Bedlington Station

[doglover]

I,ve just come home from shopping in Bedlington and I must say I was really pleased with the look of Bedlington tonight. The flower beds are beautiful and the town does look nice and well kept but I can,t say the same for the 'station' as it really does look dreadful. I do know the Clayton has never looked good but it has never looked so bad at this moment in time. The chemist shop paintings are filthy and I have noticed theres also a window boarded up. Jakes bar surely is owned by someone and ofcourse with the newsagents now being closed it just looks a right state. I thuoght at Xmas time it was smashing and I thought at last we are not now the poor relations but I,m afraid it is back to normal. I do think its a damn shame and why should we be ashamed

[Keith Scantlebury]

I,ve just come home from shopping in Bedlington and I must say I was really pleased with the look of Bedlington tonight. The flower beds are beautiful and the town does look nice and well kept but I can,t say the same for the 'station' as it really does look dreadful. I do know the Clayton has never looked good but it has never looked so bad at this moment in time. The chemist shop paintings are filthy and I have noticed theres also a window boarded up. Jakes bar surely is owned by someone and ofcourse with the newsagents now being closed it just looks a right state. I thuoght at Xmas time it was smashing and I thought at last we are not now the poor relations but I,m afraid it is back to normal. I do think its a damn shame and why should we be ashamed

Bedlington Stn. has always played second fiddle to the Market Place and the Top end. The roads in and out of Bedlington up there have always been made to look good, as with the town centre. We in the station, however, have to make do with the odd road sweeper [if we are lucky]. The local businesses pay for the xmas decorations and as far as I know, the council put them up and take them down, it is now AUGUST and they are still up. It is about time a compulsory purchase order was taken out on Jakes bar, it can surely be only fit to knock down now. Why is it taking so long to lease The Clayton News shop, I can only assume the rent that is being asked of the place is too high, or the business allowed is too restrictive, who knows.

Instead of being used as a drop in coffee shop for a few old cronies, [ a lot of the time] The Bedlington Stn residents accociation needs to get themselves sorted and the issues with the state of the Station brought to the attention of the powers that be. [ they are already aware of the plight of the place, they just choose to ignore it].

I feel that nothing will be done about regenerating [for want of a better word] unless the railway station is re-opened and all they have done in the past few years is talk about it, nothing else. Oh, sorry, the odd ride on a train through the station for a few handwaving - to the minnions- chain wearing dignatories. Lets face it, Bedlington Stn, compared to the top end, hardly has a mention on bedlington.co.uk , does it?

We in the Station will always be seen to be the banjo playing, slack jawed cousins to those who reside in the more affluent, cash rich top end with it's posher pubs and restraunts [not like our greasy kebab and pizza takeaways]. Even in Winter, the snow is dirtier down here.

Enough now, I am geting virtigo on this soap box

[doglover]

Hello Keith, Well said you really put it right I could,nt have said it better. I really can,t believe that we are putting up with this like you saidJakes Bar has been like this for a number of years now surely there should have been something done.What is going on with the clayton though why do we have to see windows out and not replaced every time I pull up at the junction I want to cringe at the sight of it.Can you imagine what strangers must be thinking when they visit the lovely Bedlington Station. Then they go up to Bedlington Front Street and think isn,t this lovely. Why are we putting up with this?

[Malcolm Robinson]

I think you guys are right in most of your grievances. I think the best bet for some real investment into the Station is to get the Metro to use it that's why I had no hesitation in signing this petition….

http://committees.northumberland.gov.uk/elps/elps.pl?op=HandleEntity&entityref=C5AR9ACiCOAOAJQv5gAWcbm&searchreq=60

Just scroll down to the bottom to sign.

To put a couple of things into context, the only way the 'Top End' got their upgrades was because of the Conservation Area status and Heritage. The Station doesn't have that but it does have, I am sorry to say, higher deprivation figures so there is ways and means of attracting some investment. I know years ago the Station got about a million squid and the Top End couldn't even get into the pot because it was all based on deprivation figures. How that money was spent might very well be open to question! So the Top End is actually in a Catch 22, not affluent enough not to need help but not figured in the deprivation indices enough to get it that way.

Why not start an action group and see what you can achieve.

Go along to your Parish Council and say this stuff.

[Keith Scantlebury]

I've signed the petition. Since the closure of the railway station [as far as I am aware] Bedlington and Bedlington Station became, simply, BEDLINGTON. We have the same postcode NE22. The same people "Lord it" over all of us. The division appears when there is money to dish out, then "Bedlington" gets it, not the "Station". I wonder where that million quid went to Malcolm, because there is no sign that it was spent down here. When the Palace estate was tidied up a few years ago, I thought here we go, are we going to get a revamp in the Station?, obviously not. The Palace estate [Kings and Queens] had the houses painted and walls/wrought iron fencing erected instead of the open grassed area to the front, the fact is now the residents have to maintain and keep tidy that area now and the landlord does not have to pay for grass cutting every week in the summer. They have since [2010] had new roofs. The buck has simply been passed to the tenant. "Bedlington Station" will never be afforded the same respect that "Bedlington" enjoys. That is the way it has and always will be.

People dont want to come and live here. Houses are hard to sell, in comparrison to the top end. Those flats that were built on the site of the old Palace night club cant be given away for love nor money. The houses built opposite the Station club/Station first school are proving difficult to sell.

I live in Burnside. Now to many of you Burnside estate is the pits and the people who live there scum. Not everybody in Burside is bad. There are about six or seven people who have lived here since the estate was built [completed in 1937] and the fact remains that very little has been done here since then. Central heating, double glazing [completed this year] the odd kitchen upgrade, by we are spoilt aren't we. The estate road is a wreck and is far too narrow, nobody had cars when the estate was built. If anywhere needs off road parking [like the palace estate] it is here. Because of the cars parked on the street/footpath, a fire engine would find it near impossible to get to a house fire, the bin wagon struggles and it comes after people have left for work. We in Burnside are a classic case of the "BEAN COUNT" system. Set the cost of any compensation claim against the cost of improvements. I was talking to one of those old residents the other day and he was telling me that at one time , in the not so distant past, people wanted to live in Burnside, now, they dont even want to live in the Station , period.

So, you good people of the TOP END , the next time you drive through the Station, instead of rushing through incase somebody has the wheels off your car 'cos you are driving too slow, take a good look, you do not know how lucky you are, in comparrison. You really do have it all.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Keith,

It's obvious how genuine your intentions are with respect to this subject and I agree there are a lot of unanswered questions but I would like to ask you one thing. Your reference to the Top End getting whatever is going at the expense of the Station, what exactly are you talking about because as far as I am aware the Top End gets nowt too! Take away the Heritage upgrades and what are we left with?

The money I was talking about, if memory suffices, went into things like the People's Houses and infrastructure improvements. Must have been about 15-18 years ago?

I have just been informed that if the Metro did come to Bedlington Station the earmarked actual station is to be along the road next to what is/was Ready-mix. That's a mistake, to have any chance of upgrading the central area it has to use the original station! I would think that in itself would regenerate the whole commercial aspect in that area. Half the platform could easily be given over to parking and the few remaining busses, as is, already use this road area. Diverting everything along to the Barrington Road is just daft!

I only go through the Station when I have someone riding shotgun!

[Keith Scantlebury]

Malcolm,

No matter how it is dressed up,Heritage award or whatever, the "Top end" still gets money to make it look pretty, we get nothing, not even a hanging basket. As I said earlier it is supposed to be all Bedlington now, not two seperate places. You can easily see the difference when you turn left at the finger post [ jeez it's along time since that whent, I'll be calling the Percy Arms the High House next] onto Rothesay Tce/Victoria Tce going towards the Station all you see is a sea of FOR SALE and TO LET boards. It really takes a turn for the worse when you get passed the Spa garage and the High House, oops.

I do not begrudge the Top End the money that is spent there, its just that WE want some as well.

Putting the Metro station at the end of the Barrington Rd is a fat lot of good to any of us, as you say it should be where the original platform is. I wonder if they are thinking of putting it where the concrete works are, they can build a park and ride to entice people from Ass-ington and New-bogin etc. Well they can bog off and get their own [as in leisure centre]. I suppose we could charge them an extortionate fee to use it, that way , we in the station will get our hanging basket. UMPH

[Brian Cross]

Bedlington Stn. has always played second fiddle to the Market Place and the Top end. The roads in and out of Bedlington up there have always been made to look good, as with the town centre. We in the station, however, have to make do with the odd road sweeper [if we are lucky]. The local businesses pay for the xmas decorations and as far as I know, the council put them up and take them down, it is now AUGUST and they are still up. It is about time a compulsory purchase order was taken out on Jakes bar, it can surely be only fit to knock down now. Why is it taking so long to lease The Clayton News shop, I can only assume the rent that is being asked of the place is too high, or the business allowed is too restrictive, who knows.

Instead of being used as a drop in coffee shop for a few old cronies, [ a lot of the time] The Bedlington Stn residents accociation needs to get themselves sorted and the issues with the state of the Station brought to the attention of the powers that be. [ they are already aware of the plight of the place, they just choose to ignore it].

I feel that nothing will be done about regenerating [for want of a better word] unless the railway station is re-opened and all they have done in the past few years is talk about it, nothing else. Oh, sorry, the odd ride on a train through the station for a few handwaving - to the minnions- chain wearing dignatories. Lets face it, Bedlington Stn, compared to the top end, hardly has a mention on bedlington.co.uk , does it?

We in the Station will always be seen to be the banjo playing, slack jawed cousins to those who reside in the more affluent, cash rich top end with it's posher pubs and restraunts [not like our greasy kebab and pizza takeaways]. Even in Winter, the snow is dirtier down here.

Enough now, I am geting virtigo on this soap box

Well said Keith.

[bediesathome]

Malcolm,

No matter how it is dressed up,Heritage award or whatever, the "Top end" still gets money to make it look pretty, we get nothing, not even a hanging basket. As I said earlier it is supposed to be all Bedlington now, not two seperate places. You can easily see the difference when you turn left at the finger post [ jeez it's along time since that whent, I'll be calling the Percy Arms the High House next] onto Rothesay Tce/Victoria Tce going towards the Station all you see is a sea of FOR SALE and TO LET boards. It really takes a turn for the worse when you get passed the Spa garage and the High House, oops.

I do not begrudge the Top End the money that is spent there, its just that WE want some as well.

Putting the Metro station at the end of the Barrington Rd is a fat lot of good to any of us, as you say it should be where the original platform is. I wonder if they are thinking of putting it where the concrete works are, they can build a park and ride to entice people from Ass-ington and New-bogin etc. Well they can bog off and get their own [as in leisure centre]. I suppose we could charge them an extortionate fee to use it, that way , we in the station will get our hanging basket. UMPH

[bediesathome]

i lived at the station and drank in the percy arms during the 1950s and 60s and i still dont know why it was called the high house does any one know?.

[tomtom]

Looking at the correspondence re the merits of Bedlington Station against Bedlington some of you need to have a closer look at the 'top end' at the closed down and decaying buildings destroying the landscape - the old school and the garage being a couple of them. Nice flower beds hardly compensate for the filth of litter and fage neds all over the place especially out side some of the pubs. Bedlington is a disgrace and sadly a sign of the times!

[tomtom]

Oops! - for fage neds read fag ends!

[Malcolm Robinson]

Oops! - for fage neds read fag ends!

prefer fage neds tomtom.........

No mistaking what you mean about the state of Bedlington though, and that goes for the Station and the Top End.

[Keith Scantlebury]

Looking at the correspondence re the merits of Bedlington Station against Bedlington some of you need to have a closer look at the 'top end' at the closed down and decaying buildings destroying the landscape - the old school and the garage being a couple of them. Nice flower beds hardly compensate for the filth of litter and fage neds all over the place especially out side some of the pubs. Bedlington is a disgrace and sadly a sign of the times!

TomTom,

There is NO comparison. The Station is the dreery backwater to the Top Ends freshness. Even though the Village Infant school and Elliotts garage are empty and falling to bits, there is still something planned for them [admittedly it is a ball ache that they are taking their time about it, Foxy's pet subject]. Jakes Bar at he Station however, has been stood empty and rotting for about 10 years now. The shutters have been up at the Clayton news since last year. Shops are closing all the time, Tanyas is the latest. We have had a dellicatessan [is that how you spell it] open in the last couple of weeks, with the help of our butcher, Bobby Cowell. The Station is a kebab and pizza takeaway Mecca, WE HAVE 9 including Chinese,[1] Indian,[1] Fish and Chips,[2] a Sandwich shop,[1] Pizzas and Kebabs. [4]. Many of their custmers do not know how to use a litter bin ,it seems and we have the best fed rat population in the county. We have 3 pubs, The Clayton, The Railway Tavern, The Percy Arms and a club. No matter what the licencees do, smokers will chuck fag ends on the pavement, that is not something that just happens at the Top End, it happens [disgustingly] everywhere. Come to the Station TomTom, it is obvious that it is some time since you have been down here, [if you have, you have had your eyes shut] then you can tell me that I am bleating on about nothing if you then think that the Top End's plight is as bad as ours.

[John Fox (foxy)]

Looking at the correspondence re the merits of Bedlington Station against Bedlington some of you need to have a closer look at the 'top end' at the closed down and decaying buildings destroying the landscape - the old school and the garage being a couple of them. Nice flower beds hardly compensate for the filth of litter and fage neds all over the place especially out side some of the pubs. Bedlington is a disgrace and sadly a sign of the times!

Well said tomtom, perhaps Diane Raymond opticians need to stay open late on a Friday night if the town appears to be tidy and well kept to some of the correspondants. The old school and garage you mention are now slipping down the League of Slums,and are soon to be overtaken by Johnsons shoe shop and the former spend "n" save shop that is a disgrace to the market place. I'm not sure who owns this particular slum but I suspect the owners are the same people who are mucking the town about with plans and broken promises about building a Supermarket.I'll bet the people who spent nearly 1 million pounds upgrading the Market Place wish they could have their money back to spend it on a town where the authorities are a bit more assertive. NCC should take control of the town and not let these outsiders move in buying up properties and letting them decay waiting for Building Booms that are not going to happen. I've also got every sympathy with the Station Folk, having lived there myself from 1968 to 1985, things were exactly the same then as is it is now council did nowt.

[Keith Scantlebury]

Well said tomtom, perhaps Diane Raymond opticians need to stay open late on a Friday night if the town appears to be tidy and well kept to some of the correspondants. The old school and garage you mention are now slipping down the League of Slums,and are soon to be overtaken by Johnsons shoe shop and the former spend "n" save shop that is a disgrace to the market place. I'm not sure who owns this particular slum but I suspect the owners are the same people who are mucking the town about with plans and broken promises about building a Supermarket.I'll bet the people who spent nearly 1 million pounds upgrading the Market Place wish they could have their money back to spend it on a town where the authorities are a bit more assertive. NCC should take control of the town and not let these outsiders move in buying up properties and letting them decay waiting for Building Booms that are not going to happen. I've also got every sympathy with the Station Folk, having lived there myself from 1968 to 1985, things were exactly the same then as is it is now council did nowt.

I agree entirely. I don't think there is a single town in the country that has not got a problem with with untidiness on Friday or Saturday night to some extent. The thing is, some of them address/tackle the problem better than others. As far as the empty properties go in the Market Place, I think you could be right Foxy, somebody buys up properties like these then treads water to see how things develop arround them. That in itself would create a run down town centre. Johnsons own the land behind the shop down to the wall by the car park [at least they did when I lived there] so it is potentially a valuable property [does it still belong to Clive Johnson?]

As far as I know, nothing is planned for the Station, other than what Malcolm mentioned about the Metro, wether anything comes of that, who knows. The shops that trade on Ravensworth Tce seem to make the best of a bad thing as that terrace does not seem to be in the best of conditions. Other than the Station Cafe [Mario's/Moskies] being turned into a takeaway, nothing much, structurally, has changed along there in decades. I drove past the Clayton yesterday, there are no less than 7 panes of glass broken, the landlord is obviously sick of replacing them [understandably so]. So what is to be done, brick them up?, put caging over them?, employ doormen? ccv. tv.? or simply close the place and have the same thing happen with the Clayton as Jakes bar. Having the flower beds outside the Station building and to the entrance of the car park on Whitley Tce. are pretty, but they are less noticeable to the visitor than the tatty state of the buildings.

I mentioned earlier about the approaches to the Top end looking nice, ie entering by the golf course, Nedderton and Choppington. I came in to the Station from Blyth yesterday. On leaving the Spine road there are plenty of grassed areas that would simply benefit from more regular cutting [i have seen mower drivers taking a short cut over the grass to avoid waiting at the lights, could they not cut it while doing so?] Turn left at the lights and drive up St. Johns Road [ John S.N.R.G. lives there, he could confirm?] Weeds are growing on the path on the left hand side the length of the road. Admittedly, some are coming from the gardens on Kings road, in wich case the tennants need telling, but a large ammount are growing between the paving flags. This does not give a good impression to the visitor and it hardly costs a fortune to put right . The sides of the railway line, inside the chainmail fencing are overgrown [very visable through the fence] it would not take much money or effort to tidy it up, whoever is responsible for it.

As far as the occupied buildings are concerened the authorities should be telling the owners/tennants to get them tidied up [a lick of paint as doglover suggests]. The takeaway food shops should be made to pay towards the cleaning up of discarded wrappers/boxes, their names are on many of them. If their customers don't act responsibly, [ students from the high school at lunch times are as guilty as anybody ] then they should take the flack [ catering vans in laybys etc. have to] as part of their trading agreements.

It does not have to cost a fortune to cosmetically clean the place up and instill a sense of pride of their environment into the People who live and work in Bedlington Stn, and, for that matter, the Top End/Market Place.

Edited August 8, 2011 by keith

[Malcolm Robinson]

I agree with your post keith and especially..........

It does not have to cost a fortune to cosmetically clean the place up and instill a sense of pride of their environment into the People who live and work in Bedlington Stn, and, for that matter, the Top End/Market Place.

Sticking my neck out a bit and doing a bit of Devil's advocacy, doesn't the higher level of payments for a hot food license mean proprietors are already paying towards cleaning up? Maybe it could be increased a little but if it does cover cleaning then it should be ring fenced for that and not disappear into the general pot of NCC.

[Ms Hair]

I must say in Bed Station's defence the new tubs and hanging baskets (Yes if you look properly there are plenty of new tubs of flowers and hanging baskets up.) look very nice so they are making a start. So as to try and get your views to the right people I am printing this thread out for a parish councellor of Bedlington Station that I know. (I think the worst thing about Bed station is the Xmas lights that stay up all year.)

Edited August 8, 2011 by Ms Hair

[Keith Scantlebury]

The xmas lights last longer than the flowers!!! sad isn't it. I do agree, the tubs etc. do look nice, but as I said they don't detract from the tatty state of the buildings.

[Brett]

I agree with your post keith and especially..........

It does not have to cost a fortune to cosmetically clean the place up and instill a sense of pride of their environment into the People who live and work in Bedlington Stn, and, for that matter, the Top End/Market Place.

Sticking my neck out a bit and doing a bit of Devil's advocacy, doesn't the higher level of payments for a hot food license mean proprietors are already paying towards cleaning up? Maybe it could be increased a little but if it does cover cleaning then it should be ring fenced for that and not disappear into the general pot of NCC.

Or reduce the cost of the licenses and make it conditional that the staff have to tidy up a certain area around the shop. Although that would definitely prevent the council from spending it and that's not going to happen.

Like Keith says though, I drive through every now and then when I am feeling brave and have to go to Spar or fancy a detour and it is in a sorry state. Signed the petition for the Metro extension but that has been promised for god knows how long now as I remember being told about the plans when i was still cycling to Whitley Bay to go to the leisure pool and spend my pocket money at Spanish City. You just have to look at the sort of regeneration that Shiremoor/Backworth/Northumberland Park has had with the introduction of shops, Bellway homes and direct bus links across the region.

We need some way of getting the Bedlington-living commuters out of there homes and in and around Bedlington on a regular basis to get them to participate in e-peitions and local events but surely by introducing a Metro system and giving people direct links to Newcastle people are going to venture away from both the Top End and the Station.

Keep them in, lock the doors and only offer a horse and trap for direct access to Newcastle.

[Ms Hair]

The xmas lights last longer than the flowers!!! sad isn't it. I do agree, the tubs etc. do look nice, but as I said they don't detract from the tatty state of the buildings.

Fair enough Keith.

[doglover]

There you go Brettly, you happened to be brave to go thru The Station that says it all. What is going on when The Station is thought of like that. Take heed Councillors we are not amused.

[Brett]

There you go Brettly, you happened to be brave to go thru The Station that says it all. What is going on when The Station is thought of like that. Take heed Councillors we are not amused.

I was actually joking doglover, I have worked in the area and drive through less frequently as it's quicker for me going along to guidepost. From personal experience the area doesn't have a bad reputation and you certainly do not have to be brave to go through the station. Some sort of recreational activities to stop the young'uns hanging around at the brick bus stop across from Boots would be an advantage.

[doglover]

Hi Brettly I didnt think you were being offensive I just wanted to make a point and I totally agree about the chemist corner but that is probably what strangers would be seeing when they pass through.

[bediesathome]

There you go Brettly, you happened to be brave to go thru The Station that says it all. What is going on when The Station is thought of like that. Take heed Councillors we are not amused.

i lived at the station from 1952 till 1970 i have got to say then it was clean and tidy and i enjoyed every moment of it.