The Borders.
The parish that proved a monthly cadence is a town idea. Four all-day meets a year work better here than twelve short ones nobody can reach.
The ground it covers.
Northumberland, north Cumbria and the country either side of the line. The boundary follows the landscape rather than the county line, which is why it looks wrong on an administrative map and right on a soil one.
It meets quarterly, on a Saturday, all day. Rotating between Bellingham, Brampton and Wooler. Quarterly rather than monthly because the driving is ninety miles each way for half the parish.
Douglas Ainsley is the warden. Hill farm above Bellingham. Drives furthest to his own meets and has never mentioned it. The wardenship is unpaid, was not appointed by us, and can only be ended by the parish itself.
- 869
- members
- March 2025
- opened
- Quarterly
- cadence
The details.
The parish
- Ground
- Northumberland, north Cumbria and the country either side of the line
- Members
- 869Register at 30 August 2026.
- Rank by size
- 10 of 12
- Opened
- March 2025
- Cadence
- Quarterly, on a Saturday, all day
- Venue
- Rotating between Bellingham, Brampton and Wooler. Quarterly rather than monthly because the driving is ninety miles each way for half the parish
The warden
- Warden
- Douglas AinsleyA volunteer member, not staff, and not paid.
- Day job
- Hill farm above Bellingham. Drives furthest to his own meets and has never mentioned it.
- Confirmed by
- The parish, at a meet
- Can be stood down by
- The parish, at a meetNot by us. That is deliberate.
Everything on this page is the parish’s own, published by its warden. We host it and we do not write it.
What it actually does.
Hill flock talk
Blackface, Cheviot and Swaledale keepers comparing notes on ground nobody else farms.
Weather stations
Six members running the same cheap station and pooling the readings, because the Met Office grid squares up there are enormous.
Shared runs south
Anybody driving to Carlisle or Hexham posts it. Somebody usually needs something collecting.
All-day format
Ten till four, with lunch. It is the only cadence that respects the distances.
The next three things in the diary.
Published by the warden. If it says nothing is in the diary, nothing is in the diary.
Autumn quarterly
Bellingham, 10am to 4pm. Winter feed, tup sales, and the weather station data.
Winter quarterly
Brampton. The one where everybody arrives in a bad mood and leaves cheerful.
Spring quarterly
Wooler. Lambing debrief.
Who runs it.
One volunteer and a register. There is no third layer.
Douglas Ainsley
Hill farm above Bellingham. Drives furthest to his own meets and has never mentioned it.
The parish
869 members, of whom about thirty-one come to any given meet, which is a completely respectable turnout for anything.
What members of this parish said.
Four proper days beats twelve half-hours in a car park. It took us a year to admit that.
I read the minutes, I have used the lending list twice and I have never been to a meet. Nobody has ever made me feel odd about that.
Not in this one?
Placement is by postcode and moving takes a tap. Twelve parishes, all free.
