pilgrim

er that should be 500 a week

3g - think you have summed up a lot of things there - nowt to do wi politics but a lot to do wi real life and achievable expectations xx

ah - the crux of the whole issue -- how do you make people want to come to Bedlington?? -answers on a postcard... And why is Cowpen road such an abomination??

interesting comment about hedgerows - they are all disappearing - there is some good facts about how long a hedgerow has been established by the number of species in in it - I have noticed over he years the demise of the traditional 5 bar gate in favour of the double metal thingy to accommodate the huge machines we now have

can I interject - the first example of text speak, I tell the child (just to say its not her generation invention) is the transfer of 'one' to I -- (write it down if it escapes you) languages all develop naturally (did you notice the spell chucker there?) but lets not go into that post apocalypse dysfunctional world of 'blade runner' --although I look forward to the sequel !!! I do like the ethos of the plainer English campaign!!!

We wish Symptoms -- would have probably been able to get a grant and its warmer down there!!! was a long difficult financial decision - it needed about 120k spent just to keep it viable and sensible and probably another 360k to bring it up to decent modern standards (we recorded -5 deg in one of he bedrooms one year) - although bit of a b*****r trying to find places for stuff going from 14 b/rooms down to much smaller place. Now you have to take a step back and think, without immediately thinking privilege etc.- unless a place has a lot of land and income generation it is a real albatross. We didn't pay water rates as the supply was from 3 springs through a UV system - the sewage was via septic tank - ergo all down to direct payments to contractors - and if it goes wrong its your responsibility (I recall 'rodding' drains one Christmas eve!!) . no mains gas supply - broadband at dial up speeds and that's when you have a telephone line! you have to keep a generator as the power fails often. Contrast 2 folk I know - one has 1600 acres of very profitable land and his family have owned it since the early 1700's - another has over 2000 acres but it supports about 3 sheep! and land has the lowest return on capital - although you don't pay tax on land inheritance. Partly why I gripe at the likes of English 'heritage' - Houses develop over the years and change many times, to suit the changes in lifestyle and living improvements, but they decide which 'snapshot' in time it must be locked into and expect owners to not install any insulation, windows, central heating, or any of the other things that we take for granted and expect as part of our rights and then go on living in the dark ages!! (I know several folk with medium to large houses that the normal wear is a fleece and thermals because you cant heat them!!) A fine example is the Walls at Berwick to name one -- ok you can walk around them, but the bastions are locked and gated - no information that is relevant but plenty about Lowry!! and that is a bloke you want to make a fuss about?? It might seem all wrong to you but actually the folk that maintain what we are and where we have come from are severely financially challenged. Take a slightly different stance and have a think - I pay taxes etc. but also have to pay several thousand a year for childs education - ok my choice - but I think for good reason - mothers care costs 500 plus a month - luckily my earnings are so small that the HMRC owes me about £3.60 per year -- no I don't have any tax avoidance schemes - I just don't have any money!! want to swap??? its not so attractive is it???

ref the Higgs Bosun - apparently it was discovered by Homer Simpson in 1998 14 years before CERN!! According The Mail 2nd March 2015

is this a mass debate?? (runs and hides)

dire straits also sang about the Spanish city -- sting - real name Gordon Sumner was a teacher at cramlington - Brian Johnston ac/dc wallsend lad (and areal nice bloke) and mark Knopfler all had local connections - have tape somewhere of a session.

oh dear -- am saying nowt -- not because of the school or the result but because of the general malaise in education... anyways Malcolm -- calm down -- being in the Chronicle isnt being in the news proper lol

ovalteeny - I can assure you that you are not alone - the blight of the 'snouff' is all over the county we have had it and it keeps coming back ..although I haven't had a really proper green hockle for many years and I still smoke - not a tree frog in sight lol

Maggie - ty you for the concern and hope it gave you some amusement. It was an interesting night but nowt that doesn't happen in rural life. the elbow joint on the flue had split and cause an updraught that made a 'hyperburn'. House filled wi smoke so sent herself and child out for dinner and then to another house in the village whilst I braved the perils of smog and the Bedlington community site. it was just another rural thing you get used to. (although it wasn't easy typing with a room full of smoke and streaming eyes) So todays task. Stripped the whole thing down - cleaned it up - welded the offending article and rebuilt it wi new ceramic rope and a bit of black cement. I have awarded us 3 dressed crab with some crusty brown tonight as a prelude to dinner as compensation and myself a Cpl of bottles of PG. We have had much worse - a few yrs ago in the old house the back boiler split 3 weeks afore Christmas.. no heat no hot water - and try getting a 14ft fireplace taken out repaired and put back in that time!!.. so bit the bullet as it was well past its sell by date (the front door key had been lost sometime afore Queen Vic and never been replaced lol) so we moved into a house we had in the village. all part of the joys of rural life!! (that mental image ... Nero - Rome -- fiddle?- although that was just bad PR)

be careful re the cow parsley ... the sap is a 'stainer' like dandelions - but hogweed and giant hogweed - also umberlifferas are deadly...

My apologies Malcolm - I was a bit distracted as the Aga had gone on fire and I had to extinguish that so it was a bit smoky in the house

possibly - but remember Gitanes and Disque Blue?? and Sobranie -- the multi coloured cocktail packs and the Imperials that were in boxes of 25 and had a cardboard tube filter? the tobacconists aside Ashington tech used to sell them and Findlays in Morpeth.

Seem to think the proper name was the 'Bedlington Glove Company' and them that was wandering their way back from imbibing at the 'Station' kept nicking the 'G' !!

Taylors are one of the best fresh fish suppliers - always good quality!! .. funny old world though -- seems to be a Bedlington thing -- everyone had a dog and a pet 'Jack' !!!

'The united union of Bedlington' interesting concept - although I have found that any country/organisation that has the words united, peoples, republic, democratic, peoples, or some I dare not mention !! in their names is anything but any of those -- perhaps something simpler and more direct -- as in 'Welcome to Bedlington - We are not Ashington or Morpeth'

On decimalisation 10 No 6 were 10p and you could get packets of 5 Park Drive - a pint was 91/2 p as well. They had a self service petrol machine at the garage at cramlington that you could get 50p worth of petrol - Packet of cheese biscuits in the pub was 10p . A night out for a quid!!!!!

eeee I remember when all these fields were houses lol-- er are ya sure the the coat and bootees are not for you?

repeating yasel -- it happens when ya get older lol

oh dear -- that smacks of denial .. er hang on - why did Bird quit??and Hamilton is straight as a die of course - anyways why is Farage in the USA?? - what the f has that to do with whats going on at home now?? 9and he made an A*** of it ) check the bbc website the one about campaign spotting - although of course that would be biased??

Wilma you have become a victim of PC!! you can not upload vids of naked birds performing!!! go sit in a corner and behave yasel!!

smudge --well done that man!! - nowt like getting politics and religion into a neutral subject - otherwise how can you start a fight??

sorry Maggie -- I wold have got on sooner but I forgot to check the updates