Autumn is in the air, new school term, the last ever September start in our house, as Ben begins his last year of sixth form, starts filling out UCAS forms and we all gear up for the ‘whoosh’ that is leaving school and moving onto the next stage of life. Talking about children, and having a large gap between number 2 and number 3 to a new friend recently, she said of Ben’s arrival 12 years after his sister, “Ah – an Autumn Leaf, how lovely!” And how lovely it was, we can’t believe it is almost 18 years ago. So as he gets more and more independent, we find ourselves more often on our own at the weekends, walking in the Cheviots, or cleaning the cottage ready for new arrivals. The scenery never fails to lift our hearts, whether it’s verdant green spring foliage and trees in bud, or bramble bushes, seed heads, purple heather and bright red rowan berries. We always love meeting the other regular dog walkers round the Branton Lakes Nature reserve and now also, very happily, at The Plough Inn a mile away in Powburn.
We had a gorgeous first visit to the newly re-opened Plough at the end of August, admiring the fabulous renovation that Sarah and Paul Johnson have painstakingly carried out, revealing a previously boarded up fireplace, just like ours at the cottage! After being closed for over a decade, this stunning 18th Century coaching inn has stone floors, beautiful windows flooding the place with light and a wood burning stove for cosy nights in. It’s going to be a wonderful centre for community and good times, for sure. The Running Fox will operate as a cafe in the building during the day and the pub opens 5pm weekday and 3pm on Weekends. We enjoyed drinking beer (brewed by us!) from Cullercoats Brewery and meeting all the dogs, it was like Crufts that night, playing cards, and soaking up the atmosphere.
We reminisced over watching the Rugby World Cup final here early in the morning with bacon sandwiches, back in 2003, cheering on England with Jack and Lolly aged 8 and 9 and the whole village roaring with every point scored.
We remembered our first sight of the Leek Club competition entrants, leeks the size of which we had never seen, laid out on a white cloth on a huge table in the pub, and some very serious judging going on.
We remembered delaying the walk home until far too late because the fire was so warm and there was time for one more game of dominoes.
We are so looking forward to many more happy evenings in the Plough!
