Keith Scantlebury

There is another photo of Cympil's in the gallery of Bedlington Market place and Dr. Pit. It looks as if it has been taken from the church tower? and is a bit closer to the chemists than the one posted above. Our house is behind Johnsons shoe shop [the one with the two awnings] and the shop next to it which became Carricks the bakers. The chemists shop [or what would become the chemist] can just be seen in the bottom right hand corner. Could the joiners workshop have been where the estate agent is now on vulcan place right behind the chemist? There was access round the back to the slaughter house between there and Orange's garage [now Tyred and Exhausted]. The roof of the back shop of the butchers can be seen in the photo, the killing shop was just below there as were lairages for cattle, sheep and pigs. Past the garage and up to the old pit road were a row of houses facing the Monkey and backing on to Milnes Field. Those houses were derelict when I was a kid. There was a wall which ran from the back of Carricks down to the wall which can be seen now behind the garage as you go into the car park. Mrs Johnson had that wall and the one that makes the alley with the Howard [ market tavern] topped with broken glass to stop people climing over. When I lived there, the only yard behind the shops belonged to the butcher [my dad was the slaughterman]. I can also remember being in the flat above the chemist many times, the lady of the house was a freind of my mothers.

Then there are the ones that visit in pairs on a sunday morning, spreading the word, pointing us in the right direction

That do's not surprise me in the least, this is how it goes 1) I wont look after the garden, so dont need a shed 2) don't need tools, so don't need shed. 3) If I have a shed, they might think I have something worth nicking 4) They break into shed, see there is nowt worth having so nick the shed. 5) Sell the shed before somebody pinches it. 6) Ring Wansbeck Homes and tell them somebody has nicked the shed. 7) Go get a bottle of vodka to drink while getting ready to go out. Now if by any chance they are insured, they will ring their insurers to make a claim and guess what, the shed was crammed full of tools. That is the sort of thing that is the norm anywhere. As long as some folk can see a good night out they wont have any qualms about how they would finance it, as with money for drugs, THEY WOULD NICK THE BLOODY SADDLE OFF A NIGHTMARE. for a quick fix

Look on the bright side Brian....... saves on glass cleaner. Seriously though it is scary, I had a lump of ice come through the truck windscreen on the A9 in the highlands [Drumochter pass] It makes the brown adrennalin run dos'nt it. Flat out in the UK in a truck =56mph [90 km/h] Down there in tomorrow land they must be able to pop on 140k/h = 87 mph drivers musnt be paid by the hour

She was seen drinking in the Clayton the other night Pete

I just hate it when the phone rings and the caller says "good morning, for data protection could I please have the first line of your address and your post code" I reply "for data protection may I have yours" when they refuse I hang up

I dont think anyone "has to" give information about themselves Foxy, I just think it is common decency especially when you are seeking someones opinion as Linzibinzi is.

There you go then , I Do know that you are not a councilor Malcolm, but I also know that you seem to keep informed and I would have thought you would have known who to contact, being the nice man you are [even though you edited out one of my words this morning]. Surely this man should not be passed from pillar to post the way he seems to be, with only 3 months before a baby is due. I wonder how the local authority would view the situation if they were 17 year old deliquents with a baby on the way, with no money ,no furniture and a posse of social workers standing their corner.

I wondered that Andy . We whent down to Humford the other day and saw them. I think there is something going on with the drains. I really hope they are not going to build on there.

Dont't apologise for ranting, rant all you want, thats the idea. In fact I have got a degree in ranting, ranting cleans the pipes out. [oops I am ranting again are'nt I ] . Surely the local authority can help, Bernicia group [ wansbeck homes / cheviot homes] or even social services. Possibly someone on the west bedlington town council can point you in the right direction. Malcolm?

Ange, I am sure the majority of those tenants are perfectly good honest industrious people who would no doubt look after their new homes and would realise that they are lucky to have one. Yes, some of them may be in a position to buy their home one day and good luck to them. It just beggars belief that those tenants that were a problem in the old properties were allowed to move back into the new ones, possibly the landlord had no choice but to allow this , who knows?. I think that more care should be taken in allocating properties in the future. Although everyone would like a nice shiny new place to live and in the best areas this is not always possible or practical. For instance a single parent with one child should not really be allocated a large 3 or 4 bedroom house when there is a family of two parents with 3 or 4 kids living in a property which is obviously far too small for them. Some people would argue that even problem tenants need somewhere to live, I don't. Let them PROVE that they are no longer a problem first and give them restricted probational tenancies to begin with. It is no good herding those families all into one area neither, as this runs the risk of creating ghetto's. I have no doubt that the landlord will be keeping a close eye on those new houses and hopefully hit those who abuse them with deserving punishment , yes, if need be,eviction and give them to a family who have proven themselves to be worthy tenants .

A little bit of information would not go amiss though Malcolm, it would be nice to at least know something about who we dealing with. I do understand that some people are a little slow/shy about giving information about themselves, but a rough age group and wether they are male or female is not a lot to ask is it?

AHEM, I will have you know I am in perfect health on parr with someone 20 years my senior. Anyhow that statement is rich coming from someone who portrays himself to be a doddery old fart with long wiskers , a crooked stick and a pointy hat

I mentioned in the Cafe at the Oval thread, the new houses Wansbeck Homes built to replace the old Airey houses. I lived in one of the Airey houses from about 1964 and my parents lived there till approx 1980. As far as I can remember those houses were built just after WW2 and were only designed to last 25 - 30 years. They were modernised in the late 70's and heating put in and the old iron window frames replaced etc. The people that lived in them did not complain too much about the fact that those homes were still there well beyond their shelf life. This may have been largely due to the fact that they were good sized family homes with large gardens [some people liked to look after a garden] and the rent was relatavely low in comparison to other council owned properties at the time. Not everybody could live in the Hartlands or Grangepark. I have not been in any of the new houses but I would imagine that they would have the same footprint as the houses they replaced. Good big family homes. I have noticed that they all have off road parking, they all seem to have french windows leading into the gardens. Wansbeck Homes have provided a shed for each house [as the old wash houses were knocked down]. A lawn was laid at the front of each property and I presume the back gardens were left tidy for each tenant. All in all I think the people living in them would be pleased with what they have been given and that they would want to look after their homes. NOT SO. I was talking to an employee of the landlord today. He told me some of the lads had been in to do repairs to properties that have been damaged already, one of the properties had £5000 worth of damage to the internal doors, walls and work surfaces. The tenants responsable for that damage should have been thrown out immediately and made to pay for the repairs before being rehoused elsewhere after paying a bond for to pay for any future repairs, as they would have to if renting privately. Where I live is in desperate need of modernisation but you make the best of what you have, for the time being at least. A lot of people I know would move Heaven and Earth for one of those new houses and I know they would feel totaly pxxxxd off by the fact that some undeserving people would take the aquisition of a new rented property as a right and not a privelage and then proceed to wreck the said property. This in less than a year after some of those houses were completed.

If there are Brian it would be nice to hear from them.

Just one thing though, Linzibinzi has asked an opinion of the regulars to this forum. Could she not in turn have the decency to tell us a little about herself, by introducing herself to her fellow members or adding a little to her profile. It is good manners after all to show a little courtesy to those who's opinion she seems to value

I agree with everything you say Malcolm and GGG has more or less echoed what I said [he just used posha words coz he's cleva and I'm fick] The very fact that Linzibinzi has posted the idea on bedlington.co.uk is proof in itself that she [i presume "she"]is trying to find out if the idea is a "goer" before she moves any further with it . I just have an opinion on most things and will always voice it, while trying not to sit on the fence. You and GGG are far more switched on, it seems, in these matters than I am and Linzibinzi would do well to listen to what advice you and GGG have given her

Foxy, that is brilliant, I have said on a few different posts what a smashing fella Peter Bacci was. Obviously because we lived in the market place we saw Peter every day, he was often at our house. Looking at the prices on the jars and the weight on the bars of chocolate, this photo was taken in the 70's and [looking at Peter] just before he retired.

Malcolm, I do not doubt for one moment this young lady's enthusiasm to make a success of running a cafe. The question asked was " Do you think having a cafe at the Oval is a good idea " My answer to that question is "no", then I continued with my reasons. A cafe needs to be situated in a place where people frequent for other reasons, ie. shopping centre/town centre, leisure centre, public parks or beach front and so on etc. A cafe/coffee shop operates on passing trade , people "taking the weight off" for 10 minutes ,nipping in for a quick coffee and a sandwich .A restraunt, on the other hand, is a different matter. You could set up and run a restraunt almost anywhere. A restraunt relies on reputation. People will travel miles to a good restraunt and unlike a cafe its situation is not as important. Linzi should take your advice and ask all the right questions of all the right people , because if she gets it wrong it will be as I said, another failed, boarded up business in the Oval. I know of, for instance, a cafe in the north of the county, close to a town centre. It does a roaring trade through the day, and at night, "the good stuff" comes out and it becomes a restraunt with an excellent reputation. I really do wish Linzi all the luck with her ideas and applaude her nouse and determination to do something for herself, just not in the Oval eh, after all the business does need a chance to succeed

I would have thought anyone having a piano repair/tuning business most of their work would be in situ ie onsite The shop in the Oval would mainly be a base/small workshop.

Was I going up the stairs or coming down

Now justify it . That is the same list as was in the council comic Malcolm. Go to job center for travelling expenses and it is a different story, as I said in an earlier post £6 to Carlisle and back

Who would use use a cafe at the oval ? there is nothing at the oval to attract anyone there to use a cafe!! You cannot tell me people are going to go to the oval specially for a coffee and a bun, a cafe needs to be in a place which brimming with activity already. You ask, "if not a cafe, then what??" may I suggest a bulldozer. Before you suggest otherwise I grew up near the oval and remember how it was throughout the 60's and 70's. You say maybe something for the teens, The old clinic at the Oval, is that not a youth club? my 15 and 13 year old daughters go there 3 or 4 times a week. The Oval used to be a vibrant little community [Pete will certainly confirm that], the bulldozer that I suggested earlier is not a bad idea, either knock the place down and build a communty hall / leisure center or build more homes in keeping with the ones that have replaced the airey houses. The last thing that is needed at the Oval is another failed ,boarded up buisness that was started by someone with all the right intentions, as I believe you genuinely do. I could not begin to tell you how many different businesses have operated in the Oval since it was built in the 50's Is it not time for it to have a complete re-vamp?

Skills honed in the shaving/make up mirror every morning, they practice by convincing themselves that what they are doing is decent and honourable and then after a hard day at the at the county palace, sacking the lesser minnions, taking money away from those who really need it and giving it to those who don't they sit down to a meal provided by someone who needs a favour and then off to bed with a conscience as clear as a slurry pit knowing some paid lacky somewhere at county hall has already prepared a statement in their defence, justifying their actions for when the crap hits the proverbial fan.

I did , good reading was'nt it. I suppose those are the good figures that they wanted to make public[ in a low profile sort of way via the free council mag that most people shove in the bin without reading] Wonder what the real ones look like ?