mercuryg

"Isn't the Red Lion pub now a restraunt ?" It's a Wetherspoons Pub, serving a fine range of ales and food, and is a busy establishment at even the slackest times. It's a great place to lose your glasses, too.

"Planting flowers and putting up park benches will not Rejuvinate Bedlington." No, it won't, but I'm not sure anyone said it would. It's a voluntary organisation, which aims to make the town look nicer thanks to the hanging baskets and further, and (no I'm not involved) I for one am thankful it does so. I like to see the town looking as good as it can, I think the benches are great. People put hard work into the scheme simply to achieve this: why knock it? Surely you'd rather have it than not have it? I have an idea: we're all (me included) very good at telling each other what WON'T work for the town; why don't we all have a go at proposing what will work? Let's not get back into the 'we need money that Ashington gets' thread because we all now that, let's think on another level: if these people involved in the In Bloom scheme are willing to put in some of their precious time to make the town look pretty, what can the rest of us do in a similar vein? Or are we all simply comfortable sitting on our backsides typing frustrated rants?

I think toffo means the ridge farm, as the red lion is thriving. As someone who had a mother, sister, and sundry friends living on hazelmere I would take issue with the fact the 'majority' of houses on hazelmere sold in recent years have been bought to let. Some eill have been, of course, but over 50%? I have family and friends - many - living there, and they all buy. I cannot disagree that Bedlington is not a centre gor employment, but it never will be. This is something we have to accept: its a commuter town.

" Let's look at the Star of Bethlehem. It appeared,shone for a few weeks,then disappeared...!" Because it was a comet.... "'....read too many books by Erik Von Daniken,and others,and all the evidence suggests the theories to be true." You've got me started on one of my pet subjects, HPW! Pray tell, where is this evidence? Von Daniken, for example, admitted to making up a good deal of his!

Fifty SHEDS malcolm!

No it wasnt. I didnt read beyond the first line. Which made me groan. I have said before they would likely get my vote.

Only joking Malc!

"..am worried now as I seem to agree too often with him..." We'll find something to disagree on soon, I'm sure! A thorough investigation yesterday concluded 'see a man about a dog' is the right one. The journalist was just guessing.

Interesting observations there Pilgrim, and clearly with more 'hands on' experience of the problems than I can claim. If I may ask, you were a speaker, are you willing to elaborate on your area of expertise, and what was your field of research? On the subject of schools, education, class sizes etc, my high school education took place at Bramhall High School, in Cheshire, which was then the biggest (in terms of numbers) comprehensive in the country with more than 2000 pupils. I had the added problem of being very deaf, and the school (I'm talking in the late 70's/early 80's here) had no idea what to do about it. I had been referred to attend a 'special' unit in a nearby school, but my mother - with what I now realise was great foresight - fought against it an insisted I was to be educated in the mainstream, as a 'normal' child, rather than one singled out for having a disability. The 'deaf kids' were left on the sidelines; I was not to be one. My grades were not great - notably English was my best subject - and I found it a struggle, but it would have been more so but for an innovative unit, the name of which I cannot remember, run by Stockport Council, and mentioned by chance to my mother by a next door neighbour. This unit was headed by a forceful and determined woman by the name of Margaret (surname forgotten) who, having heard of my plight, invited us to see her. She was campaigning for ALL deaf and hard of hearing children to be schooled in the mainstream, and had limited funds to provide equipment (a one-way radio system, the forerunner of today's FM systems) for us. In effect, as I was slap bang in the middle of the biggest school in the country in her back yard, I became the poster boy for the campaign. Thanks to her determination, 'Deaf Schools'- essentially back then a way of brushing the problem under the carpet - are now very different institutions. Perhaps we need more like Margaret right now.

Brian, I hope you realise that, naughty thief he is, Malcolm nicks all these and puts them on Facebook so that people think he's funny. meanwhile, I've advised him - and merrily do so for all on here - to google 'Fifty Sheds of Grey'....a wonderful spoof of teh famous erotic novels.....ergo..... "We tried various positions - round the back, up against a wall, next to her back passage . . but the bottom of the garden was the only place for a really good shed."

An interesting tale Pilgrim; I for one have no qualms with you choosing to use your hard earned dosh to ensure the best education for your child; I do, however, think it outrageous that you were driven to see fit to do so. You shouldn't have to: a good, sensible education should be a right for everyone. I don't have children; I do have a pair of school age nieces who I am very close to, and with whom I am often involved in school activities. I have some misgivings about the level of teaching in their respective schools (West End, Meadowdale and Bedlington High) such as the youngest being led to believe that switching on a light kills a polar bear, but overall have found the standard to be surprisingly good. However, as a professional writer, editor and proofreader, and someone who is therefore critical of poor grammar (and no, I don't claim mine to be perfect) I have helped a number of unemployed people, between the ages of 25 and 35, spruce up their CV's. I thin I have mentioned it here be before, but spruce up is the wrong word: each and every one required a complete rewrite. Mistakes included a personal statement entirely in text-speak; the use of spoken idioms such as 'ah' instead of 'I' (really), simple spelling mistakes, lack of punctuation, and basic grammatical errors. What really annoyed me was that each of these CV's had been created by the individual on a Jobcentre (or whatever it's called now) approved 'course', apparently led by a professional, qualified tutor, who - at the end - approved each one as suitable for use. Then, and now, I would like to meet him and ask what the **** he thinks he's doing sending these perfectly capable people out with CV's that, without a doubt, would be in the bin at first glance. For the record, of the dozen I have helped with so far, five found employment soon after using my CV, two have gone back to college, and the rest are still hunting. Being able to help has given me a sense of satisfaction. Am I off topic? Perhaps, so sorry!

" I always though that the DISTANCE between street lamps determined the speed limit." I believe it once was, and can only assume that someone realised that forcing drivers to stop, get out and measure the distance between lights before adjusting speed was impractical. On another note, the more I ponder this fact, the more I see that Bedlington is a town with more than its fair share of 'claims to fame', yet they are so little publicised beyond its realms it's almost as if we want to keep them secret. I mean, think of it: not only do we have our own dog, we have the link to St Cuthbert, the industrial importance of Birkinshaws work and the connection to George Stephenson, Gooch, the First Penny Black, and I'm sure that's just a few. And now, it seems, we have a stretch of dual carriageway that may or may not be the shortest in existence, depending upon how many pints Foxy has on a Thursday night. Remarkable. Another aside - I have become acquainted with a very nice couple, George and Dorothy, who frequent the Red Lion. In his 60's and once retired, George has come out of retirement to help work on a very hush-hush project for a client he cannot name that involves his area of expertise, steam engineering, very advanced steam engineering. His surname? Stephenson. And sadly, no relation.

Interesting, I believe! I'm afraid that, while I spend my working life online, I am something of a luddite when it comes to the technical side of things, and am just getting to grips with 'apps'. I do own - and use daily - a Samsung tablet, I now have a Kindle, but my laptop still runs on Vista. I've only just caught up with the 21st century!

"Marketing is for people with Oxford PPEs, Axelrod, trade union barons, and Lynton Crosby." Marketing is about getting your point across, about engaging people's attention, about telling them what you are going to do/provide that they want and need. This advert does nothing of the sort. Your average man on the street, who they need to capture to achieve their aims, who is stuck in his ways, will read that, scoff, and say 'IF everyone who is thinking of voting UKIP - yeah, big IF, cos they won't' and fundamentally, he's right. Why put out an advert that expresses serious doubts in it's very first line? It defeats the aim; it's basic attract-the-punters stuff, you simply don't instil doubts in the minds of those who are yet to be convinced. It's too around-the-houses, too uncertain. I could have done it far better, probably at a fraction of the cost. Having said that, it's unfair to attack UKIP only, as political parties a notoriously poor at projecting the right image; too much time spent telling us what the others are doing wrong, rather than what they are going to do right, and as the latter is something I will readily credit UKIP with (whether I believe their policies will work/are to be carried out or not) I'm surprised at the very nature of the advert displayed. By the way, they will, in fact, probably get my vote, simply because I believe it's a time for change.

Thanks for the clarification 3g. As for writing their copy, pass on my details. That advert is a marketing disaster in so many ways.

I thought it was '...off to see a man about a dog....'

The costings in relation to the repssessions etc, malcolm? We can only take the information given, as is always the case, but I see no reason to doubt them. Or do you mean the costings in the help to buy scheme?

I would argue the scheme, and the continuing low interest rate, has helped a great deal. Reposession rates last year were the lowedt for a long time, as were mortgage arrears figures. We can't get awsy from the fact that, no matter the consequences, new homes are needed, so we need to look at ways to accommodate them practically.

When all is said and done, Maggie, the people who buy these houses can clearly afford it. Getting a mortgage these days is no easy matter, and the lenders are extremely strict. I agree with you about the massaged population figures, and the lack of investment point simply cannot be argued with, but the town still offers combination of elements that are attractive to families.

What I'm asking, Threegee, is whether UKIP approached the sit and asked to place an advert, or whether it was put up by a moderator at their decision?

Yeah, I've googled it and so far not one comes close. Now, who do we ask who would know these things?

keep on working your ticket Maggie, too few do!

mmm, that advert box on the right, the one that's there on the home page, I wasn't aware it was a platform for promoting the moderator's political preferences. In the name of fair play, can we have adverts for the labour party, conservatives, lib dems, greens, and whoever else might be out there? Political discussion on these boards I am wholeheartedly in favour of; 3G promoting UKIP in the advertising space I am not.....unless, of course, they paid for it

If I knew what any of this meant I might be excited!

"depending on the section being lit, you "may" have a loophole?" I'm pretty certain it's lit, will check later. My mum's Ford ka wouldn't reach 70 in that distance. I'm more interested in the original point, which was could it be the shortest stretch of dual carriageway? I mean, it's what, a couple of hundred yards at best?