angechica

Hi - anyone know what's going on up there? Thing seem to happen quite randomly since the Sustrans path was built ... a few new bins, picnic tables appear... A few weeks ago a digger dumped some boulders and asphalt at the top. This week containers have appeared housing tools and the steep hill to the south east side is being dug up. Haven't seen any planning applications posted anywhere either on the county website or on lamp posts or anything. It seems they have carte blanche to do what they like up there in any case as they let the bike club create a track in the middle of the woods (not that I think this is a bad thing particularly), just wonder what's going on. My only worry would be if they are building a proper surfaced path up the hill it would make it more appealing for the clampets who ride motorbikes around... who already cause great annoyance on the Free Wood path.

Walked today from the Humford Mill car park to the weir upstream from there along the north bank of the River Blyth. There is a ruined bridge just before the weir. Does anyone know anything about the history of the weir and the bridge as I have drawn a blank. It looks like the bridge carried pipes across the river. There is plenty written about the ironworks but of course that is much further downstream. I like this section of the river and often wonder why not many people use it when it is so much prettier than Plessey Woods. it is especially pretty at this time of year. I know the riverside path is not marked as a a public right of way on any map. TIA for any info.

Just written the below today. I am really sad and angry :(. Thanks to that driver and family for reducing me to tears on Mothers Day. Made me think there are some really nasty people out in the world today, and sadly I was too upset to get his number plate. I doubt he reads bedlington.co.uk but there you go. To: Local County Councillors Northumbria Police Sustrans Friends of Gallagher Park While enjoying the new cycle path through Gallagher Park in Bedlington and very much appreciating its creation, I have a serious complaint to make about the use of the path by cars on weekends when fooball teams are playing on the pitches. The resurfacing of the track means that drivers are now able to get along there much faster than they used to. While jogging along the path with my dog today I shouted at one driver to "slow down, slow down" That is all I said. I was scared that the driver was going to hit my dog. Unfortunately I then received a mouthful of abuse from the driver, obviously an unpleasant character who was probably most aggrieved that someone had dared to question his God-given right to drive along the cycle path in his big shiny 4WD and everyone else having to get out his way! He said he was only doing 20mph but in my opinion this is still too fast! I then witnessed a family attempting to cycle on the path having to get out of the way for drivers as the path is not wide enough for safe passing. Could I urge you strongly now to install speed humps on the road and 5mph/10mph hour signs along the road to deter drivers from going too fast along this road - BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT! We have been taking our son along there to learn to ride his bike - unfortunately the car traffic on the path at the weekend mean that it is too much of a hazard. This will be deterring the users it is meant to encourage - pedestrians and cyclists and making the track "out of bounds" for great chunks of the weekend. It's not been put there for the benefit of football parents!!! I will be finding out contact details for the managers of the football clubs who use the park at the weekends (if you know how I can do this I would be really grateful for any information you might have) and writing to them to urge parents to drive carefully on the track. The disgusting litter and broken glass around the park and surrounding common lands is another issue I feel strongly about; as someone with a dog and 3 year old who would like to enjoy the green spaces it provides safely. If FOGP want better leisure services at this site then it will need to investigate funding and development of separate access for cars. It would be a shame if such a forward-thinking initiative to improve walking and cycling access around Bedlington was hijacked by road traffic. I look forward to hearing from you to find out what actions you plan to take to improve this situation. Yours sincerely

Another update on the cycle path through Gallagher Park. The top surface went on this week and we have been out Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the little 'un on his bike - it's been great! I've been really heartened to see quite a few people using the track, families and kids with bikes, etc. One person turned to me and said "what a lovely transformation" . It has been resurfaced all the way to the police station so is now a fantastic route to the front street from Bedlington Station. I believe they are going to put a crossing on our road as well which has pleased me no end as I have complained to the police more than once about idiots who tear along the road at 40-50 mph. A couple of minor gripes. Friday afternoon an off-road motorbike was already being a nuisance on the new track, idiot giving small child a backie on it without helmet too . I have posted before moaning about the bikes, I know, and I guess if they have to use it I just wish it could be be later in the evening when children are not using the track. Also yesterday and today the football parents and players have been using the track as a car park and blocking it. While I appreciate there is a large part of the current car park fenced off with piles of gravel still there, the track urgently needs bollards at the gate and possibly also adjacent to the children's play area. Now that the road leading from the police station is pothole free (unlike the rest of our roads hey?) the cars are coming along quite fast - again unsafe for kids and dogs - and I wondered if there are plans to put any cycle friendly speed humps on it to prevent this happening? Hopefully Phillipa will read this and advise.

You would think, wouldn't you. They have been built on the same foundations of the old houses thus enabling the relatively quick build times - no idea about the build quality but you get a generous sized house and many of them have fantastic big garden plots. Unlike the £200k box with a shoebox-sized garden you get in the new build private estates! I had heard that there would be quite strict rules about taking care of the new properties and tenants who didn't would be evicted? I was also told the same tenants would be moved back in after the builds which I found surprising. I would not like to generalise for all the tenants but there is a small minority who seem to be up all night banging and smashing things (often provoking my hubby and I to wonder what are they DOING?) and playing their duf-duf music. They also like to chuck stuff over into my allotment plot eg vodka bottles and scrap metal and indeed ruined my greenhouse by doing this! These are well known "problem" tenants & it seems totally crazy of the housing association to let them loose on these nice new properties! Oh well, I expect the Tories will insist on flogging them off some time in the not too distant future.

Thank you Malcolm. That is interesting to hear. I will try and find out more about the parish council. A couple of years ago I saw some "community payback" people at work at the QE country park at Woodhorn; they were improving the paths and creating fishing access for disabled people. These are teams of offenders who are tasked to do "improving" work in the community - they wear a big jacket that says "Community Payback" on them ! At the time I thought; wouldn't that be a good idea if they could do a similar project at the pit heap? They could at least pick the litter (which is grim) and improve the paths. I went as far as contacting the probation service and finding out how to submit a project. There seemed to be quite a few hoops to jump through... I am also in touch with FOGP and have written to Ian Lavery about improving amenities in Bedlington and Bedlington Station. But I was quite interested in the community payback idea as it seemed a way to improve things without having to spend council money. I have all these good intentions and then life gets in the way! We have work, a small child and no local relatives - I would love to get more involved in community stuff but just have so little time! But if anyone would be interested to get in touch with the contacts I have please do feel free to contact me.

The cycle route through Gallagher park is looking good - I live near the access from Station road and am so pleased that access from this end is going to be much improved and a pleasant way to walk or cycle to town. Is it going to be resurfaced all the way to the police station, does anyone know? A few dog poo bins wouldn't go amiss, and a younger kid's play park (wishful thinking)... I hope things like this can encourage more families to use our leisure spaces. I took my kid to Dr Pit Park recently on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon and we were the only ones there! We go to Humford woods, Hapenny woods etc. a lot and we rarely see any other families out and about. Am I the only person in this town who doen't want my kid to grow up stuck to an X box?

Let me guess ... the funding needed to be matched by Northumberland County Council and they've withheld it!? I kind of guessed that would be the case. What a shame - the bridge would have opened up a lot of new circular routes. Not sure what you mean by parenting issue Phillipa. As a parent who lives on a busy road without a garden I need to seek out safe places to cycle for my family. Unfortunately most weekends, in the summer months at least, the buzz bikes will make it unsafe to cycle (or walk!) along the riverside path with a small child. Obviously this will discourage families from cycling down there, thereby defeating the entire point of the route and turning it into a big white elephant. The only (legal!) course of action I can think of is to phone the police every time I catch them down there. If we can encourage more people to cycle down there & be vigilant, plus get some more awareness of its existence, we may be able to turn it into a nice amenity. I will contact you direct to see if I can help.

Thank you for the update Phillipa. I am sorry there have been funding issues. As far as I understood (and I voted for Sustrans) the Peoples Lottery grant of 50 million that Sustrans won was carved up around the country and this funding was ring fenced and safe... I wonder if there is any way that kids can be discouraged from riding stupid little motorbikes on the new tracks. Some kind of barrier? On the riverside path they can be a menace. We take our dog there a lot and I used to go there a lot with my son when he was a baby because it is accessible for pushchairs. On one occasion one of the idiots rode straight at me, with the baby in the pram. A well aimed kick from my hubby did deter him but still... I am looking forward to taking my son there to practice learning to cycle but it's just not safe if these motorbikes are around.

That is, I assume it is the Sustrans money being used? If so the route does not match the maps you have posted earlier Fourgee. Anyone know what the outcome will be? I tried emailing Sustrans about it and got no reply.

Work is well under way I see. The path along the river from Furnace Bank has been improved. I am really looking forward to a new accessible path through Gallagher Park. http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/connect2/schemes/the-north-east/bedlington-and-cramlington-connection