Northumberland communities - Bellingham

Beware tax phone scam

2009-11-12T15:27:26Z

People living in Northumberland are being targeted in a phone scam claiming to offer them a council tax refund.

Fraudsters pretending to be from Northumberland County Council have phoned up people living in the county with different stories to try to get bank details out of their victims.

The latest problem comes on the back of a spate of e-mails sent to small businesses in the county trying to get hold of bank and credit card details by telling them they had over or underpaid council tax and could face a fine.

In one incident, a resident was informed that under a new government scheme she was now eligible for a council tax band reduction. A number of elderly residents have also been contacted and informed that they have a credit on their council tax account that needs to be refunded. In each case the caller has asked for bank details.

A spokesperson from Northumberland County Council said: "Please be vigilant and if you have elderly relatives or neighbours, please alert them too.

"This is an unscrupulous scam carried out in the hope of deceiving vulnerable or unsuspecting residents. If you are in doubt, no matter how convincing the caller may be, hang up and refer the matter to the police."

Landermason at Falstone Village Hall

2009-11-11T22:23:09Z

Local songwriting duo Fiona Lander and Paul Mason, better known as Landermason, are to perform at Falstone Village Hall on Saturday 28th November. They are sharing the evening with superb singer songwriter Gareth Davies-Jones.

This should be an evening with a bit of a difference. There will be performances from both acts individually but also some collaborations too! Expect a lovely mix of songs and tunes from past and present, plenty of sing alongs and loads of interesting stories. So come along and enjoy this 'Jools Holland style' evening with two of the best acoustic acts in the North East of England.

Doors 8pm
Music from 8.30pm

Tickets £8/£6
Tel. 01434 240125
BYO refreshments

Globe trotting folk hero to perform at Bellingham!

2009-11-11T21:41:43Z

JEZ LOWE is enjoying his busiest year ever. He's been to New Zealand, Australia, North America, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, not forgetting Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire, Cornwall and Scotland. New songs, new repertoire, new projects, awards and nominations have all mounted up into quite an acheivement for a lad from a coal mining town in County Durham.

Keen followers of the folk scene will be well aware of this mans outstanding song writing talents and will know of his association with The Bad Pennies, who will be celebrating 20 years together in 2010. Look out for Big Bad Pennies tour dates around the country later next year. In the mean time you can catch Jez playing solo at the Riverdale Hall Hotel (home of 'Bellingham All Acoustic') on Thursday 26th November.
Support: Laura Victoria

Doors from 8pm. Music from 8.30pm

Tickets are £8.00. Tel 01434 220254

Bellingham All Acoustic

Wark go clear at the top

2009-11-11T13:33:20Z

Wark finally edged out Walker Central to become clear leaders in the Northern Alliance Premier Division - and are now three points ahead of last season's champions.

Wark claimed their fifth away win on the trot and had Tony Lancaster (2), John Famelton, Mark Campbell and Daniel Carter on target in their 5-0 victory over Cramlington Town.

After losing to Newcastle University a week earlier, Walker suffered another damaging defeat in going down 3-1 to hosts Blyth Town.

Video: Recycling in Northumberland

2009-11-11T10:40:25Z

A video has been launched by Northumberland County Council to help it meet demanding Government recycling targets.

The tutorial video (watch below) shows Northumberland County Council's new recycling centre in action and helps residents understand what can and can't be put into the recycling bin.

In Northumberland the council is responsible for collecting waste from more than 140,000 households as well as thousands of business premises.

The council needs to meet Government targets of 40% recycling by 2010, 45% by 2015 and 50% by 2020.

If these strict targets are not met the council faces heavy fines as ministers push ahead with national environmental changes.

One of the key problems at the recycling plant is low-grade plastic such as yogurt pots and margarine tubs which become trapped among paper and card creating contamination problems for the paper mills.

The problem is made worse when these packs contain food waste which can also cause contamination of the other recyclable materials.

In an effort to reduce contamination the council no longer wants people to recycle these types of items which represent a tiny proportion of household waste and cause quality control problems at the plant .

The video offers advice on exactly what items should be recycled, such as plastic bottles (empty and lids removed), rinsed food and drinks cans, paper and cardboard and aerosols.

Visit www.northumberland.gov.uk for more information on recycling

Volunteers wanted for library transport

2009-11-11T09:59:49Z

Volunteers are needed in part of Northumberland to help people who can not get to libraries.

Northumberland County Council's library service is looking for helpers who live in Hexham, Ponteland or the surrounding areas of West Northumberland. Current volunteers and library staff will talk about what is involved at a free coffee morning in Hexham Library on Friday, November 20 between 10am and 12 noon.

For more information, contact Michelle Watson at Hexham Library on (01434) 652488.

Share your Northumbrian dialect words

2009-11-10T11:16:34Z

Deek at these kenspeckle words and see if you can save 'the venerable grandmother' of the English language.

What some people call the 'purest form' of English, the Northumbrian dialect, has been eroded over time and no-one knows how much Northumbrians and Geordies still have their own way of speaking.

Words like yari, jugal and skumfish used to be heard regularly but the Northumbrian Language Society is desperate to get a snapshot of the state of the region's dialect and see which Northumbrian words are still in use.

The call comes after Collins English Dictionary asked people to look at three Northumbrian words and let them know, via Twitter, if they are used. If not, they will write the obituary for the dead words.

But if they are still in common use, the words will be reinstated into the Collins Corpus database and could even be included in future dictionaries.

The Northumbrian Language Society chose the three words for Collins to take to the public but they have many other words and want to take the opportunity to learn more about the health of Northumberland's dialect.

Kim Bibby-Wilson from the Northumbrian Language Society said: "It matters. If we all spoke hybrid American English, it would be a very boring world.

"As far as the Collins project is concerned, it's good - it's going to get a high profile and remind people of these words. When you speak about dialect people are fascinated.

"But the more life goes on, the less people hear the speech patterns. It's whether they are speaking these words or not. From anecdotal evidence we're losing words because they're not relevant anymore."

Unlike Scottish dialect, Northumbrian words do not get full recognition, meaning there is no European funding for researching and promoting the dialect, as well as projects to record people still speaking in the tongue.

Northumbrian only holds observer status under the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages.

Kim said: "We would love to have the funding. We should be looking at how the Scots dictionary is constructed.

"Northumbrian dialect is the venerable grandmother of English, not a poor cousin. It has always been isolated, by the North Sea, the Pennines, Cheviots and moors, and it is a purer form of English. It has been reserved here for longer because the Vikings and Normans didn't have a great deal of interplay with the locals.

"It's very important, because the language that's spoken in a particular area tells you so much, just like castles do and cathedrals and football teams. You wouldn't knock down Bamburgh Castle because it's no longer used for defence."

Many of the words used in Northumberland are from the Angles, while certain areas also picked up gypsy words because of nearby camps.

For instance, 'gadgy', now used to mean a man, was originally used to refer to non-gypsies, while charver, now a derogatory term, used to mean friend.

Which of the words below do you still use? Do you know of any other current Northumbrian dialect words?

Click on the link on the right to share them

SPREADING THE WORD

THE THREE WORDS COLLINS ARE RESEARCHING ARE

Shawm - to warm yourself

Hippletyclinch - walk with a limp

Bari - beautiful/handsome

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS FROM NORTHUMBERLAND

Deek - to look at

Yari - egg

Jugal - dog

Mort - wife

Netty - toilet

Oxter - armpit

Kenspeckle - distinctive

Skumfish - tired

Spelk - splinter

Gully - sharp knife for meat/general purpose

Puzzly-os - noughts and crosses

Lowp - to jump

Kist - strong box

WELL-KNOWN REGIONAL TERMS

Gadgy - non-gypsy man

Charver - friend

Gan - go

Lang - long

Canny - good

Hoy - throw

Ahad/ahaad - caught fire

Stotty - round bread

NEW ONES

Windy-pick - pneumatic drill

Starry head - Phillips screwdriver

Kielder shop up for Countryside Alliance Award

2009-11-10T10:09:11Z

The village shop in Kielder (pictured) is among a number of high-quality community enterprises who are battling it out for four regional titles to go through to a national competition.

The Countryside Alliance Awards recognise quality, characters, skills, traditions and enterprise of the countryside through the people who work so hard to make it tick.

There are four categories and North East businesses have been nominated by customers and supporters. Winners will be chosen before Christmas.

These will then go towards the national titles, which will be announced at Parliament in February.

In the village shop and Post Office category, Blanchland Village Shop, Kielder Village Store, and Belsay Village Shop are competing.

In the local food category, Morpeth's Moorhouse Farm Shop and Dropswell Farm Shop in Trimdon Village, County Durham, go up against Piercebridge Organic Farm in Darlington.

In the Daily Telegraph traditional business group, The Crown at Catton, Allendale, R G Foreman & Son in Norham on Tweed, Northumberland, and Rothbury Family Butchers in Northumberland take each other on. And in the rural enterprise group Allendale Brewery, G & S Organics in Alnwick and the Country Barn, Widdrington, hope for success.

Countryside Alliance North of England director Steve Clark commented: "These finalists represent the very best of the region. The awards are a unique opportunity to celebrate not just the hard work that goes into businesses in the countryside, but also the heart and character of every individual who contributes to rural enterprise."

Premiere for Otterburn farmer's rare beef

2009-11-06T14:05:21Z

Diners in the North East held a special dinner and got their first taste of the prized Wagyu meat - described as the caviar of beef - produced by an Otterburn farmer.

Cafe 21 on Newcastle Quayside was turned in to a Wagyu steakhouse for one night only earlier this week as diners feasted on the sweet and succulent beef.

Originally bred in Japan and more commonly known as Kobe beef, the cattle have been reared in the Northumberland hills by pioneering farmer Steve Ramshaw.

The cattle have been three years in the growing from gestation, fed on grass and finished on grain.

Steve, who farms at Monkridge Hill near Otterburn, spent the family silver on importing selected pure-bred Wagyu cattle from North America. In doing so he has became one of the first in the UK to produce the world-famous beef.

And Terry Laybourne earmarked the first animal to be produced for Cafe 21.

The rare Wagyu cattle is renowned as the best eating beef in the world. It is noted for its delicate texture, extreme marbling, exceptional tenderness and deep flavour.

"It is known for its tenderness, juiciness and taste. It's something special and I'm excited to see people's reactions to the meat," said Steve, who has a herd of 20 Wagyu cattle, and also breeds Aberdeen Angus beef and rare-breed pork on his 1,000-acre farm.

"It's best described as the caviar of beef. It's set a new benchmark. In Japan they even massage them, but here they are grass-grown and finished on a really good diet. It's a big gamble but we are confident the market is ready for it."

Plans are in the offing for another Steakhouse Night at Cafe 21 nearer Christmas.

Pupils' ride raises funds for Calvert Trust

2009-11-05T14:37:46Z

Ubaydullah Iqbal, Dan Cupit, bottom: Mat Butler, Hazel Munro, Gordon Orr" src="http://prudhoe.journallive.co.uk/news/calvertrustride.jpg" width="200" height="170" class="mt-image-right" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" />A group of pupils took on the challenge to raise money for the Calvert Trust in Kielder with a coast to coast cycle ride.

Ten lads from Newcastle School for Boys arrived at Calvert Trust Kielder after doing the ride in two days.

They visited the centre in Kielder Water and Forest Park before beginning to collect sponsorship to raise their target of £2,000. Supporting them in their trip were local companies Back Consulting Limited, Apex Radios and Purple Mountain.

The money will go towards the work of Calvert Trust Kielder which enable people with disabilities to achieve their potential through outdoor activities.

Hazel Munro, a fundraiser at Calvert Trust Kielder said: "We are thrilled the school has committed themselves to supporting us and we are impressed with the nature of the challenge they have taken on."

Charles Drax, a teacher at Newcastle School for Boys said: "Visiting the trust meant that the boys could see how the money raised from the challenge will help lots of people less fortunate than themselves to do things they never dreamt possible. "

Pictured: Lads from Newcastle School for Boys who cycled the coast to coast route to raise money for Calvert Trust Kielder. Left to right: top: Charles Drax, Karen Smith, Lewis Mackie, Peter Cockerill (CE Calvert Trust Kielder), Henry Percy-Raine, Ubaydullah Iqbal, Dan Cupit, bottom: Mat Butler, Hazel Munro, Gordon Orr

Wark shocked by Heaton Stannington

2009-11-04T13:00:48Z

Both of the pacesetters lost in this weekend's round of Northern Alliance fixtures.

A surprising reverse for Walker at home to bottom club Newcastle University was mirrored up the Tyne Valley, where their fellow pace-setters Wark were also beaten 2-1 by Heaton Stannington.

Daniel Carter netted for Wark, but their fourth-placed visitors secured the points with two goals from Gary Yates.

With Walker Central and Wark still sharing identical records in pole position, nearest rivals Carlisle City trimmed their lead to three points and the Cumbrians have a useful game in hand.

Meanwhile, Bellingham progressed to the second round of the Tyneside Amateur League Cup with a 4-3 victory over Newcastle Medicals.

Otterburn Hall clinches AA rosette

2009-11-04T11:54:02Z

A hotel has won four stars and its first AA rosette despite the management team only taking over a few months ago.

Otterburn Hall clinched the awards which are there to recognise the quality of accommodation and staff.

But although the management had only come in recently, they have more than 100 years of experience between them in the four and five star hotel industry.

Otterburn Hall is also proud of its restaurant, run by executive head chef Paul Clarkson, who has won numerous rosettes and more than 80 medals during 30 years in the business.

Group Hotels Manager Malcolm Linforth-Jones said: "Many of our menus incorporate game from our local estate and good quality local produce. Our success lies in giving our clients such a good experience that they will return again and again, whether it is for Christmas parties, family weddings or special nights out."

Bad year puts hen harriers close to the edge

2009-11-02T10:10:05Z

The perilous position of a threatened bird of prey in the North East has worsened, it has been revealed.

There were no successful hen harrier nests in the region this year, according to the RSPB and Natural England's hen harrier recovery project. One pair of harriers was seen in Northumberland, but the birds did not nest.

In England there were only six successful nests - the worst hen harrier breeding figures since monitoring work began in 2002. This compares to last year when there were 10 nests and 14 in 2007. The status of the hen harrier as an English breeding bird is now on the brink, say the RSPB and Natural England.

While there is no evidence of illegal killing or nest destruction associated with this year's breeding failures, illegal persecution has led to today's critically low breeding numbers and patchy distribution.

As a result, hen harriers are even more vulnerable to chance natural events.

In 2007 and 2008, one pair of hen harriers nested successfully in North Tynedale, with shifts of volunteers providing a 24-hour guard.

In 2006 a pair also nested successfully at Geltsdale on the Northumberland-Cumbria border, again with a round-the-clock watch.

Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB's director of conservation, said: "We always feared that with hen harrier numbers kept so low, the English population was extremely vulnerable to a bad year like this.

"There can be no place in England's future for the illegal killing of birds of prey. Land owners and other shooting groups need to show real commitment and start working with Natural England, RSPB and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation to implement legal solutions such as diversionary feeding."

John Swift, chief executive of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said: "A bad winter has left the hen harrier population even more vulnerable than before.

"This means that everybody must concentrate on doing what they can to ensure that the moorland habitat continues to be well managed and that persecution is confined to history.

"It is imperative that we find a solution to the conflict between grouse shooting and birds of prey and those who manage grouse moors must continue to be vigilant against persecution of harriers."

Farmers' bank details lost after RPA blunder

2009-10-30T17:11:49Z

THE personal details of thousands of farmers have been lost in a Government data blunder.

Rural Payments Agency (RPA) computer tapes containing the names, bank details, addresses and passwords of more than 100,000 farmers were discovered missing in May, after they were transferred from RPA offices in Newcastle.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was alerted to the issue immediately, but it is not believed any of the affected farmers have been told about the breach.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn yesterday confirmed 38 back-up tapes and one CD had been found to be "unaccounted for" during routine checks earlier this year.

Mr Benn told MPs that 35 had since been accounted for. Of the remainder one tape and the CD did not contain "personal protected data" but the two remaining tapes "potentially contained partial data in code".

He said: "Tapes of this sort can only be read with specialist equipment and detailed technical knowledge.

"Furthermore, one of the two tapes was known to be faulty and had been reported as such since it could not be read." A "forensic investigation" was carried out in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines and officials concluded there was "only a low risk of any usable personal data having been lost".

But Otterburn farmer Malcolm Corbett is furious that the Government has known about the blunder for months, but has not taken steps to warn any of the affected farmers.
He said: "It's always worrying if you hear that bank details have been lost.

"If they've known about it for a while, they should have said something before now.

"Farmers' businesses could be disrupted by this. Are the farmers now going be given advice on what to do if their bank details have been lost?

"I'm not surprised that this has happened. The RPA has fallen down once again."

A DEFRA spokeswoman said a thorough search was conducted to find the missing material and concluded that some tapes were misfiled and placed "on the wrong shelf".

She described this as "bad book-keeping" by RPA-contracted IT consultants IBM, which runs the data centre.

DEFRA said it assumed that the two tapes that were never found must have been destroyed.

A spokesperson for the RPA said: "Since these incidents, procedures have been further tightened to prevent a recurrence.

"IBM have instigated a thorough review of their procedures to manage removable storage media, such as these tapes, as well as tightening access control requirements.

"The tapes are held in a secure IBM data centre and only IBM and Accenture technicians have access to them.

"Both IBM and Accenture were asked to review their security arrangements as a result of this incident."

The scandal comes two years after Britain's worst-ever data loss, when two discs containing the details of 25 million children went missing from a Government office in the North East.

The £155m blunder happened when the CDs were sent from HM Custom and Revenue's offices in Washington in October 2007 by a junior official by non-traceable internal courier - against regulations - to the National Audit Office in London.

Rehabilitation centre plan will not be going ahead

2009-10-30T08:11:23Z

Controversial plans to use a remote Northumberland farm as a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics and drug users have been rejected by a Government planning inspector.

Ten local residents objected last year after the Tyneside Cyrenians charity unveiled the plan for the residential treatment centre at Elishaw Farm near Otterburn.

The farmhouse, two holiday cottages and farm buildings were earmarked as a rehab centre for up to 10 people because of the remote location, where clients would be removed from temptations they would face in a more urban setting.

The idea was for clients to stay for between six and 12 weeks and take part in horticultural and limited farming activities as part of their treatment.

The facility was aimed at people with alcohol dependency, substance misusers and those with associated mental health issues - but planning permission was refused by the former Tynedale District Council in January.

Now that decision has been upheld by planning inspector Anthony Lyman, who has dismissed an appeal by the owner of Elishaw Farm, Alan Brown.

Tyneside Cyrenians withdrew as joint appellants just before the appeal hearing, citing funding issues, leaving Mr Brown to proceed on his own.

In his appeal judgement Mr Lyman said that while Elishaw Farm was certainly isolated, he was not convinced it would provide a tranquil or sustainable haven for those requiring rehabilitation.

This was because of its proximity to two busy main roads and the Army's training ranges at Otterburn, which generated traffic and noise from gun training. He said the farm's isolation and lack of public transport links would make the development contrary to local planning policies.

Mr Lyman said he also took into account local residents' fears about crime and anti-social behaviour.

In January Tynedale Council officers recommended approval for the scheme, but councillors rejected it following objections from local residents and Rochester Parish Council.