Vic Patterson

Your not alone with this complaint, it is happening everywhere, I believe it's a sign of the times! large box stores are much cheaper to shop at, easier parking, greater selection etc, It closes down the smaller businesses, who pay less taxes, employ less locals and so on.

What is the answer? I don't know! but I do believe we have to adapt to the new situation, small towns are becoming more and more just residential and with very little commercial business. Councils will have to change their attitudes by setting different priorities! Unsightly garbage soon becomes unsanitary, unhealthy and dangerous! even the "grass cutting†(or lack of it) complaints last year soon become a hygiene concern! the empty building (Bedlington Station complaints) and their broken windows soon have vermin running around.

Times are changing!

Eeee,a cud tell yi an aaful story [aaful for me...that is!]aboot P.C.Mann.......!!

Noo let's think...hoo can a put it nicely...!

The year?-1954-ish...[i was ten years old]

The place?-Whitley Memorial School

The story starts...

I asks teacher if i could go to the toilet,and gets permission to leave the class.

In the cloakroom area i see a letter and envelope lying on the floor..important-looking.

I pick it up,intending to give it to my teacher,but forget all about it and take it home..my Mother puts it on the sideboard under the old huge pre-war radio cabinet,which has never worked ever..that i knew of...just a bit of furniture.

Next Morning,Mr Nicholson,Headmaster,announces a theft from the cloakroom,[during his morning assembly speeches],that had taken place the day before.

Being a well-brought -up laddie,i told my Mother about it and she freaked out with me,for not handing the letter in straight away.

So i took the letter after dinner-break to Mr Nicholson's office personally,and got a pat[!!!] on the head from the one who usually terrorised us with his caning behavior.

Later that afternoon,Mr Nicholson sought me from my class and took me to his office,where two men were sitting smoking.

They were dressed in detectives typical caped-back macs,and their trilby hats were on the table by their side.

They said who they were,C.I.D.officers,and they informed me that i was under suspicion of stealing a pound note from the envelope,before handing it in...[ 10-years-old...nobody with me like my parents to be with me...][and a pound was a hell of a lot of money in 1954.]

The letter was an invoice for Orange's Garage's,for payment for car repairs to a lad called Morgan Dawson's Dad.[any relation John?]

Well,i was cross-examined for the rest of that afternoon,accused of lying,told by these two men to admit i stole the money,and spent it on sweets...i was literally shaking all over,in tears at the finish,I had to stand outside the office in the cold corridor,in winter,freezing,shaking,to"think it all over very carefully,then come back and tell us the strory again"

I did this about a dozen times,then was sent home..no letter,no escort home cos everyone had already gone home and i was late.

I told my Mother about it and she went beserk with me,threw my jacket and shoes back on,and physically dragged me off my feet to the police station,all the way to the top-end from Hollymount Square...a canny hike for little legs.

She barged into the police station like the proverbial bull..demanding to know what was going on,and what proof,or rights,did they have to accuse her Son of this crime.

The C.I.D. men were there,and they did a repeat of the performance earlier,in the Headmaster's office.

At last,to my relief,one said,[and i rember this event traumatically],"i think the boy's telling the truth,he's certainly sticking to his story.."

To which the other one stood up,ten feet tall to me..it seemed...and said.."Well it's obvious that the Boy is telling lies,...."to which he got no further...!!!!

My Mother,and i can picture this clearly,flipped her lid,and clasped her hands around the detectives throat screaming.."Aal bliddy kill ye,if ye caal my son a liar,....the bairn's terrified,he's telling ye the truth........"

The C.I.D.man was totally unprepared for the attack,and went back off his feet.......

P.C.Jimmy Mann,and Sargent Lucas knew my Mother to be a good God-fearing Mother with four kids to bring up,all with good characters,never in any trouble,till now.

Jimmy Mann grabbed my Mother,and did his best to pacify her,saying.."Jean,come on now,we don't want you to get into trouble do we.."

The rest went back inside and Jimmy stayed with my Mother,cos she was in a state of shock,and crying,and so was i,with all this commotion going on,and i thought they would take my Mother away.

After a while we went home.

Next night she howked me back up to the police station again,screaming,"aam bliddy sick of aal this carry on..next time yi see owt lying..leave the bugga where it is for sumbody else ti get wrang for"

Apparently,the C.I.D. men had been to see my Mother at home,and wanted to see me again.

By now,i was just a jellified wreck,terrified at the mention of the police.

I have always been very strong-willed,and an individual,who wouldn't copy others to keep in with them...

I had it in my mind that these two big terrifying men in trilby hats like i saw in gangster movies at the Saturday Matinees at the top-end picture hall,weren't going to make me say i had done something i hadn't done.

So we went through another two hours of questioning,i think this time it was a bit more gentle after my Mother's outrage the day before!

No derogatory comments today!!...."Well, Mrs Allison,we will keep in touch with you......that's all"

We went home,me shaking like jelly,and Mother giving me an earful all the way home.

A few days later my Mother heard from Matty Hall,my Teacher,that the real culprit had owned up to the crime.

Mother got no official apology from the school,from AAD NICKY the headmaster,from the Police,C.I.D....NOBODY!!!

I think P.C. Jimmy Mann quietly smoothed out the attack on the Detective,nothing said about it..case closed..

Except for one little matter..........

For years after if i walked up Bedlington main street,and saw a Policeman coming,i would start to shake like jelly all over,and i mean a physical wreck!

I finally got to realise my rights as a citizen by the time i was eighteen,and shed my fears.

I related this story word for word,to a new marra at Bates pit,when i went there ,in 1971,as a new Deputy,and after listening to me,he got up from his Bait seat,and arrogantly declared that he didn't believe one word of it,who did i think i was trying to kid........the C.I.D. wouldn't have sent two men,for two days,to investigate one-pound theft............

THIS MAN ...was a "Special Constable",which i hadn't known,and he was as hard as hell,he used to talk about shopping his own Mother for motoring offences!!

Anyway,little Bedlington created some terror in my little brain for years to come!

Before i went out to play,my Mother used to wave the big bread "gully" [like a sword!!]in front of my face,and say.."if aa hear yi swearing,or hear aboot ye being impitent ti anybody ootside,or daeing owt yi shudn't be daeing.......aal cut the skin off yi strip by strip mind ye little bugga's...[ti me older Brother also..],and aal cut ya bliddy tongue oot dae yi hear....?"....."Aye Mother...we'll not dae owt rang..promise."

"Gaan on then,get yasel away doon the river,and divvent cum back droonded,or else aal morda ye's...."

With that terrifying statement,she would give us a kiss and a big cuddle,telling us she really loved us and would kill anybody who harmed us....and away we wud gaan..oot ti play!!

She aalway's said these things,it was almost like saying prayers!...but we took notice of her and never got into trouble.

We had the best Mother in the world in those hard post-war rationed times.

Aye,me story seems a bit funny noo,but believe me,it certainly wasn't funny then...it was so traumatic,that's how i remember every single word spoken,and by whom!!

Thanks for letting me relate this story about Good old Bedlington in the old days!!

"Like"

Paul, I have several recipes for Pan Haggerty! and all are very similar all have sliced potatoes, onions, grated cheese, dripping or butter, salt and pepper. Layered into a pan, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper, the melted dripping is poured over everything, lid on, cook slowly for 40 minutes, brown under the grill before serving! we just called it sliced tetties!

My Granda used to ask for a vine to put his bet on "tanner each way on Piggott†not the horse!

Happy birthday Brian, hope your having a good one.

My wife and I were driving on the seabridge from Moncton New Brunswick Canada to Prince Edward Island when the news came on, I turned the camcorder on in the car and still have the footage with the radio reports as it happened, the stretch of water under this huge bridge is called the Northumberland strait.

The people of Canada could not have been nicer, we were camping down through Nova Scotia and back down through Maine to Pennsylvania but the borders were closed for 2 weeks so we made the most of it but we never played a tune on the radio after that,we only listened to the news, a lot of the camping parks in Canada kept the lights on all night which made it hard to sleep in a tent but I guess gave the campers a better feeling of security.

Strange days they were......

Slightly Off Topic!

mickypotts, A few years ago my daughter was living in Presque Isle, Maine, when we were across visiting her we drove the bridge to PEI, what a great Province, we also toured around N.S., N.B., NYS, Pennsylvania etc

I was in a hotel in Edmonton Alberta getting ready to attend some Government meetings, thinking that pilot will be in trouble, as it was first thought it was some little Cessna! then watching the rest unfold while watching it on the security cameras at the meetings!

Reality realy set in during a coffee break when I got a call from my daughter who was living way up north!

Thank you Adam, yes having a great day!

Congrats Vic.......

Thank you Malcolm.

Congratulations on the small print Vic.

We have not got to that stage yet.

Just the twelve grand kids for us.

We love it, they make our life so special. Even if they shred the old net curtains.

They were my mothers and needed to go.

Thank you Maggie,We have four children, Ten grandchildren and three great grandchildren! love em all! I wish they lived closer but that makes the visits so much better!

Thank you all for good wishes, having a great day.... shovelling snow :-(

I guess controversy sells newspapers but would someone be put off expressing an opinion because it could be shot down in flames.

People can take offense in the work place at minor items, it seems.

I do not see many females contributing to the debates.

I am not being controversial, it seems a good topic within this topic to debate.

I was in the debating society at Westridge, maybe that is to blame. If blame has to be apportioned.

I must admit I have decided not to post when it I know it would be against the flow! (think twice, post once!) A while ago the topic was about bringing up children with respect, teachers not being "allowed†to discipline etc, I decided to stop my posting on that topic as it was raising the level beyond what I thought was polite discussion!

"We get the kids we deserve!†We got us a new Great Grandson on Monday! (#3) all doing well.

Could people be put off joining the site because of the language we use!

I am not ruling myself out.

Quite the opposite! (when read in the right context) considering the writer and topic at that time!

Are we trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist? I feel quite confident with those who are running this Forum and I'm quite sure they will share with the users any problems financial or otherwise!

I'm also sure they welcome any questions or concerns being aired that leads to friendly banter amongst the users that helps everyone understand how the site works, but remember if it is posted in public it becomes public! (for ever!)

Thank you Bedlington.co.uk

Slightly off topic!

That brings up two interesting news items I have read in the English newspapers this week, A North Shields lady has to pay an extra 100 pounds tax to keep a bedroom empty while her sons join the military, ( I presume its a three bedroom council house, and the sons have left home!) the second is that 630,000 "white Brits†(their description, not mine!) have left London in the past ten years making white Brits only 45% of the local population! Was it Enoch Powell who said this was going to happen!

What is the status of cooncil hooses? are they still building them? and selling them? After the riots last year I read they were thinking of reducing welfare payments from per person to per household, did that ever happen?

JUST ASKING! What is the problem with Old folks homes? sounds like a growing industry.

On my trips home I looked forward to a Sunday visit to the "Ridge Farm†with family. (we looked forward to all pub meals!)

Hope you have a great day Merc, happy birthday.

What was the correct name of "the old Hall†that was pulled down to build the council offices?

Like Vic I also miss Joe Rooney's posts and was, quite irrationally, upset at his passing. I didn't know him, hadn't met him 'in the flesh' but was affected when he died.

Nobody is 'safe' or secure when online. I posted recently that if your PC is connected by copper or fibre you can be 'found', You can be 'sniffed out' if connected wirelessly ... beware a nosey neighbour with Wi-Fi finding software 'cos if your router lacks security then they're in. The only 'safe' computer is one that's physically not connected to the outside world.

If you know where to look most things can be found out about most people.

On the previous incarnation of this Forum I posted using my real name with the benefit that a number of old school friends were able get in touch, but, when this new place emerged I'd lost my nerve so settled for Symptoms .... cowardy, cowardy custard!

I know what you mean Symptoms, I think my remoteness give me a feeling of safety or false security!

Joe just lived down the road in Calgary but I felt like I new him!

I go for walk almost every day, (I'll be off in 5 minutes!) being a small town you get to know must people and most will wave, say hi or toot their horn, but many will not make eye contact! Yes they are usually new in town, I make point to say hi and something about the weather (usually how much snow or how cold it is! not much else to say around here!) and sure enough they will acknowledge you! next day they say hi (and you think who the heck was that!!)

I used to post under a pen name but later decided to use my real name. About three years ago after following the posts of the late Joe Rooney (RIP) I felt that using my real name, not writing anything that I wouldn't say face to face with someone, not writing anything too personal about myself, friends or relatives that might compromise their security or privacy, (or causing embarrassment, unless you know the the intended target well enough to know that it is jest)

Once you establish a friendship with any of the forum members (I feel I have made several) you can PM them or go to regular e-mail, again consider nothing is 100% secure!

Joe was a real gentleman, well know and very well liked by everyone, if we all follow his example (I feel we all do, not like in some of the early days!)

Respectfully submitted.

We would "hap-up†the fire (a bucket of coal) then take a shovel of the ashes from under the grate and put on the top of the coal to slow down the burning! hopefully it would last until the next morning, fire guard was in place of course!

Blyth News was our favourite bleezer (but divint use the picture page) until we got posh and I made a steel blazer!

Bath nights you had to pull out the damper to heat the water.

Front grate was just big enough to roast chestnuts on!

People couldn't wait to get rid of the big old iron fire place (side oven, hobs, mantelpiece etc) and put in a modern tiled one, now they are collector pieces!

I'm fascinated reading this and the Emily Wilding Davison posting but I am confused at the connection to Bedlington. I presume Emily was part of the suffragette movement! What happened to (historian) Ellen Mitchell's mom? did she abandon Ellen or was their an unfortunate incident?

Now to Google and try find out!

Happy Australia Day Brian, Light that Barbie! but isn't it tomorrow the 26th! (still 25th here)

Dot agrees with about aaud Nicky!