JULY/AUGUST 2026 NEWSROUND
- Norham Life
- Jul 2
- 8 min read
Newsround is Norham's free monthly community newsletter, bringing together local news, village updates and upcoming events.
For further information about any of the groups, events or activities featured in this issue, please email norhamlife@gmail.com unless alternative contact details are provided.
ST CUTHBERT’S SUMMER FAIR
Sat 11th July 2pm
Norham Village Hall and Green
25% PROCEEDS TO NORHAM WAR MEMORIAL RESTORATION FUND
WE NEED YOUR STUFF!
IN ADVANCE
TOMBOLA
Bottles and jars of anything, boxes of chocolates, toiletries etc. (all unopened and within sell by date!) - nothing poisonous!
BRIC A BRAC
Good quality bits and pieces, toys, other stuff (clean & complete)
No books or electrical items please
PLEASE LEAVE ANY DONATIONS IN THE CHURCH PORCH ON OR UNDER THE SEATS - OR IN THE BOX!
ON THE DAY
HOME BAKING / PRODUCE / PLANTS
Please bring plants and fresh baking/produce to the hall on the morning of 11th July.
AND WE NEED YOU!
We would be hugely grateful if you could lend us a hand on the day for an hour or two! Or the night before - just putting up and/or taking down gazebos, stewarding etc. The more help we have the less there is to do!
Please contact Tory Craig for more information: torylintoncraig@aol.com 07745130987
ST CUTHBERT'S SUMMER FAIR!! - EXTRA
We would like to have small exhibition (up to 15 ) of vintage motor vehicles at this year's fair:
more than 40 years old and
owned or stored in the parishes of Norham, Horncliffe, Shoreswood or Duddo
So if you have a cherished vehicle of that age or older, be it a motorbike, tractor, car, or other motorised vehicle that you would be willing to exhibit at St Cuthbert’s Summer Fair on Norham Village Green on 11th July, please email norhamlife@gmail.com.
THE ST CUTHBERT'S PROJECT
Bulletin No. 14 - July 2026
The St Cuthbert’s Project aims to improve the heating, lighting, seating and heritage interpretation at Norham Church, to make the church building more user-friendly and more useful to the wider community.
In June we had our first meeting with our Heritage Interpretation planners, Jo Scott and John Smart, and with our Archaeologist, Richard Carlton. We hope that many local residents will meet and get to know them over the coming weeks and months.
Norham Church will be closed for most of July, August and September, while major electrical work is undertaken. We hope to re-open the church with a concert on Sat 3rd October, and the Harvest Thanksgiving Service on Sun 4th October. In the meantime, services will take place in the Village Hall.
The church will briefly re-open for two concerts as part of the ‘Music at Paxton’ Festival on Sat 18th and 25th; an exhibition of artwork by the children of Norham Primary School and Longridge Towers School; and an auction on Sat 25th July. (See separate notices for more details.)
‘All hands on deck’ will be needed to help clean and clear the church on 17th, 18th and 26th July, and ‘move back in’ on 1st and 2nd October. Any offers of help would be gratefully received by the Churchwardens, Lucy Carroll, 07974 416692, and Nick Ellis, (01289) 382754, or the Vicar, Rob Kelsey, (01289) 382325.
We are grateful to all our benefactors, including the Barbour Foundation, the Benefact Trust, the Blake Family Trust, the Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust, the Community Foundation (Barmoor Wind Farm), EDF, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Liddell-Simpson Trust, the Northumberland Historic Churches Trust, the Rothley Trust, the Steel Family, and the William Leech Charity.
As part of the St Cuthbert’s Project, to improve its heating, lighting, seating, accessibility and heritage interpretation Norham Church will be closed for major electrical works, between the following dates:
Mon 29th June to Fri 17th July
Sun 26th July to Fri 2nd Oct
All services in July, August and September will take place in the Village Hall, at 10am every Sunday (plus 8am on a first Sunday of the month).
If you’re not in the habit of going to church, then why not try ‘going to church’ without going to church! You would be welcome to join us in the Village Hall.
For more information, please contact:
• Churchwarden, Lucy Carroll, 07974 416692
• Churchwarden, Nick Ellis, (01289) 382754
For prayer requests, please contact The Vicar, the Revd Rob Kelsey, (01289) 382325.
FEIS ROIS CEiLIDH TRAIL
The Ceilidh Trail is on the road again this summer!
In 2000 Fèis Rois established its successful Ceilidh Trail programme in Ross-shire as a four-week paid summer job. This success initiated a National Ceilidh Trail for Scotland in 2012. Since then, the project has gone from strength-to-strength providing opportunities for young musicians from every corner of Scotland. The trail enables them to perform in various locations across the country, not previously covered by the original smaller community Ceilidh Trails.
Norham Village Hall on Wednesday 22nd at 7.30pm.
Tickets £10 – under 16s, free.
Refreshments will be available.
MUSIC AT PAXTON - AT NORHAM!
We are delighted that Music at Paxton has again asked that Norham Church host two of the events in their summer festival of music, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
18th July
The highly acclaimed Hadley Court Singers will be performing under the directorship of Kit Hobkirk. SADLY that free concert is already SOLD OUT!
23rd July, 5pm
The Amyas Ensemble with St Cuthbert’s Church Choir
Emily Baines: recorders, bagpipes, voice
Arngeir Hauksson: gitterns, lute, percussion, symphonie
Amyas describe themselves as a period instrument group specialising in exuberant performances of historical repertoire.
Their evocative programme Meditatio invites listeners into a world of devotion, landscape and quiet wonder, inspired by the life of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. At its heart are chants dedicated to the saint that have not been heard in nearly 1,000 years – music in essence shaped by prayer, solitude, and the ebb and flow of the North Sea. Instrumental and vocal works from later in the Medieval Age reveal how meditative sound continued to unfold across centuries and continents.
For more information and tickets go to www.musicatpaxton.co.uk
FRIENDS OF NORHAM CASTLE
NEW CASTLE GUIDEBOOKS NOW AVAILABLE !
Friends of Norham Castle are delighted to announce that the brand new, updated English Heritage guide to the Castle is now on sale. The guidebook is available exclusively from FNC via friendsofnorhamcastle@gmail.com or from RG Foremans, The Victoria Hotel or The Masons Arms. £6 per copy
AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY
Plans are afoot for a day of fun and socialising for Monday August 31st. Starting with a car boot sale, we will have a barbecue/picnic at lunchtime and then activities including a wildlife event in the afternoon.
This will be orgainsed by a collaboration between the Village Hall and Friends of Norham Castle.
Watch out for more information on the notice boards and social media in the next few weeks.
VILLAGE WEBSITE
The website has been upgraded further and carries information about many aspects of Norham life. What’s on, walks, things to do, the village diary, details of groups and societies as well as business and amenities. Please contact us should you wish to add further information or raise the profile or your organisation. Visit Norhamlife.co.uk or email us at norhamlife@gmail.com.
VILLAGE HALL
Plans for the hall progress slowly as we await planning permission for the double glazing and a proposal for a new heating and lighting system.
Bookings can now be made through Book the Hall on the village website for a wide of variety of activities and events from ad hoc games of table tennis and snooker to having a room for a meeting – whether in person or by Teams/Zoom.
CRAFT AND CHAT
Our thriving craft group is always open to new crafters, just turn up with your latest project and join in. You can find us in Norham Village Hall every Wednesday afternoon between 1 and 4 p.m. There is a small charge of £2 to cover the hall hire and refreshments are included. For further information please email norhamlife@gmail.com.
NORHAM WI
Our next meeting is on Thursday 2 July 2026 in Norham Village Hall at 1:30p.m. for a 2 p.m. start. Our speaker will be Susan Brown talking about Royal Duties and Moderator of the General Assembly. The members competition is something to do with Royalty or The Church. The theme is 'Summer Holiday'. Members are invited to dress in 1960's/70's clothing and bring food from that era. Norham Band will be playing.
Please note that Norham WI does not have a meeting in August.
On Monday 3 August 2026 we will be providing refreshments for The Coldstream Riders Association.
For more information about any of these meetings please email norhamlife@gmail.com.
NORHAM & LADYKIRK HISTORY SOCIETY
Our July meeting will be an outing to Trimontium Roman Museum, Market Square Melrose. We can visit the museum during the afternoon, arriving at 1.30pm for a self-guided tour, followed by a walk around the town. I shall have some leaflets to hand out. There are several venues for lunch or afternoon tea. We shall make our own way there.
£8 per person and £7 if over 60. A virtual reality tour is available at an extra cost.
For any queries and to let me know that you are coming please send an email for the attention of Martha Andrews to norhamlife@gmail.com.
And now for something completely different...
THE ST CUTHBERT’S PROJECT SILENT * AUCTION FUNDRAISER
* partly live!
25 July 6.30pm - in St Cuthbert’s Church
You are all invited to join us at Norham Church for an exciting event - with a little live music, and a lot of fizz and canapés!
You may have heard about the beautiful painting donated by a famous painter to raise funds for the church’s project to improve its heating and lighting?
Well that has started a ball rolling….and we now have 18 lots for an auction!
So all we need are some people to come and enjoy the evening (which should finish about 8.30pm) and bid in the auction!
The silent auction is exactly that - detailed instructions will be given on the night but in short you just write down your bid/s on a sheet. You can bid for just one lot, all of them or indeed none of them!
Four of the lots (including the painting above) will be auctioned live by our friendly professional auctioneer which will add a little buzz!
BUT to be able to bid in either the silent or the live auction (or both) YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE - we need your details and we need to give you a bidding number!
It is £5 to register for the auction (to cover costs - this is a fundraiser after all!) - just go to Ticketebo.
And for more information about what's on offer (something for all tastes and pockets!) go to the Silent Auction page.
And if you still have questions please email stcuthbertsnorham@gmail.com.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Thursday 2nd July - WI meeting
Saturday 11th July - St Cuthbert’s Summer Fair
Monday 13th July - History Society outing
Saturday 18th July - Music at Paxton (at Norham) SOLD OUT
Wednesday 22nd July - Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail
Thursday 23rd July - Music at Paxton (at Norham) Amyas Ensemble with St Cuthbert’s Choir
Saturday 25th July - Silent Auction
Monday 3rd August - Coldstream Riders
Monday 31st August - Bank Holiday Car Boot Sale and Village Family Event
Friday 20th November - Little Norham Christmas
ABOUT THE NEWSROUND
Newsround is Norham's free monthly community newsletter, bringing together local news, village updates and upcoming events. Printed copies are delivered to households throughout the parish by volunteers at the beginning of each month.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEXT EDITION
Items for publication, posters, dates for the diary and feedback can be emailed to Janet Young at janetyoung.lazda@gmail.com by 6pm on Thursday 27th August 2026. Contributions should be submitted in Word or JPEG format rather than PDF.
