Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

I had heard that when Tesco pulled out all the small retailers also backed away. Naturally as that's just what I heard I have no idea what went on behind the scenes and at the council meetings. I assume all the minutes from all the meetings involving every stage of the development, that has gone on for years, are available to the general public. Reading the minutes, or attending council meetings, It's not something I have ever thought I could pass a few hours/days of my time doing.

If they had an Ann Summers shop on Front Street then the footfall could be monitored and then we would know who was working from home. This isn't totally accurate but the best I could do - Market Place area & Cramlington Manor Walks and Concordia area (car parking areas outlined in yellow) :-

@PetePete I know what you mean Pete – it’s the same here. There are quite a few who only do home visits. The wife uses a hairdresser that used to rent a space (one chair, bench and mirror) in a local Hair Salon. The covid lockdown resulted in that hairdresser starting to work from home and she has now converted one of her rooms into her ‘one person at a time’ salon. Once I got to my teens, mid 1960’s, I hardly went to a barbers. I preferred the hippy style to the Teddy Boy brylcreemed wave. These days I never go to a barber or have a home visit – It’s a do-it-yourself hair shaver job with a No 3 guard so one length all over.

@rosco Do you think the space now under development at the Market Place would have been large enough to hold a leisure facility, with all the amenities, for the whole of Bedlington? Bearing in mind I think it would have to have it’s own car park. I know we all would prefer to see a thriving Front Street but would we all be prepared to spend more in the individual family Butchers, Bakers, Greengrocers, Florists etc. than we would in a Supermarket? Even for those that could afford to pay extra for their weekly shop there are still many more that would prefer the cheaper option. If Bedlington did not have Supermarkets would the town’s folk, with transport, shop elsewhere. I know a few relatives, from Bedlington Station, do their weekly shop at Blyth (Cowpen) Asda and only use the Station Co-op and corner shops for the odd items they may need through the week. One of our daughters used to be in charge of the Guidepost Co-op But still did a large shop at ASDA.

Unfortunately it used to be the public that went up and down the Font Street that would influence anyone in business to open a shop. These days it's only the things you can't but online - Hair dresser/Barbers - Nail Bar - Beauty Salon & Cafe that will tempt a business owner. I can't imagine a business owner thinking - what retail shop could I open, in any town, that will bring in joe public during normal working hours? The majority of families, weather house owners or renters, have all the bread winners working. Even after child birth the parent wants to get back to work asap, even when child minding costs as much as they will earn. Even green grocers can't compete with the way the Supermarkets have forced the farming industry prices to below what an independent Highstreet trader could make a decent living from. I have always though that Supermarkets should only sell food; not clothes, cosmetics, gardening tools & plants, electrical goods etc. etc. I wonder if by 2050 house will be built without kitchens - ever meal delivered to your door!!

1. Which cricketer was the first to hit six sixes in an over? Answer =Gibbs 2. Jack had his second birthday yesterday and he’ll be 4 years old next year. What is the date of Jack’s birthday? Answer = 31st December 3. Which sea lies between the Bosporus and the Dardanelles? Answer = 4. Which literary family lived at Haworth in Yorkshire? Answer = Bronte 5. Who recorded the albums After the Goldrush and Harvest? Answer = 6. In which city did the summer Olympic Games of 1984 take place? Answer = 7. Orlando International Airport has the location code ‘MCO’. What do these letters stand for? Answer = 8. Alfred, Farmingdale and Pixy are all types of what? Answer = Plums 9. Who sang with Elton John on Act of War? Answer = 10. Who lives in Hundred Acre Wood? Answer = 11. In which country was Florence Nightingale born? Answer = 12. Who led the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381? Answer = Wat Tyler I’ll bet you didn’t know …. The onion is the most widely used vegetable in the world. Answer = I did. I hate them. I’ll bet you don’t know how many times I have had to scrape the onions out of a cheese sandwich I have ordered in a pub or café?

With the energy price rises from today I wouldn't be surprised if those weekend queues at the gardening Association getter longer. Hopefully with the amount of sunshine, and therefore heat, we have had over the last month and a bit there could be a load of extra veg available from their greenhouses.👍

Ok - it's true

1. In Greek mythology who was God of the Heavens and Earth? Answer = 2. In what year did the D-Day landings take place? Answer = 3. Which motorway runs south from Perth to the Firth of Forth bridge? Answer = 4. Which painter and sculptor was responsible for the lions in London’s Trafalgar Square? Answer = 5. What is the general name for the fungus that forms a thin white coating on plants? Answer = 6. Who or what is an eyas? Answer = Fledgling hawk. Had no idea – can’t remember ever hearing that word before. 7. In professional boxing, how long does each round last? Answer = 3 mins 8. Which is the largest of the Soloman Islands? Answer = Guadalcanal – never heard of it 9. What is the name for the sterile offspring of a female ass and a male horse? Answer = Hinny 10. What board game was invented by Charles Darrow? Answer = 11. Which surgeon performed the first human heart transplant? Answer = 12. Mogadishu is the capital of which African country? Answer = I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Elton John played the piano on the Hollies record He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother. Answer = I didn’t

It is :-

That's the site I found this one :-

Welcome to the group @Janice Moore. Unfortunately the photo of Boyle's is the only one of the shop that I know of having been posted on any of the online sites. I always new the shop, in the late 1950's and early 1960's as Doyle's - my granny lived across the road in the Tomlea Avenue Bungalows and she would give us some coppers to go and buy sweets from Doyle's

@Canny lass & @Symptoms - 1920's & 30's but only four of Bedlington, more fof Blyth and costal area, but this one is one I have used a few times :- https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW048825

Posted on Bygone Bedlington Facebook group - Tuesday 22nd March 2022.

1. Which King of England was the youngest son of William the Conqueror? Answer = 2. Which Elvis film was based on the play A Stone for Danny Fisher? Answer = 3. In which ocean are the Seychelles? Answer = 4. How many kings of England have been called Philip? Answer = 0 5. Which snooker player was runner-up in six World Championships in the 80s and 90s? Answer = 6. Which acid is found in bee stings? Answer = Formic 7. What is a nematode? Answer =good for killing off slugs without harming other wildlife, especially birds. 8. Diplopia is the medical term for which disorder? Answer = 9. In which month does the grouse shooting season start in Britain? Answer = 10. What is the correct term for a positive electrode? Answer = 11. Who had ‘a little help from his friends’ in 1986? Answer = don't know - Joe Cocker did in 1968 12. By what name are the RCMP more commonly known? Answer = I’ll bet you didn’t know …. George Simenon, the man who created the French detective Maigret, claimed to have slept with 10,000 women. My comment: That’s roughly one a day for 27 years or 3 a week for 64years! Answer = I didn’t. Or 3 a day for 9 years = The Passion of Slow Fire

@Jo C - I believed that the Bedlington Station school didn't open until 1912 as the school celebrated it's 100th year in 2012. A c1936 class photo of the school was just recently posted on the Bygone Bedlingon Facebook group and I have added it into the school album we keep within this site. Whilst I was doing that I checked out the other photos in the album to see what was the oldest photo we had and I noticed this comment, that I had totally forgotten about, saying the school was built between 1906 and 1910 but didn't 'officially' open until 1912 :- So it is possible that your photo was taken at the Bedlington station Council School. I have checked all the school photos in the album but can't find an exact match to yours eg. down pipe next to window, but it could be that's where your photo was taken. We don't have a full photo of the walls where the class photos would have been taken but there is one of the front of the school, taken c1960, showing the down pipes at either end of the building between the corners of the building and the single width windows. The other side of the building where we would expect the class photos to be taken could easily have had the down pipes between a single and a double with window.