Shows, Street Parties, Regatta & Garden Parties galore in Northumberland this weekend

Saturday sees both the Charlotte Straker Hospice Fete and the Humshaugh Fete - where I am relieved of the wonderful but difficult task of judging the winner of the best cake competition: last year I tried over 12 cakes - and people wonder why I am not jockey weight anymore. The new judges will discover that the Humshaugh villagers are magnificent cooks! Both fetes are well organised and great fun and in aid of great causes. I know that you will find no finer place to find jam or marmalade than at the Humshaugh Stall - I always stock up there.
They start at 1.30 in Humshaugh and 2 in Corbridge - I will try and go if I can.
If you have not realised how special the Charlotte Straker Trust is and the work they do as respite and other carers then please come along or check out their website: http://www.charlottestraker.org.uk/
There is also the Hexham Regatta most of the day on the river in Hexham - you will see quality rowing.
On Sunday there is another Prudhoe street party from 12-4; this event last year was a blast and I am assured by locals it will be brilliant again. You can pop in to my favourite Prudhoe cafe Il Piccollo on West Street 50 yards short of the police station for a cup of tea, cake of fancy coffee!
Alternatively and also on Sunday at 3pm the local Ponteland Conservatives are laying on a wonderful Afternoon Tea at Eland Green Farm, Ponteland. All our welcome. I will be there - they are easy to find - on North Road just on the outskirts of Ponteland on the right as you leave.

Humshaugh and Wall Annual Lunch - Understanding a Quadrillion

To Humshaugh for the famous lunch that people literally drive 50 + miles to come to; it is an instituion based on wonderful people, a slick organisation and the best puddings in the County. No wonder fans from Newcastle, Tynemouth, Durham and beyond make the trek north of Hexham! Peter Atkinson MP spoke really well about the Government's troubles and what David Cameron is doing - both to high light the weakness of the government's position and the real alternative that we propose. His best line was the comment that in the old days a million was lot of money, then a billion; now a trillion is not so much apparently and the government are talking in quadrillions, whatever that may be! One cannot help wondering if the government are turning the pound into lire as the currency continues to cumble? On any interpretation government borrowing is not what it used to be.

Humshaugh Action Day

A wonderful day spent entirely in Humshaugh knocking on doors, drinking a lot of coffee, meeting everyone from pensioners to farmers, and really getting to know the village and the people in it. We started with a get together attended by 40 odd; having been accused of overdressing in the past I turned up without a tie to be met by wall to wall ties from every man! Not enough time to chat to everyone but well worth it. The afternoon we made loads of house calls punctuated by lunch in the excellent river cafe. Everyone very keen to talk politics but more interested to know if I am a good bet in the point to point.