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I did not know the picnic had been revived and had taken place last weekend, I must have missed any advertisements that were made. I have not heard anyone say how it went. and never noticed the shows set up anywhere. What kind of turnout was it as the weather was not to good, did it have a march down front street with any bands, I heard a pipe band on Sunday when I was in the garden was that part of the picnic event ? The news post has a story and photo. http://www.newspostleader.co.uk/news/local/picnic-spirit-revived-in-bedlington-1-8006517

I was very surprised to see it had taken place, without any fanfare, and with all of the communication available not well planed or advertised, so sad

I wasn't meaning to be rude mind. I'm sure Spuggy has many good points to make, but my experiences with this and many other forums is that brevity is King when it comes to posting. Anything more than a few paragraphs is very off-putting to people who just pop in for the latest gossip. Another thing that puts me off is when people put a long post in one paragraph, sometimes without capitals or punctuation. I just can't be bothered to read posts like that. I'm not to bothered about correct grammar or spelling as long as I can understand the post and don't have to make up a flask and sandwiches before attempting to read it!

Derek Firth is on his death bed and knows the end is near. His nurse, his wife, his daughter and 2 sons are with him at his home in London. He asks for 2 independent witnesses to be present and a camcorder be in place to record his last wishes. When all is ready he begins to speak: "My son, Bernie, I want you to take the Mayfair houses." "My daughter, Sybil, you take the apartments over in the East end." "My son, Jamie, I want you to take the offices over in the City." "Sarah, my dear wife, please take all the residential buildings on the banks of the Thames ." The nurse and witnesses are blown away. They did not realise the extent of his holdings. As Derek slips away, the nurse says to his wife, "Mrs. Firth , my deepest condolences. Your husband must have been such a hard-working and wonderful man to have accumulated all this property¦... "Property?", she replies. "The bugger had a window cleaning round."

Hi folks! A bit late in catching up! Vic,spot on marra! A datal hand was a "shift worker",who was paid "shift-wark",which meant he was the lowest paid man in the pit. Sometimes shift workers worked a lot harder than some coal-face workers,especially in the modern mechanised faces,where some face-workers pulled levers to operate hydraulic rams to advance face supports etc.[usually pits with excellent dry conditions,mind!] The Three-Quarter seam at Bates pit was opposite to that statement,cos every body had it rough,it was so wet![timber-lads,beltmen,rolleywaymen,everything they touched was water-logged and very heavy] Not meaning to nit-pick,but only for correctness,the Mining terms link,needs one or two corrections. "Afterdamp" is not Carbon Dioxide,[CO2] it should read "Carbon Monoxide" [CO],which is the by-product of incomplete combustion.[referred to as "White-damp" by some miners].It is deadly poisonous,and the Haemoglobin of the blood has an affinity for CO which is 300 times greater than that of Oxygen. This is present after an explosion,hence the term"After...".. "Blackdamp" is the term used for Carbon Dioxide,which is caused by Oxygen depletion,especially in old workings where the wood timbers turn "Dazed",[still standing and apparently doing thier job by supporting the roof.....till you poke your finger into a pit prop and it goes straight in like it is soft as butter] Oxygen combines with every surface,and so gradually depletion takes place,not confined to old workings,can occur in newer but poorly ventilated places underground. It is not poisonous,but rather it is asphyxiating in the abscence of Oxygen. Of course Nitrogen is always present in the atmosphere,but plays no part in our respiratory system. "Damp" is a slang word for the German "Dampf".......meaning Gas. Fore-overman....is ,[in our part of the country],the man in charge of the first,or "fore",shift of a new day,usually the Midnight shift,but at Bedlington A pit,that shift started at 1-35 am.....![not 1-45,or 1-30,it had to be 1-35am prompt!] No doubt other districts had thier own terminology. Canch.....we spelt it as Caunch,but pronounced .."Canch..!! Back-caunch men usually did re-modelling of roadways that were suffering extreme pressure from either roof and sides,or floor heave..,or where roof falls had occured,but not necessarily enlarging a roadway....just restoring it to what it was....same size girders...etc. Deputy....the ONLY person in any mine in the UK,[Coal,Ironstone,Shale,or Fireclay],who is DIRECTLY responsible to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries,under the Mines and Quarries Act of 1954. No person can go underground,unless accompanied by a Deputy,or a Deputy is already underground,and has completed his Pre-shift Examination of the district within two hours of the visit. Not the Overman,nor the Manager,not even the Chairman of the Coal Board,would be allowed underground,unless a Deputy was present. The Deputy was the person where the buck stopped,in the event of a serious occurence,such as a fatal or serious accident. He was the person who would be prosecuted before anyone else,in such circumstances. In an accident,the first words asked by the Manager,on the surface,would be....."Where was the Deputy...?" The Deputy was the only person in a mine who had,upon completion of his statutory examinations of his district,to write out official reports of his duties carried out,which were kept at the mine for 6 months,then sent to H.M.Inspectorate . The Deputy was also the only person,anywhere in the country,in any industry,who was authorised by H.M.Inspectorate,to administer the drug "Morphia" where requested by an injured person.[note....requested!...you cannot administer any drug without the person's consent] This rule was passed because pits were so difficult to travel in,and so far underground,that a Doctor could not usually reach the scene of an accident within 2 hours of the accident happening. He had to show to an examining Doctor,how he could perform CPR,as well as adminster the drug. We weren't all dumb pitmen you know!!!

"No such thing! My daughter, for one, was concerned for the future of the grandchildren and voted accordingly." Quite possibly but did she ask their opinion first? (have you seen the latest age group referendum figures? Most Brexit voters, or at least the ones that shaffed the nation, including you and me, will be either buried or burnt by the time we finally get rid of the EU) "There is clearly something lacking in their lives that they feel a need to belong to such a dysfunctional and outdated concept" I think the answer to that is that they know full well which side their bread is buttered on and have no desire to cut their nose off to spite their face! Fighting the good fight is much better fought from from the inside than chucking stones into oblivion on the outside, any fool knows that. "Ordinary people might not be able to express their hopes and fears as eloquently as the Guardianista mob (and they are a mob), but that in no way indicates that their hopes and fears are any less moral, or less grounded in reality." Sheesh! You are back to talking gobbledegook - again. By contrast, many of the Europhiles I've talked to display a sort of religiosity about all things EU (which they deliberately conflate with Europe), and are incapable of taking part in a rational discussion Sheesh, Sheesh, Yet more and bigger gobbledegok - yet again. The diminishing number of EUphiles will shortly be likened to the people who, even today, long for the return of the former Soviet Union. Sheesh, sheesh, sheesh. Unbelievable gigantenormus Gobbledegook - again. (Yes, I know there is no such word as "gigantenormus" - I just made it up- but lets face it, 3g, it does make a lot more sense than all your rantings put together this evening) Tonight I have been waiting (well, I tell a lie, not all the time. I have to admit I did watch the football, it wasn't very good though, so poor in fact that me and my missus watched an episode of Vera we had taped during the first half.) with baited breath of some gems of 3g wisdom and all I have is total and utter text book Brexit gigantenormus (there you go I have used that word again, catching innit?) gobbledegook, I am disappointed, I expected better, much better. 8/10 must try harder. However as much as I too dislike the EU I will not go away until you and your ilk have admitted that you have shaffed this nation not just for a short while but for the next 50 years. That is a lot of guilt to for cowards likes of Fararge and Johnson (plus the other conservative geek that I have already forgot the name of) to carry. The description of rats leaving the sinking ship is much to much good for them. BB ps where is this Merlin bloke has he not finished thinking yet?

OOOOOOH I do seem to have hit a nerve! Threeegee, you know as well as I do that the number that voted to leave the EU for the reasons detailed here are as rare as draughtsmans sweat. BB

3G, with all the best in respect, surely it's clear that any industrial entity in this non-EU country, doing business with an EU country, will still be subject to EU applied regulations? That stands to reason, just as they have to comply with regulations wherever they are trading. And then there's the subject of money; any company worth its weight, when offered grants, will take it, and happily comply with conditions. That, too, is only natural. The thing is, however, how many people voted leave on the basis of business, or economics? I agree with Sym; many - too many - voted on the immigration platform, and will now be disappointed that, in fact, little changes on that front. And then, of course, there's the question of why nobody wants anything to do with it any longer! From the PM, who rapidly washed his hands of it, to your mate Nigel, happy to invite you for a pint, but now wants 'his life back'! It's a complete and utter farce, and quite frankly, embarrassing. What year are they planning to implement it now, by the way? Last I heard was a 2019 start.

Let's be clear about why the EU Referendum went the way it did ... deep down white folks just don't like black folks and other assorted foreigners. It was a national bun fight over immigration. Simple as that! Just watch as the denials and excuses flood in - stuff like, "I ain't racist but ...", or, "some of my best friends are black", or, "it's terrible that all those refugees kiddies are drowning but we don't have room for them", or, "I love curry", or, "they take all the back-breaking cabbage pickin' jobs me and my kids should be doing", or, .....

I think this quote just about sums up the Brexit thinking:- "The thinking of the leave side is magical. It plucks at a dimly remembered but glorified past (that was never as good as nostalgia makes it) and offers a future that is imaginary."

Well Malcolm that is quite an impressive list of 'swings' but why do you not make any mention of 'roundabouts'? Are you saying, in true UKIP style that it was all one way? We gave a lot and got nowt back, is that what you are saying or implying? Or is it a poor, as it seems to me, feeble attempt at an apology to the younger citizens of our nation that a generation of well past their sell by dates shafted their aspirations of a promising future? Am I wrong? Why not balance things up and give us a list of 'roundabouts'. Yes there are 'roundabouts', as a design engineer I personally worked on 4 that enticed approx 9000 jobs into the NE plus ancillaries and there were a lot more, some small and some big. Strikes me if all the jobs lost on the 'swings' on your list were added up then the question has to be asked why is our unemployment rate not twice what it is? Ummmmmm! As someone with an interest in what Hornby used to make I seem to remember that they ditched the UK for China years ago. Nothing to do with the EU and what patents are they supposed to have/had? But enough, there are non so blind as those that refuse to look past the end of their nose. However, speaking as some one who is also well past his 'best before' I can sleep peacefully in my bed at night knowing that I discussed all the 'swings' and 'roundabouts' with my grandchildren and their friends then voted in the referendum accordingly. That is why I voted to stay in the EU.

It's not just Spuggy's posts merc: why do certain members of this forum find the constant need to speak in riddles? There seems to be some point-scoring going on here. I find text-speak more legible than a lot of the posts in here!

The political divide is becoming very interesting / worrying. The creation of wealth is one topic that appears controversial. Each political party has propaganda arguments designed to convince the general public. The truth is in there somewhere. Social media is increasingly playing its part. With no need to verify facts or become accountable. Maybe now it really is 'The Enemy Within'. Whatever that means! Maybe we need to be worried. I hope 'Domesday is so last Century'.