mobius

Nice sensitive remark for his family to see Monsta! Who will ever be able to say for sure what his state of mind or health was? It could well be that he was preoccupied and didn't see the train coming, or suffered some kind of medical emergency in the wrong place at the wrong time. Stranger things have happened.

It's been described as a tragic accident, which I can understand. I think the crossing involved doesn't have any barriers, only lights, so it'd be quite easy to be caught out when a train's approaching.

Ho Sanderson, the property developer who was behind Hartford Hall Estate, has died after being hit by a train:

My link

His businesses had been placed in admininstration after Wansbeck Council pursued a prosecution in connection with flouting planning laws in relation to his redevelopment of the Hartford Hall.

I wonder if the Hall gates will ever be replaced?

Another first for Bedlington.co.uk

http://www.bedlington.co.uk/2010/03/academy-school-proposed-for-bedlington/

Could be a good thing if it helps improve education provision in Bedlingtonshire, but there are a lot of questions which will need to be addressed.

Would the school be a replacement for Bedlington High School, or exist in competition with it?

Who would run it? Charities/religious institutions? What would the ethos of the school be?

Academic selection? Would it cream off the best performing students (read the more 'middle class' ones) and leave the rest languishing in the state comp?

There's probably no-one here who hasn't seen Cerebus, the blue aardvark who has graced the concrete wall of the bridge over the spine road for over 20 years.

see photo here

Well, never say the Council don't get their man - he's now been painted over. A terrible shame.

They can. The very fact that everything they claim is based upon 'models' should give you a clue - man made global warmin is a theory that is being presented as fact.

... along with gravity, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, quantum theory ... ect ect ect

Merlin I think that is an intriguing question which throws up a multiplicity of answers. On a straight theoretical level we live in a democracy therefore whatever the majority of people want and vote for should be enacted. The fact that the majority of people throughout Northumberland did not vote for a single unitary authority yet we now have one in control speaks volumes!

Most people in the Castle Morpeth district voted for a single council, and the vote split in the Wansbeck district was less than 1 per cent.

I voted for a single authority in the 2004 referendum and, for the moment, am glad it has come into being. I thought that by cutting off and amalgamating the poorest parts of the county into one (South East Northumberland) would be a disaster for Bedlington, and I still believe this. If you imagine the town struggles to make its voice heard against Ashington and Newbiggin, how would it fair when joined with Blyth and Cramlington, the two largest towns in the county?

Just received a very interesting email, can anybody shed any more light on it?

I'm not going to comment upon how this person acquired a title 'Lord of Bedlington'. A brief search through Burke's and the College of Arms Register shows no existing title by this name although with more detailed research I may be proved wrong. It sounds like a title attached to a manorship - a lord of the manor (which is purchased not inherited) akin to that held by the boxer Chris Eubank. The holder is the lord of the manor, but is not a peer and cannot be styled as 'Lord X'.

There was a manorship of Bedlington, and the title (land) deeds were held by various families before being absorbed into the Palatinate of Durham. They were bought by Robert Fenwick, MP for Northumberland in 1649 from the Bishop. After the Restoration, the land deeds went back to the Bishop. I can't find any reference since then.

Rumour has it that the law courts are set to close with court employees being asked whether they would prefer to travel to either the courts in Newcastle or Gateshead.

If that is the case what is to happen to the building there? It hasn't even been there for ten years yet has it? Could this be our fabled Leisure Centre?

Who's the source for this rumour? I'm suspicious.

Should it be true, we should arrange a mass show of criminal behaviour to keep the court in business.

A tremendous find Owen!

Hard to believe it's all gone.

Sorry for the terminology mistake. The fact remains that the BBC supremos are! Source: the Beeb itself. An open admission of the News Channel when challenged by two concerned members of the public that word has gone down that it is no longer necessary to provide a balanced view. Day-to-day policy? What in reality does that mean? If there is a general directive as to unbalanced conduct then how can you have a balanced day-to-day policy?

And who vets those applications? Not the viewing public I'd wager?

I'm not privy to the process through which senior appointments are made to the BBC, but in common with all major public institutions I would guess lay members play a role.

It is weighted to economists because it's about economic policy. It is avowedly politically neutral and has cross-party support, and it doesn't take money from either side.

Although the GWPF are a private organization and not under obligation to produce public accounts, they refuse to release details of their funding. This lack of transparency lays open the charge that their input an any debate about climate change will be coloured by their paymasters.

It would be nigh impossible not to have anyone who mattered who wasn't somehow involved at some time with some commercial interest. c.f. our Parliament. It's not about the scientific or pseudo scientific arguments, but what to actually do in the light of available hard evidence. There are countless links I could have included, but I think this was the most practical one at a time when Gordon is in Copenhagen saving the world (again), and pledging billions of future tax revenue he hasn't got, and never will have!

Indeed, I suspect the prospect of a global environmental tax levy is what prompted the GWPF into action. Nigel Lawson has made numerous speeches on this, often couching his arguments in terms of scientific doubt in order to make his case.

Very tricky, but you have to start somewhere. The point of the post is to point out that you shouldn't accept someone else's pre-digested truth - especially from an organisation that is no longer prepared to present a balanced view.

But what if that person were an expert, with considerable knowledge and skill who had spent many years to arrive at that truth? Should not the overall balance be weighted in deference to their truth rather than one rashly cobbled together and given over to little critical appraisal?

In terms of climate change, I understand and appreciate there are a range of views and interpretations held by scientists and non-scientists alike. Over 90 % of climate researchers hold that man-made emissions are causing the planet's temperature to rise, but this drops to a far lower percentage in the (UK) public at large. Now, how should a debate be framed to account for such a diversity of opinion?

Whose opinion is more valid, the technocrat or the layman?

Something to bear in mind when you are subjected to the constant pictures of melting ice, and people living in precarious river deltas etc., is that the BBC Governors have decided. They have decided that there is now no need to make a pretence to balance. That lots of scientists hold a quite different view is something we are not to be burdened with.

The BBC hasn't had governors for almost three years. The Board of Governors was abolished in place of the BBC Trust and its activities are overseen by a Board of Trustees. It is not within the Trustees' remit to determine the day-to-day editorial policy of BBC News.

the tree-huggers at the Beeb are given full reign, senior staff can no longer steer the Corporation back to a middle of the road view. Time I think to get rid of the BBC Governors and replace them with a democratically elected board properly representative of the people they serve

Vacant positions at the BBC Trust are publicly advertized and open to competitive application by members of the public.

If you want a balanced view of what's going on then you could do a lot worse than visit http://www.thegwpf.org/who-we-are.html These prominent people aren't on the government payroll, and they aren't on the payroll of energy companies either!

Errr...yes they are! This is Lord Lawson's outfit, barely a fortnight old, which has recently come to public attention following the release of e-mail communications at UEA. It can hardly be described as balanced - it merely promotes a mirrored agenda to those who affirm climate change as a result of human activity. This is the same Nigel Lawson who, from 1995 -- 2003, served as President of the British Association of Energy Economics whose activities are heavily supported by BP and Royal Dutch Shell and other such companies. Many of the other GWPF members (a lot of economists, I see) are also involved in front organizations lobbying on behalf of oil companies (especially Ian Pilmer.)

And kids, don't believe everything you are told in the classroom. Your teachers are following the government line - or worse! To get at the truth you'll have to start looking into this for yourselves. It's not easy, but you'll find that the junk you are being fed won't stand up to close examination, and that your teachers could be very wrong!

As an academic and scientist I quite agree, but scrutinizing the truth from the junk is a tricky business and depends heavily upon whoever performs the examination.

It seems a worthwhile endeavour fully deserving of the town's support.

I have some experience in organizing public events (steam and vintage vehicle shows) and for any advice I can give on marketing and/or drumming up exhibits/shows/stalls you're welcome to 'pick my brains'.

This doesn't surprise me - the endless strictures and rules are Byzantine in the extreme. In many cases, if an edit introducing new material cannot be supported by a web reference found within two minutes on Google, the information is removed, even if backed up by printed references.

On the other hand, there are thousands of errors throughout the site. I should know, I introduced a minor one years ago on a page that still remains - it was even included in an article in the Daily Mail

Yet another business is pulling out of Bedlington, when will it end?

Those with accounts at the Leeds Building Society (olim the Mercantile Building Soc.) will have received notice of the decision to close the Bedlington front street branch on the 27th February 2010, and are directed to use the branches conveniently located in Morpeth and Blyth. This comes shortly after the closure of the Barclays branch too.

http://www.morpeth.co.uk/

Oooh first Joanna Lumley opens their fancy new shopping centre and now this.

Will I need to wear a jacket and tie before I browse the forums?

Finally

Ok, where`s this?

Is it the CIU Club?

What kind of banner is this? Church banner? Trade union banner? Web site image?

Should you change your mind or not?

Yes, you should swap. This is a well known puzzle, commonly called the Monty Hall Problem

Helen Savage, wine correspondent for The Journal, used to be vicar of St Cuthbert's Church.

http://www.helensavage.com

John Trewick (b 1957), football coach for Hereford United

Sir Al Aynsley-Green, Children's Commissioner for England

Not present day, but the Rev'd Charles Whitley, who retired to be vicar of St Cuthbert's was one of the founders of the University of Durham.

Professor Charles Saint (b 1886), medical practitionner in Sark, founded the Professor Charles Saint Medical Trust.

Bedlington - we've got a Tesco now. I know, Tesco! That's got to count for something, surely? I mean it's almost like we're a real place.

a couple to draw the tourists in:

Historic Bedlington - birthplace of William Shakespeare and Harry Potter *.

or

Come to Bedlington, Alnwick Garden's shut

* check this before publication.

Attractions include:

• steam traction engines
  
• vintage tractors
  
• classic and vintage cars
  
• military & commercial vehicles
  
• classic & vintage motorbikes
  
• stationary engines
  
• craft & trade stalls
  
• children's fairground rides
  

Well it seems we now have a Town Council instead of a Parish council? What is the difference........the councillors get to elect a mayor. Take a bow Councillor Pegg errr....... Mayor of West Bedlington Town Council.

http://www.newspostleader.co.uk/latest/Par...atus.5434673.jp

Hmmmm. The article refers to a 'South Bedlington', as far as I'm aware, there is only North, East and West Bedlington.

Yes they can respresent both wards it is allowed. Hope this helps

T

Thanks. It strikes me as a little 'odd' though, and not something I agree with.

http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=4631

Thanks for posting the link. I've been looking through these, and noticed at two candidates (R Major) and (A Pegg) have been elected to represent both West Bedlington and East Bedlington (Sleekburn) wards.

Is this allowed? If not, do they have to give up one of their seats to another candidate? Does there have to be another election? As ever the county council web site is hopeless.

M.