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that link was quite an amusing retort!sense of humour goes a long way but doesnt build a leisure centre

And well done to Tommy; seen today giving high fives to lucky school pupils.

Not sure I quite qualify as a 'more mature member' Fourgee....but lets just say I have a good memory of my childhood in Bedlington. The Miners Picnic was the annual gathering of Northumberland mineworkers & traditionally took place in Bedlington (until Ashington stole it in the 1980's - just as they did the Christmas lights the Bedlington Traders bought...enough said.) The day began with a march, by all the Northumberland colliery bands, from Westlea all the way down to Atlee Park (stopping on route outside the Council Offices for the band competition). Jazz bands from all over the region also marched this route.The sound was amazing & crowds gathered all along the way to watch & clap. After the bands, the miners would march with their Colliery Banners. Once at Atlee Park, local & national dignitries & miners union reps would give speeches. Everone would be sitting around the band stand with their picnics. Once the speeches were over, everyone went back up Front Street. There was a fun fair on the 20 Acres field, stalls & sideshows along Front Street and of course all the pubs were open! The merryment continued all day & evening. The Bedlington Fair is a much more recent event which I only rmember running for a few years then fizzling out. There were stalls & side shows along Front Street and a procession of floats, I remember but it was not nearly as huge an event as The Picnic which brought in people from all over the region. It would be fantastic to try to have an event along these lines again. I for one would love to be involved in making this happen & I'm sure alot of other Bedlingtonians would keen to help out too. Maybe we could all 'sign up to be involved' then meet up in the New Year to get the ball rolling?

Nice seasonal website, thank you! Vic

Hi all Ok, I know Im a bit early with this one but..... Because we have now had a little bit of a do for the switching on of the Christmas lights, does this mean that we can now have a summer fair again??? When the council was asked a few years ago Why is there no street fair, We were told it was because it cost to much for the insurance and policing and they did not get enough donations by the local shop owners ??? but now they have shown that they can do it. It was so nice to see the street alive again. Bedlington used to be the place that everyone came to, now it's just a ghost town with business closing left right and center. Also with Tommy the eggs man switching on the lights, all because of a group of facebook I think the people have more power than we think. It's now time to fight back and get OUR BEDLINGTON BACK. Im sorry if none of this makes sense, I don't type very well when I get excited.

The Bedlington Fair is a much more recent event which I only rmember running for a few years then fizzling out. There were stalls & side shows along Front Street and a procession of floats, I remember but it was not nearly as huge an event as The Picnic which brought in people from all over the region. It would be fantastic to try to have an event along these lines again. I for one would love to be involved in making this happen & I'm sure alot of other Bedlingtonians would keen to help out too. Maybe we could all 'sign up to be involved' then meet up in the New Year to get the ball rolling? The Bedlington Fair was run by a small group attached to the old Bedlington Forum. Great to get everyone fired up and involved, makes the job so much easier, but you do need 'offical' backing there is loads of stuff to be considered, its not like organising a school fete. Don't want to sound negative as I will certinley help in any way possible.

Facebook isn't going to fade away in a year or two, but come back in a year or two and say the same thing and I'll wager you'll have modified your view. The same sort of thing must have been said in the ITV boardroom when they paid an absurd £175m for friendsreunited in 2005/2006. The fact is that facebook has borrowed heavily from other people's ideas and in turn will have its own ideas borrowed. It's the current fad and will go the same way as all the other fads. Yes, Bedlington.co.uk has a very defined audience - Bedlington and Bedlingtonians throught the world. It's a social experiment in itself and there's an intention to clone it. But it's not a profit center for some American corporation or Australian media mogul. It's in the true spirit of the original Internet. It's there for the more enterprising members of the local community to shape. It won't go away because it no longer satisfies the conditions of someone's bottom line (Geocities etc. etc.). It will evolve - perhaps a bit slower than we might like at times - but it's permanence and lack of faddiness will win through to those people who don't quite see the point - yet!

As I think I might have touched on in the other post, this is not something that should be blindly accepted - no offence, 3G, but something that needs to be addressed. That these people see 'no point' in posting on Facebook is a problem that it is necessary to overcome. Facebook is not a fad, it's not a here today/gone tomorrow youngsters game, it's a blueprint for the future of internet - and general - communication. Granted, it's not perfect, but it's a workable idea that has many imitators, and will only become defunct when something better, and easier, comes along. perhaps those who see no point in posting on Facebook - and i'm talking of those you refer to who make things happen - need to take a closer look at what it's about, and what it can achieve; I speak as one who has, and has had their eyes opened to a great degree. This is a great website - I enjoy it very much and it speaks to a clear and defined audience - but it will never have the cache or the reach that something like Facebook does; i'm involved in instructing businesses how to use Facebook, and similar, to achieve results, and believe me, the number of those who 'see no point' yet end up getting it is quite astonishing. As for the Summer Fair, great idea, but is it viable? These days of massive insurance policies for such things have put paid - in many cases - to such events, and there is little that even Facebook can do about that. Still, let's push it, and let's see if we can make it happen. Need any help, i'm up for it.

I totally agree with you all we need to let people know that this site is out there. It is helping me feel part of this town.

What you need to know Stephen is that there was a bit more to tonight's event than met the eye. I won't go into all the details but a few things came together to make it happen. Not the least of this was that we've got fresh faces in places that matter. People who are more in-tune with the Internet Age than the regular old fogies in the town of my age group. However few of these people would see any point in posting on facebook. Don't run away with the idea that you can produce real change in the place by one-off feel good events. Nice though they are this won't produce sustainable employment and make Bedlington a better place to live in for the future. But what you have done is to show an interest and a commitment to YOUR town. That's more than many of the people here who simply run the place down and complain year after year. If only a few of your age group make an effort to understand the real issues we can make real changes. If that sounds a bit boring, well, sometimes it is. But long after facebook and the next fad to replace it are forgotten you'll still have a result, and it will be YOUR result. So ask questions as to why this or that isn't possible. Try to understand the concerns of older generations. Put forward ideas; but be prepared to change those ideas when you discover where the problems are. Encourage your friends to do the same. It's not easy, and it won't generally produce a quick result. But keep plugging away and things will change for the better.

:lol: There he is, the man himself.

Great to see the new FREE classifieds starting to take off. Believe me this will be a big feauture of B.co.uk before not too long and improvements are being made as we speak. Anyway the point is that you wouldn't dream of putting up a listing on that auction site (the one that's not half as good as BCOUK ..and where you can regularly get ripped-off buying things sight-unseen) WITHOUT getting out your camera or mobile phone and uploading a couple of pictures. Yes, people here can come around and see your goodies for themselves, but you gotta get them there in the first place. On the web a picture is worth an infinite number of words, and whilst you are at it spend a few seconds more taking some alternative views of your treasure. Pictures sell things far faster! P.S. If you do have any probs uploading, the moderators or admins really really want to hear about it, and will hold your hand if necessary. We are constantly seeking to improve usability.

On the right of the main forums page you now have a bit of "white-space". Don't waste this valuable screen space; other's would have crammed ads in there, but not on super-user-friendly new Bedlington.co.uk! In part it's there for you to fill with your Watching short cuts. Next time you visit a particular forum that interests you then click on the black [Watch Forum] button up top right. It's that simple - or almost. And in a similar way there's a [Watch this topic] button up top right on every thread. Try it right now and Watch it grow into a useful habit.