Horsley village carnival takes place this Saturday at the Lion and Lamb.

The 11 am service in Horsley village church this Sunday is being led by the congregation.

How well do you know Horsley? Here is a teaser question. Which watercourse divides Horsley Parish from the parishes of Wylam and Heddon on the Wall. Answer next week. There will be another teaser question in the next edition of village notes.

The Hearth Art Centre has been awarded an £18,000 lottery grant. The award will be used to provide a creative hub at the rear of the centre adjacent to the car park. The planning application has been submitted which includes the removal of a sycamore tree.

The current Big Butterfly count has come to an end this week. The most common butterflies spotted in Horsley during the count have been Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Ringlet. There were a small number of Peacocks, RedAdmirals and Comma butterflies towards the end of this popular survey

The damaged road sign on the slip road at the west end of the village has been replaced and installed in a new position several metres from the junction with Oatens Bank.

 

The 11 am service in Horsley village church this Sunday is being led by Alan Went.

Members of Horsley bookclub met in the Hearth café last week. A new book is chosen for club members to read and discuss every month.

There has been a lot of support for this year’s village carnival. Many thanks to those who have put in so much effort to make the event possible.Thankyou also to the event sponsors and those who donated raffle prizes.

Last week’s answer to how well do you know Horsley is the Howdene burn. It is this watercourse that separates Horsley from the parishes of Wylam and Heddon. This weeks teaser question is how many former farms within Horsley village were named after directions of the compass?

The one-day textile fair at the Hearth art centre was a very popular event. The organisers hadn’t anticipated the high numbers of visitors and the parking problems the event created in the village. Lessons were learned and strategies will be in place to alleviate this problem in future. The situation could be managed in a similar way to the recent weekend art fairs where a booking system was used to monitor the flow of visitors. Apologies to village residents for the inconvenience the traffic caused.

The 880 bus service to Keswick will now be only running from Fridays to Mondays due to traffic restrictions on Langwathby bridge.

Resident and visitor parking on pavements in the villages is causing difficulties for pedestrian access. Particularly to those with prams wheelchairs and mobility difficulties.

Many gutters and drains in the village have become blocked with weeds, straw and fine gravel particularly around the village hall. The matter has been reported to the Parish Council.

The village carnival was well supported and enjoyed by many people in and around the village.

Members of Horsley W I meet in the Village Hall on September 3 at 7:30 pm. The speaker is Kim Bibby-Wilson who will be talking about Northumbrian language and dialect.

How well do you know Horsley? The answer to last weeks teaser question is 3 former farms within the village were named after points of the compass. They were north, south and south-east. This weeks question is to what other business purposes was the antiques centre in the village previously used.

Horsley book club members are currently reading Holy Island, a crime novel by LJ Ross.

The 11 am service in Horsley village church this Sunday is being led by the congregation.

Members of Horsley craft club met at the Hearth last week to learn the art of Iris folding.

The 11 am service in Horsley village church this Sunday it’s been led by the congregation.

Horsley Parish Council meet at 7 pm on September 19 in the village hall. This is the bimonthly meeting to which all residents of Horsley Parish are welcome to attend. Please forward any village issues to the parish clerk by letter or email prior to the meeting.

How well do you know Horsley?The answer to last weeks question is the antiques centre was previously used as a kitchen centre and even earlier still has a garage. This week the teaser question is how many streets within the village of Horsley have the word Croft or Crofts in their name? The word Croft is Anglo-Saxon or old English in origin and refers to a piece of enclosed land used for tillage or pasture. It can also refer to a small piece of arable land adjacent to a house.

There are two half day day felt making  courses at the Hearth arts  centre on Sunday, the 16th of October. Please book early by telephone on 01661 852545 or the Hearth website to avoid disappointment. The course is funded by WEA.

Members of Horsley bookclub met in the Hearth café last Friday discuss their latest book. The book is called Holy Island, a crime novel by LJ Ross.

The answer to the teaser question last week is six streets in Horsley village contain the word  Croft’s or Croft. They are Dunslawcroft, Stonecroft, Croft Lane, Highcrofts,  Hill Croft and Croft Terrace.

Autumn appears to be earlier this year as many trees in the parish have already lost some leaves. This is quite normal in hot dry summers.The most vulnerable trees in these conditions are saplings which need to be watered regularly. The harvesting of crops was also earlier this year. Many fields have already been ploughed and drilled ready for the next year.

Apologies to readers that the village notes were missing two weeks ago. This happens occasionally. Notes are not always picked up by the Courant despite being sent before the deadline.

The missing question to the answer given last week was how many streets in Horsley have the word Croft or Croft’s in their name. A Croft is an Old English word referring to a piece of land attached to a property for tillage or grazing. The answer was 6.

A reminder that the bi monthly Horsley Parish Council meeting takes place on Monday September 19th at 7pm in the village hall.  Members of the public are welcome to attend and raise village issues.

Horsley WI has has been suspended for a time. The speaker who was due to attend the September meeting has agreed to give her talk on September 26th in the village hall at 7pm. All are invited to attend. There will be free wine and cheese. The talk is about Northumbrian dialect. The WI/village hall committee would like to thank all those who organised the jubilee event this year and would like the village hall to be at the centre of future activities.

 

Horsley Parish Council meeting was cancelled last week as a mark of respect for Queen Elizabeth 2. A new date for this bi-monthly meeting will be advertised on village notice boards shortly.

There will be a coffee morning in the Village Hall in aid of Macmillan Cancer on Saturday, October 1.

It is the harvest festival service in Horsley village church this Sunday at 11 am.

The AGM of the Hearth Arts Centre will take place at 6:30 pm on October 7 in the Hearth Hall.

There are two half day felting courses at the Hearth arts centre on Sunday, October 16. Please book by telephone on 01661)852545 or through the Hearth website. The course is funded by WEA.

Members of Horsley craft club met in the church last week to make flower arrangements with dried rosemary.

 

Further improvements have been made to the road surface on Oatens Bank lane with the filling in of more potholes. Northumbrian water and NCC representatives have been inspecting the blocked drains and gutters at the West End of the village. Much of the problem seems to be coming from the area around the village hall where the surface of the lane has deteriorated and been washed into the main road.

Despite the dry summer there has been a bumper harvest of apples and blackberries in and around the village of Horsley.

Edwina Hayes will be playing at the Hearth Art Centre on November 12 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available on highlights north.co.uk. Edwina is singing American folk songs.

The Hearth Art Centre has organised two half day courses sponsored by WEA for making Christmas decorations and willow wreaths. The date set for the two courses is the 27th of November. Please. check the WEA website for bookings.

Horsley village harvest festival service will take place at 11 am in the village church this Sunday. The service has been led by the congregation.

Please try to support the coffee morning being held in the Village Hall in aid of Macmillan Cancer on Saturday morning October 1st.

The 11 am service in Horsley village church on Sunday, the 9th of October is being led by Ann Sinclair. Please check the church noticeboard for the remaining October services.

Horsley bookclub meet at 3 pm in the Hearth café on Friday, October 7.

A reminder that the Hearth arts centre AGM is at 6:30 pm in the Hearth Hall on Friday, October 7.

The new creative hub at the Hearth arts centre is to be built in the rear garden. There will be no loss of car parking space as a result of the project if planning permission is granted.

Harvest produce from Horsley village church will be given to the People’s Kitchen and to food banks.

Horsley village residents in conjunction with the Lion and Lamb are planning a family Halloween event on October 30th as well as a bonfire night on November 5th.

The bookstore in the bus shelter has been refreshed. There is a good selection of books for children.

Hearth artists are planning their winter fair for the weekend of November 19th and 20th. Details are shown on the Hearth website.

The 888 bus service to Keswick via Horsley finished its summer season last month. Hopefully the service will resume in 2023. In the same month Stagecoach introduced a new timetable for the 685 bus service which serves Horsley between Carlisle and Newcastle.

The 11am service in Horsley village church next Sunday is being led by the Rev.John Paul.