage crop this year: a lovely light, sweet, mild honey. 

Our other bees in Northumberland are now all on the heather moors.  Hopefully, in the warm days we have had, they will have been bringing in the dark caramel tasting ling heather honey.

By the end of September all the bees will be back in Northumberland, in their winter apiaries being made ready for winter.

For more information on our online shop and stockists, visit www.hedgeleyhoney.co.uk.

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Longhorsley Takeaway Food

We will send out a Breaking News if we are notified of any changes.

The Shoulder of Mutton

The Shoulder of Mutton is open and offering takeaways every day.

Sunday lunches 12-6pm ~ Monday to Saturday 5pm-8pm

See their menu at  shoulderofmuttonpub.com ~ phone 788236 to order

The Flying Fryer

The Flying Fryer will be here every Friday from 4pm to 7pm, depending on demand.

Facebook The Flying Fryer 07984 426 725

Dou_h&co 

Dou_h&co visits on one Thursday in the month from 4:30pm – 7:30pm.

Pre-order on  07507 834 628 from Monday 9am.

See their menu on the Dou_h & Co Facebook page, Instagram and Dou-h.co.uk

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Post Office in Longhorsley Village Hall

Monday 9.15am   to 11.30am

Friday 11.30am to 1.30pm

Please note the change to the operating hours on Monday. 

The Post Office has been very quiet lately and Head Office have contemplated closing outreaches due to cost/lack of business. The reduced hours will hopefully suffice going forward.

Please note that this Outreach Service cannot accept large parcels.

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Mobile Library Visiting Times

The Mobile Library visits Longhorsley once a month,  usually on Fridays between 3pm and 4pm, in the Village Hall car park.

This September the van will visit on a Monday due to holiday.

The next visits will be on the 16th September and 18th October.

The Mobile Library Service website can be found here

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October Edition

The last date for submissions is 20th September. You can email or phone us.

Please keep articles under 250 words, if at all possible.

Jan and Sheena Haveman 07834 740649 longhorsley.tree@gmail.com

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