This appeared in the Hexham Courant newspaper 1-4-2010:
A Hexhamshire hamlet is changing its name in order to cash in on the millions of a sixties superstar. The tiny community of Juniper will in future be known as Jennifer Juniper, following a request from hippy Hero Donovan. Cash-strapped Northumberland County Council is understood to have agreed to the name change in return for a £5 million donation to council coffers. The denim-decked singer made a fortune in the 1960s from songs like Catch the wind, Universal Soldier, Mellow Yellow and Sunshine Superman, but his personal favourite was always Jennifer Juniper. He took a tour of Tynedale whilst staying at Slaley Hall and fell in love with the quaint hamlet of Juniper. He spotted a dappled mare grazing in a field and just wanted to be part of the place. Villagers have reported being offered large wads of cash for their properties but no-one was prepared to move out of the close-knit community. A consultation exercise on the name change is being carried out by the county council, but comments had to be in by noon yesterday.
(NB: Check the date.)
Juniper is a charming village in the scenic Hexhamshire region of Northumberland, south of Hexham; this was for centuries under the administration of the Archbishop of York, rather than the Bishop of Durham whose territory surrounded it by a wide margin.
(There were also, until the early 1800s, three "islands" of Durham County within the borders of Northumberland.)
This absent landlordism meant that Hexhamshire was outwith the rule of law, and the area became notorious as a den of bandits and other ruffians - a place they could retreat with impunity, after wrongdoing elsewhere.
Something of this danger still seems to cling to the region, if my experience is any guide; because over the decades we have been surrounded by a pack of farm dogs (until called-off at the last minute), actively attacked by an insane stallion (rearing and trying to smash down with his hooves - I somehow cleared a four foot barbed wire fence to escape); most recently menaced from behind a flimsy fence by an angry (?) mastiff and his mates when walking along a busy public footpath.
Interesting location, altogether.
There is also an unusual and appealing (syncopated) folk song called the Hexhamshire Lass - here done by Fairport Convention.
4 comments:
I have more than once thought, if only the good doctor took up gardening or farming maybe his mania for trying to do it all in his head without it going to his head would abate. But given the run ins with assorted farm animals reported here of late, I no longer think this is a good idea.
@to - Although I do Not regard myself (now or in the past) as a particularly well-balanced-and-integrated individual (if such exist); it's also worth bearing in mind how very selective is this blog. In particular it leaves-out my family life. No doubt this creates a rather extreme impression of a "cerebral" persona.
My apologies. I am well aware your blog persona is selective.
@to - I think the problem of farm animals is with Hexhamshire et environs, rather than animals per se...
I have just remembered another instance of serious bullying by bullocks (to add to the examples from a few days ago) that happened near Allendale - which happens to lie directly adjacent to Hexhamshire.
NOT a coincidence, I submit.
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