Cyril

I think it's time to reflect on the fact that these two men were extremists; the majority of muslims are decent law-abiding people. tarring all with the same brush is wrong, as would be boycotting muslim-run shops. I can understand people mistrusting muslims as they have been the perpetrators o some heinous crimes - after all my mother still detests the Germans and the Japanese - but there is a danger of over-reaction when such vicious attacks come to light. let's take a step back, and consider that the Islamic Council roundly condemned the incident yesterday.

Well said..... we live in a multi cultural society and its how its going to be regardless of how individuals feel.

If it was,nt for doctors and nurses etc who are all ethenticitys were would the health service be, or would you refuse a muslim doctor from treating a member of your family or even saving a life ?

I dont have a problem with ANYONE coming to this country as long as there here to pay their way.

Lets face it some of our former big industrials are now owned by foreign companies, SOME are even owned by muslims do we refuse to work for them?

I deal with people from all corners of the world living and working here in the UK do I refuse their money because of the colour of the skin or indeed religious beliefs I think not.

And yes there have been some attrocities all over the world but not all commited by muslims, we as a country are not innocent of such horrendous acts as history shows.

This young man was MURDERED in cold blood by fanatics who took things to the extreme.

The terrible incident in Woolwich proves that nowhere is safe from these mindless acts of violence / terrorism. For those of you who think nothing like that could happen in Bedlington, our town has just remembered the victims of a multi murder 100 years ago and let's not forget the events that caused Rothbury to be put on the world's stage by the media a few years ago.

Practicing Muslims forbid the use of alchohol and pork products. Those of them who own corner shops do not seem to object to stocking and selling us a case of beer, a bottle of wine / spirits , a tin of ham or a pack of bacon. It is also worth remembering, ASDA, TESCO, CO-OP, MORRISONS, among others, sell these products.

Am I wrong in suggesting we boycot a shop which is run by someone who conveniently hides behind the banner of Islam when it suits them, then on the other hand does not think twice in supplying us with goods that their religion forbids them to have anthing to do with.? I dont think I am being unfair by suggesting we should avoid muslim owned shops in favour of supermarkets or our high street / corner shops owned by non Muslims. Not all Asian shop owners are Muslim, ( I must point out )

I am not being racist, I just think it is wrong to be sold products by someone who regards those products as flith and poison in order to make money from us. Feelings are running high in the aftermath of what has just happened to that poor soldier in South east London and I would not condone the mass beating of all muslims because of who they are, after all we did not go round knocking 10 bells out of every Irishman every time a soldier was shot at the height of the troubles in Ireland.

People are calling on the government ( ha ha ) to take a hard stance against terrorist and muslim activists who are in this country purely to make our lives a misery. In many cases we do not know who these terrorists are UNTIL, they have commited an act of terrorism.

Why make it easy for them.

Most places sell alcohol and fags I detest the smell of smoke and I drink alcohol only on a Saturday night but if I stopped using places that sell these products where would that leave me? No disrespect Keith because I find your post are mainly very good and I enjoy reading them but on this occassion I dissagree 100%.

Well this act of murder and lets face that is what it was in my humble opinion should NOT have been televised as it was or sensationalised on the front pages of certain news papers, I am not saying its not news, to the contrary we should be informed, however lets bear a thought for the family of this young man and how would the editors of the media feel if god forbid it was a their son or daughter, no I feel so repulsed and so sorry for the family/friends of this young man.

I think we the nation should have a refferendum on the return of capital punishment for murders, rapists, child molestors, peadophiles etc where the accused are proven guilty, in this day and age evidence is a lot easier to get through dna etc than it was decades ago. It may not deter the miguided brainless individuals who perpetrated this grotesque act of murder but it may make others think twice and save lives or the futures of those affected by the actions of others.

Congratulations to you both .......... Now could be the time to make a difference gentlemen........

Well you could always vote the way certain so called councilors "expect" and this thread/conversation will be continuing as it has for DECADES or vote for a CHANGE it may make a difference compared to the local crop.

It is elections coming up, Pity we couldn't get a response during the last four years

Bliddy hell us in Sleekborn get nowt like this..... its mint... I recon Malcolm/Foxy 2-0 Stephen/Dajazar......

I will keep my opinions on our bunch to myself......unless they decide to knock on my door instead of pushing green bin rubbish through my letterbox....

NO SINGLE PARTY RUNNING IT ! There should be no party politics in a parish/town council. It should be run by the people (who live in West Bedlington) for the people (of West Bedlington), which it will be if i and the other independent candidates have any say in the matter/get elected. Under the parish council you were part of we saw 3 Councillors who lived in Bedlington Station making decisions that did not affect them (3 years of precept increases) voted for 8 in favor, 1 abstain or in 2 over meetings 7 in favor, 1 abstain because 1 Councillor was missing from both precept meetings and worst of all no member of the public in the precept meeting was allowed to speak if you spoke the chairman/Mayor would threaten to suspend the meeting, how can that conduct be answered for?

Well Adam I 100% agree with you, the ONLY people who live in a particular parish should be allowed to stand for the particular parish council, and IF there are points to be made regardless of who wants to make them as long as its done in a fit and proper manner I think the chairman /mayor should act appropriately and listen ........... now that is democracy.......

Sorry can't resit............it is the last week!

Here is one a bit different to what you are describing Cyril:

Malcolm leaflet.pdf

Well Malcolm I don,t know you personally but your leaflet and the obvious passion you have for our Town is plainly evident something which has been missing for decades regardless of what our current crop have to say (especially at election time).

And your slogan is absolutly spot on, I wish you well.

Well your absolutly right Malcolm and I while I dont expect all our councilors/officials to be Lord Sugar,s in the making I think there should be business people or those who understand the ethos of running a business to be in certain positions within the council and INVITED for their advice and experience these people should again in my opinion not have to be elected but employed as advisors and advice offered acted upon and listened to.

And is,nt it amazing how the leaflets that are dropping through our letter box,s are full of self praise from our posse of "councilors" who seem to convince certain folks that they are the "only" alternative and as the parents of the voters have voted for them for years the rest of the family should too.

It amazes me......

Couldn't agree more tomtom and I am not electioneering!

Looks to me like our 'local' council prefers to invest in its own bureaucracy rather than the image and wellbeing of the town. With more than half their income going on things like office and admin costs they are now taking on an extra clerk so that's going to push that percentage up even higher!

So invest in unproductive staff would seem the order of the day.

If we really have to have these little councils then someone needs to get a hold of ours and give it a dammed good shake!

Well its just an opinion and I know nothing about how our council/councilors are supposed to spend their/OUR money, I assume their given a budget to spend to OUR advantage and to be held accountable on how its spent?

But I am aware on how to run a business so there must be parrellels albeit different scenarios.

If I waste money it costs me personally and I feel and get really pee,d off if I waste it say on an advert that does,nt pay or materials that I take a chance on don,t sell, so I x my t,s and . my i,s, because I hate wasting money especially if it,s my fault and if THE people, who WE the voters decide to put in charge maybee were more proffessional and bore in mind WHY their there and took the responsibility more personal instead of just SAYING they care and tell the people what they think they want to hear (especially voting time) well maybee Bedlington may rise from being the poor relations and become what folks on here feel passionatly about, I have said it on here before I honestly think we have a lot as a town to offer and with the right people in charge we can achieve it.

I would like to see a Heron's in Bedlington. Good stuff and cheap. (A bit like a girl I knew...)

Bliddy hell not you aswell

After reading Malcolms link it makes me wonder if there will be MORE empty space in the market place in the shape of the old

Millne Hoose or will they just keep it for the monopoly.

Is it behind the old Police Station at the top end

Well as I said one day the tide may, turn these countrys we are refering too, their labour markets will want what we have, it in my humble opinion is a natural progression.

Hi I have only just joined and wondered if anyone could help me with some historical knowledge about the Glove factory in Barrington Industrial Estate in the 1970s ? Was that the name of the firm or did it have a different one and was it a small family business that only lasted a few years during the 1970s - I was having a conversation with my grandmother today and she said she used to work there when she was younger but when I look for any thing on Google ( if you dont know anything ask Google lol ) theres nothing there at all - can anyone throw any light on the subject perhaps?

Katie

Hiya Katie I am sure there will be a very warm welcolme to you on here from more important folks on here than myself.

But hello and welcolme in the first instance from me.

If you type in Glove Factory in the search bar it will bring up all the mentions of it on here, I am sure if you have any more questions you will be inundated with help.

Could it be Toilet block near the Foresters at West Sleekburn?

Cyril,

Take a look at the Jimmy Goldsmith video I have posted on the crash 2 the sequel. His take is that once we engaged globalisation we were on a non stop escalator towards job losses, business closures and social unrest because of a disconnect between real value and employment.

No disrespect Malcolm I am aware as to why... my point was it appears Mrs Thatcher is to blame for everything and the fact that she only closed 5 pits up here speaks volumes, we did lead the world in a lot of areas and the owners made money but the fact that they move there factorys etc overseas and employ/exploite cheap labour without bringing down the cost of said manufactured goods also speaks volumes, but we do have companys doing ok over here the sprirt of enterprise is still there and maybee one day the tide will turn.

Maggie Thatcher is generally despised in the North East mainly because of what she did to the mining industry.

So exactly what effect did she have on the coal mining industry in Northumberland?

When I started work in the mines in the late 1950's there were 63 collieries in Northumberland as can be seen from the attached list that is taken from a National Coal Board plan drawn up in 1957. A few of these may already have been closed at the time the plan was drawn up but we can be sure that there were in excess of 50 operating mines in 1957.

When Maggie's party won the elections in 1979, the only collieries still working were Whittle Drift, Lynemouth, Ellington, Woodhorn, Ashington, Bates and Brenkley Drift.

When she left office in 1990, Ellington and Whittle were the only two collieries still operating.

So, according to my calculations, during the 11 years that Maggie was PM only 5 collieries were closed.

It was her predecessors that were mainly resposible for the destruction of the industry, not Maggie, and almost all of the mines around Bedlington were closed under the Labour government of Harold Wilson.

The coal mining industry in Northumberland had to come to an end sometime and what hapened was inevitable. The tragedy is that not one government, Labour or Conservative, in the last 55 years made any real effort to establish new industries to replace the jobs lost by the closure of the collieries in Northumberland.

NORTHUMBERLAND COLLIERIES 1957.doc

Spot on.

Our country has lost millions of jobs over the years and not all Maggies fault.

I remember we had ship yards, a car industry, foundarys, pits etc etc but these industries were closed for the very same reasons... unproductive.

Any business has to make money thats the whole reason for starting one, if its not it will eventually close.

Yes I remember that day well. I was helping put up food parcels for those who needed it, as he was chauffeured away apparently.

In retrospect I apologise for my poor attempt at belittling him or the topic.

Bet this fella does'nt agree.

Yes I remember that day well. I was helping put up food parcels for those who needed it, as he was chauffeured away apparently.

Well the LAST thing on my mind on leaving school was "ganin doon the pit" I never heard ANYONE say a good thing about it, to the contrary even me mates at the time who were there hated the job.

In response to Adam,s comments about folks taking their lives because they lost their jobs, it happens in every industry, we dont know their circumstances one minute your earning and paying the bills etc then its taken away from you it must be a horrible situation to find yourself in and the mental health issues of it all can become unbearable for some, dont forget the miners were on "strike" and not eligable for state handouts, I remember helping with food parcels etc I also remember families at odds with each other standing nose to nose over the rights and wrongs of "ganing back". It was,nt nice but it was an experience and memories that will live with me forever.

The strike was futile there was only ever going to be one winner, I remember saying that in the "Terrier" one night and I was sitting in the company of striking miners, they also knew but felt obliged to "stay oot".

I remember thinking well I admire your blind loyalty but its not putting bread on the table.

The rest is history and a lesson learned the unions would no longer be in a position to pull down an elected government, thats up the majority its called democracy.

I will reiterate my pesonal opinions I am not nailing my colours to the mast here to the contrary I dont think any of the political parties have the ballsMrs Thatcher had I think Tony Blair should be tried for genicide along with Bush, Gordon Brown should be done for robbery and deciete and the bxxxxr who is in charge now has,nt a clue and the only thing the labour lot have is balls by name and not nature.

God rest you Maggie for the courage of your convictions alone, if we had another Maggie regardless of politics I think we would ALL be better off.

Well we ALL have opinions on the Mrs Thatcher I was born and bred a minors son and lived in a mining community when we still had one so yes I agree what they did to the miners was at times tantamount to draconian measures, however IF they had backed down to the Unions I think we as a country would be a lot worse off and IF we had any other than Mrs Thatcher in charge at the time of the Falklands conflict they would be speaking Argentinian now, and in my opinion the reasons are she was a true brit and a Woman. These are my opinions I at the time admired her spirit and determination it has,nt been since regardless of who has been in power.

RIP

It's a pity we can't have a 'buy now pay later' system, honest, what is there to lose? Let people like Cyril have free rates and rent and if their business is a success then they can pay it back. If the business goes pear-shaped then what are the local authorities loosing!!! Nothing - the shop is empty anyway!

Sorry Keith a great common sense idea, but the council get rates regardless if the premises are occupied or empty its a bone of contention with me.

We run a business in Darlington and have done since 1986 we have out-buildings within our boundarys which are normaly rented out however for one reason or another at the moment two of them stand empty and we HAVE to pay rates on them, the council are not interested in free rates or half rates just because there empty no we HAVE pay nearly 5 grand a year for the luxury, there are ways around this but the council are not daft and litigation is very expensive.

We are as a company using your common sense idea and offering free rates but obviously charging rent to try to offset this extortion.

According to this new class system I am much in the same position as this chap...

And he's standing on my heed .

The problem is the Rates council's charge if the council's cut the rates more business will come to the area but they only see the £ signs not the other benefits.

I contemplated on opening a new venture in Bedlington, its was an idea in its infancy however after finding out how much rent and rates were going to cost on our front street (my idea required a frontage) it totally put the kibosh on my business plan and until they come down I,ll keep it on the back burner.