The Sangha picnic this year will take place on Sunday, 22nd August, from 10 am onwards at The Sneep, Trudi and Micky Macgregor’s place near Greenhaugh Bellingham, Northumberland. National Grid reference NY792884. It is shown on OS Landranger series sheet no. 80. There are also hand drawn maps available from the vestibule at Harnham and on our website. The Sneep is approx 45 minutes north of Harnham and 2 hours south of Edinburgh. Directions (by Micky) are as follows:

From Scotland
Cross the Border by A68.  At the junction with A696 just before Otterburn bear right over the Rede continuing on A68.  Travel about 2 miles and take right turn on hill top (just past Garretshiels on the left, with stone bungalow on the right hand corner) marked High Green, The Comb. Travel about 6 miles along this single track road, until you arrive at a cross roads (newly furbished house on the corner) and turn left. Travel 400 yards up the hill and take first right down the drive.

From Hexham (and Newcastle east)
Take the road to Keilder.  When you cross the North Tyne at Bellingham take first left by Catholic church (marked Keilder). Travel about 3 miles until a T junction. Turn right. Travel about 2 miles, go through village of Greenhaugh  and take first right  after it, marked High Green and Comb.  Go up hill, along, down hill, along flat, over bridge, up steep hairpin bend, take first left at top, down drive.

From Harnham (and Newcastle north)
Take A696 North to Otterburn. In the village take left turn marked Bellingham.  Travel to and across A68.  Go on about 3 miles, take first right marked Keilder, Greenhaugh. After about a mile ignore right hand turn. Proceed another 2 miles to T junction. Turn right towards Greenhaugh . Then follow as from Hexham (see above).

The classes take place at Kusala House, on six consecutive Sundays, from 17:30 to 18:00 (before Sunday evening puja).

Starting on Sunday 8th August, and will be led by Ajahn Abhinando.

Everyone is welcome and no booking is necessary. Lessons are, of course, free of charge.

We are currently looking for volunteers to sew approx. 18 cushions for the chairs which are soon to reside in our new conservatory. Anybody interested should contact the monastery for further details. You can use the contact page on this website, or leave a message by phone on our answer machine +44 (0)1661 881 612 .

If you would like to be part of a team of local supporters who undertake to prepare the Friday meal for the Sangha, please contact one of us:

Kath Jones - 01207 283 361
Anna Potaro - 01875 320 581
Monastery - 01661 881 612

This is to inform you that on every Sunday at mealtime from 11:15, the Sangha will be chanting the parittas before the anumodana, the verses of appreciation of support.

Now that Daylight saving time is in effect, mealtimes at the monastery have changed. The meal offering takes place at 11:15am, and the meal itself begins at 11:30am.

Now the winter retreat is over, we will once again be hosting beginners' meditation classes, lay discussion groups and question and answer sessions with  senior monks. However, there are some changes to the location and so the new details are as follows:

Lay discussion  group- 2nd Sunday of the month

Tea with senior monk (Q&A)- 3rd & 4th (5th if there is one) Sunday of the month

We look forward to seeing you, and everyone is welcome to join in.

A list of friends and supporters of the monastery is held by the Monastery Committee. Each Friday somebody acting for the Committee calls the monastery's kitchen manager to see what is needed or, at least in short supply. If you'd like to be included on this list, please contact Kath Jones.

Mobile: 0770 7621 717
Landline: 0120 7283 361
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Recently there seems to have been an increase in people parking at the sides of the roads (sometimes in the middle of it) while visiting the monastery. In order to foster good relationships with our neighbours, we ask that visitors make use of the ample space in the car park, just a few yards down the hill at Kusala House. We thank you for being considerate in this perennially sensitive matter.

The Calendar for 2010/2553 is now available for download as a single PDF file. Please note the size is around 1.71 MB, so it might take few minutes to download it. To download please click here.