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A nah wot yu mean. When I say the woards av typed undaneeth, nee one at woark nahs what am gannin on aboot. Tha al a bit posher than me. A had tu dee a translation fo thum English to Bedlingtonian translation – Lesson 1 English to Bedlington Awnings - Plastic or canvas covers - Wages or salary Bared- Stripped naked - Opposite of good Bells - Musical Instrument - Male gentiles Cane - Walking stick - A tin of beer Chute - Sloping water slide - To talk loudly Clare - Girls name - Animals fingernail Clerk - Office Worker - Tells the time Crayon - Wax drawing stick - Large lifting devise Creche - Nursery - Bump or collide Cress - Green salad plant - Angry Curled - Bent or twisted - Low temperature Cursed - Under a spell - The seaside Curt - Rudely abrupt - Warm outer garment Curl - Twist - Heating fuel Curler - Hair styling aid - sweet fizzy drink Dense - Thick, not clever - Move in time to music Scoot - Disappear quickly - Older Cub Send - Despatch - Grains of sand Sewer - Waste Disposal - Bitter Shirk - Avoid responsibility - Sudden fright Shirt - Clothing - Injured by gun fire Sir - Important man - Stitch with thread Slur - Speak drunkenly - Opposite of fast Slurp - Drink noisily - Hill Spurt - Short burst of speed - Spot or pimple

I have been following a thread on here 'A Rant about Bedlington' which has been very interesting and provoked some great debate. It has made me reflect on who's accountable and responsible for sorting out all of the challenges we face as a community- Us or the people in power? My reflections have brought me to the conclusion that while we all share the responsibility to make any improvements work, the ACCOUNTIBILIY to deliver those improvements should sit fairly and squarely with the people who take their salaries from our hard earned wages via taxes! We hold down jobs and take accountability for delivering to our customers, why shouldn't they!? The point of the post is that I don't even know who these people are never mind whether or not they care... Lets see if anyone even knows the names or whereabouts of our councillors – the people who should be representing our views and fighting the fight to improve our town... any sightings of these mythical beasts should be posted on here! We could always get that bloke from 'Monster Hunter' to track one of them down or at least prove or disprove their existence!! If there are any councillors reading this... please post a response and let us know your thoughts too... after all there are two sides to every argument!

At least two of them are here, so go easy on them and the rest will discover that they don't need to keep their heads down, or hide behind heavily censored websites. I think the Internet means that those who don't engage - or worse, only pretend they engage - are a soon-to-be-extinct species. Go out and vote for those that engage, even if you don't agree with everything they say. And vote against those who hide behind spin-doctors and party dogma. That has to be the way to restore some sort of grass-roots democracy. But you need to understand that our local councillors only have limited powers, and very limited budgets. The recent changes were - as usual - the very minimum that those at the top of the power pyramid could get away with. This is our fault for putting up with this (and not seeing through it), and not those people who are putting themselves in the firing line of public disquiet. There was a time when our democracy was a lot more "robust", and there were public debates that weren't controlled by spin-doctors. But yes, the answer to your question is that it's OUR fault for letting things get into such a state.

It is certainly the elected officials duty to listen to the public who elected them, then act as they see fit, (but not always necessarily the way the electors feel they should.) there are often many legal or financial considerations that are not known to the public. How well do you know your councilors? have you been to any council meetings or talked or e-mailed them to tell them of your concerns? (not only you but all of the readers) Living here in a small community it is very easy to for us to all that, as we work, live and play very closely, my point is they are elected but only if you vote for them! At work yesterday a good friend of mine said he is being asked to run for Mayor or at least for council, he sees the core of the council being local businessmen with their own agendas! a few years ago my plumber was almost elected as Mayor!!! (failed by less than 20 votes.) We have our council minutes posted on a web site, I read them and often follow up by going to a meeting or sending an e-mail, our local newspaper is a good means of telling the council what the people really think! I think we have many capable readers here who should get involved with the council and the community in general, great ideas and enthusiasm but only lack the formal skills, I'm sure the council read this web site, use it to tell them what you think! Respectively submitted, Sorry for the rant!

I don't think that anyone need feel inhibited from posting any issues/concerns. However, with the new Parish/Town Councils there has been a layer of local democracy introduced. For me personally, localism is the ticket on which I stood for election and because councillors at this level are unpaid the flow of ideas should come from the local residents "up over". This should work fine in principle (and I think posts on here show that it can and does work) but, the County Council structure has not been replaced and is still intact. This layer of Goverment does not work in the same way (although it should) because it is more political and therefore more liable to be dominated by National or Regional Policy. In addition, many of the councillors at Parish/Town level are also County Councillors and therefore have a least one eye on the "bigger picture". I believe that this inhibits localism from being as effective as it might otherwise be. However, because Parish/Town Councillors live locally in the communities they serve they are in a better position to understand and represent local people, whether or not they personnally agree with a particular issue. Anyone who wishes is free to contact me in this regard. After all, I was elected to serve my local community and it is my intention to do so to the best of my ability.

I got reply straight away. Sent another e-mail tonight saying to view all the forum posts to see that the people of Bedlington have had enough! you have to make a nuisance of yourself!!

Here is the full list of county councillors; you might want to go to the bottom of the list for our 'local' ones. http://www3.northumberland.gov.uk/Councillor/CouncillorList.asp Here are the results of the last parish council election for Bedlington West. http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4631 This is fairly basic stuff people, you should know it, you are paying for it!!!!!!! Deb, I have to take issue to your comments about the market place. You seem to be suggesting that somehow the council have sole right to keep the place clean and tidy, isn't that a collective responsibility? Maybe if the kids that are leaving these tyre marks on that paved area were 'dissuaded' from doing so, by whatever means necessary, it might in fact turn the Market Place into what was hoped for. Also the seats have already been vandalised. If we are going to play a blame game lets pick the right targets!

Depends on what you mean by council. With the change to a Unitary Authority, (which by the way everyone got to vote on and the fact that the majority decision isn't what has gone though is another argument) Wansbeck District Council has been scrapped, along with 5 other district councils, and we now have a county council overseeing all the important decisions. We do have a Town/Parish Council but their powers are pretty limited with regard to the main impetus in this thread. New rates bills are dropping through the doors now that will give everyone some idea of where their money is going and how it is being split. The 'local councillors' of old are not the same kettle of fish as they are now, might be the same people but their influence and authority has diminished somewhat. County councillors, different ball game, but here we see politics once again muddying the waters! As for Elliott's Garage this is privately owned, it can't be pulled down unless the owner agrees. It's like council saying they don't like the way your house looks so they will pull it down, what would you say?

The problem is no one seems to be advised what is happening with regards to new developments, and they are carried out poorly when they are built with no foresight, it seems as if the local planners sit down and throw ideas around then choose something they think will appease the local populace! Just look at the recent "development" of the market place, it is already looking tatty with tyre marks all over it, rubbish being left to gather on the stairs not to mention the old closed up shops that were purchased by Tesco and the site fencing to keep people off the grassed area! Why doesn't the local councillors send out a questionnaire asking everyone what they honestly think of the Town and the re-generation that was promised but never appeared?? AS for the old Red Lion why not have a decent "branded Coffee Shop" like the one that has been put in the Sanderson Arcade, heaven knows we could do with one!

TEA CAKES 1LB PLAIN FLOUR 1 EGG 1/2OZ YEAST 1 1/2 GILLS WARM MILK 1 TSP SALT 1 1/2 OZ SULTANANS OR CURRANTS 2 OZ BUTTER 1 TSP CASTOR SUGAR DISSOLVE FAT IN WARM MILK AND ADD THE EGG, CREAM SUGAR AND YEAST AND STIR IN THE MILK. PLACE FLOUR AND SALT IN WARM BASIN MAKE A STIFF BATTER WITH THE DISSOLVED YEAST APRINKLE THE TOP WITH A LITTLE FLOUR, COVER THE CLOTH AND ALLOW TO STAND IN A WARM PLACE FOR 1 HOUR. KNEAD IN 2 OZS. SUGAR AND CURRANTS OR SULTANAS. TURN ONTO A FLOURED BOARD AND DIVIDE INTO EQUAL PIECES. ROLL INTO ROUNDS AND PLACE ON A GREASED TIN SET TO RISE 15 MINS. BAKE IN A QUICK OVEN FOR ABOUR 20 MINS. WHEN THE CAKES ARE BAKED RUB WITH BUTTER TO GLAZE.

Was the forum broken? No! So why fix it? Everything was trundling along nicely everyone talking an having some informative discussions, then WALLOP the proverbial 'spanner' is lobbed into the mix. It's as though some people just can't stand the peace, and thought how can I upset people and become centre of attention! Well done, very well done and I hope you are well pleased sad....very sad.

I remember when on a Sunday all of us as teenagers went to moskies at the 'station' where we could meet and chat as long as we bought a frothy coffee or a bottle of Pepsi. I know I'm living in the past but I do understand that there is nowhere for the kids to hang out apart from the streets. We had the Y.M.C.A to go to as a youth club and actually met lads or lasses that went on to be their husband or wife. I don't know if it would work now but surely they could try for them. Of course it would have to be run by someone the kids would respect and not be old fashioned as the kids are a lot more clued up than we were in our day.

There is a VERY brief questions and answers session at the beginning of the meeting so come prepared. Which can be extended if the chairman sees fit! The problem here is that the powers of a parish/town council are pretty limited, certainly within the context of what we are talking about , which is essentially social/economic regeneration whose remit is essentially a County Council one. Much better to 'lobby' at the Area meetings where most if not all county councillors and a lot of officers attend. Having said that the town council do have a route to take their community's concerns further up the ladder and lets not forget the Mayor and vice Mayor are county councillors as well! There is another comparable community route and that is through the Partnership meetings, so if the politics puts anyone off you are still able to progress your cause in a non political environment.

so there like hot cross buns! ripped this from the guardian.co.uk This simple dough can be usedfor most bun recipes, great for hot cross buns, chelsea buns, even forlittle balls of dough deep-fried and dusted in icing sugar for a NewYear's Eve snack. But the simple teacake, toasted and buttered, is myfavourite. A hard fat like beef dripping in the dough makes theteacakes softer than butter would. For vegetarians, white chocolate isa much better substitute than regular butter, as the high proportion ofcocoa fat it contains stays as hard as dripping at room temperature.Now who would have thought beef fat and white chocolate had somethingin common? Why the hefty amount of yeast? To counteract all thesugar, fat and spices that will slow the yeast down. As with us, alittle sugar speeds the beastie, but too much slows it right down. Fatalso makes fermentation difficult, and even spice slows the reaction.The yeast will be destroyed in the baking, and won't be bubbling aroundin your stomach, but will help make your sweet buns light and fluffy. Makes 14 5 level tsp easy-blend yeast (about 2 sachets) 125ml warm water 600g strong white flour 150ml milk 25g golden syrup 25g caster sugar 50g beef dripping (or white chocolate), roughly chopped 150g currants 150g chopped mixed peel ½ level tsp each ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon 1 level tsp salt 3 large eggs Dissolvethe yeast in the warm water with 3 tbsp flour (taken from the totalamount). Stir together well, then leave for 15 minutes to bubble.Meanwhile, heat the milk until boiling, then remove from the heat, addthe golden syrup, caster sugar, dripping, currants, peel, spices andsalt, stir well and leave to cool. Beat the eggs and stir theseinto the milk mixture. Place the remaining flour in a warm bowl, stirthe yeast with the milk mixture, then tip this into the flour and stirwell until evenly combined. Cover the bowl, leave for 10 minutes, thengive the dough three light kneads over 30 minutes (see Basic techniques), cover and leave for a further 30 minutes. Weighthe dough into 100g pieces and roll into round balls using your cuppedhand. Butter two baking sheets, roll the balls flat so they sit about2cm high and lay them on the tray about 3-4cm apart. Place the traysinside carrier bags and leave somewhere warm for 1½ hours to double inheight. Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted). Brush the topsof the dough with beaten egg and bake for 12-15 minutes or until risenand golden. Don't bake for too long, as you want them to stay soft. Tried and tested 'I made exactly 14 teacakes, asthe recipe states, and they weregreat - definitely a recipe I willuse again' Variation Panettone teacakes Reducethe milk to 50ml, replace the dripping with 75g white chocolate and addan extra 3 egg yolks with the eggs, together with the zest of an orangeand a lemon, 2 tbsp honey and 3 tsp each vanilla extract, orange flowerwater, rose water and chocolate essence (in place of the dry spices).For the topping, smash up some of those rough white La Perruche sugarcubes together with an equal quantity of amaretti and sprinkle on eachbun just after the egg wash.

Place is rapidly becoming a hazard area!!! and for those who do "bag" it, why can't you take it home rather than throwing it in a bush or overflowing a litter bin to the point of it being on view as you walk past!!

I think some people might be reading a little bit too much into it and perhaps making a little bit of an issue out of nothing. I don't see any disruption since it's been reintroduced and it certainly hasn't affected the level of discussion. Just don't make an issue of it and it'll be fine. That being said if most users want it removed so be it but no need to get so worked up about it. It's only a very minor aspect of the site