willy j.

I will do that Keith, thanks for that, but I doubt if they'll have any photo's going back as far as 1967 when I first played there. The last time I was in there was with Foxy, we went to see Mick Abrahams playing with his band, 'Blodwyn Pig'. You might remember him as the original lead guitarist with Jethro Tull. He was a superb Guitarist, for me he was up there with Clapton, Page & Blackmore. It was a great night though, a really nice bloke who took us back a few decades.

OOPs, forgot these one's; Amazing Bean Bag Band, Negel Denver, Garland, and Merlin. How the hell can you forget you're own group. Cant come to terms with getting old. And there were more but I can't remember them.

Here's a little taster, and some information of a musical North Eastern past. The real name of the 'Cellar' was; 'The Lampglass Music Arts Club'. Some of the groups who played that day; Raw Spirit, Gollum, Inertia, White Summer, Fridge, & more (anyone remember any?) Compere was the DJ Big George.

On behalf of everyone at the Wansbeck branch of UKIP, I would like to send a big thank you to all who attended the Public Meeting at the Community centre last night. Especially those who stayed to the end to hear Melanie speak and engage with her during Q & A. It showed us that, although this was only the first of many, that we can look forward to the next one with a lot of hope. It is obvious to us all that there is real passion for Bedlington, and believe me, Melanie shares that passion, as we all do. Make no mistake, that if she is elected to represent Wansbeck, she has the determination to right the wrongs that the town has suffered under Labour. We have not seen the best of her yet, maybe if some of the North East Labour MP's finally pluck up the guts to take up her challenge to debate, you will see a much tougher, determined lady. Anyway, my main intention was to thank you all for attending and look forward to seeing you all again.

Anyone remember the open air concert held at Portland Park, Summer 1970. A fantastic day sponsored by the 'Cellar Club' on a sunny afternoon. (Sounds like the Kinks doesn't it) How many groups and their names? Were you there, what kind of day did you have?

Too old for that now, happily retired. Have been to Poland a few times, some lovely people but a dangerous place to be. Anyway, lets put all that to bed. This post was supposed to get peoples opinion on the upcoming 'Public Meeting'. All views are important to us, good or bad it matters. All I would ask people who can attend, be open minded, no one is forcing you to believe us, just listen to what we offer and make your own mind up. the rest is up to you. What we are offering is an alternative to Labour. Something we have never had in this part of the county before. You'll notice I haven't mentioned any other parties, because the belief was always (in my lifetime anyway) there is only Labour for working class people. Well, now they have a choice, whether it turns out to be a good choice, only time will tell. For me personally, it is the only choice because I have faithfully voted for Labour for 47 years, and every time I voted I thought, 'it will be different this time, they'll get it right this time'. But they never have. It's the old cliché; 'If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, you are a fool'. These are my personal views, I am not trying to preach, only explain my feeling and beliefs. Everyone is different and I respect that.

Tony, I have no qualms about the merchant navy, I know nothing about it. That is your bag. And I never said the pit was more dangerous. What I said was that there would be men in Bedlington who would take issue with you on the merits of what you were implying. To quantify my point of view in these things, it's all about judgement, and your perception of someone else's life experiences. I had all this crap before of someone telling me I was wrong in certain stages of my life. Let me explain, after I came out of the Army in 1974 I would get the PC/ Tree huggers (once they found out I had served in Northern Ireland) coming up and telling me that we were wrong, and out of order in doing the things we did over there. IE; Bloody Sunday, Operation Motorman to name only two. And I always asked them if they had ever been to NI. Of course they would say no, then I would tell them, 'You Are Not Qualified To Judge Me'. Unless you have been there, seen it and done it. Do you understand where I am coming from? I am not qualified to judge the Merchant Marine, Just as you are not qualified to judge the mining industry.

Tony, my point was nothing to do with Danny drinking in the Terrier, my point was that He wasn't the Manager of Bates Pit. However, go on i'll put you out of your misery cos you obviously never really knew what he did. He was the 'Training Officer' at Bates. The training school was at Bothal, and the underground gallery was at Ashington Pit. There you have it in a nutshell. It's just a matter of someone who has been there, seen it and done it. Nothing to do with being a mining expert,

Even better than the feelings in SS GGG, The feelings against Mr Ed in his own constituency of Doncaster are even higher. When we went down to the Conference we never met anyone from there who had a good word for him, and I'm not referring to Kippers. Then a week or so later a tv program set in Donny had the broadcasting team interviewing anyone they could catch. From taxi drivers to office staff, and their reaction was one of, "Ed Who!!!, you must be kidding we've never seen him since he was elected". They were not happy bunnies. Very like our own MP here, who has just lately been seen in Bedlington a couple of times. What people are asking here is, where the hell has he been since 2010. Oh, I just noticed, there must be an election coming. I really hope that Labour keep Mr Ed where he is, he is UKIP's biggest asset.

Agree with everything you say Maggie, after all music is eternal. It is one genre where we have no arguments. Beautiful isn't it?

By the way Tony, Danny Paxton recruited me and many of my mates and none of us had to get permission from our mummies. You just signed up and off you went to the mining school. Of course you'll know where the mining school was, and the underground training gallery. If not, you were nowhere near to becoming a miner than I was to becoming a brain surgeon. Also, what the hell qualifies you to say that the merchant navy was more dangerous than working down a mine. I think there are many men in this area would take issue with you on that one.

Tony, Danny Paxton wasn't the manager at Bates Pit, never was. I knew Danny very well, you tell me who he really was and we might get somewhere. But don't name names and make statements you cant quantify.

Maggie If you're a fan of Van the Man what do you think of his version of 'Moondance?' I personally think that song is a classic, especially the way he does it. When our band got back together a few years ago to do 2 charity gigs at the Bedlington Community Centre, we rehearsed it and played it both nights. I loved playing it, definitely my favourite. Thank you VM.

Foxy, you can read me like a book! OOPS...... nearly forgot. lol.

Nearly forgot to mention the mining inference Tony. You see people like yourselves who have never been involved in mining, when they think of pits they think of mine shafts. You will never see another mineshaft in this country. All those trillions of tons of coal that are still out there under the North Sea, if they are to be got, will only ever be got by 'Drift Mining' But for those of you who are not aware of this form of mining, it is better, safer and more profitable. Because we are still talking about 'Deep Mining. Leave it to the experts.

This is just the start Tony, there will be many more public meetings, action days, UKIP stalls, leafleting all over Wansbeck right up to the GE, A massive presence to keep people informed of what we stand for. And something the Labour Party has never done, if we win Wansbeck, a continuous presence in the constituency where people can visit our shop/walk in centre any time they wish, no need to make an appointment, in formation will always be available. True to Labours historical form in this area, once they are comfortably settled in their parliamentary seat, they become invisible here. Make no mistake, Labours 7,031 majority is far from 'safe' anymore.

You're right Maggie, the City Hall was our Cathedral in the 60's. The great bands of the time came thick and fast, in what they called 'Package Tours'. It was especially good for us up and coming young musicians, It was common to see 5 or 6 top bands on, I mean bands like Hendrix, Floyd, Family, The Nice, The Move all on the same bill ably supported by quality bands such as Stone The Crows, Eire Apparent and The entire Sioux Nation etc. If they held concerts nowadays with such an array of bands it would probably cost you £200 just to get in. So glad that I lived through that period, what memories. And before any clever Dick comes on with the old cliché that if you remember the 60's, you weren't there. Well, I remember it very well, and I was there.

UKIP are holding a 'Public Meeting' at the Bedlington Community Centre on Wednesday 19th November at 7.30pm. One of the speakers should be of special interest to many people previously steeped in Labour doctrine and the mining industry in particular. Blair Smillie, is UKIP's spokesman on the coal industry, and has a very interesting background. His great Grandfather was a founder member of the Labour Party, also a founder member of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). This is a Public Meeting open to anyone interested in clarity of UKIP policies. A chance for people to make their own minds up about what the party is all about, and the direction it wants to take this country in. Should be very interesting, especially when it comes to Q&A at the end. But what the hell, that is what democracy is all about. Free speech is a right to be protected, a strong UKIP belief.

It's a damn shame, Saw him at the Tyne Theatre last year and you could see that he wasn't very well. A shadow of the Jack Bruce we all admired so much, the concert was very disappointing for me. As a bass player myself from the 60's, he was an inspiration to me and I so loved playing Cream numbers. He will be sorely missed, but I'm happy that he got voted into the US Music Hall of Fame with Cream, however I'm sure they would have put him in there just as Jack Bruce.

No answer to that one Foxy.

My favourite Maggie, and it should pull at your wandering heartstrings, I know it did for me. 'Run For Home'.

They were called 'Bretheren' when they played in the North East. Changed their name Lindisfarne after they went down to London, with a little prompting from Robert Stigwood. Excellent band.

I have a copy of 'A Laymans Guide To The Constitution', I know it sounds a little boring but I found it a cracking read. I will give it to Foxy to pass on to you. It isn't a great big book, more a booklet, where the author puts everything in a nutshell, Even a thicko like me can understand it.

Mal, I used The Magna Carta only as a salient point that it is still taught in law schools as the foundation of our democracy. Without sovereignty, and a constitution to protect it you have nothing. What we see now are career politicians steeped in corruption, telling us that they are looking after our interests, while selling our country to build their Golden Palaces.

Whatever it is Malcom, it is still used heavily today In universities where students are studying law. A barrister pointed out to us 2 years ago that apparently it is a very important tool for anyone studying for a law degree. I will never forget his statement that it says; The sovereignty of this country can never be given away to a foreign power. Not by Parliament nor by the Monarchy, only the people of this country can decide upon the sovereignty of it. Anyone other than the people who gives away this sovereignty is guilty of Sedition, which at this level is High Treason. This situation is still in force today as far as I am aware, which begs the question, what have successive governments of this country been doing ever since Ted Heath's time. They have given our sovereignty away piece by piece, so that we now find ourselves in a situation that is going to be difficult to get out of. I think the Tory & Labour party leaders of the past 40 years should hang their heads in shame. They have betrayed us all.