Northumberland communities - Allendale

Allen Valley Angling & Conservation invite you to their AGM

2012-02-01T01:20:28Z

We're holding our very first Annual General Meeting on Thursday 2nd February from 7.30pm at the Allendale Inn, Market Place, Allendale.

It's a great opportunity to come and meet the members and find out more about the group's plans for 2012 - both in terms of organised fishing events, but also in terms of environmental projects designed to improve the river habitat on the River East Allen.

Starting from a spring up at Allenheads - England's highest village - the river descends through stunning countryside within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is a great natural asset of the local area - although relatively un-managed and as such there is no shortage of projects and opportunities for volunteers to roll up their sleeves and get involved with carefully planned and coordinated river management works.

There is more information about the AGM on the club's website - www.allenvalleyanglers.co.uk

Fishing Catch Returns - River East Allen

2012-02-01T00:46:56Z

Allen Valley Angling & Conservation, a new fishing club, which was established in 2011, now has 63 members, who have signed up to be able to fish the River East Allen in Northumberland for the coming 2012 season.

Our members are primarily from the local area - however, we also have members from Newcastle, Leeds, Oxford, London and Holland. These members are frequent visitors to the Allen Valley - either because they have family here, or visited the area on holiday and have fallen in love with the place and return when they can.

I was really pleased that despite the fact that Allen Valley Angling & Conservation only started to welcome members towards the end of the 2011 fishing season, 24 of our members submitted a catch return, recording between them 42 fishing days.

101 fish were recorded as having been caught on the fly and there was 100% voluntary catch and release - great news for a club that has environmental conservation at its heart.

The river has a healthy population of wild brown trout and unsurprisingly, this accounted for the majority of fish caught. Wild brownies are smaller than their farmed cousins - the average weight of fish caught was 6oz. Nevertheless, if you haven't tried river fishing before, don't let this put you off! Wild brownies are a challenge to catch and provide great sport.

Four salmon smolts and three sea trout were also recorded. You can find more details including the size of individual fish caught and the flies that were used on allen valley anglers website catch returns page.

Where does the wildlife go?

2011-11-07T13:36:22Z

Written by Kevin O'Hara, conservation officer at Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Where do they all go in winter? - Part 1

Recently I felt the first twangs of winter; the 'first frost' gripped my garden, the chickens came skidding out of their ark, and I had to break the ice on their drinking water. I really like those first days, when we still have some daylight left to enjoy the wonderful colours and smells. I take the camera and binoculars with me when I walk the dogs, keeping an eye out for winter thrushes or other visitors. The clocks have altered and we start the long haul of winter - not until February will some real light return to the sky, and warmth to the sun.

It is during these months that we wonder where, exactly, many of our resident wildlife species go to survive the coldest and wettest days of winter, especially those that are more delicate and less mobile.

We may have an idyllic mental image of a hibernating hedgehog (unless you're my terrier, Brock) cosily curled up under the garden shed, but other UK creatures avoid the chill in very varied and often surprising ways.

In the North East the weather is more variable than the rest of the country and our continental neighbours, upland birds such as red grouse, need only make temporary altitudinal movements, generally returning to higher ground once the snow relents. However, with snow lying longer on the hills they often move to the tops where drifting snow exposes the best feed.

Relief from the winter cold is also afforded by migration to salt water. For example, the kingfishers from the Blyth and Wansbeck disappeared over the last couple of winters, but I regularly saw kingfishers in the estuaries and along the open rocky shoreline.

The golden plover's breeding grounds in the Pennines seem remarkably empty after the birds leave together. They abandon the open moors to winter on the coast, some pushing as far south as Sussex and in extreme weather, over the channel to France.

The grey partridge is a highly sedentary bird and whilst I have been heartened by the number present in my local area this year, they will have a tough time in the open countryside this winter if it is a hard one again. This is why I keep banging on about good hedgerows and not flailing them to within an inch of their lives (plus maintaining a good field margin) - this is where these birds find shelter, food and warmth. Other residents, like the woodcock, whose numbers swell in the winter months with continental migrants readily make bad-weather-related movements. With great dependence on wetlands, most of our wildfowl and waders must constantly shift location in icy weather.

Amongst the species that truly hibernate to escape the winter cold, bats are the most well-known occupants of houses and other buildings; mostly roosting in the roof, but also sometimes (as in the case of my house), in the tiny spaces in the wall cavity. They will also roost under tiles, beneath lead flashing, in boiler rooms, cellars and service tunnels...anything that maintains a constant temperature and affords access to the outside world, and that replicates their natural hibernacula such as caves, trees and other enclosures.

I will be making the most of these last rays of light because I can't stand the dark winter nights. As a youngster it was a time for pranks and dares, but now health and safety, political correctness and a zero-tolerance society has put paid to nicky-knocky-nine-doors, apple bashing and dogging (the traditional pursuit of legging it through people's gardens unobserved, not the lewd public behaviour of some ex-football stars).

Besides, at 48 my days of out-running the local plod may have come to an end. I content myself with using my rowing machine in the conservatory whilst staring at the grey skies, shooting defenceless pigeons around my farmer friends' fields, days out walking my dogs (avoiding hibernating hedgehogs), and a bit of photography and writing.

Allen Valley Angling & Conservation is born

2011-09-21T07:45:31Z

Hi. My name's Sarah and I've recently become involved with a brand new not-for-profit organisation called Allen Valley Angling & Conservation.

The idea for the organisation came from a chap called Paul Frear. Paul moved to Allendale 3 years ago and walks the banks of our local river - the East Allen - practically every day. He's a keen fisherman and has been involved with fishing and conservation all his life - in fact, he's made a career of it!

Anyway, Paul knows the river pretty well by now and had an idea that with enough people behind it, and with the right consents in place, it will be a great fishery - right on our door-step!

Having negotiated a licence with the land-owner's management company, he put a poster in the Post Office window inviting anyone with an interest in seeing the river reach its potential as a fishery to attend a meeting at the Golden Lion Hotel. Thirty people turned up for the meeting - myself included - to hear what he had to say. Seven people stepped forward to form a committee and within just four weeks, we were ready to launch Allen Valley Angling & Conservation.

The angling community online has given this initiative a really warm welcome and we've already started receiving applications for membership via our website, www.allenvalleyanglers.co.uk. Despite coming towards the end of the season, we have welcomed 40 members!

It's a fantastic start and I'm really looking forward to developing this little-known river - which is teeming with wild brown trout as well as sea trout and even a few salmon - in to one of the jewel's in the Allen Valley's crown.

If you're at all interested, you can find out more on our website www.allenvalleyanglers.co.uk or send us an email to info@allenvalleyanglers.co.uk

Pictures from our Northumberland Flickr group

2011-05-24T23:00:09Z

Spectacular photos shared by members of our Northumberland group on the Flickr photo-sharing website. Click on a photo to see the caption and to view it in a larger size.

You can join the Flickr group to share your own local photos, or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk.

Your Photos: Foot and Mouth Disease Memorial near Sinderhope

2011-05-06T13:39:44Z

Alison Donaldson shared this poignant photo of a memorial to the Foot and Mouth disaster of ten years ago.

The daffodils were planted by Heather Robson in a field at Sinderhope in memory of healthy sheep that were culled. Alison wonders if this is the only memorial to the millions of animals which were killed.

Upload your photos to JournalLive or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk to see them on this site.

Your Photos: Staward Pele

2011-03-22T10:52:21Z

Alison photographed these 14th-century gatehouse remains near Allen Banks.

Join our Northumberland Flickr group to share your photos or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk

Jubilee People's Millions

2011-01-10T17:36:07Z

Big Lottery Fund and ITV, with the approval of Buckingham Palace, are helping to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Jubilee People's Millions projects will inspire, involve or improve their local communities. If you've got an idea that could breathe life into your local area and improve the lives of the people who live there, why not apply for a grant of up to ÃÂ£60 000!

Eight finalists from the North East (and eight reserves) will be given media training. The eight finalists then produce a short film about their project, which will be shown on Tyne Tees news. The public will vote for the projects they would like to see receive the funding. During voting week, two projects will be shown every night from Monday - Thursday, with four winners and one runner up announced by the end of the week.

For more information visit www.peoplesmillions.org.uk or phone 0845 0 10 11 12. Groups have until midday 4 February 2011 to enter. The winning projects will be awarded the funding in summer 2011, in order to be up and running in time for Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee year in 2012.

The application process is quick and easy.

For finalists, the People's Millions can help:
Ã¢ÂÂ¢ galvanize your supporters and the local community
Ã¢ÂÂ¢ raise the profile of your project and your organisation
Ã¢ÂÂ¢ give you valuable but fun and supportive media training - reserves receive the training too.
Ã¢ÂÂ¢ clarify and publicise your strengths and goals

Watch the Jubilee People's Millions launch film as well as clips of previous winners.

Your Photos: Scottish blackface ewes in the snow

2010-11-30T11:48:45Z

Paul Coulson took this picture at High Staward, Langley at the weekend, looking towards the snowy fells of Whitfield.

Upload your photos to JournalLive or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk to see them on this site.

Your Photos: Allen Banks in summer

2010-10-12T08:57:38Z

Caroline Boobis took this photo on a walk from Allen Banks on a lovely summer's day, looking out across the valley.

Upload your photos to JournalLive or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk to see them on this site,

Your Photos: West Allen

2010-09-01T10:49:02Z

Paul Lewis shared this picture on JournalLive of rocks in the River West Allen, south of Whitfield.

Upload your photos to JournalLive or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk.

Your Photos: West Allen Valley

2010-08-24T10:59:50Z

Angela Brown sent in this view from Carrshields down the West Allen Valley with the Cheviot Hills in the background.

Upload your photos to JournalLive or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk to share them on these pages.

Your Photos: Tree in a stone circle, Whitfield

2010-08-13T14:56:16Z

This photo was shared by Andrew McCann on our Northumberland Flickr group, who remarks that the knarled tree, standing within of a stone circle built by a local farmer, is showing the effects of being in a very exposed area.

Join the Northumberland Flickr group to share your photos or send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk

Hexham MP Guy Opperman speaks out on planned court closures

2010-07-16T08:18:26Z

A mass courts closure ordered by the coalition Government has been attacked by one of its own North MPs.

Hexham MP Guy Opperman, a barrister by training, said he would find it "astonishing" if the plans would work.

It comes after Justice Secretary Ken Clarke unveiled plans to close magistrates and county courts nationwide - including Bishop Auckland, Hexham, Alnwick, Blaydon, Gosforth, Houghton- le-Spring and Consett.

His Whitehall department has insisted threatened courts are not up to scratch and underused, with other courts within reasonable travelling distance.

The closure scheme will save around ÃÂ£15m a year and a one-off maintenance bill of ÃÂ£21.5m, according to the Ministry of Justice. Speaking in Parliament, Mr Opperman said: "Hexham constituency used to have three magistrates courts and now we have only one.

"We are the second biggest constituency in England and, if Tynedale magistrates court goes, an area well in excess of 1,150 square miles will have no magistrates court whatsoever."

"As a former practising member of the Bar I find the idea that that would work on a regular basis astonishing."

He added: "From many parts of the constituency there is no bus that would get me to Newcastle or Bedlington in the morning.

"The Government will clearly have to examine the way in which they look after rural services. Rural services and the rural economy must be reappraised. Many things have happened in the past, but I should not like the first step of this Government to be the immediate institution of a situation in which there is no magistrates court for 12,000 square miles."

Junior Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly did not directly address Mr Opperman's concerns, but stressed local justice was important and welcomed responses to a public consultation on the plans.

"People should not have to make unreasonably long journeys to reach a court. The vast majority of the public should be able to access a court within an hour's travel, but proximity to a court should not be the only consideration.

"We also need to consider utilisation, the speed cases are dealt with and the quality of the facilities for court users within a courthouse," he said.

Northumberland residents warned about phishing scam e-mails

2010-07-16T08:13:09Z

A new warning has been issued by consumer watchdogs about scam emails which try to trick people into giving out personal information.

Trading standards officials in Northumberland are urging people to be on their guard against a number of emails currently in circulation which look like they have been sent by leading banks and building societies.

They aim to obtain personal details which could be used in identity fraud or to secure payments from bank accounts.

This type of scam is known as phishing and the emails commonly ask recipients to update information such as passwords, national insurance numbers and bank accounting details by visiting a website.

There is a threat that failure to do so could result in their account being suspended, and sometimes users are told there has been unauthorised access to the account.

Trading standards officials say some of the emails are very convincing and use bank and building society symbols and logos to authenticate them.

They are urging people to be vigilant and to report any suspected email scams on the website www.banksafeonline.org.uk

Alan Kirsop , Northumberland's head of trading standards, said: "We have had concerns about scams which are claiming to come from three companies in particular.

"We are urging residents to be sceptical if they receive an email claiming to come from a bank or building society asking for further personal details.''