Lunch at the Boatside

I recently popped in for a delicious lunch at one of our many brilliant local pubs, The Boatside Inn in Warden. It was great to speak with landlord Matt Cawood to hear all about the fantastic progress the pub is making, bringing in locals and tourists from all over the world. A great local business- I would certainly recommend a visit!

https://theboatsideinn.com

The Poppy Train- get involved!

This year marks the centenary of the Armistice to end World War One, and to mark the event the Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership are working with Ready Steady Knit of Prudhoe and Northern Rail to decorate every station between Newcastle and Carlisle with knitted poppies for the weekend of 11^th November 2018. They need your help to make this happen though, and there are several ways in which you can get involved-

You can book your free place on the Poppy Train, by emailing Fiona@tvcrp.org.uk - departing at 9.45 from Newcastle to Hexham on Wednesday 3^rd October and travelling on to Haltwhistle, you can spend the day knitting poppies with a complimentary lunch as well.

You can also use the instructions below to knit some poppies and donate them at Hexham Station. And if you’re not a knitter but would like to get involved, you can buy some poppy red wool at Ready Steady Knit and donate it to Hexham Station. 

This is such a wonderful initiative to mark 100 years since the end of World War One- however you get involved, let’s all do our bit as a community to help make this brilliant idea a success.

Easy Knitted Poppy Pattern-

You will need, red double knitting wool and a pair of 4mm (UK8) knitting needles Cast on 80 sts.
Row 1 to row 8 knit every row.
Row 9 Knit 2 together (k2tog), repeat to end (40sts)
Row 10 K2 tog to end (20sts) Row 11 K2 tog to end (10sts)
Cut yarn with a long end and thread a sewing needle. Run yarn through remaining 10 sts . Remove them off the needle , pull up tight, sew up side seam and fasten off.
Sew a black button or circle of black felt into the centre of your poppy.

Easy Crocheted Poppy Pattern-

You will need Double knitting yarn and a 4mm crochet hook Abbreviations; ch chain, dc double crochet, tr treble, ss slip stitch
Body of Poppy Using red yarn, make 3 chain and join into a ring with a slip stitch.
1st round : Ch 3, 10 tr into ring. slip stitch in top ch of 3 ch
2nd round : Ch 3, 1 tr into first stitch. 2 tr into each stitch to last stitch, slip stitch in top ch of 3 ch
3rd round : Ch 3, 2 treble crochet into first stitch, 3 treble crochet into each stitch to last stitch, slip stitch in top ch of 3 ch .
4th round : Ch 3, 1 tr into first stitch * 2 tr into each stitch to last stitch, slip stitch in top ch of 3 ch and fasten off. Sew in ends.
Centre Using black yarn make 3 chain and join into a ring with a slip stitch. 1st round Ch 3, 10 tr into ring. slip stitch in top ch of 3 ch
Ch 1 * 1 double crochet into first stitch, 1 ch ... repeat from * to end of round and slip stitch to join ... fasten off leaving a long tail to attach centre to body of poppy.
Sew black centre to poppy

Macmillan's 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning'

Today is Macmillan’s annual ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ and events are taking place around the constituency and beyond to raise money to support people facing cancer. Last year the event raised more than £27 million and it is hoped that even more will be raised this year. Coffee mornings are taking place today at various places around the constituency, with guests donating the cost of their cup of tea, coffee and cakes to Macmillan. You can find your nearest coffee morning at the link below- please do go along if you can, you really will be making a huge difference.

https://coffee.macmillan.org.uk/about/search/