The Revd. David Irvine asks that Slaley parishioners take note of recent events in Tynedale:
“From local press articles most parishioners will be aware of a number of thefts which have taken place in churches in the Tynedale area, and of the latest occasion when the Revd. Roger Cutler was attacked when locking his church at St John Lee.
In the light of these happenings it is right and proper that all parishes should take stock of their own situation and be proactive in taking care of their own parish church. Each of our parish churches is open during the hours of daylight and it is my fervent hope that this shall remain the case – a closed church does not best serve people. In addition our church insurers’ own guidelines state that the safest way of protecting a church and its contents is by keeping it open during daylight hours.
It is in this connection that I ask for help from all people in our parishes. The best way of protecting a church is by using it. In this respect I do not refer only to Sunday worship but to the use of the church on a daily basis. Please could I ask you to pop into your church as often as is possible – perhaps when going past to fetch the paper or to post a letter, when out for some jogging exercise or when walking the dog. When visiting the churchyard perhaps you could also pop into the church for a few minutes.
A final word of caution: at all times I would ask that you have due regard to your own safety and if at all possible visit the church in company. Use the church in a normal way, and let it be known to all that yours is a well-loved and well-used church where people are going in and out on a frequent basis. This is the best we can do to protect our churches. "
As another worry, two cars were left overnight in a field near Slaley as a result of an accident, but were found the following morning to have been vandalised. Do please take care when leaving cars unattended, and certainly remove anything valuable or precious from the vehicle – even children’s car seats can be taken.
Some may still remember the BBC Domesday project, which in 1986 produced a record of life in Britain in the 1980's in the form of two videodiscs and a special BBC microcomputer. The information was collected and submitted by over one million children and adults from over 14,000 schools, hundreds of branches of the Women's Institute, scores of scout troops and many other voluntary bodies throughout the country.
Copies of the BBC Domesday Project videodiscs survive but very few videodisc players and microcomputers remain in working order, so a web version, Domesday 1986, was developed in 2004, which recreates much of the original project.
An extract from this for Slaley (shown below) gives a picture of life in this area in the early 1980's which you may find interesting (especially if you were one of the contributors listed at the end of the extract). A few spelling errors have intentionally not been corrected, e.g. "Slaley Hall Eastate has recently been sold."
To view the original text & photographs, go to the website, and search for 'Slaley'.
The BBC Domesday Project: Slaley in 1986
General View Of The Area.
This remote rural area is about 700 feet above sea level and the weather can be harsh in the winter. It consists of farmland and forestry, a significant feature being the Slaley Hall Eastate. The area is unspoiled and the special feature is the countryside itself, plus the wild life it hosts.
To the north, the village of Slaley is a typical "long village", consisting of one row of houses on either side of the road, nearly a mile in length. Building is not permitted outside the line of existing houses and recent years have seen considerable filling of the gaps. Modern houses outnumber the traditional farmhouses and cottages. House names such as High Clear and Curlew Cottage indicate distictive features of the area.
Employment.
Whilst the largest single group of people actually work within the Slaley area on farm, road haulage, forestry and related services, a large number are employed in Hexham, the local market town. However, it is significant that this number has been overtaken in recent years by residents who commute to Newcastle.
Actual unemployment is insignifcant, although transport problems are a restriction on choice for some and on housewives wanting to take up part-time employment.
Farming.
The farms in this area range in size from about 30 acres to 500 acres and cover a range of enterprises, the most common being milk production for the Milk Marketing Board. The average size of the dairy herds is 50 cows. Several of the farms have a flock of sheep, producing fat lambs for market in autumn. Pigs are the only enterprise on one farm but they are secondary production on 3 of the other farms. The dairy farms all produce silage as winter feed for their herds and 50% of the farms grow corn, mainly barley for home stock consumption. The remaining farm produces beef for sale at the local town marts. Calves are both home bred and bought in for this purpose. Each of the farms is owned and farmed by the same family with one exception - Colpitts Grange, where a manager has been employed.
Slaley Parish Council.
The area is immediately served by Slaley Parish Council, consisting of 5 members, who traditionally stand as independent of any political party. The Parish Council meets 4 to 5 times each year with additional meetings to discuss planning applications or immediate problems.
Residents have close contact with their councillors and rarely attend meetings, although items are raised at the Annual Parish Meeting. The Parish Council can deal with any matter of concern by referring to the appropriate service or higher authority. The District Councillor attends meetings and the present Chairman is the elected County Councillor. The Parish Council employs a part-time clerk who has been traditionally the village headmaster.
Education.
The area is served by Slaley County First School, which is a modern building of three classrooms and a hall, surrounded by ample grounds and playing fields. The school identifies closely with the community. Children join a nursery class held in the mornings when they are three years, transferring to school when they are 4+. The headmaster has full-time responsibility for a class of 20 and there are two other classes of 18 and 14. The school serves the general area of Slaley, Blanchland, Healey and Minsteracres, children beyond 2 miles being transported by minibus. Children from the school usually transfer to Corbridge County Middle School at 9+ and then to the Queen Elizabeth High School, Hexham at the age of 13+.
A Day In The Life Of Rachael
My name is Rachael and I am 8. I get up at 7:30 a.m., dress, go downstairs and have Rice Krispies wth milk. Afterwards I wash, comb my hair and dress my doll. I feed our two cats, then at 8:30 a.m. mum takes me to school in he car. I have to open two gates on our lane before we reach the road. School starts at 9:00 a.m. with assembly. I have lunch at 12:00 a.m. then play with my friends in the playground. School finishes at 3:15 p.m. and I travel home on a minibus. Mum meets me and we take a short-cut home across fields and through a wood. I play on my bike, feed my pony and watch television until my dad comes home at 5:30 p.m. when we have dinner. Mum takes me to Brownies at 6:30 p.m. and my auntie brngs me home. I have milk and biscuits and get ready for bed at 9:00 p.m.
Religion.
St. Mary's Church dates from the 13th century. There is one service weekly: Sunday 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Holy Communion is held on 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays, Matins on 2nd and 4th Sundays, with additional services on all Holy Days. There are 42 adult members of the Church and 15 Sunday School members. 1985 saw the first woman Church Warden.
The Methodist Chapel holds two services weekly: Sundays 10:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., with additional services Easter, Harvest and Christmas. The Chapel is in the Corbridge section of the Hexham Circuit. There are 35 adult members and 6 Sunday School members. During the winter, Fellowship meetings are held in the Chapel or members' homes.
A joint service is held once per month.
Transport.
The area is fairly remote and 80% of households have at least one vehicle. There is only a limited bus service and most people find a car essential for both work and leisure. The households without their own transport are usally retired people, and in the main women. Having a vehicle becomes a high priority for young people in order to enjoy leisure activities both within the area and Hexham.
Slaley Show.
1985 will see the 127th Slaley Show held on Townhead Field. Over 50 people have organized 270 competitive classes including flowers, vegetables, flower arranging, cookery, handicraft and children's classes in two marquees. Outside over 200 sheep will be judged in classes for Suffolk, Blue-Faced Leicester, Mule and fat lambs. There are classes for goats, terriers and lurchers together with pony sports and a clay-pigeon shoot. Special attractions have been Police Dog Displays, a Parade of Heavy Horses, a Highland Pipe Band and Foxhounds.
St Mary's Church.
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin stands on the eastern slope of the village hill, about 700 feet above sea -level. Various buildings have adorned the site, while the original of the name belongs to the 13th century. The building was thoroughly restored in 1832. In 1907 the Church was further restored and embellished with much of its present furnishings. In 1921, the Lych Gate was erected as a memorial to the Fallen of the First World War. The stained glass windows show the dates and dedications, apart from the West window, which was given by a member of the Hunting family of Slaley Hall. The Parish Registers date back from 1703 and record the names of several great families in the village and illustrate the occupations of parishioners, such as Clogger, Weaver, Miller, Smelter, Husbandman and Farmer.
Slaley Hall.
1985 is significant for the area in that, following the death of the owner, the Slaley Hall Eastate has recently been sold. Planning permission has been granted to develop a 140 acre golf course using the Hall as the clubhouse. The farm and other parts of the property are for re-sale.
Birds
The area consists of foresty and farmland with hedgerows. Whilst farmland birds (curlew, lapwings, snipe, skylark, meadow pipit, cuckoo, barn and little owl) are decreasing, the hedgerow and woodland birds (dunnock, yellowhammer, chaffinch, greenfinch, bullfinch, goldfinch, blackbird, song thrush and mistle thrush) are increasing. Carrion crow, rook, magpie, jay, sparrowhawk, kestrel, crossbill, siskin, redpoll and tawny owl are stable with fluctuation mainly due to the accessibility of food. The merlin is rare but does occur.
Wild life
Mammals are numerous. Roe deer, red squirrel, badger and fox are increasing. Common and pygmy shrew, bank and field vole, stoat, weasel and hedgehog are stable. Water vole and water shrew are decreasing. Reptiles (adder and slow worm) are stable.
Amphibians (common frog, toad and palmate newt) are stable to decreasing. There are 6 species of bat in the area.
Brown Trout and eels are seriously decreasing due to polution.
Most plants and hardwood trees are under pressure of modern life but an increased awareness of the importance of conservation means that most of the wild life and countryside is just past the worst.
Shopping.
The majority of families purchase the bulk of their groceries from supermarkets in the local market town of Hexham, supplementing this with purchases from the local shop. Some make occasional visits to the large hypermarkets in the Newcastle area. Others, mainly elderly people with transport problems, make the bulk of their shopping at the local shop or from travelling shops which visit them at their door. Whilst the older residents usually purchase specialist items such as clothing and furniture in Hexham, the remainder tend to visit Newcastle at some time to seek a wider range. The local shop is also the post office and nearly everyone makes some kind of purchase there at some time.
Credits.
Mr. Barry Robson, Paul Kendall
Mrs. Joan Jewitt, James Gibson
Mr. Collin Jewitt, Lee Rudderham
Mrs. Pat Wilson, Rachael Hall
Mr. David Baynes, Amy Melvin
Mrs. Shirey Baynes, Wayne Hillier
Mr. Alec Bissett, Paul Baynes
Mrs. Karen Melvin, Michael Ogle
Mr. Allen Ogle, Matthew Atkins
Mrs. Margaret Ogle, Rowland Bone
Miss. Gillian Robson, Ben Rutter
Miss. Susan Weatherley, Justin Cule
Andrew Robson, Julie Robson
Jeffrey Makepeace, James Wilson
Georgina Barclay, David Robson
Iain Craig, Carina Evison
Stephanie Gledhill, Andrew Patrick
This article was taken from Slaley Parish Magazine, a monthly magazine produced by St. Mary's Parish Church, Slaley. I have posted it on this site, not just to reach some who might not read the magazine, but also because I think it discusses many questions about life in a rural parish like Slaley. My own view is that there is not a great problem about "incomers" in Slaley, but that what is important is to deal with others with respect for their experience and their way of doing things (even if you think you have better ideas!).
We would welcome comments on this: just look for the word "Comments" at the foot of this section, and follow the link to read others' views or add your own.
If you haven't yet seen the Parish Magazine, do look at it sometime. The magazine tries to include all events and activities, matters of concern etc. relating to the parish and the editor is always happy to include other events and activities being staged in neighbouring parishes. Subscriptions are £5.50 and if you would like to receive a copy please contact The Vicarage, Slaley, Hexham, NE47 OAA (telephone 01434 673 609).
"I recently attended a public meeting called by Slaley Parish Council to update the community on the progress of the parish plan. One of the key words bandied about for part of this meeting was the word "incomers" and it started a train of thought. The word generally had a negative tone - some used it in a slightly defensive or threatened context, some used it in an apologetic way. It made me wonder why people felt they had to apologise and what did we mean by the word anyway.
I am a Scot born to Scottish parents. My parents emigrated to Tasmania in 1951 on the £10 Government-assisted emigration scheme. Australia is a new country in the sense that it has comparatively recently been settled by white man. It was first a penal colony in the early nineteenth century; soon others arrived, free pioneering people from Britain and Ireland; later others settled from old Europe and Scandinavia. By the 1950's the country had a white history of only 150 years or so and yet at school I was known as the Scots girl by 'true' Aussies. In that 150 years there had been time for people to settle in this new country and have families who in turn had families and so on. In the 1950's the post-War emigration scheme brought a fresh influx of people from the old country who would now be a minority within the Australian population. I had classmates and neighbours who were English, German, Lithuanian, Polish, Hungarian, Italian - we were all part of the minority, we were 'incomers'. We would never be true Australians; this term was confined to those born in Australia or even second-generation Australians.
But Australia is vast and in order to advance, the country needed a greater work force and skills to develop its infrastructure and so she encouraged thousands of immigrants, but these people could quite easily be labelled with derogatory terms such as "jocks", "poms", etc. by 'Australians'. Odd really, isn't it, when you think they were from the same stock of people as those who had settled over the previous 150 years?
And then I came back to Britain in the late '60's and was known as "that Aussie girl"; once again to some I was an outsider. I lived and worked for a time on the island of Mull and was party to a movement I would later see replicated in other parts of Scotland. For those who don't know it, Mull has all the advantages of life on a Scottish island but with fewer of the disadvantages. It is cut off from the hustle of town or city life but is a comparatively short journey from the mainland, it is beautiful, it is quiet and its weather is influenced by the Gulf Stream. It was also often the retirement home of choice for many leaving the armed services. These people had served their country and wished to retire to a more peaceful environment for their latter years. Because of this, Mull was known as "The Officers' Mess". These 'incomers' could afford to buy the properties which came up for sale and eventually they would be accused of taking houses from local people who couldn't afford to buy at the now escalating asking prices. And while this may have been true for some locals who might have wished to stay, it was also true most young people would leave the island anyway. Secondary school would see them staying in hostels on the mainland during term time which gave them an early taste of independent living. From there it was an easy step for them to go on to college or to find work on the mainland. The truth was that jobs were limited and few on the island. And what I experienced of life on Mull in the '60's would be replicated throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and continues today in rural areas all over Britain. The jobs aren't there for young people - in the main jobs are found in the larger towns and cities. It all started with the industrial revolution which took people away from the countryside and into cities and has been greatly exacerbated in recent decades by the rapid change in farming. Numbers of farms and farmers have declined greatly. Mechanisation means fewer farm hands are needed whilst the agricultural policies and economics of late have seen farmers leave the industry in droves. A year or two ago the average age of farmers was 58.
It is this change which has resulted in many country properties becoming available for sale and naturally those selling wish to get the highest price possible, putting country properties out of range for those young people who do wish to stay in rural areas. And those people from elsewhere who buy country properties become 'incomers' and somehow then carry the stigma for the changes in agriculture and the loss of a way of life. But is this stigma justified? In the Highlands and Islands it is the 'incomers' who are often keeping rural communities alive. Population numbers are dropping rapidly in Highland rural areas whilst the capital, Inverness, is one of the fastest growing cities in Britain. Rural Highland living can be tough unless you have an adequate income which will pay for the extra costs of rural transport, heating for the long Winter, or perhaps your own generator, etc. etc. People who move in do so because they choose to adopt a non-mainstream, or 'alternative', way of life and/or because they can afford to do so.
A similar pattern is surely now true for much of rural Britain. Slaley is not unlike most other rural villages with a farming background. Quite naturally, its social life revolved around its working life. Agricultural shows were a way for farmers of finding out what breeds were available, what qualities they had and whether they were adapted to local conditions. Competition helped foster a pride in one's farming skills and added a bit of interest in what could be an isolated and harsh full-time life's work. The social side of shows was vitally important, as much for farming wives and families as for farmers themselves. But now there are far fewer farmers coupled with ease of travel plus computer technology which have together changed the farmer's reliance on the local scene. Local agricultural shows are struggling because there are fewer farming people around to stage them even if they have the spare time to do so. Like Slaley's, Blanchland & Hunstanworth's Show is now also struggling. Is there a case here for amalgamation?
What is true is that a certain number of people is required to run any interest group, whatever it is. This is true of churches, sports clubs, agricultural shows or whatever. The bigger the operation, the bigger that certain number must be i.e. critical mass. Perhaps a village of Slaley's size can only support one or two larger operations. It has a school to support, itself a key element in keeping a rural village alive. It has two churches, both of which are struggling. It has a village hall, a parish council and stages an agricultural show. It has a number of small clubs and provisions. Smaller rural interest groups usually only survive because of the input and dedication of one or two of their members. When these people go, the group may often disband. With these smaller interest groups it is perhaps worth noting that members should not count on a large amount of following - the limited number of people in the parish is unlikely to realise large numbers. There is simply too much on offer and easily attainable outside the parish. The only times I have seen Slaley come together as a whole parish was at the occasion of the Millennium and for the Queen's Jubilee. These two factors touched everyone, whoever they were, whatever age they were and whatever interests they pursued. Away from these, the Medicine Run is possibly the only voluntary community provision which works well and which involves a good number of the population irrespective of personal interest.
Slaley has a parish plan and its outcome has given a quantity of factual criteria. One pertinent fact is that within a total parish population of 600 the majority of people lie in the more mature age bracket. Is this perhaps the starting point for looking at provision within the parish? Of that mature number there is a considerable number of elderly people who have little in the way of provision, such as opportunities for social interaction, exercise classes etc. They have served society and now need someone else to be their voice. Perhaps in view of the parish's limited numbers and availability of people's time, there needs to be a shift of emphasis from "what do I want out of this community" to "what wilt best benefit this community as a whole"? Where there are smaller population numbers, it is perhaps important that whatever is undertaken is achievable and done well. (Seeing something done well often encourages others to offer help which in turn helps strengthen the community). Whatever is undertaken also needs to be something that can be relatively easily maintained and sustained. (This is why the Medicine Run works so well). What is also true is that of the numbers running many of the interest groups within the parish you will find a good proportion of 'incomers' doing their bit for the community and that without their numbers some groups would be difficult to sustain and some would probably have to fold. It poses the question, when is an 'incomer' not an 'incomer'?
As a child in Australia, I used to love January. The joy and expectation of Christmas was followed by a month-long school Summer holiday. At the end of January there was Rabbie Burns Day on 25th which allowed us to celebrate part of our Scots heritage. The 26th brought Australia Day and we could then take part in the celebrations of our adopted country. The 27th was my birthday so personal celebrations and excitement ruled again. However, a few years ago the 27th January was designated World Holocaust Day. Knowing you share your birthday with this Remembrance Day adds a sobering dimension. My background of being born in Scotland, living in Australia, living in lowland, island and highland Scotland, and living in England whilst never living in any house in any of these areas for more than 8 years has given me an insight into suspicion of the outsider and of labels, albeit in a very minor way. But however minor, it is nonetheless the same type of suspicion that was instrumental in causing and nurturing the Holocaust.
We now live in a global environment, a global village, and in Britain we live in a time of rapid work-related and social re-location. For daily life we perhaps no longer need to employ suspicion and the 'fight or flight' skills needed by our ancestors to repel the-Vikings or other conquering races. Britain is in fact a melting pot of different peoples, and always has been, just as Australia and the United States have been in the last two or three centuries. Perhaps it is now time to drop words like 'incomers' and just accept people, and be accepted, as folk who are new to the area who have come to join our community, whether from the next parish, town, city or country. Surely what really matters is how we can best help one another to live as members of our communities in rapidly changing times, and what we can do together as caretakers of our natural environment. This latter point is surely a cause really worth getting het up about. "
Janis Irvine