Maggie/915

I wonder what is possible. Creating a vibrant town centre will take money and good will. What money is available? What grants will be forthcoming? What can be done with the current buildings? Why did Tesco pull out and not go through with their plans? There is so much land and so much to consider ! At the moment the car park is an asset for any lorry company travelling up and down the country. Not many towns have a blank canvas !. Developers should be queuing up,

Sitting on their 'Honkers'. Good point Symptoms.

Active Northumberland and Northumberland County Council are investing £3.5 million to modernise Concordia. Something about new family entertainment at the centre. Work to start September. Clip and Climb Activity Soft Play facilities Ten pin bowling Bruce Ledger chief exec of Active Northumberland says this is just the start of our site improvements Councillor Val Tyler cabinet member for arts leisure and culture says ".We recognise that there is an increased demand for proved facilities and the refurbishment will make the centre fit for the 21st century" If health and wellbeing is so very important we can expect great things to happen in Bedlington. After all Val is our very own County Councillor and lives right here in Bedlington. .

Painting the railings by the Red Lion green and gold to match the bins and flower tubs is great.

Another post that needs studying HPW. Excellent stuff.

Would they apply to any town anywhere ! Even cities could have people feeling the same way.

When is the next meeting Malcolm?

Excellent. Quite an experience.

Interesting man hole in Shieldfield Newcastle walking to 'Peace and Loaf'

Agreed James. Very interesting that Swindon claim him. I think the whole railway age owes a lot to Bedlington.

I have very happy memories of this couple Symptoms. The farmers sister was my friend. She lost her fiancée in the First World War and always said she wished she was in heaven with the angels!

Very interesting Eggy. There is an old machine at Beamish but not sure of the details.

I hope the move to sheltered accommodation and the computer cleaning go well Canny Lass.

These posts need studying HPW and Symptoms. One day I may just have time. Well done on the history content also the practical side of mining and road building.

Good memories Paul. Seems a long time ago. Scrap metal collectors still trail the doors. Not as frequently as charity collectors !

Welcome to Bedlington and the forum.

I have vague recollections Paul, of the flowers. Maybe I should have done more conker collecting in childhood. The stone flowers would be now replaced by plastic flowers and photos. Interesting how cemeteries have evolved in other countries. America is interesting but very OTT. Tombs and almost mini houses in French cemeteries. Maybe still the odd stone flower display. A friend went to Jamaica for a family funeral and it was normal to take pictures of the dead person before burial. Our attitude to death shows us a great deal about the living. Over the last few days our Grandchildren have been discussing death. I think it is often a taboo subject.

More today in the News Post Leader on the huge investment in Ashington. Something the leaders of the NCC and Arch are very proud to represent. Just part of the regeneration. New link road and lots of money. Poor old Bedlington. Will we ever get a look in! Come on the three labour councillors representing us on NCC let's hear what investment is available for Bedlington. Not just a simple purchase. Actions speak louder than words.

Publicity for the three labour councillors and Arch. Rather interesting articles first published in the News Post Leader and then in the Chronicle. Labour and Arch seem to want everyone to believe they have been the leading lights in all the negotiations. Maybe they have changed and are truly working to help our town. Long way to go unfortunately.

HPW I am not that fair minded , I would ,like you , stand up and be counted. However there are folks who you just would not want to know. I was travelling with young kids on a Sunday night, someone came close behind lights flashing, I pulled over he went past and I flashed him. His answer was to pull in front of me and slam his brakes on. Lesson learnt let the 'ar------s' pass to kill themselves. The lady who crossed you will have herself to live with. Not an easy task!

I like the BBC. I can even accept their biased viewpoints. Why should we not be allowed to read listen and learn from our own biased perception. After all we all have a 'spin' on every issue and all we can do is agree to disagree with certain individuals and corporations. Education should and does teach us to think for ourselves.

If you go to Hastings you can follow the Robert Tressell trail around the town. If memory serves me well there is a character called Barrington who seeks to convert the many. Have you thought about a name change Symptoms!

Trouble is Symptoms, lots of our generation have crossed the divide. Where once we would have been servants now we own the land or the houses. A relative bought a 'Shooting Estate' of 2,000 acres and besides all the information on numbers of birds killed there was also a 'Shooting Club' coming on to the land. At night they came to sort out foxes! Highland Clearances etc are a horrible side of some of these estates. Re introducing wild animals is worrying ! One grandson was doing Duke of Edinburgh Award this last weekend and some of these animals could put kids in danger. I am not sure of what the answer is ! If our World has entered the extinction phase, we may have a lot more to worry about in the future. Bedlington needs so much and we can only hope help comes along. We have so little power to change things. All we have is a right to an opinion, even if it differs dramatically from others.

I remember going to The Beetle Drives with my mothers sister . Must have been late 50's The pie and pea suppers were also good at the YMCA

I think 'tartan' was banned at some stage maybe after the 'Jacobite ' rebellion. Sorry have not got time to research but 'Kilts and Tartan ' as a threat seems crazy. Mind in a war would the sight of a backside make you scared or laugh. Again should this be a case for censorship.