Malcolm Robinson

As part of the project a mobile exhibition, (or trailer!) goes around the local schools doing workshops and exhibiting items from Woodhorn and Beamish for the school children to work with. Inside we have a projector screen where videos can be shown. Bearing in mind the target audience is around 8yrs old I think the videos are exceptional and well done everyone involved. Also many thanks to Foxy for supplying me with the original pictures. Here is the first video, more to follow!

We went one better Keith!!!!!!!!!!!! As Part of the Bedlington Heritage Project. Story will be in the history section. Many thanks to the Fox for supplying me with the pics.

Ah.... back online after frantic calls to my ISP, or IT Support Mumbai, only to get this quality service!

So nowt ta de with supporting the Toon then Sym!

I thought it was the Lord Mayors new entrance!

Substitute crisps for the sugar Brian and you have something.

And the Cambois name...one idea is that it was a French owned Island here but where?

What's the crack with the cycles John? I knew nowt about them.

Never come across that word John....thanks.

Would it be 007?

Thanks Pete/Keith, I have suggested standing down as a mod, as did another mod standing for election. The feeling is that we should continue and the other mods plus admin will moderate any personal posts we might put up! Let's be quite clear, anything I say for the next month is me saying it and it shouldn't be attributed to anyone or anything else! I have 3 political parties to take on, it's going to be quite a fight.

That's one of the real problems Cyril. Until we get some latitude on rents and rates then I am afraid ALL smaller market towns are in for a pasting. Maybe rates should be assessed on footfalls instead of simply square footage and possibly take small payers out all together? I also think there might be deals to be worked on with owners so they can charge less by way of rents but get some allowance another way? The new shops being built as part of the Tesco development, I know I know!, are supposed to be for start up businesses. Easy in easy out and low costs. At some point someone is going to have to pull the plug.....we have waited on Tescos long enough! Time to put up or shut up!

Still there as far as I know Adam. The Mathews Project? Hope it is I put my green ASDA ticket into that box! Plus East Bedlington Parish Council have baled out the school breakfast club a couple of times as far as I know! 21st century, first world country, makes you kinda wonder!

Speaking to a Tesco's employee yesterday as she tried to get me to use the new auto tills I suggested that insisting on using a checkout with a human being on might in fact save jobs. That was dismissed as being irrelevant and the fact that no jobs had been lost was testament to that. I asked how many checkouts was she now running and the answer was none she was just helping punters use the new auto ones. I suggested she might like to look at it slightly differently and see she was actually running 6 checkouts herself! I said if I really wanted an impersonal service I could do it online and then Tesco's would probably get what it wants, a fully automated distribution centre. Sorry but if we really only have service sector jobs to provide employment then at least lets have some people working in them. I would rather pay a fraction higher and see people employed than help multi nationals like Tesco reduce costs and pass on bigger dividends to their shareholders.

Non Domestic rates are set by central gov. at the moment and only collected by local councils to be passed on. Soon that changes and councils will be able to set ,collect and keep their businesses rates. WE WILL LOOSE OUT AGAIN WHEN THAT HAPPENS! How can Northumberland, which has consistently failed to attract any decent sized new businesses and even seen ones here fold, compete with the likes of Newcastle council (Teams) or Gateshead council (the Metrocentre) in terms of rates incomes. At the moment we get a small share of that take soon we get nowt! Unless someone negotiates something special on our behalf the county will soon be relegated to third world status!

It seems clear now the Eurozone is haemorrhaging money, or investment. Where once foreign investment felt safe, now after the completely mishandled Cyprus debacle they obviously no longer feel the same. Record levels of financial repatriation are increasingly apparent. France's new President is now the least popular in 30 years, quite a feat in itself after the despised Sarkozy! His new finance minister has just announced he is actually a tax evader and yet another one of the ministers has admitted to stashing money in the Cayman Islands! Do as I say not as I do! Constitutional court in Portugal just decreed the hitherto agreed Troika imposed Portuguese austerity measures are illegal. Hardly surprising politicians and bankers have such low esteem in public opinion. How long can the Euro hang on or will Merkle etc back it into oblivion? That will be us in oblivion not them of course!

Want to see who is standing in the Parish elections: Parish Nominations.pdf Similarly the County elections: County Nominations (1).pdf

Vienna 1873 John, so just a wee bit before my time! Nice to get them back though!

The real problem I have is that it looks like everyone has just given up when you see the state of our small market towns. I think that's down to a lack of imagination and innovation by all sorts of people who have vested interests in our towns. A single example. Even when new life is attempted to be breathed into our market place with a weekly market the powers that be have allowed it to disintegrate into a second-hand car boot sale. Where there was once a half decent market (discounted rents for a while!) using new liveried stalls (we paid for!) it now looks like a dump! Plus all that new stone flags etc are now having vehicles driven over them and in some instances parked on them in complete contempt to what was stated at the time the recent marketplace revamp took place. The Town Council has had this brought to their attention on several occasions the result, its got worse!

Welcome Anna, see friendly bunch here.

If I was a quid behind you Keith I would be half a dollar in front of where I am now!

Lets retire to the smoking room Brett and leave the plebs to amuse themselves.

Nice John.....

Northumbria Police are organising a grave side Memorial Service which is open to all members of the public, it will be conducted by the Northumbria Police Force Chaplin at 3.00pm Monday 15th April in West Lea Cemetery. The service will be held at / near the memorial stone which is located in the old part of the cemetery adjacent to two large conifer trees. (To the left of the main driveway). The Memorial Service will take place to mark the centenary of the murders.