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One thing I am concerned with is the upkeep of the cut between the Market Tavern and the old Johnson's shoe shop (Now Fireplaces). To draw people through it needs to be inviting. Hopefully a positive development here will help raise the standards of surrounding areas.

Best thing we've seen come to Bedlington for a Generation.

Hi Eggy. I'm just sharing the news as it is available. There is no further info from Active Northumberland. I'll update the article if I hear more.

Hi Ian...don't know why I am wasting my time addressing you,since the last time I came to your office a few years ago..desperately seeking help and explaining how my Wife's family and myself were going through a very traumatic time ..my Wife's Mother was terminally ill in hospital..[and later died]..and when I came to you for help on a separate issue,you didn't even look at me but kept talking to your union cronies..and virtually ignored me..I remember walking out of your office in disgust saying I would never ask for your help ever again.Well well well! When this Building was in the process of surveying the land,I started taking photo's and videos,and I continued to do that every few days..right through from drilling for the reinforced concrete underpinning,laying the foundations,every step of building the carcass..till the day came when the arrival of the multi-million pound CYCLOTRON was announced on national television and all the tabloids covered it.SO!..away I went with my trusty old video camera and stills camera..and as the CYCLOTRON was hoisted high in the air on a crane rope,and lowered into the building through the roof..the television cameras were there...and so were you,along with a dozen "dignitaries"..chains of office glittering in the sunlight...and SO WAS I!!..NOW!!...from that day on there was not ONE word mentioned about the progress of the installation and commissioning of the CYCLOTRON....NOT ONE WORD THAT I EVER SAW OR HEARD!!..as time went by,many months...still nothing..except we had power cuts sometimes three and four times a week..unexplained...when I contacted the electricity company they said there was nothing wrong with their systems and that I could have a faulty meter..I told them it was a recent new digital meter,and that I suspected the outages were from the new Proton Beam unit attempting to power up and drawing too much current for the grid to handle.I was laughed at...then an employee of the energy company told me they couldn't get it up and running because it needed too much current to operate it,and that a new set of pylons carrying dedicated overhead power lines from the Switch house at Cambois,would have to be laid...but there were disputes between the landowners and the owners of the Rutherford Centre about the cost of all this....The pylons never got erected..no power lines...then the hospital closed down.Since it closed down in 2022,WE HAVE NEVER HAD ONE POWER CUT!!..Now,Mr Lavery,would you tell me honestly[massive request..not impossible..but highly improbable!!]....HAS ANYONE EVER HAD TREATMENT FROM THAT PROTON BEAM THERAPY UNIT..NOT CHEMO OR NORMAL RADIO..BUT PROTON BEAM,AS IT WAS HEAVILY APPLAUDED AS BEING A MIRACLE TREATMENT!!!...I AM SURE AFTER ALL THE HULLABALLOO WHEN IT WAS INSTALLED...THAT THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MASSIVE NATIONAL TELEVISION COVERAGE OF THE SUCCESS OF THIS TREATMENT..SEEING AS IT TOOK A COUPLE BEING PROSECUTED FOR TAKING THEIR CHILD OUT OF HOSPITAL HERE,TO ANOTHER COUNTRY FOR TREATMENT..TO SPUR OUR GOVERNMENT TO HAVE OUR OWN HOSPITALS...AND NOW IT STANDS MOTHBALLED...ABOUT £50 MILLION POUNDS IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY....[BUT I STAND TO BE CORRECTED ON THAT ONE!!] SO!!...Mr Lavery,WHY has this hospital been standing mothballed for three years?....where have you been...has it took poor Harry to wake you up to try and get some answers? I told the Architect outside my house that he was an idiot..he just laughed and we chatted,but he asked why I thought he was an idiot........I said well only an idiot would choose to build a new Hospital using NUCLEAR facilities on land where I personally was involved in extracting coal beneath the very spot where the hospital was being built,[in the 1960's],and that there are six scrapyards [burning tyres and complete cars through the night!]...two household waste recycling plants,and a coal merchants..just a few hundred yards away over the fields..I also asked why they didn't build this hospital next to the Cramlington new hospital..he waffled like a politician,and said this was the best,most favourable site we could find!![the field is heavily subsided due to coalming over the past hundred years!!!]...well I told him my opinion..and that was "Damage Limitation"...and I leave it there for you to ponder over!! p.s.If anything dangerous ever happened on that site ...I have a lovely portfolio of hundreds of photo's and video's..I have been laughed at before..but every dog has it's day!!

Bedlington Station is founded on the Ironworks, Mining and the Railway. Each of these have significant cultural and historical value but it is disappointing so little is done to preserve and maintain this heritage. The first photo below shows the only building remaining of the ironworks that has been there for around 260 years. The openings were bricked up many years ago. The building is still there but almost covered in vegetation. In a couple of years, it will be completely covered and forgotten about. Bedlington ‘A’ Colliery operated for about 130 years and closed in 1971. I don’t see any display, sculpture or even a poster relating to the colliery anywhere. I have attached a photo to show what they have done in Ashington to recognize the importance of mining to that town’s history. The station opened in about 1850 and the superb photo below shows the station in its prime. There are even flower beds on the platform! This is the building they are planning to demolish despite the efforts of the Victorian Society. Instead of looking for ways to preserve the building they look for reasons to knock it down. With the Ironworks building completely covered with vegetation, the existence of the colliery ignored, and the railway station demolished there will be no tangible links of our amazing historical legacy left for future generations.

https://www.gofundme.com/Melanie-s-Mission

More than compensated for by the pre-Brexit exchange rate!

Was it the Blyth News or the Chronicle that font-paged the artist's concept of the redeveloped Bedlington Town Centre one exciting evening circa 1964? Whichever, I really think someone should make a start on it - whilst the children of the people who marvelled at that brave new Bedlington are still around!

It hasn't taken the Red Army too long to start the Development of the new Kremlin that is going into a neighbouring town.

It is all taking far too long. Delay of years and just maybe we are being 'fobbed ' off with the competition and name game. The local elections will be interesting.

You must have missed my visit last year then!

Which generation would that be?

Shame they couldn't spell Lidl properly in the opening credit . They spelled it Lidil

It'll be a big improvement on what we've got though Andy does make a fair point regarding to 'the cut'. I particularly like the idea of many small retail units - that their use is flexible gets a tick in the margin. I think it could encourage visitors to the area.

..and not too many strides from the Post Office for mail order! If only I was 50 years younger!

The cabinet for Fibre Optic Internet could not actually be any closer to the building without touching it.

Andy the link in your post does take you to the Active Northumberland site but the Sporting Club of Bedlington still shows :- SPORTING CLUB BEDLINGTON - OPENING SOON ACTIVE NORTHUMBERLAND LEISURE CENTRES SPORTING CLUB BEDLINGTON - OPENING SOON - there is a list of opening times for all the other centers but nothing for the Sporting Club of Bedlington. Not that I have any intention of taking part in any activities I was just checking to see if there was any info on the site about the swimming facilities that were promised. Many members on the Facebook groups have often complained about the lack of sporting facilities and I would have added the link on those sites IF the site was showing a timetable of events and opening times. At the moment this link would just frustrate and wind the members up more.