Contributor Leaderboard

This may have been discussed before but please excuse me as I'm a Newby. How can the council justify having no usable public toilets in Bedlington. Before the huge amount of new houses which have popped up over the years which generate more council tax there were toilets at Red Lion, Market place and in the car parks of Tesco and also behind Blue Bell. Ashington however has toilets and is also getting yet another whole front street relaid plus sports centre and bus station whilst Bedlington folk can't even take a P**S.

Well, I can post a list of the names and addresses of all the Bedlington Councillors and NNC Councillors living in Bedlington if you wish. Being the public-spirited people they are, I'm sure they won't mind you knocking on their doors to request use of their 'facilities' in the event of an emergency in the nether regions.

How much can it cost to keep a lavy open, they don't have piped music or white jacketed attendants to hold your jacket or spray you with cologne and offer you a fresh towel in fact your lucky if they have any toilet paper. A lick over with a mop and a dollop of jeyes fluid the cost is a drop in the ocean when you see what is been blown on other fanciful plans costing millions.

ooo ad hominem -- not heard that for a while - it brought back memories of oxford and camels in tents (no that wasn't an initiation thing!) canny lass you need to read Private Eye' excellent cartoon in todays edition of the thought police tackling a woman for wearing a burkini until she explains she is a Carmelite nun! .... ahem - attitudes and press agitation come to mind - after all the nuns have been garbed like that since the days of Cadfael and no-one objected. <-- haven't got a nobbly prize either but a few mates are FRS lol which I think is one below. (he did ok with that dynamite invention!!!) I used to have long hair and long beard and I was asked by a quite concerned Muslim if it was for religious reasons as he was worried I was some sort of radical. knowing some of the Muslim community for many years they have been worried for a long time about the disenfranchisement of their children. I recall going to a party in a shebeen in Deptford with a Rasta friend, many years ago, and I was a bit concerned as I would be the only 'white face' there. he said "It's ok, they hate everybody" time we accepted the fact we all share the same basic DNA strands and get on with life, after all whats a bit of melanin atween friends?? there are much more nasty and dangerous human traits than colour or background! I was told in Belfast in the 80's that hate -is not a basic human instinct and it has to be taught. maybe a lesson for us all. (er sorry that was a rambling rant - ill take the medication now)

Very interesting posts. However it would be a shame for such a long established group to potentially disappear from Bedlington due to declining numbers. But on the the other hand, when it's so hard to find out real information this will always be the case. You just have to look at the number of churchgoers in Bedlington now. Society has changed and in my own opinion, not for the better. We are seeing a massive change as people are losing their social skills due to the new " Technology Era" where using your thumbs on a keypad is the new way of communication and socialising. I may indeed ask more questions to the relevant persons and may get involved with Freemasonry in Bedlington at some point in the future. Bedlington is in my blood and I love the town and all of its history and dream of seeing the mines re-open and the communities working and socialising together. A dream which unfortunately will never happen.

Capt om Murphy in your photograph was my uncle. My father William Turner (Bill) also served in Bedlington Home Guard as a sergeant, he remained in the HG until it was disbanded and was commisioned into thr Northumberland Fusiliers (TA)