HAIRDRESSERS

Went to the hairdressers this afternoon - it is the building on the right of my photo. Had a cut and blow dry - decided not to get any highlights this time.

The name of the lane is " Heron Way" - named after "Skipper " Heron who was a well known character in the village when I was a child.

Thomas 'Skipper' Heron became Scoutmaster of 1st Whickham Scout Troop in 1916. Skipper was awarded the Medal of Merit for outstanding service in 1937 and appointed District Scout Leader in 1949. The Silver Acorn, one of the Scout Association's highest awards for dedicated service to scouting was awarded to him in 1955. He retired from scouting in 1976 and he died in July 1977 aged 78.

I remember Skipper well - he would always walk round the village wearing his Scout uniform - shorts on even in winter. You would see small boys saluting him as they passed him by. They were always on their best behaviour when he was around. He was caretaker to the Church and the Parochial School and lived with his mother near the Church but he garaged his car in the building you can see on the left of my photograph. After he died the building was converted into a bakery and cafe but has recently opened up as a vets. I was pleased to see that the lane has recently been named after Skipper Heron to commemorate the great work he did with the boy scouts. The scout hut ( Heron House ) is still used by the Beavers and Scouts and is at the bottom of the lane - I used to live near it as a child.

The weather today was bitterly cold and this evening there have been a few snow flurries. Snow!

The match last night was good - Newcastle won 1 - 0. Travel to the match was a nightmare - bus was late and then there was a traffic jam across The Redheugh Bridge due to traffic for the match merging with traffic for the Nicki Minaj concert at The Arena. Then when I finally got to the ground the queues at the turnstiles were massive. Finally got to my seat but found someone else sitting there - a steward had to turf them out. Only missed the first 10 mins of the match though. After the match I just missed a bus so had to wait 30 mins for the next one. Not keen on standing at the bus stop in town late at night with drunken types milling around.