Maggie/915

There were Beatle Drives each week at Bedlington Station YM CA if my memory serves me well. Somewhere near the library. We still have some solid furniture but the cost recovering is quite off putting.

Have a great day. My education is lacking because I am not sure what the celebration is all about.

Clippie and proggie mats are making an appearance again. Our daughter has just bought one from John Lewis' that's Bainbridges to anyone living in exile. There is a lady called Eileen Brown in Ashington who does amazingly colourful proggie mats . I have memories of sitting in Algood Terrace listening to the gossip while everyone helped with the mat . No tele but people lived in harmony. Ok they fell out occasionally but they enjoyed life with very little money.

The bottles you put into a large container and quite often hear the glass break Other items are recycled but there have been a few large fires at recycling centres You begin wondering who is saving the planet and by what means. The other year we were encouraged to scrap our cars for a monetary enticement and buy new Whilst stimulating the economy , I am not sure it was a save the planet option. Similarly our throw away society, items in the past were bought to last. I remember buying an Armstrong Amp in the 70 s and we expected it to last together with the PL12d. I hate the new inferior quality items we buy. No one can easily go for quality, Phones computers are just examples of items often out of date before we can enjoy them. Buying new seems an obsession and a necessity. Our Metro Centre is testament to that obsession ! Car Parks full

The 'Duplicate' bus , I had forgotten about them. I have memories of catching a bus at 6;15 to Newcastle. The stop at the Top End was great because you could catch more than one number of bus to Newcastle. Coming home late was the problem , walking past the cemetery . Always said it was not the dead that I feared.

When recycling glass bottles, I cannot help thinking it was better in the old days. Breaking the glass seems wrong! Taking the bottles back to the shop and even getting money back seems a better way. I wonder what the cost of melting and reforming amounts too! Leek show members knew all about fertiliser, some came from very close to home. Then there was the 'Midnight Mechanic' who took away the ash and 'netty' waste, the farmer used this as fertiliser on the fields. My Father remembered getting pocket money digging this into the fields. 3d a furrow, I believe. Nobody would do that anymore , no matter how 'hard up' they were!

Did you ever go to the Mart in Morpeth HPW? I have great memories of going along and being told any gesture or movement could result in me buying an animal or two! Far from putting me off , I love auctions. They still have a cattle mart in Bakewell Derbyshire or they did last time I was there , the smells the atmosphere, just great. Strange what brings the memories flooding back.

No Wilma it was the Colliery and Nedderton for me. Happy Days.

Loved the film Symptoms.

Then there is the bible from Ulgham Church. Sold at Louis Johnson's and in need of a home.

Amazing what we collect over a life time. Photos we document on this site but I guess we have collected so much more. Underground, overground bits of our own history. In our wash house we have the first gravestone for my father circa 1985 The council grass cutter smashed it and within minutes neighbours of the church had told my mother.

Fenders, we still have some. We have not got any rock crystals but did have some coral and the odd large sea shell. This summer one granddaughter was collecting flints and shells at Birling Gap. Collecting should be another topic.

A bacon sandwich sometime too early, basically so I would be ready to go to church. A roast dinner when I was not hungry, possibly after the bread and dripping. Sunday School at the Tin Mission. Card Games of 'Stop the Bus' etc for match sticks. The game involved collecting the same suit of cards up to and above 23. I wonder if any one else knows the game! Drafts, monopoly, I still have the original with tank motorbike, car, and ship. The grandchildren still play with the original. Odd rules have changed but as it is 'My gaf it is my rules'

Morning smells of rice pudding and steak and kidney pie. A deep pie that needed something in the middle to keep the crust out of the gravy.

Point taken, we need more visitors.

Not sure Canny Lass but my guess is the smell gave it away! Decorative with a purpose. Apart from the Coronation the weather always seemed fine, maybe no moss grew in those far off days of old

Yep but bought in good faith by my mother. They have become heirlooms.

One photo of said traffic warden

The places where you have to put in a registration number bug me! You cannot then forward on. In Lancaster last week the parkies were so hot on the trail that one was stalking a motorist who merely pulled up for a second. Edinburgh is not to good either. My mother bought our kids two traffic wardens one year. They were to hang in the car window.

There is a debate about soap or gel. The residue left by the soap is fat which can protect against various complaints. For donkey stone I now use Ariel, it gets rid of the slippy moss on our stone steps! It will also clean burnt/ on pans. Small amount and boil.! Sounds like a recipe! Other soap powders are available. The smell of wood smoke is a favourite of mine. Burning leaves etc is a hobby. I blame coal fires. We should live in a forest or on a farm miles from anyone

Parking charges at hospitals generally are high and often unfair.

HPW here is the coronation mug presented to me in 1953

I was reminded of childhood by the smell of Cold Tar soap. Music can remind us of time and place, so can smells good and bad.

Excellent information and the photo's very good.

As we are going back to the future. Can anyone mind getting the last sugar out of the bag , or the last drops of milk. My dad reckoned to stir the pot of tea with a small bit of sugar. Not sure if it was to release the flavour or make it stronger. I guess both apply. Money saving tips from the old gits /sorry children of the sixties! Who would believe that we can remember rationing. National Health Orange Juice would be replaced by water