November 2011 Archives : Northumberland communities

The Aspire 2 Achieve Basketball League starts with a bang!

Posted by Alan Hoyle on Nov 29, 11 09:39 AM in Clubs/Societies

The Aspire 2 Achieve Basketball League tipped off on Sunday 27th November at Blyth Sportscentre. The first game of the new league featured the Blyth Renegades and the Northumberland Knightflyers with cheer leader support from the HTA Cheerleading group.

With over one hundred spectators at the game, the sports hall was buzzing with excitement for the start of the game, the Blyth Renegades won the tip but neither team seemed to be able to score as the game went scoreless for the first 2 minutes.

The Renegades scored the first basket of the game and lead by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, with Adam Coxon leading the way for the Renegades with 8 straight points, including back to back three pointers.

Finally after 14 straight misses the Northumberland Knightflyers finally put some points on the board and turned up the defensive pressure, however the Renegades kept on playing their game and maintained the lead behind a complete team effort on offence.

The 3rd quarter saw the Knightflyers start to take control of the game, behind a fantastic defensive effort, including 9 steals from the 2010/11 Most Valuable Player, Callum Wingfield.

The 4th quarter was the reverse of the 1st, as the Knightflyers took an commanding lead, the Renegades fought back, but the Knightflyers took control of the tempo of the game, with Glenn Armstrong scoring 8 of his 12 points in the 4th quarter alone.

'It was an amazing start to our new League' said Aspire 2 Achieve Co-Founder Alan Hoyle 'The turn out was fantastic, it was the biggest crowd I've seen for a local league Basketball game in a long time, I think we put on a good show for everybody. Both teams were a little nervous at the start, but after the first couple of possessions the game moved up to another level, the players on both teams played fantastic, the cheerleaders did a great job, the referee and official were great, we couldnt have asked for a better start to our league.'

One spectator, Mr Gill, agrees 'The set up of the whole event was something you would expect State side, I have never witnessed such an entertaining Basketball game in England, I cannot wait till the next game!'

Another spectator added 'This is exactly what Basketball needs! I came to the game with my son with little interest in the sport, I have left a fan.'

'It is great to get such positive feedback, we wanted to show people how fun the game of Basketball can be, it is a sport which anybody can play or just come along to watch and enjoy, it was a fantastic experience to see the people of my home town come out and thoroughly enjoy the game. Said Alan '...But just wait till the All Star game!'

The Blyth Renegades train each Sunday, 4pm at Blyth Sportscentre, the Northumberland Knightflyers train each Friday, 7pm at Coquet High in Amble. Players of any ages and abilities are welcome to either session.

Paralympian Stephen Miller: training and NUFC

Posted by Richard Fletcher on Nov 25, 11 03:04 PM in Bloggers

Well, I'm about 4 weeks into winter training and I'm still alive and well. To be honest I'm better than alive - I'm happier than a pig rolling around in the proverbial.

So far everything about this winter has been positive, even NUFC are doing scarily well with an almost unbeaten league record (Man City doesn't count as they're cheating with all their spending) and 3rd in the league for the first time in donkeys years - I'm eager to get those statements in my blog before our next two games, although by the time you read this we may well be down to 4th.

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Autumn at Blyth South Beach

Posted by Richard Fletcher on Nov 11, 11 03:43 PM in Bloggers

Website reader Ian Watkins sent in two great pictures for the Blyth website.

The first, he says, was taken on an "early morning stroll on a windy day at Blyth South Beach".

The second is looking back towards Blyth from Whitley Bay.

Send in your pictures or reports of your events to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk

Where does the wildlife go?

Posted by Richard Fletcher on Nov 7, 11 01:18 PM in Bloggers

Written by Kevin O'Hara, conservation officer at Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Where do they all go in winter? - Part 1

Recently I felt the first twangs of winter; the 'first frost' gripped my garden, the chickens came skidding out of their ark, and I had to break the ice on their drinking water. I really like those first days, when we still have some daylight left to enjoy the wonderful colours and smells. I take the camera and binoculars with me when I walk the dogs, keeping an eye out for winter thrushes or other visitors. The clocks have altered and we start the long haul of winter - not until February will some real light return to the sky, and warmth to the sun.

It is during these months that we wonder where, exactly, many of our resident wildlife species go to survive the coldest and wettest days of winter, especially those that are more delicate and less mobile.

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Yourview - Nestor at Blyth quayside

Posted by Richard Fletcher on Nov 4, 11 04:30 PM in Bloggers

Website reader Ian Watkins from Blyth sent in a picture that he took while out and about in the town.

It features the ship 'Nestor' loading at the old Staiths jetty at Blyth quayside.

Send in your pictures to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk to see them featured.

Looking forward to the next beer festival

Posted by Richard Fletcher on Nov 3, 11 12:36 PM in Bloggers

Correspondent Ruari O'Toole reviews the Three Horse Shoes beer festival in Horton

The Three Horse Shoes in Horton is famous for its weekend beer festivals, and this year's autumn festival was in keeping with the historic free house's reputation for showcasing top quality drinks in a venue with atmosphere to spare.

In July of this year the Shoes' combined music and beer festival was so oversubscribed when I visited it that a beer token system was put into use and the queues at the bar were off-puttingly big, so it was a relief to actually find a seat at this October festival, even if it was in the beer garden!

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