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Northumberland
County News
2009/2010
A year during which you dine in Inner Temple, take tea at Buckingham Palace, and lunch in any number of venues ranging from an aircraft carrier to Durham Prison, has to be enormously interesting, varied and enjoyable, and so it has proved.
I found the Bishop of Oxford’s sermon at Temple Church most inspiring, and his vision of the role of High Sheriff today as being to thank and encourage people was close to my own aims for my Year.
 In a summer not generally blessed with sunshine, and living as we do in probably the wettest part of Northumberland, we were incredibly fortunate to hold our High Sheriff Garden Party on the finest day in July. A hundred and fifty ‘unsung heroes’ from around the County, in many cases nominated by the organisations they worked for, sat down to lunch in a marquee on the lawn, with not a cloud in sight and were entertained by the Band of the Sea Cadets from North Shields, reinforced by a detachment from Dundee, who showed great spirit and enthusiasm in making the long journey south to take part.
It was a very happy and enjoyable occasion, and instructive for me as I came to realise as I put together the guest list just how many organisations and people there are in any County who are out there doing good, week in week out, often on an entirely voluntary basis.That realisation was certainly borne out during my subsequent visits to voluntary and youth projects, and in that respect I have found my year as High Sheriff a hugely heartening and positive experience.
I enjoyed sitting with magistrates on various benches in the County, and came away with increased admiration for the time they devote and the trouble they take over the heavy responsibilities they adopt on an entirely voluntary basis. I was also impressed by the ethos and dedication of those working in the prison service, although the problems with drugs and mental health amongst the prisoners and difficulties in getting rehabilitated were extremely sobering.
We were blessed with fine weather once again (the other nice day of the summer) when The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited the magnificent semi-ruin of John Vanbrugh’s Seaton Delaval Hall in September, which has just been acquired by the National Trust.
It was a pleasure to be able to entertain the High Court judges during the year, and to be entertained by them in turn, and a privilege to sit in the Crown Court. We both enjoyed the various Legal Services. Having only ever visited Durham Cathedral as a tourist before, entering it in procession, with a packed congregation and a trumpet fanfare, unexpectedly took my breath away.
A visit to the Kielder Observatory right at the end of my visit provided another memorable occasion. Located high up in the heather-clad hills above England’s most remote village, run on a shoestring and staffed entirely by volunteers, the Observatory is a wonderful resource both for County and country and deserves to be both better known and better funded.
The trip through the ‘heavens’ we were given reminded us of the big questions which day-to-day life almost wilfully avoids, and being brought face to face with the infinite provided a salutary perspective on the insignificance of human pomp and history – and, dare one say it, High Sheriffs – as my year in Office drew to a close.
John Blackett-Ord
High Sheriff of Northumberland 2009/2010
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