Canny lass

Same here, Pete, now, but it was nearer 1-2 this morning at 6am.

Good morning 2022! How are we all feeling this morning? Be honest:

Happy New Year to all members. I was thinking about wishing you all good health and great happiness but beggar that, I just hope you all win the lottery! A bit of advice for this evening's festivities: If you're having wine, open the bottle to let it breathe. If it's not breathing, give it mouth to mouth!

New Year’s Eve or not, it’s still Friday. Here we are, on the brink of yet another new year and the pandemic is still very much alive and kicking. Who would have thought it possible, 10 April 1920, when I started posting a quiz to break the week up and keep the old grey matter ticking over and pliable. Once again it’s time to recap and take stock of anything we may have learned that might just come in useful one day. Get your thinking caps on! If you get this out of the way now, you’ll still have plenty of time to celebrate the arrival of 2022 - carefully and at a safe distance, of course. 2021 New Year Special: Are polar bears right-handed or left-handed? According to his business card, what was the profession of Al Capone? Golf balls were originally made of leather but what were they stuffed with? What was unusual about the way in which author Raymond Chandler’s wife did the housework? When was the first book on plastic surgery written? How many times an hour can a desert rat have sex? What did Florence Nightingale keep in her pocket during the Crimean War? At how many steps per minute does the Foreign Legion march? Beethoven, Casanova, George V. Which of them was a Freemason? At what age can a male eskimo be taught to smoke a pipe? For what offence was James Watt twice arrested? In which country was a referendum held to decide the placement of a public toilet? Only male canaries can sing . true or false? Maps of which country showed the capital city a few miles from it’s true position in order to confuse guided-missile programmers? Which English poet was once thought to be a French spy? Are scorpions immune to their own poison? Which racing circuit is built on abandoned RAF runways? How many minutes a day does the average newborn baby spend crying? Who introduced the table fork to England? Who played the piano in the Hollies’ hit He aint heavy, he’s my brother? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Kangaroos cannot jump if their tails are lifted off the ground. Answers on Thursday next week.

Not wishing to sound like a diva, or anything of that nature but ... about time too! It's completely stolen my moment of glory, my thunder, my accolade! 😡

@Harvs72 I think you can take that gentleman's claim with a decent pinch of salt. I agree with Eggy. I've lived in both the Hartlands and the West Lea estates and I've been a guest in West Lea and I've never heard of any such thing. @Maggie/915 have you heard anything about this?

Now that's what I call recycling! Well done, Malcolm.

Answers to last week's Christmas special: Rocking Around the Christmas Tree Going carol-singing at Christmas (not to be confused with ‘Orchard wassailing’ which has nothing to do with Christmas. A Pagan mid-winter festival celebrated in Norse mythology The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come A button January 6 16th century Flying Fish Cove A goat Eight maids a milking Clockwise Olympia was a snow-woman Capricorn Santa Baby A cactus Female. Males shed their antlers in November and are without them until Spring False Miss Fanny Bright Theodore Roosevelt 1920s New Year special tomorrow when we can see if, and how much, our learning curve has improved or otherwise.

Nice to see you're still around! We're a tough lot us Bedlingtonians! Have a really good Christmas, Brian.

Merry Xmas everybody! It's all over bar the shouting here. We're bout to take a break from eating and watch Donald Duck so here's the Christmas quiz to keep you busy for a while: In which Christmas song can you find the words “Everyone dancing merrily in the new old-fashioned way”? What is wassailing? Before being connected with Christmas, what was Yule? What is the name of the last ghost that visits Scrooge in A Christmas Carol? What is Frosty the Snowman’s nose made out of? Among Christians who lived in the East when was Christmas originally celebrated? In what century was Christmas first written as Xmas? What is the Capital of Christmas Island? What does Santa ride on in Finland? According to the Christmas song, what did my true love give to me on the eighth day of Christmas? In which direction should you stir the Christmas pudding mix if you want to avoid bad luck, clockwise or anticlockwise? Apart from being the world’s largest, what was unusual about the snowman named Olympia? Under which zodiac sign are you born if your birthday is December 25th? What popular Christmas song did Eartha Kitt record in 1953? The Grinch is as cuddly as a what? Are Santa’s reindeer male or female? In Japan, Santa is said to live on the moon. True or false? In the song Jingle Bells who was seated by my side? Which American president banned Christmas trees from the White House? In what decade did Coca-Cola start using Santa Clause in adverts? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. (and maybe you’d rather not) Caga Tío (the shitting log) is an integral part of a Catalonian Christmas. Starting December 8, children feed a log of wood every evening with morsels of food and cover it with a blanket to keep it warm. On Christmas Eve they leave the log alone and go to another room and pray for a lot of presents. On returning, they sing songs to the log while beating the living daylights out of it with big sticks and telling it to “shit”. The bewildered log obliges with sweets, nuts, small toys and the Catalonian delicacy Turron nougat. Believe me, it’s a sight to behold! Here is one of their songs (translated to English) for you to enjoy and get you into the spirit of Christmas: Shit Tió, Hazlenuts and nougats, Don’t shit herrings, they are too salty, they are too salty. Shit nougat, it tastes better, Shit tió, almonds and nougat, and if you don’t want to shit I’ll hit you with my stick! Shit tió!

Answers to last week's quiz: Denmark Spandau Aniseed Green 27 Mercury 1971 A gift TO the city of Troy Bramall Teddy Boys Scapa Flow Crossbow North Polish Christmas special tomorrow.

That door I remember!

There was definitely a door of some kind. I was presuming it led to the stage (for the purpose of entrances and exits). It could equally well have been a large cupboard as Mrs Jobson kept a large box of equipment behind the door.

Well, the leader's office door opened left to right and the lounge door was on the right of the room and I think there was a door in the corner of the table tennis room giving access to the stage. But that's splitting hairs. Good job, well done!

My mouth is watering! Have you managed to get a turkey? I heard on the news here today that Norfolk turkey farmers can't get any of the native population to slaughter their turkeys. They rely on european, seasonal workers for the job and Brexit has put a stop to that. Heard later in the day that 5 000 emergency work permits are being granted.

Denzel, I think you may be misunderstanding what I’m saying, namely that Bedlington has a ”villagey feel” to it. I am not saying that Bedlington IS a ”village”. Surely, with a population of almost 18 500, a well-defined boundary, its own local government and a wider built-up area than Bamburgh (which is a village), Bedlington, falls clearly into the category of town, rather than village as YOU are now calling it. You mention ”all the shit pubs, barbers, takeaways, tattoo parlours and supermarkets”. Being a woman of mature years and discerning taste I cannot claim to have personally frequented any of the establishments you mention in your resume, so I’ll just have to take the word of your good self, who clearly has. Never the less, it must be said, that I haven’t needed to go without an alcoholic beverage, a cup of coffee, a take-away meal or even a wash & blow dry on my visits and I’ve been able to do so in in places that weren’t at all displeasing – at least to my taste (or indeed those of many European friends who have on occasions accompanied me). Tatoo parlours in Bedlington, I can’t comment on. Never having visited them I am not at all qualified to comment on them. However, I have noticed over the years, the increasing number of tattoo parlours and I have previously commented that increase on this very forum. You classify them as ”shit” and I presume you are speaking from personal experience rather than hearsay. You may well be right but have you noticed that these ”shit” establishments are thriving and surviving so they must be doing something right. Good marketing research and catering well for their clientelle, perhaps? That probably goes for the ”shit” pubs, barbers, take-aways and supermarkets as well but it’s better than seeing them boarded up and disused . That would totally destroy the villagey feel. It seems there’s something for everybody in Bedlington. Perhaps we should have a new town motto ’All tastes and types catered for’.

Naughty!

Not a separate entity as far as I remember. The cloakroom and loos were in the same room. basically a row of coat hooks on the wall and a full length mirror. Toiletsin the ladies occupied the same site as the showers in the gents.

I believe that Mr Ruddy's office was the second door on the left side. There was one door before that which I think was a store room. I've vague recollections of filling the snack bar from there.

I remember it exactly as Pete describes it and there was one other larger room behind the cafeteria. I don't know what its original purpose was but Mrs Jobson occasionally organised something just for us girls in there.

Bl...dy papperazzi! Just like them to catch me in last year's frock!

I was only ever in the new building.

Friday again! Time to give the old bumps of knowledge their weekly airing: Which country joined the European Community on the same day as Britain and Ireland? Which prison was demolished after the death of its last inmate, Rudolf Hess? Of what do Fennel leaves taste? What colour light do ships display at night on the starboard side? What is the square root of 729? Any alloy referred to as an ‘amalgam’ must always contain which metal? When was the decimal currency introduced in Britain? The Trojan Horse, was it a gift TO or FROM the city of Troy? Which ‘Lane’ do Sheffield united play at? What nickname was given to young men in the 1950s who wore mock Edwardian fashions? Where was the German fleet scuttled in 1919? What sort of weapon was an arbalest? Bonus question: What is Santa Clause’s first language? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Winston Churchill and Clement Atlee had the same nanny. Answers on Thursday next week.

That would probably be about the time I moved away from the area.

Yes Denzel, villagey – as far as the feel of it is concerned. OK, I’ll grant you that, because of the gap site, the Market place hasn’t given me the best ’villagey feel’ in recent years but the main street i find quite pleasant with its shops and cafes and its proximity to Gallagher Park and Atlee Park gives me a feeling of being in the countryside with all its lovely, leafy woodland walks. On top of this, there are some nice stop-offs for enjoying a relaxing drink while, or after, doing the Heritage Trail – something which, in my humble opinion, ought to be developed and shouted about more. The ’villagey feel’ has, for me, been enhanced with the introduction of the present homogeneity in shop frontage, bus-shelters, flower-planters and railings. A very nice ’villagey’ touch, if i may say so. All in all, I find the main street to be a pretty little 'villagey' enclave in the greater picture of Bedlingtonshire, particularly when it’s decked with flowers during the summer months. Sometimes, living in a place can make us blind to its attractions.