A cracking day had in the shire when Jennifer Dodds kindly threw open her house to the locals for coffee and lunch. The shire is a truly special place - although barely 4 miles south of Hexham it is an independent republic in all but name - and all the better for it. The villages of Juniper, Steel and Whitley Chapel all have their own unique identity, and the area is open high land criss crossed with tiny roads between farms. We now have a team of helpers in place who are wonderful - it is tough to restrain them as they are mustard keen to get stuck in to Gordon Brown!
An amazing day