Northumberland communities - Ponteland

Special resident found at Ponteland schools site

2009-11-10T16:00:58Z

A mini nature reserve at two Northumberland schools hides a special resident, discovered by a pupil. AMY HUNT reports

A project to revamp a nature area took an unexpected twist. The mini reserve at Ponteland High and Middle schools had existed for about 27 years, but it had become overgrown and started attracting litter.

Students from the school, along with teachers and the chair of governors, began a drive to tidy up the area, prune trees and clean the pond.

Then one day earlier this year, when she was walking past on her way to school, Year Eight pupil Hannah Patterson, 12, spotted a special little creature.

She said: "I used to walk past here to school and look in the pond. One day I was looking and I saw a newt. It didn't look like a normal smooth one, it was black and bumpy. I told the school and a man from the wildlife trust came to look.

"He found some eggs and we saw one come up for air."

The mystery creature turned out to be a great-crested newt. Kevin O'Hara from Northumberland Wildlife Trust (NWT) was called to do a survey and work on the pond was halted while the presence of the newts was assessed.

Steve Lowe, head of conservation from the NWT, said: "They are a fully protected species and their status in Northumberland is relatively unknown, although they are uncommon.

"We have now found 92 ponds in Northumberland which have them. Just three years ago we only knew of 12, but we have made a concerted effort to look.

"It's great to find a pond with newts in, particularly so close to a school, from an educational point of view.

"But because it's a protected species there are issues we've had to take care of in clearing the pond."

The site is also a magnet for some beautiful British birds such as bullfinch and goldfinch and water boatmen and pond skaters live around the pond.

And alongside these are every kind of UK amphibian - frogs and the three types of newt, smooth, great-crested and palmate.

They are hoping to work with the parish council, police and school to bring in extra resources, improve the area and make it into a designated reserve which pupils and the local community respect.

They are hoping to raise funds to put in a pond-dipping platform, seats and some signs to explain about the wildlife found at the site.

Steve said: "It's management really. Once you get a piece of litter in a place like this people think it's OK to dump stuff. We have removed quite a bit of garden waste. We want to manage the trees and woodland and keep the paths clear so it feels more cared for.

"I feel if we've got people involved in the site they will take more care of it, particularly the local schoolchildren.

"It's good to see so many young people getting involved. They have worked really hard on quite a mucky task."

During one morning on site the group removed a skip-full of rubbish, taking away everything from a rotten fence to broken glass bottles.

Hannah said: "The pond's much better now, before it was a woodland rubbish dump. Now it's better for wildlife and people."

Former pupil Anna Glenwright, 18, now a French and geography student at Newcastle University, said: "It's good fun and good to give something back. Because of working on the reserve I ended up going to New Zealand to do some conservation work."

Ponteland High School science teacher Graham Tulip said: "We want to try to impress on the students that the pond belongs to them. It has turned out to be a brilliant nature reserve with minimal effort so if we get some grants we could do something wonderful."

If you could help the school with finding grants and funding contact Gordon Baldwin, the high school's business manager, on (01661) 824711.

Ponteland school helps keep airport noise down

2009-11-10T13:52:04Z

Going to school near an airport might mean you would become oblivious to the sound of planes flying low overhead.

And pupils at Ponteland Middle School have been helping make sure noise from Newcastle International Airport is managed and within Government guidelines.

The school is one of five locations around the airport where a noise monitoring device has been set up.

Working together, the devices provide real-time data on noise levels and record flight tracks to monitor aircraft activity.

Staff from Newcastle International regularly check the data from the devices as part of its comprehensive environmental management agenda.

As part of the airport's work with Ponteland Middle School, pupils from the Eco Action Team were invited to air traffic control and to take a tour of the airport to learn more about environmental concerns.

The students watched aircraft take off and land onto Newcastle's runway and observed how the controllers manage the busy skies and play a key role in managing noise pollution.

Watching the radar screens and listening to pilots communicating with air traffic control gave the students an insight into how the controllers monitor and limit the impact of noise pollution on neighbouring areas, like their school.

The controllers explained to the eager environmentalists how they plot the departure and arrival paths of each flight to keep noise disruption low and within strict Government guidelines.

Helen Hughes, environmental advisor for Newcastle International, said: "Newcastle International is delighted that our environmental activity has allowed us to work with local schools to help teach young pupils how we're committed to keeping the environment clean.

"Having a noise monitoring device at Ponteland Middle School provides an excellent opportunity for us to work together to manage the local environment whilst fulfilling our obligations set out in the Noise Action Plan. It also gives the children an insight into how businesses manage their environmental impact. We hope that pupils in the school have also learnt some valuable lessons about the importance of managing the environment."

Teacher Martin Froggatt said: "It was a great day out for these children, who have a keen interest in the environmental issues which surround their lives.

"The day at air traffic control clearly taught the children about how Newcastle Airport tries to reduce their noise pollution as much as possible. We are very much looking forward to the next visit from the environmental co-ordinator, and are excited about what else we'll be taught."

The airport's draft Noise Action Plan is due to be submitted to the Government by the end of this month.

The plan outlines Newcastle Airport's management of the environmental impact noise has on particular areas of the North East and has been drawn up in response to European Regulations. The 18 largest airports in the UK will be producing similar documents.

David Laws, chief executive of Newcastle International, said: "We welcome the opportunity to produce a Noise Action Plan.

"This will further allow the company to demonstrate the environmental work we are doing and identify new challenges, to ensure continual improvement.

"It also encourages engagement will all parties concerned on this topic, including airlines, air traffic control, local communities and senior airport management."

Taken from the Evening Chronicle Go Green supplement

Share your Northumbrian dialect words

2009-11-10T11:32:51Z

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

Belsay shop up for Countryside Alliance Award

2009-11-10T10:03:42Z

The village shop in Belsay 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."

Ponteland blood donor sessions

2009-11-10T00:00:55Z

Sessions take place on the following dates at the War Memorial Hall on Darras Road, NE20 9NX:

Thursday 31 Dec 2009, 10:00 to 14:00
Thursday 22 Apr 2010, 14:00 to 19:00

For more information on nearby sessions or to book an appointment please visit www.blood.co.uk.

Christopher Wood's collection fetches a fortune

2009-11-09T11:50:13Z

A lifetime of treasures amassed by a North East antiques collector have sold for more than quarter of a million pounds.

Victorian possessions left by BBC Antiques Roadshow expert Christopher Wood, from Darras Hall, Ponteland, took just two hours to earn £251,313 at Christie's yesterday.

The superb and varied collection, also featuring pictures, furniture, sculptures and porcelain, was put up for sale following Mr Wood's death earlier this year, at the age
of 67.

Yesterday's sale at Christie's brought the collector's life with antiques full circle. He began working life as a trainee at the London auction house in 1963.

Other items revealing the fondness he retained for the North East are still to be sold, included an oil painting of Northumberland's Farne Islands with Bamburgh Castle in the distance, by Thomas Joseph Banks. It is expected to be sold for up to £3,000.

One of the top selling items was 1939 sculpture St George, He Is For England by Gilbert William Bayes. Before the auction it had been expected to sell for up to £8,000, but in the end it more than doubled that at £17,500.

A regular face on the BBC's popular Antiques Roadshow between 1999 and 2004, Mr Wood became one of Britain's leading experts on Victorian art and was the author of the acclaimed Dictionary of Victorian Painters.

Penalty clincher

2009-11-08T17:33:12Z

In their last seven league games Seaton Delaval have lost six and won only once against high flying Heaton Stannington.

This alarming drop in form is somewhat surprising considering the number of quality and experienced players they have in their squad and no easy encounter was envisaged by Jarrod Suddick's team.

Pont made one change from the team that performed so heroically at Harraby with Max Turner replacing Andrew Davidson in the starting line up.

The match was evenly balanced in the first half with few clear cut chances. Craig Johnson had an early opportunity coming in from the left but his low left foot drive went by the post.

Glenn Ford, for the hosts, saw his downward header well saved by the keeper from Turners freekick after Holden had been clinically scythed down by the Delaval rearguard when in full flight. Another deep cross from Turner found Sean Willis at the back post but the Delaval defence bravely blocked his goalbound volley. Half time came with Pont just about shading the game having had the better chances but neither side had really tested the opposing keepers.

The second half welcomed the return of Pont's Paul Hodgson after a lengthy suspension carried over from last season when at Heaton Stannington. Hodgson looked keen to get back into the action after a two month absence and with Brown in the holding role he started to drive Ponteland forward. The pace of Willis and Holden was causing Delaval some problems and as the weather deteriorated with a torrential downpour Pont looked for a way through.

Holden had the best chance of the game when Willis's goalbound effort was well saved by keeper Nairns but the ball fell to Holden some eight yards from goal but he volleyed the ball high over the bar with the goal at his mercy. McIvor was unlucky to see a deliberate curling left foot shot float just past the angle of the post and crossbar. Delaval however remained in determined mood and their best chance in the second half fell to Stephen Anderson but his header from Stephen's Torre's excellent cross just cleared the bar.

With ten minutes remaining Willis got clear down the right and cut into the penalty area before having his feet taken from under him. Up he got to calmly side foot the spot kick past Nairn to give Pont the advantage. The penalty was unfortunately Willis' last kick of the game as he pulled his groin in the process! Jeff Fuller came on as a substitute for Delaval but his time on the field was short lived for within minutes he received his marching orders for head butting in the chest. Although five minutes additional time was played Pont saw out the game safely with Ford and Anzevui commanding at the back.

Final Score Ponteland United 1 Seaton Delaval 0.

Darras Hall residents' O2 mast victory is not final

2009-11-07T12:25:58Z

Villagers on one of the region's most upmarket housing estates have welcomed the news that plans for a mobile phone mast were thrown out.

But people living at Darras Hall now fear Telefonica O2 will go ahead with a permission it secured by default for another site - outside the village first school.

Vivienne Whyte with residents protesting against the phone mast plans

Northumberland County Council refused the telecoms giant's application to erect a 12.5m mast outside Darras Hall First school in May, following protests from parents and other residents.

But it later transpired that the refusal was invalid because it did not happen within the required 56 days of the application being received.

The blunder left O2 free to go ahead and install the mast - but the company agreed to hold talks with the council and then came up with an alternative plan to site a 15-metre-high pole 215 metres along The Broadway.

That new site provoked a fresh storm of protest, with more than 300 local people and businesses putting their names to letters of objection and a petition.

Council officers recommended their west area planning committee refuse the proposal and at its meeting at Hexham, members voted unanimously against the application.

O2 was yesterday unaware of the decision until contacted by The Journal and said it would not comment until receiving official notification from the council. But the firm last week said it would consider all options available to it if the plan was refused.

Yesterday Vivienne Whyte, 66, of Darras Mews, pictured, who has led the residents' protest campaign, said she was very pleased with the committee's decision.

But she admitted to fearing the company will proceed with the default approval, or appeal against the refusal. She said: "The battle is not over yet. We will be prepared to keep complaining as long as it takes."

O2 claims it requires a mast in the centre of Darras Hall to improve 3G mobile coverage in the area, and has examined six other possible sites but rejected them for technical or physical reasons.

Christmas fair at Belsay Hall

2009-11-05T14:19:36Z

Belsay Hall's Christmas Gift Fair takes place this weekend, Nov 7 and 8, with local food and drink produce and gifts galore on offer.

Exhibitors include the award-winning Northumberland Cheese Company which will be selling a wide range of locally-produced, premium quality cheeses and traditional Hebridean liquor specialist Brian Gleeson will be on hand to help visitors choose the perfect stocking filler.

The Hall, Castle and Gardens will all remain open on the day. For more details on admission prices and opening times, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk

Your School: Ponteland Middle School

2009-11-05T12:51:01Z

With sport high up on the agenda, pupils at Ponteland Middle School are not just happy - they're healthy too.

The school actively promotes healthy living, with 96% of the children getting at least five hours of sport per week.

It is an impressive amount of exercise but the children are not just being made to do it - they love taking part in the variety of games the school has to offer.

Headteacher Dr Caroline Pryer said: "The children say they love being fit and healthy because that's what makes them happy, which is nice.

"There are pre, during and after school sports activities and extra curricular activities for all children in school."

Although the level of sporting achievement is something the school is rightfully proud of, it is not its only focus, as the children do well academically, too.

The latest Ofsted report gave Ponteland Middle a glowing report, and placed it in the elite band of schools nationally that achieved the level of "outstanding" in every category and subcategory.

This is reinforced with a variety of extra curricular activities, including chess, crafts and cookery, which help to give the children a broad education.

The staff are also in the process of improving their "profiling" of each child - identifying where each pupil is up to in every subject so that they can talk about their own progress.

Dr Pryer said: "We do everything we can for the children to reach their potential and we're prudent about taking care of our young adolescents."

Name of school: Ponteland Middle.

Headteacher: Dr Caroline Pryer.

Chairman of governors: Peter Evans.

Number of pupils: 581.

Type of school: Middle School.

Main findings of most recent Ofsted report:

Ofsted September 2008: Ponteland Middle is an outstanding school where pupils thrive. PCMS rises to the rank of the top 5% of schools nationally who have achieved outstanding in all Ofsted levels and sublevels.

How would you describe the school's ethos and values?

Our mission statement is taken from John 10:10 - that they have life and have it abundantly. This means that we ensure that we do everything we can for the children to reach their potential and that we're prudent about taking care of our young adolescents.

What are the school's main strengths?

96% of our children have five or more hours of sport a week. They say they love being fit and healthy because that's what makes them happy. We have updated modern facilities in food and textiles, science and music, where these refurbished areas have been supported by the friends' association.

What areas are the school trying to improve?

We are trying to improve our pupil profiling. This means we are tracking every child's performance in all subjects, ensuring that each child can talk about their learning, their current progress and their future targets. We are also trying to ensure that parents understand these targets and their child's progress.

What extra-curricular activities and out-of-school provision does the school have?

Pre, during and after school sports activities and extra curricular activities for all children in school. We have clubs in arts, music, dance, chess, crafts and cookery. There's a magazine that we've done, an animation club and one of the most exciting things we did was that we created a human flag of the Kenyan flag as we are committed to supporting our link school - Wanga Primary School in Mbita, Kenya.

Most recent A-Level/GCSE/SAT results:

Our Key Stage Two results are within the top five positions in the Northumberland league tables. Our pupils make outstanding progress from year five to year eight including the Gifted and Talented children, middlers and SEN (Special Educational Needs) pupils.

How does the school get involved in the local community?

We support the Ponteland Lions through the annual swimarathon, the Litter for Literacy, where we pick up litter, and the Lions give money for reading books for the classroom libraries. We're involved in Northumbria in Bloom and Northumberland Wildlife Trust - we've adopted a red kite and called her Soar.

We support the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, and we do the peace posters for the Lions club. We have sports leaders in years seven and eight who help run fixtures and festivals. We're involved in Ponteland in the Park bulb planting. There's also a local park where one of our pupils identified a great crested newt.

What is the school's proudest achievement(s)?

Apart from our outstanding Ofsted inspection last autumn, we're most proud of our pupils. They love coming to school, they enjoy learning in different styles and they love being safe, listened to and respected. They are excellent, articulate ambassadors for the school.

Ponteland salon staff raise money for charity

2009-11-05T12:27:40Z

Staff from a hair salon had fundraising all cut and dried by raising £500 in one week.

Ashleigh Bland and her staff from Ponteland Hair and Beauty raised the money by selling pink cakes they had made, having a fundraising box and donating a percentage of the takings from the week.

They also had a raffle, with donated prized including teeth whitening treatments, a signed Newcastle shirt, and meals at nearby pubs and restaurants.

All the money will go to Breakthrough Breastcancer.

Northumberland day care centres axed

2009-11-05T10:38:18Z

Controversial plans to axe seven cherished day centres in Northumberland were rubber-stamped last night.

Northumberland County Council voted to close the facilities used as meeting places by elderly and disabled people at Amble, Blyth, Bedlington, Haltwhistle, Hexham, Ponteland and Prudhoe.

In a named poll at its meeting at Morpeth's County Hall, the council voted 46 to 11 in favour of proposals to close its centres, which are used by around 300 people every week.

The authority says the facilities are under-used and it is closing them to cut costs and is instead to offer users and the many others who need assistance personalised budgets to spend on their preferred method of care.

It says anyone who wants to continue receiving traditional, building-based day care will be able to do so via other providers - voluntary and independent agencies.

The council has came up with a range of alternative provision in each of the affected areas. Hundreds of people had signed petitions calling for the seven centres to be saved, claiming they offer elderly users a vital chance to meet friends and give relatives an important break from looking after them.

The meeting was attended by a band of centre users, carers and union leaders who vented their anger at councillors after the vote was taken. Thomas Mosey, 80, of Newcastle Road, Newsham, Blyth, has used the town's Lyndon House site for around five years, having previously been moved out of its Tynedale House by the council.

He branded the decision "disgusting", "absolute shameless" and "shocking". The council had been due to take a decision on the centres at its meeting in September, but opted to defer after Conservative and Labour opposition councillors joined forces in a bid to drum up interest from potential providers in running the sites in Amble, Bedlington and Blyth.

But last night, the Labour group hit out at the Tories for now backing the closures and for tabling an amendment with the Lib Dems which it claimed showed little change to the proposals put forward in September.

Labour members asked why the council could not offer a mix of centres and alternative care. They also accused the Lib Dems of using the personalised budgets as "a smokescreen" which allows them to axe day centres.

Coun Deirdre Campbell said: "The public are not silly. Personalised budgets weren't an excuse to close the homes.

"I just can not believe you are back in here today and you are still intent on taking away a brilliant service that is used by the elderly.

"I would say to people - do not get old the Lib Dems will crucify you.

"I think you have declared war on the elderly. The one thing you have not got to do in Northumberland is get old."

The Lib Dems had called on the council to make the decision to end uncertainty for centre users.

Coun Simon Reed said: "We have to modernise and transform our service. We have to give people more choice."

His party also stated that no centres will be closed until alternate provision has been arranged for users.

Another home defeat for Heddon

2009-11-04T13:00:27Z

Heddon are still waiting for their first win at Bullocksteads in the Pin Point Recruitment Northern Alliance Premier Division after being beaten 3-1 by Ashington Colliers and replacing Newcastle University on the bottom rung.

An early brace for Scott Smith gave the Colliers a great start, and although Ian McElroy quickly replied for Heddon, Ashington's tally was completed by Glen Bolton in the second half.

Read Ponteland United's match report »

Darras Hall art dealer's treasures to fetch a fortune

2009-11-04T09:28:42Z

Treasures belonging to a BBC Antiques Roadshow star are set to raise a quarter of a million pounds when they are auctioned.

Christopher Wood, a respected art dealer from Darras Hall, Ponteland, died in January at the age of 67.

The Cambridge University graduate was an expert on the popular TV show, specialising in the Victorian period.

Now, the spotlight is on his own antique collection, as 178 of his precious possessions go under the hammer.

The haul of Victorian items is thought to be worth a total of between £170,000 and £264,000, and includes pictures, furniture, sculptures and porcelain.

The prize piece up for grabs is a charcoal portrait by Newcastle artist Ralph Hedley, which depicts the Victorian artist Agnes Pringle.

Hedley, who is known for his depictions of everyday life in the North East, is most famous for his picture called Going Home, featuring two miners.

Mr Wood's sought-after portrait is expected to make waves in the art world and fetch large bids.

Mr Wood's collection also boasts an oil painting of Northumberland's Farne Islands with Bamburgh Castle in the distance, by Thomas Joseph Banks. It is expected to be sold for up to £3,000.

One of the most unusual pieces is a Victorian walnut harmonium which featured in The Addams Family movie, and is expected to fetch up to £500.

The sale comes two years after hundreds of Mr Wood's antiques were auctioned for more than £1.3m.

It is taking place on Sunday at Christie's in London, where Mr Wood started his career as a trainee art expert in 1963. The dealer went on to become a successful art dealer in London's West End and published the Dictionary of Victorian Painters in 1971, followed by a dozen other books.

The passionate collector also acted for Tyne & Wear Museums during The Journal's campaign seven years ago to bring The Blaydon Races painting by Tyneside artist William Irving back to the region.

The painting had spent all of its 99 years in the region and Christopher successfully bid for the work against stiff competition to take it back to the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead.

In the last sale of his antiques two years ago, Christie's hit a world record price for a work on paper by artist John Waterhouse of £72,000, and records for paintings by William Garden (£60,000), Benjamin Spiers (£38,400), Jessie Gorst (£28,800) and Herbert Draper (£28,800).

Christopher was hired by the BBC in 1999 and remained on the Antiques Roadshow for five years. Mr Wood was twice married, firstly to Sarah Drummond in 1967, author of The Good Schools Guide, and they had two sons and a daughter.

The marriage ended in divorce in 1995 and in 2004 he married Rosemary Bingham, who supported him through his battle with cancer.

Ponteland pubs clamp down on yobs

2009-11-03T14:46:08Z

Pub landlords are clubbing together with police to clamp down on drunken yobs.

Following the success of similar schemes across Northumberland, neighbourhood beat manager Paul Henery met licensees in Ponteland and agreed to form their own PubWatch scheme.

All of the 21 licensed premises in Ponteland have signed up, including nine pubs, a leisure centre and social club, eight restaurants, three supermarkets and one off-licence.

PC Henery said: "Due to the relatively small number of pubs in the town centre we have managed to get all of the licensed premises to sign up to the scheme, which is fantastic.

"And it means if someone is banned from one of the pubs then they won't be able to go to a restaurant or somewhere else that sells alcohol and cause more trouble."

For further information about PubWatch schemes contact your local neighbourhood policing team on 03456 043 043.