Clark75

A lot of folk will feel uncomfortable to have no option but to go to one of the bars to use a toilet especially when they have young children. Also the majority of bars don't open until 11am so if your an early shopper and at Market Place your not going to want to walk all the way to Spoons. A lot of elderly folk would struggle with the distance. My original point being, we had plenty in the past and now the town is much bigger generating more council tax, surely we are not asking too much for a simple central toilet block.

I have witnessed the public using pub landlords toilets and although this is very kind of them to allow them to, why should they have the added burden costing them more in loo roles and cleaning etc when they are getting nothing for it.

Very informative post. Thankyou. So Northumberland County Council which is based in Morpeth and supposedly moving to Ashington at some point both have fully maintained public conveniences. The one in Morpeth car park over the bridge hasn't long been refurbished. My point being that Bedlington is always at the bottom of their priority list. Surely even the rentable Portacabin style ( not portaloo thunderboxes) be a start until they decide what to do with the old ones.

I don't think think they would appreciate me dropping in on a Monday morning after a weekends worth of beer and an Indian curry to offload . Jokes aside though, this is a problem that needs addressed with supposedly more shops opening. You never know when you might unexpectedly need to use these facilities when you are out and about. But if you were to be so desperate as to relive yourself behind a wall you would be fined for urinating in public. Instead money wasted on new Street lighting in the housing estates which is dimmer than before and makes you feel more unsafe walking your dog late at night.

This may have been discussed before but please excuse me as I'm a Newby. How can the council justify having no usable public toilets in Bedlington. Before the huge amount of new houses which have popped up over the years which generate more council tax there were toilets at Red Lion, Market place and in the car parks of Tesco and also behind Blue Bell. Ashington however has toilets and is also getting yet another whole front street relaid plus sports centre and bus station whilst Bedlington folk can't even take a P**S.

Apparently it's some sort of antenna. That's what I was told. At first I had hoped it was going to be something to do with the huge amount of gas found off the Northumberland coast a few years ago and create some decent local jobs.

At last an open and honest reply. So, I'm taking that you have to be invited and let's be honest here, it would be favourable if you have something to offer within this private members group that could benefit fellow brothers.

Very interesting posts. However it would be a shame for such a long established group to potentially disappear from Bedlington due to declining numbers. But on the the other hand, when it's so hard to find out real information this will always be the case. You just have to look at the number of churchgoers in Bedlington now. Society has changed and in my own opinion, not for the better. We are seeing a massive change as people are losing their social skills due to the new " Technology Era" where using your thumbs on a keypad is the new way of communication and socialising. I may indeed ask more questions to the relevant persons and may get involved with Freemasonry in Bedlington at some point in the future. Bedlington is in my blood and I love the town and all of its history and dream of seeing the mines re-open and the communities working and socialising together. A dream which unfortunately will never happen.

Yes. But how do you actually find out what goes on and if it's for you before your first attendance? I'm all for charities and being a better person but before choosing to join, a little more information from members would be great.

There are guys in the the local bars who are Masons but never say what happens apart from they enjoy food and drink together. Why would these guys, who by the way are popular regular blokes become Freemasons just for social reasons when they are out more than a coal fire and have loads of mates ????? I'm intrigued to know a little more as it is something that I could possibly interested in joining if only I knew a bit more. I do like being part of a group and respect the charity work which is fantastic but I don't fancy rolling up in my best suit and realising it's not for me.