Spring & Summer Newsletter, 2025

Welcome to the first newsletter of the year for the spring & summer of 2025.

The winter newsletter seems to have been published so long ago and Christmas is a distant memory, but we all hope you had a good start to 2025.   Storm Eowyn, the fifth storm of the 2024/25 season hit in January with gusts of, over 81mph in Scotland – fortunately, there was not so much disruption at Blagdon.  The Walled Garden was closed due to safety and the damage not as bad as previous storms.  There have been some cold, winter days, dark nights and a bit of snow here and there and its now starting to feel like spring!

We hope that the Open Garden events, organised and run by certain nominated charity’s are successful this year and the weather is kind, unlike last year which resulted in an event having to be cancelled due to wet weather and safety concerns.  There are quite a few events in the Blagdon calendar this year and we look forward to seeing you at these events.

Here is a list of the estate events, so far and some of our private Clockroom bookings for 2025.     

Pilates for the Blagdon community

Pilates is still very much a fixture on Tuesday evenings in the Clock room.  All are welcome and please speak to Eileen Brown, who is contactable through the estate office if you would like to join. 

Dates for the Blagdon Diary

26th of March – Estate Coffee Morning.  Please refer to the notice boards for timings and full details.  Estate people (past and present) are invited to come. 

2nd of April – Riverside Primary School Visit

13th of April – North East Sight Matters Open Gardens at Blagdon.  The estate will be opening its gates to the public to attend this event from 1pm – 4pm, close.  Entry is £8 for adults and children under 12years are free.  Cash on the gate only.     

16th of April – North East Sight Matters, project meeting in the Clock room.

10th of May – Northumberland Gardens Trust private visit.  Organised by Jo and Tim from the estate.

25th of May – National Gardens Scheme, Open Gardens event. Open to the public 1 – 4pm. Entry fee.

2nd of June – Riverside Primary School visit through the Country Trust.

4th of June – St Mary’s Primary School visit through the Country Trust.

8th of June – Open Farm Sunday

Last year the farm hosted a successful Open Farm Sunday and this is to be repeated this year.  Blagdon tenants and staff and the public are being offered the opportunity to take up the invitation from the farm.  Details will be published shortly and please look out for the details in the estate notice boards.  Don’t forget to bring your wellies……  

10th of June – Marine Park Primary School visit through the Country Trust.

22nd of June – St Oswald’s Hospice Open Gardens event. Open to the public 1 – 4pm. Entry fee.

21st of September – Plant Heritage Open Gardens event. Open to the public 1 – 4pm. Entry fee.

5th of October – Hospice Care Open Gardens event. Open to the public 1 – 4pm. Entry fee.

10th of October – Greenfields Primary School visit through the Country Trust.

Looking after your own garden

As the temperatures rise, and the days are longer and lighter there are more opportunities to get outside and into your garden.  Blagdon has some beautiful examples of residential gardens, which are very well cared for and tended to by our tenants.  The estate is very keen for residents to continue to look after their gardens, especially during the summer when the grass needs cutting more regularly. Whilst there are no plans to have an estate garden competition this year, a regular walk around takes place to inspect gardens.  And a reminder that the storage of touring caravans is not permitted on the estate at any time.

Advice for our tenants

Tenants can now download standing order forms and permit to work forms from the website, and the application forms for the Ridley Family Charity are available to download.

Blocked sewage drains. 

Northumbrian Water are campaigning to “Bin the Wipes” as flushed wipes contribute towards 60% of sewer blockages in the Northeast!  At Blagdon, we also experience the same issues, with blocked drains due to this problem.  Please be aware and avoid causing huge problems in your home.  Details of the NWL campaign can be found on the link:  www.nwl.co.uk/binthewipe 

External Painting 

The estate’s external painting is starting as soon as the temperatures improve. Tenants will be notified if their properties are due for painting. Please remove any trip hazards and continue opening and closing windows throughout the painting process, to avoid windows and doors becoming painted shut.  External painting is usually done at estate properties, every five years and the annual lists of properties to paint are allocated to contractors.   

Stannington Village

We have a former rented, residential property on the market for sale at Stannington Vale.  Bridgford’s Estate Agents are marketing the property on behalf of the estate and if you are interested in buying a house, please contact their Ponteland branch on Tel: 01661 860300. 

Rental Properties List

If you are looking to rent rather than buy, from time to time we do have empty properties for rent on Assured Short-hold Tenancy agreements.  Please telephone the estate office to register your details for a rental property.  Our rentals tend to be at Blagdon and Stannington.  Tel: 01670 789621.     

Stannington Village Hall – for hire

The village hall at Stannington is a great community facility, available for hire.  Within the hall there ae various clubs, events and socials for the community.  See their website for details.   Upcoming events | Stannington Village Hall

The Hearse House, Stannington – you might have noticed the small Hearse House, which is a stone building in the Ridley Arms car park.  The Parish have received some funding for this building to be renovated and are looking into a variety of options to use the building and we hope it can be of use and work starts soon.  

Bus Service, reminder

A reminder to all residents across the estate, there is an hourly bus service (x16) operating into Morpeth and Newcastle which is good news.  The service is ideal for travelling into the town of Morpeth, Gosforth, Newcastle and further afield. 

Blagdon Estate Office, Opening Times/Reports of estate type repairs

The Blagdon estate office opening times are 9am until 1pm, Monday to Friday. Reports of estate type repairs should always be made by ‘phone to the estate office on Tel: 01670 789621 as we cannot guarantee a response to reports of repairs which are sent to any personal email addresses.  If there is no answer on the phone during the office opening times, there is a voicemail facility for you to leave a message and if out of hours, there is an emergency contact telephone number.  Staff will respond to all telephone messages as soon as possible and allocate accordingly.

Wishing you all a great summer time.

Kind Regards,

Claire
Estate Administrator.