pilgrim

a wonderful poem by Robert Service called 'Raw Recruit' perhaps sums up some of this - I first read this some 50 yrs ago and it has stayed with me.

County Hall - thinks ... now why is it being moved? King Edwards sold for housing and relocated into County Hall? surely the council site is bigger and close enough to Lonesdean to be desirable - or is it a move to justify a hugely costly road which seems to serve no purpose. It seems to be the trend these days to sell off school palying fields (Cramlington - Berwick - oops they couldnt make a decison and the NHS pulled out as they couldnt wait but I am sure a more profitable deal will be made) Speaking of County Hall - can anyone tell me how many unions have offices there? and are they charged a commercial rate for the facilities? as I have never seen 'office space available for rent in prime location' advertised and will those same unions be given office space in any new county hall?? and why??

i note that this thread started on about NHS and Ashington Hospital -- i recall men brought in from the pit with fingers off sitting in casualty waiting for a couple of hours before they were seen. Having had dealings with both the Freeman and Ashington hospitals over the last 2+years because of illnesses in my mother it was a remarkable difference -- Freeman - I rang and was able to speak to the surgeons secretary. She told me he was in surgery but would leave him a message. The professor rang me back within 15 mins and arranged an admittance 2 days later. I was dealt with courteously and personally at all times and when visiting was often spoken to about the progress of my mother by the surgeons. That was in the December, in the February another serious illness and admission to Wansbeck - try getting to speak to a doctor, never mind anyone that can or will give you any actual information. In 10 weeks the lift was out of action, which would have led to the closure of any other establishment, also broken equipment was left in corridors for the whole length of that time. Interesting that they still insist of putting high dependency and non ambulatory patients on upper floors when the lift is out of order - fire is a bad example as the response will always be - don't use lifts in a fire, but what else do you do?

ah but a sad reflection on the wannabees that want political power and their attitude to the 'masses' that they are supposed to represent - the only winners are the folk that have achieved their ends at the cost of the others they are supposed to represent - haggling to me is a mutually satisfactory agreement on cost and benefit - ie -- I want that - you have it - what we gonna agree a price on ? - I once swapped a 250 enfield for a vw beetle -- now that was a fair deal -- neither party was conned and we both went away happy and I might add happy for many years (although I have to say if its got t**s or wheels its gonna cost you dearly lol) its the whole - ooo isn't this terrible and we can sort something, issues that boils my pi*s -and that the issue in the first instance would never be countenanced by any rational thinker - we are not children and actually have a mind (apart from some voters lol|) so should be accorded the dignity of having rational thought. it all comes back to the thing that I find most bemusing -- we know best ..... and that's from most that I wouldn't trust to walk my dog.. and yet they are voted in to posts of power??

interesting re Corbyn -- politics in action -- if you want to actually get something accepted by the public - present something unacceptable at first - then meet the compromise which is far beyond what the public would want or even condone if presented at first offer - but is way above what you could have hoped for - wheyyy result -- you get far more than you would have dared say you wanted and the public get a feel good (but conned) factor Oh and mrs HH funny how her and her husbands history have been expunged re their support of PIE only personal thought and nowt more

coal mining uses a slightly different strata to other mining -- (very simplfied and sounds wrong) the roadways etc from some pits in the 60's will have mostly collapsed - (how many 'wet' pits were in the county)- if you want an example drive into ashington from the pegswood end - and have a look at the fields both sides - (not sure now but at one time you had to have a mine/subsidence survey done to get a mortgage in some parts) but we actually have the 'coal owners' to thank hugely for their impetus to science. now how do you think they decided to sink shafts in the first place?? - we had surface mining - opencast - and drift/adits like widdrington and much older Plessey. but the real impetus was to determine where coal could be found... so -- the real credit is due to a bloke that realised that the deposits were stratified, and therefore if he could identify by what fossil record was at the surface so he could deduce where the coal was and how far underground. A nationwide survey was made and pits were sunk accordingly. I still have a Cpl of boxes of micro fossils slides made by a pit surveyor to determine the likely quality and age of coal seams in the Northumberland area (most likely Bedlington) (prize for the name of that pioneer that did the fossil search )

Religion is about the intereaction of what folk need to believe and what the state wants them to believe and also a matter of the mores and ethics at the time. (ducks down....and I don't mean feathers!) The new testament to me seems to be written to fulfill the prophecies of the old testament, and is not contemporaneous, with only the book of john possibly being written from first or second hand knowledge of actual events and the personas involved. Maybe when they eventually release the quaram scrolls we might get an insight into the rebellion and aftermath. The old testament - which seems to be dismissed by most clerics - unless it suits them - to me is much more interesting - as it is about people - it seems to hold 'race memories' of our ancient development -- eg the move from hunter gatherer to arable - the story of the mess of potage.. cain and abel etc etc . and also the 10 commandments are, if rationally considered, are what the UN have been trying to do for years - how to get along in peace. (Always keep in mind the huge time line of this) Wilma - have a look at Elephantine Island and the possible migratory route of the 'lost tribe' which may have eventually ended up in Ethiopia - where there is a very 'odd' system of belief and has vestiges of the possible beliefs of the folk at the time of the 'red sea pedestrian' thingy. but remember -- you can speak to your god and that's OK - but if he speaks back to you directly (without the aid of a 'priest to interpret and (ahem) help you understand the true meaning) you are mad - as Joan D'Arc discovered (you can get away with it if you are the Pope or a King)

It must be 50 yrs since i saw christopher !!! I passed the 11 plus, as it was in them days, and went to Morpeth and then the family had a house built in Cramlington when it started being developed and we moved there. there were 5 of us that year that passed the 11 plus but all went to different 'grammar' schools, strange thing in those days -- on passing there was a letter from the education authority at the time asking which of the 5 schools I would prefer to go to (Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth, Morpeth, and I think The other was RGS or KIngs at Tynemouth, a far cry from today when folks are fighting to get their kids into any school!!!) I passed through Scotland Gate a while back and noted the primary school buildings -- was amused to see that what was the dining hall which was a temporary building in the 1950's is still standing! I recall getting called out in assembly one morning with some others and getting severely chastised in front of everyone as a few of us had climbed the pit heap and rolled boulders down it. I seem to recall that there were some ponds there as well which had a very unhealthy rusty colour with chemical deposits around the edges (not that we knew any different then) I think these days it would have been cordoned off by men in white suits and gas masks!!! The air raid shelters were still in the school yard when I was there - probably still will be.

ill try again lol (kept dropping out- must be an age thing) there is a good case that 'christianity' and the original diaspora was as a result of a disagreement between the sun worshippers (the 'christians' being expelled - its way back in the old texts and part of it was the banning of sacrifice other than at selected sites and there are definite 'christian' indicators in phaoronic times. the romans adopted 'Christianity' as it suits the state -- it is one of the religions that requires the intercession of an official (priest) for you to speak to your god and have any 'response' interpreted for you, which gives huge control over the populace. By the time of the demise of the roman empire in the west @400 ad it was fairly widespread. This can be traced right through the mediaeval times. Then the 'dark ages' so called because we know next to nowt about them due to lack of written resources. ​ Churches are still laid out in the pattern of the temple of Solomon, the open area, for the people, the secondary area, then the inner sanctum only to be entered by the priest - ( this is not a masonic conspiracy lol) all strictly delineated. A lot of the early 'places of worship' were wood and rebuilt over time and eventually in stone - then the normans gave the huge impetus for stone building and the 'glory' of bling. But the same sites were reused.

back again ... the cry at the cage -- tabs - baccy- carbide- matches- lamp -- the check that you didn't contravene the safety requirements.... interesting to see that the disaster in china looks to be caused by the fire crews doing their job but not realising they were spraying water onto carbide!!!!!

...am recovering after getting the car out of a ditch... the cause was the radio!!! ......... did I really hear that 'at Wimbledon today the ladies are enjoying 2 men's semis'??

nice to see there has been some progress made on the Tesco site

I have just spent 20 minutes sorting out a reply and suddenly the site died -- oh well -- I will revisit and post later

no offence was meant to any individual - the issue I have is that these things seem to creep in without

It was the argument for the re-introduction of lynx that riled me particularly -- saying they predated deer which are these days over breeding, the deer that lynx predate are not our native types and I cannot believe that they would not switch to the easy option of sheep, and of course, they would spread and can't be controlled. There are problems with boar in the south already. Wolves ?? I think not - feral wild dogs next??. we don't have boar and lynx hunters here - as we don't have them, but as soon as they are established how do you cull them?? I can see the protest banners already!! the badger thing is different as I think they get the blame for a lot of bad animal husbandry over many years. I am not looking at a conspiracy theory but as soon as these things are introduced, and one has to wonder for the benefit of whom, the insidious creep of 'protected' areas begins with exclusion of actual people. It is the 50th anniversary of the Pennine Way this year and a milestone in some very hard work by some very dedicated folk to open up rights of way and eventually the open access and right to roam legislation. (this is different in Scotland as there is a common law right of access). there are more and more areas being subject to restrictions and exclusion of people for, in some cases valid reasons, but in many others I perceive the erosion of ancient rights and customs.

maybe we need a Geordie version - although that is the wrong version of spellchucker (Maggie - totally agree with you on the hijacking of words such as gay) - I recall a very serious crown court case where the senior officer was asked to describe the terrain - he looked at the barrister and being a north Northumbrian -- said terrain? bonny lad?? its a forest -- there's no terrains there............... the Obama vids over last few days are worth looking at -- re the N word -- nope I should have said nigger - as in brown - lets not shy away from what words mean in view of their perceived meanings - that only leads to discordance

phew thank you folks -- am not as senile as I thought

and your point is ?? game shooting makes up only a small proportion of arable land - its is predominant in the less productive areas to make the shortfall. -- very little of the landscape has been shaped for game shooting - the only major incident is the burning of the heather to provide young sprouts for grouse to feed and that is mainly north of the border. It would be nice have a thought a thought about why there are grouse/partridge/pheasant -- its because they are poor flyers - east to shoot and marginally edible - otherwise they would be extinct (now how does that reconcile with your views???) I have one of many friends who are farmers -- one has pigs on that farm that are more rare than the panda - and its an organic farm- the only reason those beasts exist is because they can be eaten. I take it that from your views that the loons that want to reintroduce wild boar,lynx, and wolves, are damn decent types and not feckin loons?? think of having a family stroll in Plessey with the above critters-- I wouldn't be happy - put aside the French revolution thinking and be real

I think they are - I know someone who lives there and they are doing ok - (interesting thing was that they had no television on Thursdays to promote family etc.) so it can be done!!! although they do have free hot water lol

I lived at Choppington Station as a child (50's and early 60's) and wandered up the Netherton Lonnen occasionally (a venture into an unknown land lol)- I seem to recall a 'newsagents' in a green wooden hut there - or am I terminally senile?

er -- I meant invest... ahem - apologies

politics and finance should be a different line -- it all started with the Knights Templar (who managed the exchange rates and ensured pilgrims could get to the Holy Land with their cash --less management fees of course) ooooo do I see a Dan Brown style conspiracy?? lol I have the feeling that Greece is the new Iceland - and I don't mean the frozen food place. OH dear I do hope NCC didn't incest in Greece...................

ah you had the full frontal 'Labattomy'... remember .. Happy hour only makes you miserable when you have done the Douglas Bader thing (legless hero) On a more serious note.. I was in Ingram Valley last night and ended up, by chance, speaking to a man who was originally from Alnmouth but now lives in Alnwick. As we talked he expressed the same opinions I have seen on here and elsewhere, in that, why was the NCC apparently pushing vast amounts of money in a very small area of the county (I don't think I need to mention which bit) and apparently neglecting the rest. The question arose about the A1 - the section beside Purdey Lodge was supposed to be dualled many yrs ago and nothing has been done - there were 3 options put forward for the section beside Causey Park, with consultation and press releases, and nothing was done, and yet millions are being spent on a link from Pegswood to Fairmoor, supposedly to alleviate blockages in Morpeth but neither of us could work out who would be travelling on that east/west route to go north ? (I wonder how many local jobs have been created by that project?) Ok we were two old farts grumbling in the rain and swatting midges, which is the equivalent of having piles when it comes to clear thinking, but he was saying that a lot of the houses in Alnmouth are now second homes and that The Alnwick Gardens, although bringing thousands into Alnwick have made the town almost a Disneyland and the prevalence of transient charity shops and tourist 'tat'. Because of lack of investment in the more rural areas, housing is now out of the range of most and because of the likes of SSSI and various 'local' regulations being brought in the whole of the northern area of the county is becoming a 'theme park' with very little benefit for the future of those living there ( we meant 'real' jobs and affordable housing). I have a personal gripe about a lot of the preservation policies as nothing you can see is actually 'Natural England' - it has been artificially managed for thousands of years and I wish that folk would get a grasp on the fact that those wonderful vistas of open land are all 'artificial' and are actually a 'food factory' rant over ..until the next time....

not quite sure - is there anywhere that isn't subject to political interference profiteering??? (maybe that's the issue that needs to be addressed)

The fiscal union was achievable, but of course as you say certain countries saw it as a way to enforce their controls in the political sphere and euro-wide laws (some of which were required) the whole thing was hi-jacked for political purposes -- blackmail comes to mind !! I think it would have worked in a free market but only without any 'political' interference.