the present day Whittledean Water Works on either side of the line of Hadrian's Wall near Welton Hall. The first three trees of the Ovingham Community Orchard were planted in the old grazing field next to the allotments by children from Ovingham First School on Friday 23 November 2018. The following morning about 40 villagers turned out to plant the remaining 21 trees. Each tree will produce a different variety of apple. Transport Railway The village is served by Prudhoe railway station on the Tyne Valley Line. The line was opened in 1838, and links the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear with Carlisle in Cumbria. The line follows the course of the River Tyne through Northumberland. Passenger services on the Tyne Valley Line are operated by Northern. The line is also heavily used for freight. The railway station is across the River Tyne on the south bank of the river. Road The village lies about south of the A69 road giving good links with Newcastle upon Tyne, Hexham, and Carlisle. The A695 road is accessible across Ovingham Bridge giving access to places on the south side of the River Tyne including Gateshead. Education Ovingham has two schools, Ovingham Middle School and Ovingham CE First School. Ovingham Middle School educates 358 children, aged 9–13. Church The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary has a tall slender Anglo-Saxon tower. There are fragments of an Anglo-Saxon cross in the church, which was much enlarged in the 13th century – wider, loftier and with long lancet windows. The nave with aisles is only two bays long, as the north and south transepts, each with a west aisle, take up the space of two more bays. There is a long chancel with very little ornament. The churchyard has a number of gravestones in memory of prominent villagers. In the porch is a stone slab commemorating Thomas Bewick who is buried in the churchyard, next to the tower. Markets and fairs Ovingham had a charter for a market and two annual fairs on 26 October and 26 April. There was also a monthly tryst for cattle and sheep, which was discontinued in 1823. The ceremony for the Fair was similar to that for the Stagshaw Bank Fair at Corbridge nearby. A procession moved to the principal alehouse for the 'riding of the fair', led by the Duke of Northumberland's pipers,