Keith Scantlebury

something came through the door the other day. A booklet titled South East Northumberland holiday leisure programme Easter activities 18th-28th April 2011 and summer mid term 31st May- 4th June 2011. [ www.bval.co.uk ] Basically if you are a kid / teenager living in Blyth, Cramlington, Seaton Valley, Ashington, Newbiggin and Morpeth you have plenty to do inside or out and is either free or a reasonable fee is charged. If you live in Bedlington you are onto next to nowt. What is on offer is a couple of hours crap activity at Dr Pit and Gallagher Park and 3 or 4 athletic/sports sessions at the high school for which they charge £10/ session. So Pete , Moscies frothy coffee and pinball machines and the YM gym and pop bar don't seem too bad an option in comparrison.

Advert on page 38 of the News Post Leader, titled @ the Eagle

April 15th 2011 marks the 50th aniversary of the opening of the Kitty Brewster Bridge. The only mention of this that I have seen was in the all our yesterdays column of the NPL which mentions the fact that it was opened by Dan Dawson on 15th April 1961. I can remember being taken as a child and watching the bridge being built [iwas only 5 when it was opened]. That bridge is taken for granted now, but, it must be one of the most important structures built in living memory in this area. Could anyone imagine todays traffic trying to cross the river Blyth using the Furnace bridge. I can still remember buses struggling up the Hairpin bank and the Furnace bank going to and coming from Blyth in the Winter months. The opening of the bridge would have been one of the factors which lead to the eventual closure of the Blyth ferry [although that was some years later]. Without the bridge the spine road would not have been built. I can remember an old pitman saying "Am still gannin the lang way roond, a divint trust them motorway roads nivor mind one that gans ower a bridge". [wonder what he would make of the M25 and the QE2 bridge or the M4 and the severn bridge] There are still some people even now , 50 years on, that refer to it as the "new bridge". The building of the Kitty Brewster bridge really opened up the transport network of south east Northumberland and with the spine road eventually going to Ashington and the need for another bridge over the Wansbeck the pressure was taken off Bedlington Station and Stakeford as it were. Mind you the way fuel prices are going, there will be a huge reduction in traffic using the spine road and in 50 years time the only thing to be seen on the spine road will be tumbleweed.

Yep and those foo foo valves are always fluffing up.

Yeah, so why can't they work on cars then Malcolm, that wrench wench in your picture looks perfectly capable to me. ........ now wheres the service record for my car? ...I'm sure its due

Think it is on this year and is leaving from the Eagle [i'm sure I read something somewhwere about it] I do know that they collect eggs/donations one day and deliver them to the childrens wards [ and indeed old peoples homes] the next day. I think they are back to the Eagle for a night on the lash.

No, but the nice men that drive us about wear white coats and all cash withdrawn recently has been done legally

The wife and I were getting ready to go out the other night. She said that she wanted to go somewhere expensive so I took her to the spa garage for some diesel.

FFS twice in one day I have agreed with you Merlin, one of us is slipping. One of the guys that work at the Tyne Tunnel told me that they were not allowed to smoke in the tunnel, yet they can breathe in exhaust fumes [even with the fans on they still get lungfulls of exhaust smoke]. I've said it before and I will say it again, I will not be surprised if this government brings the country to it's knees in the same way the Heath government did in the early 70's. Enjoy the upcoming short weeks/ long weekends because they might well become the norm.

Exactly Merlin, you are spot on, we know nothing and we just get swept under the carpet. Malcolm, a pile of steaming horse sxxt has its uses, the clowns that dreamed this sxxt up do not

whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Summat wrong with ya lugs Brian?........ Hervey Bay just round Cambois way innit?

The challenge was to name groups/bands Foxy, not songs (even though you have unintentionaly named a group, RAINBOW ) Oh and by the way, I whent mad many years ago and am still getting progressively worse

GGG I bet you had great fun with a colouring book when you were a kid , your box of crayons would not of taken up much room

Nothing, as they say, is as simple as black or white.

!*!@# I used blue twice

Like in ..... BLUE MINK

I got that one all by myself........ I just asked the wife

Radar Love....... Cmon Cympil get a grip

GOLDEN earing = 10

Merlin, adding your Deep Purple and Whitesnake to my list makes 9, is as close as I can get

Greenday, Maroon five, Redbone, Blue mink, Pink floyd, Blackeyed Peas,The Bluebells Thats as far as I got without copying any of yours, or repeating any colours Merlin, it isn't as easy as you think is it?

A fantastic extra idea from the AA. Dr Raif Lopol is a genious. I do know, however, that he works very closely with his colleague Dr Lars Profiol

The Red Lion is to be re-named The Bedlington Terrier. [They had to wait for permission] Aparrently, it is to keep up the traddition of W/spoons policy of giving their pubs names that are synonomous to the town they are in. Anyone who takes a Bedlington in on Friday morning or anyone who can donate a photograph for display will get a free pint

Yup, That would be Benny Andrews. His place was where Ian Gerards cycle shop is now opposite the Bank Top pub. Benny was a right character, sometimes he would be seen on a Sunday afternoon heading down the furnace bank on his way to the woods with the horse and half a dozen local kids on its back. Benny worked till he was a good age. He gave up in the end partly due to the fact that he kept getting broken into [the shed behind the house was where he kept his stuff for the round]. The stable was behind there as well and it kept getting vandalised. The police often had to take Benny's horse home quite often in a distressed state after some of these break ins.