On Bedlington.uk Now...

Hi Ken,and welcome to the forum! Elliot's Farm was,in the fruiting season,the scene of many a generation of excited kids going to raid the Apples and Plums..especially in the late 40's/early to mid 50's post war austerity years..but even as late as into the late 70's,when my own Son's generation ,the local kids in the street..it was their place of adventure! The farm was demolished some years ago when the EARTH BALANCE PROJECT was established on the site of the farm,some of the old original stone walling still stands as an unrecognised "memorial"! The site has now altered once more with "THE SHED" ,and "THE TOBY HENDERSON TRUST",and other small projects quite well established,and is on the A1147 road at Bomarsund opposite a row of bungalows called Prospect Cottages. Do you have any old photo's of the farm..it would be great to see if you have!! Cheers Bill.

Hi all,I re-applied for a renewal of my Blue Badge using Gov.com official website and template in January of this year.[2025]..After completing and submitting the application,I was asked [as usual!] for feedback!! "How did you find our Service?"[or similar]...Well,after filling about 50 pages of information which they already had a lot of,and seeing as I am 81 yrs old in a couple of weeks time..,Partially sighted and registered,with a load of other age related problems including very poor mobility..I gave them feedback!!.I sent a firm but polite statement saying that I found the Application form absoloutely deplorable..and said that I felt as if I was being treated like a foreigner..[no race hate intended obviously..just an old fashioned geordie way of expressing angry feelings towards the establishment]...[although now..foreigners are treated better than us!!] Anyway!!..my point is,I am now thinking my honest outspoken opinion has gone against me...7 months is a long time to assess an application,when I read the forums and on average folks have received their new badge within 5 weeks!! Has anybody else had bother like this when renewing their Blue Badge? Cheers! Bill.

Not politically motivated at all Threegee,but I think I can safely say I agree with your comments !! This lot have got my blood boiling!!

Hi Malcolm,and Alan,Canny Lass,and Loupy Lou..I started Westridge School the day it opened before it was even completely finished being built!![in 1956 but we have gone through that controversy about dates..!!]..so by 1968 I was a fully fledged adult Coalcutterman and Powerloading Shearer driver down Bedlington A Pit..with a Wife and baby Son!!..so sorry I cannot help you with names of your classmates..just responding to a notification I got from Alan.Welcome to the forum Malcolm,hope you have a successful reunion! Cheers..Bill.

A photo that shares some of those names

@Malcolm George Allan this screen shot posted on the Bygone bedlington FB group :-

1968 is a bit late for me as I left in 1962. However I do recognise the odd name. John Aynsley, Netherton lad, a bit younger than me, contributes on Bygone Bedlington I believe. Good luck with your search Malcolm that could be quite a reunion!

Hi Alan I am on Facebook will check out Bygone Bedlington also if you want to 'screenprint' my opening comment to Bygone Bedlington would appreciate that and I could see the results on this page. Thanks.

@Malcolm George Allan - do youuse Facebook? There is a facebook group - Bygone Bedlington with 6.7k members - that should have some ex Westridge pupils. If you naren't on Facebook would you like me to 'screenprint' your opening comment and I will post in on the Bygone Bedlington group and if there are any replies, worthy of passing on, I will screeprint them and post them on here for you to see

Hi Symptoms I remember those days at the Mayfair my first Band was Family we used to get the Morpeth train back and then walk back to my mothers house arriving at about six am were my mother would rustle up some breakfast for the lads, saw many good bands at the Mayfair before I left Bedlington in October 1973 to go and live in London. Jazz is not dead it just smells a bit funny. FZ Thanks for the memory. Malcolm G Allan.

Thanks Alan for your information as I now have lived in Glastonbury for 35 years and it's a bit of a long shot if anybody was on the Bedlington.uk page in all reality just want to see who is still alive and what they have done in their lifetime as we all must be in our seventies now, Westridge school days seem like a lifetime away as it's 57 years ago or there about since those days. Hope your well Alan as well as all the good Bedlington citizens just let the good times roll. Yours in the Spirit of Co-operation. Malcolm G Allan.

@Malcolm George Allan welcome to the group. Unfortunately there are very few active members visiting this group. I am not an ex Westridge pupil but I do recognise a couple of the names you have listed but can't recall anyone your list active within this group. These are some of the names of members of this group who went to to Westridge and comment within the group - @HIGH PIT WILMA - @Canny lass -& @Symptoms This is a drirect link to the estridge scool album created under the Gallery/Historic Bedligton section of this group :-

Hi it's me again, just done some research as there was a photograph of the Westridge Class so here are the names. Colin Ellis, John Anysley, Janet Read, Marion Laws, Carol Graves, Janet Nicholson, Esther Hartle, Barbara Potts, Janet Common, Mary Mathews, Irene Rickleton, Avril Prime, Maureen Purvis ,Pat Foreshaw, Harry Stapely I think he lives in Swansea in Wales now. Harry Standard, Alan Coultas, David Potts and apologies forgot Christian name Strawn he used to live on the farm on the Newcastle Road. So there you go thanks for photograph posted with most of the names apologies if I got any names wrong as it's a long time ago and we look so young. So if anybody knows any of those named and they are still in the Bedlington area please contact this page and leave a message. Thank You Malcolm G Allan.

Hi I wrote a message which has had 80 views about trying to contact people from Westridge County Secondary School 1967/8 so that would be Alan Coultas, Joe Lees, David Job, Tom Miller, Peter Tate, James Watson, Keith Bacon, Stuart Green, Janet Common, Carol Suthers, Mary Mathews Muriel Cutter there are others but my memory is a bit hazy since it is over 50 years ago, so if anybody knows these worthwhile citizens of Bedlington please inform them to contact this page. Keep well and hope to see a bunch of good people on the 14th September 2025 venue Red Lion time to be arranged. Yours steeped in nostalgia Malcolm G Allan.

First one: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/fury-northumberland-line-station-delay-32011486?fbclid=IwY2xjawLZ-UBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBVRDlnYnl0NVZWekc1Y3NkAR7Dd-pkV5BoAwCDM8In2oJ-nZLVQwqdJn42ln4AuB9nl9nZgnDxcCOarlsbug_aem_pxynPYlhOs_k1bJAbfj1fg Follow up: So I’m getting a bit of flack about the comments I made in the press about the rail station situation here in Bedlington and the fact that this town has been overlooked for decades! Let’s just put it in perspective: Starting with the station, about 6-7 years ago I stood on the old platform with the then Government minister when the reopening of the lines was being discussed and he said with what we already had this was going to be the easiest station to get reopened! I was at one of the original presentations about reopening the rail line and we were told in no uncertain terms that if the costs couldn’t be brought down to around the £100M mark then it wouldn’t go ahead. They were currently about £160M at the time. The Bedlington station project was estimated at around £20M One of the reasons this was wanted, as stated, was it could open up about 10,000 new housing units. Also it would kick-start economic regeneration around these new stations. I’ve asked about this fantastic economic regeneration, which I think is a no brainer, and was told oh yes you are getting a café. Fast forward a few years and the cost is around £300M, so someone somewhere made that decision! Shades of HS2 here? The new station at Newsham goes £20M+ over budget and the Bedlington station gets moth balled for a year. Coincidence? We hear about structural problems and unexpected anomalies here is Bedlington, wasn’t there a comprehensive engineering assessment done when the contract was awarded? Are there penalty clauses in the contract? We now see further delays due to……………..errm we haven’t been told but I can guess! Parking is going to be an issue but the main car park which was envisioned at the planning application stage has been ‘put on hold’ for up to 10 years to assess the need for it. In my opinion it’s as if even when we get a new station they don’t want people to come and use it? Other places get 200+ new parking places, we get something like 20 odd including electric and disabled ones. Even just this quick overview, is anyone really going to say we have been treated in the same way other places have? And that’s before we get onto the Town centre debacle and the other multitude of examples………..

Despite the political spin, it's perfectly obvious why Rachel Reeves was in tears during the HoC debate on welfare payment reductions. The realisation had finally dawned that she has taken on the hopeless task of balancing the UK's books. Hopeless because even the easy low-hanging fruit can't be plucked. We are supposed to believe that "the adults are now in charge", but like most of the guff from the Labour propaganda machine, exactly the reverse is true. Everything they've done to allegedly improve the economy has actually made our situation worse. The international bond markets have taken notice, and a 1970s type Sterling crisis is looming. How long this will take is anyone's guess. Some economists say it will strike in 2026. But one thing is for sure: this hopeless government won't last out it's five year term, and it will ALL end in tears!

Hi I used to live in Bedlington now I live in Glastonbury Somerset, I am trying to arrange a meeting of friends and past school mates from 1968 Westridge County Secondary School as we are all getting on maybe to meet up at Red Lion on time arranged I hope everyone is well and thank you if you read this and leave a message. Thanks Malcolm G Allan.

Does one have to summit their enquiry by pigeon post. Technology is supposed to improve communications. Instant replies are what people expect.

Now define "Urgent" Sanderson is a good tap dancer....