threegee

The UK have more than twice as many as the entire USA, and is a World leader in? Newcastle have 18 of? Ashington have 3 of? Cramlington have 5 of? ..and Bedlington only have one of (the same as Afghanistan and Egypt)?

Apache stopped delivering pages. Ditto to about 40+ other sites. Wasn't noticed because everything else was working and the status panel said that Apache was running OK and gave it a green. Someone from over the water had to e-mail me to point out the prob. Shame on you Bedlington! Sorry - a full refund is in the post.

Uuummm that must have been moi then! One of the very few posts I've seen absolutely no merit in. This despite the lame attempt at self-censorship by way of the casual use of the asterisk key. Despite proximity, the very latest own acquaintance with The MT would have been circa 1989/90 (lunch-time menu only). I hereby promise to remedy this appalling oversight any month soon, and will report thereon from the zimmer frame perspective. Otherwise... count me totally out-of-the-loop, multiple thinly veiled expletives in postings excepted.

Three points here: Flotation: You can't sell something to those who already own it - the members! As to your "Gnomes of Zurich" theory: The only other person I knew who benefited from the flotation lived in a council house in Blyth and was "on the social"! I advised her not to sell, but after a while the temptation became too much. She did OK though. Bust: They went belly-up because their forward commitments exceeded their forward borrowing powers - just like many of the customers they repossessed homes from. Essentially they put all their eggs in the interbank market, instead of spreading risk around, like any prudent borrower. If they'd stuck to their historic financing arrangments (e.g. you, me, and their other Bedlington branch customers) they'd have ridden out the storm. Shareholder's Money: No, it wouldn't have. It will have been slipped under the radar as an insignificant - but necessary, and easily affordable - contribution to the area. Compared with the astronomic sums being bandied about in the annual accounts it was indeed so. As too are the unnecessarily high directors fees chums on the board vote other chums on the board. But... margins are ultra-thin in this biz - else why close the Bedlington branch and inconvenience thousands of customers (who will need servicing anyway, if they are not to be lost) to save a few tens of thousands of pounds? In the immortal words of Mandy R-D Well they would say that, wouldn't they? By some reckoning the shareholders are wiped out several times over, and consequently so is their trustee's ill-judged investment in the mother ship. But look at the people involved, and it's easy to see why this sort of thing too frequently happens to trust funds tied to commercial organisations. Annual accounts are a statement of history past. Even at the best of times they don't reflect current trading. And, the directors of any organisation that can't meet its future liabilities are guilty of a criminal offence if they continue to trade. Naturally, I'm with the "some readers" on this one!

Precisely my point! It wasn't their money to throw around. Strictly it was attributable to shareholders who were/are taking all the risks. Did they ask the shareholders or customers to sanction this? But.. it's the (already overpaid) board who take credit for this prior beneficence. With hindsight they needed larger capital reserves. A huge misjudgement that the board should take full responsibility for. Business should be run as businesses; it's in nobody's long-term interest that it should be otherwise. Steer clear of any company that employs figure-head directors for who they are rather than what they are achieving day to day! High-rise office blocks with huge illuminated signs are another warning that even the biggest vessel is never *that* far away from the rocks when the inevitable storm breaks.

I'm not sure that there's any disagreement here. You think they used "shoddy business tactics" and I think that they betrayed their customers and betrayed our Town. On the other hand you think the "charitable" contributions are redeeming, and I think that their real (and legal) duty was to their customers and shareholders, and not the self glorification of the "great and good" on the Northern Rock board. This, ultimately, at someone else's expense. The only difference here is that I have experience of how big company politics work, and you don't! Believe me it's as mind numbingly shabby as anything our local politicians could contemplate! The "rats" on the Northern Rock board will desert the sinking ship with all the obscene fees they have "earned" safe and clear, but will never - ever - be brought to book. That's how this particular sub-system works.

Sunny Majorca from about £40 - pah!! I'm reliably told that Puglia (Apulia) is the only area of the Mediterranean with a sunshine guarantee. A really good site to book a stay is: http://medvilla.eu - give it a try fourgee! For London to Brindisi flights check: http://www.bookryanair.com/skylights/cgi-bin/skylights.cgi

Have to side with Monsta here. We might all have German Shepherds, Labradors, etc. etc. (doubtless on the "choose a pet to look like yourself" theory). But not paying homage to our local, ever-so-cute, furry friends is nothing short of sacrilege! Go wash your mouth out with Brown Ale!!

Congratulations Barry on doing 100% more than most folk ever do to research the biggest purchase they ever make in their lives. If only a few hundred other house purchasers in the area had asked the obvious questions. Not mentioning any particular estates - of course!

June 22nd: OMG my £1 is at risk then?!! Maybe this is their come-uppance for treating the local communities that they built their business on like readily expendable historic artefact's?

English Heritage I respect. As one of their inspectors once said when visiting Bedlington: "If I see yet another [council designated] Grade II Listed Building I shall scream" Someone remind me who elected our local Wansbeck Planning Committee to this task, and what authority (or qualifications) they have to tell us mere mortals what should and should not be preserved for future generations? Do any of them have the guts to come on here and defend the indefensible? Only in the UK could we suffer such a total lack of local democracy! IMHO they are a bunch of time serving, expenses garnering, non-entities, who should be held to account for the many completely wrong decisions they have made over the years. Many of these bad decisions have been to the detriment of our Town. Are there any honest members amongst this politically-tainted rabble? If so, come on here, tell the truth, and redeem yourself to future generations. There; I feel a lot better for that! :D

That was Begbie's. The late Harold Begbie, and his wife's after he died. There's a daughter somewhere.

That's because they had! System building it was called. The same sort of system that brought us Ronan Point. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/s...000/2514277.stm Except that I think you'll find that those in Bedlington were built to a lot higher standards, and hence survived much longer. Some much later private ones at Killingworth weren't! You'll find that very few who lived in them (in the early days at least) had a wrong word to say about them - and that has to be the acid test. Virtually all have been replaced now, including all the prefabs (Millfield South etc.). So... I don't think you've much of a point on this one Monsta!

It was High Alumina Cement that was used in lots of civil engineering projects - motorway bridges, school roofs etc. in the 1950's, 1960's and maybe beyond. It was used because of the strength and rigidity. What no one knew at the time was that it deteriorated very quickly under certain circumstances. Until - one day - things started to fall down! The Top Club was particularly vulnerable because of the way the architect had suspended the outside walls to extend the floor area and give it an "ultra-modern look". I'm not aware that ground stability was a factor, but if you are building again on the same site then, as an architect, you'd want to be extra extra careful in order not to get sued. Although - thinking back - maybe that's why many of the buildings on the East side of the Glebe Road were missing long before the Coooncil completed the demolition job (for the totally unnecessary dual carriage way)! And, it's from this (unnecessarily isolating part of the west end from the center) that has arisen all the problems. Now why - you might ask - was the road connecting Ashington to the smoke deemed far more important than any of the other roads going in and out of the Town? Answers on a postcard to the: "Let's Screw Bedlington - Again!" Subcommittee, WDC Council Offices, Station Road, ASHINGTON.

It all depends on who you believe whether John Braine wrote Room At The Top whilst working at Newbiggin Library. I mean wouldn't you have been "angry" having to work there in 1955? :D But, I've always believed that Newbiggin must be the ideal setting - not to mention spiritual home - of Andy & Flo. I think that if Reg Smythe had hinted it was set there, both he and the town would have benefited greatly - it's a total natural! Best thing they can do is to redress this omission and title it "Andy & Flo - the early years". Second best thing is to follow Malcom's line - "is she or isn't she?". This has worked very well for The Mona Lisa!

This isn't rocket science. Councils everywhere don't spend money unless they need to. The Hairpin Bend is no longer the busy road it once was, being long since bypassed by the SE Northumberland spine road. I can remember, many years ago, being in Bob J's car (the last Bedlington Town Surveyor?) when he'd unaccountably hit the brakes to record any potholes. The instruction would go down to fix them in the next days/weeks. Believe me - compared with other parts of the EU were I frequently "Rome" - WDC is HOT on fixing bad roads. One thing you can't fault them for!

Certainly! But only if you are a councillor on an all-expenses-paid goodwill visit! So, blame that bloody Binks clan again! Sorry Chris - err... just joking!

Only the location has been changed, and the well known character's name slightly fuzzed.

Not heard of the sequel to How Green Was My Valley? Gallagher Green My Pit-heap Now. :D

If this is - as I sort-of suspect - a Perrystone Corp. development, then no one will be able to answer this question accurately ...especially the planning authority, trade suppliers, the tax authorities, or any poor, deluded, buyers!

No, it doesn't help at all! Monsta might have been badly influenced by the devious Nick Griffin, but what Malcolm (and others) see is what I see. He cares about where he lives, and he is the FUTURE. That alone sets him apart from the other dumb ******* who visit but don't post. Twenty years hence his latent intelligence will have caught up with his raw energy, and he'll be a force in the Town. By then - if we are alive at all - we'll be voting as we always voted, because that's what we always did!

You wouldn't need to pay entry fees if you said you were the reporter from the Town's website and were doing a write-up on the club! You'd be doing them (and the Town) a favour. A special seat and free refreshments are the norm, but I wouldn't push it until you have an established reporting record! Turn your printer on and here you go: __________________________ ** PRESS PASS ** __________________________ WWW.BEDLINGTON.CO.UK Official Sports Reporter __________________________ .

No other town has this amount of free parking so conveniently placed. The ones at the West end of the Front Street are quite pretty too. And.. before the disparaging remarks about well that no one uses them because there's nowt to do, nowhere to shop - that's would be a gross exaggeration.

Plentiful UNCROWDED pubs would be a plus to a lot of people. Don't you mean sun parasols? :D

I Am the Walrus.