Mr Darn

Back in the 50's and 60's, a man could support his family alone, and the housewife had the time to get the kids ready and off to school on the way to do the shopping etc. Nowerdays, you need two incomes (on one very good one) to be able to afford to live, unless you claim a benifit, meaning the only chance to work is whilst the kids are at school. this means kids are dropped off on the commute now, with a deadline to meet and not enough time to park elsewhere and walk. Whilst i can see it from their point of view, this does not help matters, and something still needs to be done. Relocating the schools that are run down to easier accessible areas would be a start, instead of renovating them, and the creation of car parks big enough to use is another step. Perhaps its time to relocate the allotments next to bennies to make way for decent parking? an entrance to both schools could be created from this location, and a one-way system directing traffic out by the ridge farm (as is in place, but ignored) could be enforced, and i'm sure would eliminate alot of the problem. the issue then is, where should the allotments be moved too? Whats the time limit before Cemeteries can be re-used? is the old west lea one due for a clear out? ir is that earmarked for good now? not a good idea to build on, in my opinion, but i don't see why it could not be used for allotments, so long as enough time has passed. Or perhaps part of the 20 acre field? what's the law on that? does allotments count as removing green belt?

Do they? thats an interesting bit of trivia! Can i have proof to take back and shove in their faces?

Oh crap! i had one just like that in my room as a kid! I know what you mean though. Private or not, signs are there for a reason. The point is, just like in a supermarket car park, the signs conform to the highway code so people recognise and understand their intent, but just like the double yellows in the supermarkets, they are unenforceable by law. Private companies are required to police these sites, and extra signage is required stating who polices them, what the fines are etc. before anything can be done, unlike on the public highway, where they are a set fine etc. and policed by the police (or a department thereof)

Yeah, we are as sick of it as you. It's all to do with que length. "If there is one on the belt, and one waiting, we open another till" ASDA fail their "Happy to help que audit" if there is more than one person waiting, and they have unopened till's that are not broken. Apparently one of the ASDA bosses looked on a town's website, saw the people of the town hated the length of que's in their competitors shops and decided to make a commitment to reduce them in ASDA in an attempt to please. And as for those space here signs, i agree with you. I like standing in a que of 3 people when there's an empty till father up. Who are they to tell me where an empty till is? don't they know i just go there to waste my time standing in que's? The cheek of it! Another thing. I wish they'd stop putting prices everywhere. i like to guess how much my shoppping is! On a more serious note, ( ) i don't see the problem with the bags. Did they not spend millions redesigning the carrier bag to be biodegradable a few years back? I know i put a load of grass clippings in one at the start of the summer and left it in the side alley, and when i went to pick it up the other day, the bottom had rotted away! If thats the case, whats the big deal with using loads? and what advantage does this "bag for life" have?

I was going to mention that the other day, as i had noticed the state of tallyentyres, as well as the top club and a few others. For the sake of a face lift in the way of signage, it would give a better impression to passers by.

Come on Malc! It's AGES since i wore a cap!

Perhaps better if it don't open, eh?

Considering its taken almost a year for a simple case of will full damage to reach the court, i think there's a proven need for it to stay!

Of course more needs to be done, but the very presence of a "cheeper than most", half decent pub means it will now be worth my while to travel to bedlington on a saturday night again, instead of staying in my home town to avoid high travel costs. Now those travel costs can be offset against a cheap night and hopefully a livelier atmosphere as more and more come back. Its a definite start!

I went 3 times in my younger years, but it was based at the top of Waverley Avenue?

Brave, but i don't think too foolish... I stand by my thoughts on this, wetherspoons in bedlington can only be a good thing, and may help towards reviving the old weekends we all remember. The only thorn in my eyes is the Blue Bell. I'm not shy of a pub thats a little rough and ready, but even i don't see any appeal in the place. I walk past it regularly from the Wharton to the Top Club, but i think most of my feeling toward the place is based on the past and is no reflection on the present owners. If that place could be made appealing again too, somehow, then we would have quite the pub crawl again!

Quite the informant there! almost 5 years in front of the curve!

Quite possibly, and in no way was i suggesting the Ashington site WAS to be used, just mentioning that was about the size of the site required by the home delivery team. It was mentioned in passing that most Netto stores in the area would be too small to be used for this purpose, and would most probably be turned into ASDA Living stores, with the rest being sold off. Burger King was mentioned for the Bedlington site and/or the Blyth and Ashington sites. Again, this is total speculation and hear-say. On another note, who was the first on this site to mention the Red Lion becoming a Wetherspoons?

There is talk of operating a warehouse-based Home Delivery service, but i was under the impression it would be a much bigger scale than the current Netto foodstores. Something along the lines of the old Ashington site was more the idea put forward to us.

I remembered it as soon as i saw it, but i think i may be thinking of Photographs i've seen rather than actually see-ing it myself. Is there not a picture in another pub of the Lion in that dress? i'm sure its in either the Wharton, Grapes, Sun, or may have been the Dun Cow...

Care to elaborate a little there? In an hypothetical sense of course

If you had mentioned Burger King, you'd be the 4th person i'd heard that little rumour from in the last 2 weeks! And one of those people is an ASDA Regional Manager

Merlin, I'll be honest and say i was expecting a reply that would not help the conversation at all there, so thank you for your serious reply. (at least a quirk on abusing entrances that were intended for one way traffic!) I find that absolutely disgraceful. Anyone with a concern put in writing should have at least had a reply! The fact the one way system is on technical "Private Property" within the school grounds leaves less room for action than usual. Does anyone know what the escalation procedure is in this case? Surely there is someone higher up the ladder who can shed some light on the subject? At the very least, the police could be involved with the double parking. A school in Newsham, Blyth got the police involved when parents were inconsiderately parking outside their school, and this resulted in a police presence at school opening and closing times, issuing tickets for those who were inconsiderately parking, for a good few weeks. These measures are still checked on a regular basis, at random, so no-one dares chance it now. Perhaps an answer may be achieved by going down that route?

Is anyone reporting this crime to the police?we had a problem in our street where a certain young lad was doing at least twice the 20MPH speed limit (and thats being generous!). So as to not single the lad out, my neighbour spoke to the local CPSO just saying there was a problem in the street in general, and he arrived the next day and patrolled the street for 4 hours at least that i knew of, talking to residents and generally observing. It was noted the cars were a problem, and more than just this lad! just about everyone seemed to be breaking the limit! For the next few days, 2 uniformed officers and a CPSO were in the street, the CPSO with a radar gun and the uniformed officer at each end, stopping traffic as needed. The exercise was not to hand out tickets, but to educate the locals on the speed limit. no tickets were handed out as far as i'm aware, and the traffic in our street is now not perfect.... but a hell of a lot better. I've not noticed the lad since either, and the loud bore exhaust usually gave him away a little bit when he booted it! Anyway, the point to this ramble is, if its not reported to anyone, then what can they really do about it? This is not the time of the Minority Report.... just yet anyway!

is first link broken now?

Check them out here: http://www.3horseshoes.co.uk/menu.htm

Whilst conservation of the "character" of the town should be left unchanged, i believe the laws are used the wrong way. i don't believe old and crumbling buildings should be left untouched and unused just because they are old. Every building has a shelf life, and whilst you can throw money at the ones that serve a purpose, others may as well just go. That's not to say the character is then lost, the laws should state that the new design has to be fitting with the towns heritage. Now, whilst a new Tesco's building would be good for that run down section of the town, i believe they must be made to be in-keeping with the aim of the surrounding area, and traditional design. (and no, i don't mean 'run down and unkempt', i mean a new looking building, with old design features as cosmetic touches) This would mean a building with a sandstone or old brickwork look about it, and not the 'powder coated steel' panels usually used by supermarkets. Something not unlike the "face" of the current Tesco building actually...

Gladly accepted kind sir, and may i add, the Guinness in the Wharton is still top notch?

I can only see good things come of this for bedlington in general. lets hope we get some more interest in investment.

Which IPhone? and what network?