A friend could not buy either sweet potatoes or yams in Bedlington.

I could not buy Aubergines or yeast !

Anyone anything else that stores in Bedlington did not sell.

I personally do not shop on the internet but many people do.

Could this be because we lack a choice in Bedlington.

sweet potatoes, yams, aubergines and yeast??? and how much 'wind' could that combination produce?? enough to power a turbine and electricity for 200 homes !!! but I know what you mean. we are very rural and its never easy to get certain things. might seem a bit radical - but I consider it ethic cleansing of the rural communities by withdrawal of services and access to facilities -- post offices - libraries - medical care (cottage hospitals) etc. etc.  try harry laidlaws at double row at new Hartley -- excellent produce at damn good prices - but another example of having to travel e.g. a penalty on local communities by imposing expense of travel. ( to renew my driving licence I would have to do a 80 mile round trip to use the 'streamlined service! - and to buy a lottery ticket is 16 mile return) look at the incident at Berwick last Friday when a young man dies and was 35 mins for an ambulance to arrive and afore that Christmas at Norham -- 31/2 hours for an ambulance and it had to come from Scotland.

The main concern is the insidious erosion of local services at all levels  - but you made a  very valid point about what might seem luxury items - its the gradual ingress of 'centralisation'  and 'profit margins' which have driven the local retailer out of business. perhaps a revue of business rates would help local economies for the 'small' trader.

Renewable energy I like that pilgrim it could catch on.

Dying because local services have been eroded is a serious subject.

We saw an accident near Flodden years ago.

Traffic diverted to Berwick . ( the journey was very slow)

It was only as we got to Berwick that we saw an Ambulance racing to the scene.

The delay must have caused a problem if not death.

Supporting the Air Ambulance was essential but I am not sure what has happened to that service.

( publicly funded )

That and the Lifeboat Crews need our support )

Maggie what ever obscure veg or fruit you want I can Send cos I live in a multi cultural area which can be sent without the worries of customs or foreign imports LOL

Very kind thought Tonyp.

It may surprise you to find we can get any 'obscure veg or fruit' in and around Bedlington.

Multi Cultural may not be quite the same as where you choose to live now..

However we are living , as we always did, with new and diverse ideas.

Remember a lot of our ancestors found work in Bedlington and brought with them a very different life style.

Change is happening outside capital cities.

It always has and always will .

herself brought some samphire home the other day and said 'here whats this and what do you do with it?' oh dear it grows 2 mile away and is magic with salmon -- and other fish - she was impressed with it though - amazing how much basic knowledge we have lost. I would recommend any book by Richard Mabey to see what is on your doorstep.

The Samphire Bay Company are worth checking out.

Northumbrian Company with inspirational products.

I once made some lush brownies using a gluten free recipe and with sweet potato

If we start discussing what stores in Bedlington do not sell then this could very well break the internet record for longest forum thread.

 

Thats presuming such a thing exists, which I am sure it will.

Fingers crossed Musicmusik that the problem is remedied soon.

Imagine a town where we all shopped locally and enjoyed the experience.

It could happen, maybe not in my lifetime.

I was in Ashington today and walking down the front street it just seemed really quiet and the shops seemed a little lifeless and I wondered if the locals thought the front street was struggling like lots of towns high streets throughout the Country (As you can tell from that sentence I am fascinating company).

 

Anyway, I had just been to Wilkinsons and Argos and was on my way to Asda, Iceland and various other places and thought 'If only Bedlington had some of these shops'. Help is on the way though, Gotham has Batman and we have Arch drawing up an investment plan. I can't wait.