The annual ride-out to Flodden, which is part of Coldstream Civic Week, takes place on Thursday 4 August. This is the longest and the largest of the ride-outs from Coldstream. A Temporary Traffic Regulation Order will be in place from 1015 hrs to 1730 hrs. The route of the cavalcade can be viewed here
Category: history
News and information relating to the history of Carham parish.
Rogation Sunday
Our three local churches – St Cuthbert’s in Carham, St Helen’s in Cornhill on Tweed, and St Paul’s in Branxton – are holding a joint service on Sunday 29 May at West Learmouth Farm. The open-air service, marking Rogation Sunday, will include a blessing of the trees that have been planted by Carham Parish Council as a contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy – a UK-wide tree-planting initiative created to commemorate the jubilee. The trees have been planted where the public footpath meets the byway at the old West Learmouth railway sidings, courtesy of Mrs Moore of West Learmouth Farm. The Rogation Sunday service is at 11.00 am and everyone is welcome to attend. Please wear stout footwear, as it may be muddy underfoot. For more information, call Pat Feerick on 01890 254 794.
The Queen’s Green Canopy
To mark the platinum jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen, Carham Parish Council has planted ten native trees at West Learmouth. The ten trees are the parish’s contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy – a UK-wide tree-planting initiative created to commemorate the jubilee. The trees were donated by Northumberland County Council as part of its free tree give-away scheme, and were planted by two volunteers. A generous anonymous donation paid for more than half of the cost of stakes and deer guards, while the parish council covered the rest of the cost. A further 12 trees, also donated, were planted close by, bringing the total number of trees planted to 22. Land for the trees, which are where the public footpath meets the byway at the old West Learmouth railway sidings, was generously allocated by Mrs Moore of West Learmouth Farm. A commemorative plaque will be put in place in due course.
Next Footpaths Group Walk
The next walk organised by the Footpaths Group will be on Saturday 5 February 2022. This five-mile winter walk, along footpaths, farm fields and tracks, and quiet lanes, will pass the remains of an old industrial site and cross a disused railway line. Everyone is welcome, including well-behaved dogs on leads (there will be sheep along some of the way – be careful not to disturb them). Some of the walk could be muddy or icy, so please come prepared. Meet by the telephone box in Wark at 10 am. There is parking on the main road or in the car park in Wark village. For more information, email the walks organiser or call 01890 850 339.
70th British National Ploughing Championships & Country Festival
This national event, which is held in a different part of the country each year, takes place at Mindrum Mill on 9 and 10 October 2021. Featuring heavy horses, vintage tractors and giant steam ploughing engines, this is a rare opportunity to see how farming has changed over the last 300 years. As well as the ploughing competitions, there are trade stands, displays and demonstrations, country crafts, shopping, food stalls and tractor and trailer rides, all of which make it a great day out for all the family. Car parking is free, admission each day is £12 per adult, and children over five years old pay just £1. For more information, including the full programme of events, visit the Society of Ploughmen website. The first event of each day is at 08.45 hrs and the last event starts at 17.00 hrs.
100 Years of Parish Council Records
Carham Parish Council holds records of its meetings from 1921 to the present day, in the form of two minute books. The first of these books, covering the years 1921 to 1984, is now on our website.
The Parish Council Records page explains what the Parish Council was concerned with in each decade and tells something of the history of the parish, as well as giving access to scans of the original pages of the minute book.
The first meeting recorded in the minute book was on 18 March 1921 – one hundred years ago today.
Carham 1018 Conference
The Carham 1018 Society is holding a virtual conference on the afternoon of Sunday 15 November. Topics will include the recent archaeological and geophysical investigations at Carham, Carham and the Anglo-Scottish border, and Carham and the St Cuthbert connection. This conference was to have taken place earlier this year, but had to be postponed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. For the full conference programme and joining instructions, please email Clive Hallam-Baker.
High Sheriff of Northumberland
The May 2020 issue of the Carham Parish Council newsletter featured a piece written especially for it by the High Sheriff of Northumberland, Tom Fairfax of Mindrum. In case you missed it, here is what he had to say:
“High Sheriffs in Nomination are always told that our job-spec is a blank canvas! This is truer than ever this year as much of the job traditionally involves face to face engagement – something which is not currently an option under current rules! As a result, I have spent some time with a hot towel over my head to establish new ways to serve my term in as effective a manner as possible. Against expectations, the current conditions have actually been liberating … having listened in awe to the exploits of many of my predecessors – a number of whom are from this parish – it became clear that everything and anything is possible.
“The role of High Sheriff is not really about uniforms and swords; it is about finding amazing people who are doing incredible things. The exciting thing is that these incredible things are happening all around us. Whilst the current conditions have made direct contact with people challenging, they have provided perfect conditions for people to step forward and be exceptional. We are surrounded by brilliant folk who are quietly doing the jobs that are in front of them, and who are stepping forward to add value.
“This year we commemorate the 75th anniversary of both VE Day and VJ Day, which mark, respectively, the end of the Second World War in the European and Far East theatres. Some will remember those days, but most of us can only imagine what it must have been like. It is, perhaps, ironic that we commemorate the end of one global crisis whilst in the grip of another. The 1939-45 world war had a profound effect on the world and particularly this country. Whilst it carried with it a huge cost in many areas, it was a time when the country pulled together and prevailed. It re-enforced the resilience that this nation has repeatedly shown in times of crisis.
“As we face the current period of uncertainty, a deliberate focus on the positive outcomes around us enables us to overcome the negatives, and whilst there are things we cannot control, there are many that we can. All we have to do is to be live to the opportunities that present themselves and to seize them when they arise. We are surrounded by folk who are seizing these opportunities and doing amazing things – we can but try to live up to their example!”
Carham Community Website 