Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

Och, nivver mind, the wee MP lassies will just ha ta sort themsells oot.

'SCOTLAND' would get my vote. With sub topics:- Ginger Scottish lady MPs. Decisions on 'Tattie Scones' should they be made solely in Scotland? Moffat Toffee Lochness Monster etc. Scottish Astronomy viewing days - the best place in Britain to see the sky. Fried Mars Bars – Sir Patrick Moore discusses Gastroenterology Travel – High road or Low road? Rabbie Burns – Poetic justice :- Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont attacked the nationalist position that "decisions made about Scotland in Scotland will always be better". Boys :- Scottish boy names and their meanings like – Glenn, Craig & Finlay The Betty Windsor gang :- The supposed "commoner name" of the reigning Monarch of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Commonwealth Realms. Duck Dynastry – trace their origins, along with the Pinkerton Detectives, from America back to Scotland. How many times when driving on the High road do we see Scot's up trees with duck whistles? We could have a referendum on the subjects, but we will have to make a decision by Thursday 18th September 2014. All those in favour say, in a Scottish accent, AYE.

As the drink driving laws curtailed our Friday night ventures to search out new pubs and ales we had to a) choose a pub and call it our Friday Night local sort out a rota for driving once every 4 weeks - pick-ups from Seghill, Cramlington & Bedlington and c) restrict the driver to the legal limit of that year. Since we started our Friday Night crawls back in the mid 80's we circumferenced the area - North A1 farthest reached would be the Oak Inn (NE61); South would be the Cumberland Arms (N6) for live music; West would be Ponteland, Matfen etc. and East would be all along the coast - Ellington to Tynemouth. We chose the Three Horse Shoes as we found the ales the best, and still the best choice, in our opinion. Started going there when Sid, that owned The Sun Inn - Bedlington, was manager. After Sid the current owner Brian lost customers but then built up, what we would say, was an excellent place to eat and drink. The music & beer festivals; the kids play area and his latest addition since the no-smoking inside was introduced is his seated covered smoking area with large screen TV for the sports persons. He does not have SKY he has a satellite dish beaming in from Europe. Check out his web site for events - http://www.threehorseshoes-horton.co.uk

So not only do we get all foreign students and workers registered we get cash of them to boost our economy?

'Would you all mind agreeing with my decision, and backing my decision, by placing your solidarity behind me whilst I lead the way'.

CWS - Can't Wait to Start, the jokesWe will all Raleigh around you if you just bite the bullet and Triumph on riding your bone-shaker up and down the Front Street.

Noo - it's Wilf's golf ball.

I always thought they had their own brand - CWS = Co-operative Wholesale Society - or as we said our bikes were made from - Copper Wire & String - unlike the fortunate few that had Raleigh's.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh - is that the same Geordie that lost his penka doon the double raa?

Just sold my Canon T50 + 2 lens + Centon modular flash gun + carrying case for £18. It was either that or throw it in the bin as it was just filling a space in the extension we had built to house cupboards for items my wife no longer uses. The young lady that called to buy it did not want the camera , lens & flash - just the carrying case for £18 because it was bigger, and cheaper, than the new ones she was after. I had to beg her to take the camera etc. and leave it at the camera club she was joining. I bought them in 1988 to take pictures of Mikey, Goofey etc and I have just got my arm and leg back.

Just get that Canny lass to strikeout the ivy, underline the Ash and boldly go where Holly sees the Red Dwarf. Sorbus aucuparia

- Fore!!!!!!!

No spare - still using mine. If I here of one I will let you know.

Symptoms should be good at this pastime then:-

Tooo many, but here's a few Dire Straits - Telegraph Road Procol Harem - Whiter Shade of Pale Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody Eric Clapton - My Father's Eyes Flanagan and Allen - Oi

Brett - I have never used one of those ancestry sites that you would normally have to subscribe to so can't comment on how good, bad or rip of they might be. Always prefered to meet the old relatives and have a chat, extract some info and drink some whiskey. Traveled to Locherbrigggs a few years ago to talk to an aunt about our Scottish cousins. She told me about Wee Jodie who new all about the family as all the relatives visited him and left him documents and photos etc. Why is he called Wee Jodie I asked. "He's got nae legs" was the reply. Any way as Wee Jodie had past on I had to find an alternative. There is a free site called FreeBMD (Births, Marriages, Deaths). Not a brilliant site but it is free and if one is just looking for a couple of generations back and know roughly the area where they lived it throws up lots of names. Of course the searching is free but if you want a birth cert. to get the names of the parents etc. then it's £10 payable to the General Register Office.

Keith I admire your stance. Are you brilliant at Scrabble or are you missing out on loads of new words? Not from reality crap, I can honestly say watched 5 mins of the first to see what it was and never again. I do my own 'get me out of here', log on to Bedlington web site whilst wife watches soaps! Never mind it's Friday and that's when the world gets put to right, again, over a pint of Dog Bolter or Abott. Game of Thrones - is that where you have to make up your own interpretation. I prefer 2 + 2 = 4, the end.

I have always likened him to a Wallace & Gromit character. What would the public do if a stunningly good looking creature (avoiding sexist calls) was put forward for leader of a party. Would politics go out of the window? And no chance, your answers are not on me.

John - I have sent you a message via this sites messaging service.

Don't think so. Looks dangerous where he is, must be Elf & Safety!

Looks like I will have to find another pub to drop into for a cheap pensioners meal whilst coming home via Widdrington on the coastal route. The Widdrington Inn will be chocker when this goes ahead. Bet the duchess of Northumberland wishes she had built a bigger tree house. She will just have to percyvere!

Thanks for the offer John, three weeks ago I might have said yes but now not necessary. It's amazing how many people I actually know that have been getting the mag but for some reason it (or my memory is getting worse) never came up. Found I have an uncle, ex pitman from Beaty Row, Bates and now in Stakeford Miners Cottages who's been getting it for for 15+years.It even came to light a couple of weeks ago that about eight years ago our son was passing on a copy from his partners family to the father-in-law! He was reading straight through it and passing it on the same day he got it and he never mentioned it to my wife or me.

BigBelly - Solar powered. Have we any of these Malcolm? A London council is trialling high-tech solar-powered waste bins in its parks. The BigBelly Solar Compact has the same footprint as a conventional rubbish bin, but it uses the sun's rays to charge 12v battery, which powers an internal compactor. When two sensors located within the bin are triggered, it begins crushing the rubbish. By compacting rubbish internally, the bin can hold up to 800 litres of rubbish - eight times more than a standard bin. Increased capacity means the bin needs emptying far less frequently, reducing collections by 86%. Despite costing £1,000, the makers of BigBelly claim bin collection costs are reduced by 70% Each bin includes a wireless monitoring system, enabling the council to monitor how full the bin is. Once it reaches 85% capacity, a text is sent informing that the bin needs emptying. The bins are fully enclosed, so there's no over flow or chance of exposure to the wind or rain The BigBelly Solar Compact bins are being trialled in Merton, south-west Wimbledon, along with Dundee University in Oxford and Bath

So really all the tory politicians need to do is keep feeding us bananas, without strings attached, and we will all be happy, until there are no bananas left. Then we will complain and overthrow that useless government and get in a new lot with fresh ideas. The fresh ideas will be to make it more difficult, and involve more participating bodies, therefore costing more, to achieve the same result as the initial first simple idea of feed the general public (the monkeys). The monkeys could then get together, vote a leader and form a union and that will make them stronger and more powerful. They will then back the labour guy with the most bananas and get him made the leader (or is that Jungle Book – I'm the king of the swingers!). The back benchers will then grumble and plot to get another leader that is not backed by the unions but by the back benchers. The government is now in total disharmony and goes back to the monkeys for a vote of confidence to enable them to say 'this is what the monkeys want, they voted for it, so stop the infighting.' Unfortunately those new monkeys that have never been soaked before, now bombarded with promises of more bananas, can't decide whom to vote for and therefore go for a change of government and vote the opposition back in to try again. The new party now have a new piece of string called a manifesto and they can hang, disguised or not, their new bananas ………………………………………….. PS. – Malcolm I had to reply, but I did enjoy your story and I would not confine it to Room 101.

History Hollow - Old Bedlington Shops - this answers a few questions raised in that topic. Good one.