National events ignite a surge of local spirit

Northumberland seems to have been experiencing an uplift in community feeling recently, with the arrival of the Olympic torch following hot on the heels of the Queen’s Jubilee.

The villages around here have been covered in flags and it has been rather uplifting. A bit like Christmas, but with far less tat. I am seriously beginning to think we need a flagpole.

The reaction to the Olympic torch has been particularly (and to me rather unexpectedly) massive. Thousands lined the streets of Berwick, Bamburgh and Alnwick. Yes, Bamburgh – a seaside village with a magnificent castle and about 10 parking spaces. Where did all those people come from and where did they park?

The torch also made a brief visit to Hexham. But although it was scheduled to halt in the town for 15 minutes, it was reported in advance in the Hexham Courant that the flame would not be on display and there wouldn’t be any special events. “The only activity will be members of the convoy using the toilets at the Wentworth Leisure Centre.” Boo. In any event, loads of people still turned up to line the route to the facilities and indeed throughout Tynedale.

I saw one of the torches myself on Saturday. Julia was competing in an athletics competition at Gateshead Stadium and a girl sitting a few rows in front was casually brandishing one in its gold carrying bag. Was this a rather unsubtle attempt to show off? If it was, it worked.

Jake and I were volunteers at the annual Glendale Agricultural Society Children’s Day at Wooler once again last week. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day – even though there was a stack of jobs waiting at home, including the retrieval of the bull from an overnight trip over the fence. This was this particular bull’s first such adventure. How typical that it coincided with a morning when we had to go away. Many thanks to our neighbours who rounded him up and sent him back.

This year’s event was attended by about 1,350 children from schools located between Newcastle and Berwick. As registration steward I can reveal that Wooler School arrived first and departed last, with one member of staff saying she still hadn’t managed to see everything.

For the livestock stewards it can be tricky to pitch their talk right, given the range of backgrounds and experience of the children who attend. Sarah, who was explaining the pigs, was using an opening gambit of “Have any of you seen any piggies before? “Yes,” answered one little girl, “my father has 3,000 breeding sows.” I have to say, given the lack of pig units in this area, that was particularly unlucky.

One of the highlights of the event was a sheepdog display in the centre of the field. The commentator was telling the children how the dogs weren’t used to performing in front of hundreds of people and might be a little nervous. This reminded me that there are reportedly going to be cows, sheep and sheepdogs at the Olympics opening ceremony, with all those people, lights, pyrotechnics and noise. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

In the past couple of weeks, the main road (A696) has been closed for several days because lorries have come off the road and overturned, unshipping firstly a wind turbine and then a load of aviation fuel. The strange thing is, there was no ice, snow, rain or other vehicles involved.

At least no-one was seriously injured in either incident, but the inconvenience to the natives has been enormous. I am becoming very familiar with the back roads down to Belsay, and judging by the sump-scrapes on the top of the hump-backed bridge at Wallington, so are many others.

Both incidents have represented mini-job creation schemes. To lift the wind turbine they had to bring in 1,000t of stone to make a platform, bring in two cranes, then, after moving the turbine, they had to take it all away and repair the road. Throughout this process two men sat in a yellow van making sure motorists took the detour. Or, to be more accurate, throughout this process two men sat in a yellow van.

As I write, the Environment Agency is attempting to prevent the aviation fuel seeping through a field into the river, using a series of trenches. I’m not sure how effective this will be. I suspect if it had been a diesel spill, touring fuel thieves would have been on the scene very quickly with squeegee mops and buckets and the job would have been sorted pronto.

Next week Archie is heading off to a school camp in the Lake District. I think it is meant to be a bonding exercise among the midges. The boys will have to muck in together and Archie will have to overcome his dislike of certain common foods. Jake and I think this is a good thing. As we’ve indicated to Archie, all we are saying is: give peas a chance.

Elizabeth Elder and husband Jake – who have two children, Julia and Archie – farm 235ha of hill ground on the Otterburn Firing Range in Northumberland. They have 520 breeding ewes and 30 suckler cows and went organic in 2001. Brought up on a dairy farm, Elizabeth is an accountant by training, with a background in corporate finance and business appraisal.

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