Articles March 2023
Longhorsley Community Award
Your Chance to Nominate Your “Unsung” Heroes
Parishioners are asked to nominate a person or organisation who they believe has enhanced the parish through:
service to the community
contributing to the life of the parish
credit to Longhorsley’s reputation
charitable works
selflessness
The total number of nominations received for each individual or organisation will be counted as a vote which will then determine the recipient of the award.
You may recall that last year’s winners were Jan Chisholm & Tanya Graham, who provided help and support to the community of Longhorsley during and after Storm Arwen.
Look out for nomination forms which will be available in the Village Hall, online here or from the Longhorsley Parish Council website or you can complete the form below.
The closing date for nominations is 31st March.
Longhorsley Parish Council
Longhorsley Tree 2024 Calendar
There was no 2023 Calendar, but if we receive sufficient photos then we will produce one for next year, with proceeds going to the Village Hall.
So if you have taken a photo of a view in or around Longhorsley that you would like to see in next year’s calendar, then please email it to us at longhorsley.tree@gmail.com
Longhorsley Parish Council
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, 8th March, 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, Penny Ford, Anne Peat and David Pringle.
HM The King’s Coronation Celebrations
We recognise that villagers and organisations in the Parish will be holding their own personal events to commemorate this special weekend, and we would love to hear what you have planned so as to produce a schedule of the events taking place.
We would also like to hear any ideas you may have as to what we could include on the Monday which is to be the “Community Day of Volunteering” - ideas such as helping to look after the trees in the Old Church Community Wood have been suggested.
Calling all Trophies
We are currently trying to locate trophies awarded at the last Village Day. If you still have one at home, we would be grateful if you return them to us for safe keeping.
Your County Councillor
I’ve put in a bid to the County Council for two new benches which includes a beautiful one which will act as a memorial to HM Queen Elizabeth II - hopefully they can be in place later this year.
We are currently consulting on the Devolution project which brings the 7 Councils in our region to work together with a very significant amount of Government funding with various meetings, but if you have any queries on this please just get in touch and I’ll be glad to give you all the details.
Of course we are currently in a Mayoral authority in the North of Tyne Combined Authority with North Tyneside and Newcastle Councils, so this new deal expands on the great work we are already doing. I will be leading on Rural matters which will include a wide range of interesting projects for our smaller villages and countryside.
If you have any issues then I am always happy to try to help.
Glen Sanderson 07730 979737 glen.sanderson@northumberland.gov.uk
Longhorsley C of E First School's Update
Family Church Services: As a Church school, it has been wonderful to have had two family services this term at St Helen's Church. Many thanks to Reverend Audrey for both the Epiphany and 'Pre' Ash Wednesday Service, well attended by many of our parents, and thoroughly enjoyed by children and staff alike! We hope that Reverend Audrey and all of the children enjoy their pancakes during half term. What are you giving up or doing for lent?
We are especially grateful and would like to thank the following people too for supporting our school:
Santa and the Shoulder of Mutton: Boxing Day might have been and gone, but the children in school are reaping the rewards of the kind donations from the festive activities in the form of additional maths equipment - so a huge thank you to everyone who made a donation - it was very much appreciated and we would like to send our special thanks to Santa and hope he is having a well earned rest!
Ball Donation: We would also like to thank the Ball Committee, and everyone who supported the Longhorsley Ball, for their very kind donations to the school. We spent last year's money on buying a set of spades for our Eco Warriors to plant our donated bushes, and were also able to buy our new Y4 Play Leaders their own coloured vests. Thank you so much! This year's money is going towards buying some new equipment for our newly installed kitchen so the children can prepare food and bake in it. See below…
Our Amazing PTA: We would like to publicly thank our PTA for their successful bid to Wingates Wind Farm which has allowed us to buy and fit a brand new kitchen in our Early Years Unit to benefit the whole school and community use. Watch this space and we will share what we have been up to!
On that note, after the half term, please keep your eyes peeled as you may find some little gifts as you are walking around the Village.
Finally, we still have a small number of places available in our Early Years unit for next year. If you would like to come and have a visit, or for further information, please contact the school on 01670 788316 or longhorsleyadmin@fedlongwhaltschools.uk.
Secretary of the Longhorsley Tree Editorial Board
The Editorial Board for The Longhorsley Tree newsletter meet every 3 months to review, plan and discuss its contents.
I have acted as secretary for the last 10 years and am ready to hand over the baton to the next volunteer. It is not an onerous task, it simply involves preparing an agenda, which remains essentially the same, writing up the minutes and circulating them to the board members.
I took on this role when I first moved to the village. It helped me meet other residents and feel part of the local community network. If you’re interested in supporting this fantastic and valuable village service then please contact: Elaine Sayer on 07528 920411 or sayelai@aol.com
March Tweets along Archies Pond
Mature deciduous trees with their defects and natural holes provide nest building opportunities for some species. Trees of this sort are lacking along the walk, so hopefully a variety of new nest boxes will to some extent compensate for this. Already Blue and Great Tits have been inspecting the boxes, and over the coming two months it is worth looking for birds with nesting material in their beaks, and watching where they are going. There is plenty of herb and shrub cover for other species to build their cup nests, and again the clue is seeing them with dry grass, lichen or sheep wool in their beaks. Long-tailed Tits build their own nest too, and in previous years have built in the bushes near the upper pond, so the bench seat there is well placed to check them out. The open front boxes are of interest to Robin or Starling and are fewer and well spread out since Robins are well known to be territorial.
During previous summers bats have been seen flying after insects along the walk and the boundary with the field, and so the roost boxes are in a place where they could be found and used. There are plenty of other places to look for bats though, at dusk try the path by the allotments or along the Lonnen.
Andrew Brunt 788352
For more information about birds in Northumberland, visit the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club website www.ntbc.org.uk
Longhorsley Swift Project
Many of you may know that Longhorsley is home to a small population of a most beautiful and acrobatic bird – the swift. This species is in sharp decline nationwide and is in need of urgent help. One of their main threats is a lack of nesting spaces, which need to be very specific. A group in the village are hoping to secure funding to erect swift boxes in Longhorsley, but we need kind people who wouldn’t mind some feathery neighbours on their building! To register interest for a free swift box or to ask any questions please contact Richard on longhorsleyswifts@gmail.com.
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 are here some Thursdays 4:30pm – 7:30pm.
The next visit date is Thursday 2nd March.
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
Post Office in Longhorsley Village Hall
Monday 9.15am to 12.15pm
Tuesday 9.30am to 1.15pm
Friday 11.30am to 1.30pm
Please note that this Outreach Service cannot accept large parcels.
Mobile Library Visiting Times
The Mobile Library visits Longhorsley once a month, on Fridays between 3pm and 4pm, in the Village Hall car park.
The next visit will be on 10th March.
The Mobile Library Service website can be found here
April Edition
The last date for submissions is 20th March. 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