Symptoms

I visited Barter Books years ago and thought it a terrific place but quite pricey. I agree with others here that bookshops are wonderful places to spend time. When I lived in London the secondhand book quarter was Charing Cross Road and the sidestreets leading off it ... dozens of fantastic places to browse the hours away. The place I live in now has a great secondhand bookshop; it'll even buy the books back off you once you've read them for 50% of what you paid for them.

Keith wrote: "They would find me being flogged and booted out of town" ... but only after a show trial.

So it's some sort of database held by councils/housing associations that's checked and not via the Peelers?

KeithL - I don't disagree that there've been loads of women being influential "behind the scenes"; my arguement is why the hell should they have to do it from there. Actually, deep down we all know the reasons. As to the list ... yep, we could both add loads more names but it will always appear shrunk by comparison to any list of men - and for the same reasons. Keith - thankfully, by recanting you've saved yourself from a 'show trial' here. I always knew you were joking because nobody in their right mind would seriously hold views like that. Phew, what a relief!

tony - ask him what happened to all his old negatives and plates. The question came-up in other posts about Ward's having the local schools' photo contracts.

Ah, now I see ... thanks guys. However, and there usually is a however with me, I'm interested in what 'official' mechanism is used which allows social landlords/housing associations to gain 'criminal' or 'anti-social background' checks. In other words, who do they approach and under which legislation is intelligence provided?

KeithL, whilst I agree with you that the women on your list (post #34) may well have done great things, and I could add half-a-hundred others, it's still a terribly short list ... I wonder why? Keith, when you write: "Now the fact that I would not let my wife learn to drive simply because I feel she dosn't need a driving licence to get from the kitchen to the bedroom, does not mean that I disrespect women, it just means that if we had a bigger house I would think about it......... can't get fairer than that , can ya ? " Obviously, it's none of my business to comment on your relationship and I wouldn't dream of doing so, but ... how can you not letting MrsKeith drive, how can you depriving her of a licence, not amount to disrespect? Women are able to make those decisions for themselves.

So it's a Housing Association? I didn't know the Peelers could respond to requests from groups like yours for background checks on prospective tenants; I thought that DBS (the old CRB) checks were only for working with kids, healthcare, fostering, and so on.

Are you all sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin ... Each day during morning break (playtime) the Co-op travelling shop used to arrive and park next to the boiler house (next to the school's kitchen) at the back of the school. This big van had a single rear door that allowed access to the 'shop floor' and counter that ran across the width of the vehicle. The shop was crammed with stock on shelves behind the counter where the gadgie used to serve from. However, on the customer platform (the 'shop floor') there were four large wire biscuit racks holding packs of biscuits - jaffa cakes, McVities chocolate digestives, fig rolls, rich teas and custard creams. The plan for the robberies entailed cramming loads of First Year kids onto the platform then us 'big lads' would creep up and reach through the youngsters legs a nick packs of biscuits; we then made our escape to the back of the PE store hut to consume the loot. This action went on for a number of weeks but ended when a teacher was assigned to guard the shop - I reckon the Co-op must have complained to the Headmaster about the losses. We were never captured for this. Ah, happy day! I think I may have posted this tale previously but can't remember. Tales of the 'Great Fruit Lorry Heist' to follow ...

Keith - that final paragraph in your last post (#36) is a joke isn't it? ... please tell me it's meant to be a joke. It's got to be a joke or a typo especially after writing, "I am not sexist, nor am I a bigot." " ... the way she conducted herself after a very privelaged education, ..." surely you're not suggesting that " ... this particular woman ..." should have disqualified herself from protest action? Perhaps it was because she was 'educated' that she developed a sense of the injustice afoot.

Keith - I hope this is a successful venture for your community and becomes a beacon of local democracy. The real challenge will be keeping it relevant and truely 'shared' by all; the danger with many of these things is they become driven by just a very few individuals which can untimately cause resentment so the watchword should be inclusivity. Best of luck. I'm intrigued by your "vetting" with "police checks" - how does this work?

Rest ye well Maggie and Symptoms for I have examined him and he is clean. Verily I say unto you that my true servant The Malcolm Robinson of Judean People's Front would get my vote.

HPW - I'm so happy to read that tale of Danny Douglas being invited for a drink by some of his former pupils; I would love to have met him in later life. I, and many others here, have often posted warm tales about him. He also taught Maths during my time and in addition did five-a-side football for the School's Youth Club on Monday and Wednesday evenings in the sports hall. The footy finished at 9pm when us lads would go down to the Market Place Club and 'blag' our way in past the door gadgie, pay our tanner transfer to get into the weekly gigs in the upstairs hall. Danny also did a careers advice class when we were in the 4th Year. We were asked to fill in a form and declare our ambitions; I wrote I wanted to be a film star, needless to say once he read through the forms and when came to mine he must have thought I was taking the piss (I wasn't ... I really did want to be a film star). Classic Danny followed: "You boy, stand on the red square so the blood won't show" and the whacking followed. I've posted previously a description of his method of using 'The Whacker' - a section of butter barrel with a chalked cross on the business end ... loads of lads later seen wandering the premises with imprinted white Xs on their grey trousered arses. Ah, happy days and a top man ... IMO the greatest teacher, EVER! Tales of the 'Great Travelling Shop Robbery' to follow ...

The only people who oppress women are men, they always have and they probably always will. The oppression of women, as we all know, takes many forms: from brutal subjugation that we're all witnessing on the news each night all the way through to that, so called, 'harmless office banter'. Many men don't like women to have independant opinions - shame on them!

M195 wrote: "Vote for Malcolm Robinson MP for Bedlington" Well, let's hear from the Man himself. Of course, background checks will have to be made to see if he's suitable.

That photo of the rubbish in the street in The Mail was a flipped (reversed) stock photo from Getty Images; its tag shows it was taken in the US in 2006. Newspapers, magazines and other media use Stock Photo agencies all the time to obtain pics to illustrate stories.

Geordie Hemmings leather strap was an old barbers' strop; he'd removed the brass teather buckle from the end (the end that hit you) but retained the handle. I was VERY, VERY familiar with this strap. Puplic whacking on stage for really serious stuff and other whacking in the medical room (next to the Main Entrance). Probably my most serious misdeed was letting a banger off during the Lord's Prayer in assembly for which I eventually got 'six of the best' and my Dad was called in ... I 'got the belt' when I got home. The action was a hoot, banger lit, chucked under the chairs to about 5 rows towards the front, bang - I swear the whole assembly lifted off their chairs with fright. Obviously, Geordie stopped proceedings, marched to where the incident had happened, held back all those behind the scene (maybe 8 rows) and dismissed the rest of the assembly. Danny Douglas and Mr Hogg then removed those to the side and sent them on their way which left about a dozen of us. We were subjected to a closer process of elimination until Danny stood before me. "You boy, empty your pockets", he growled ... spare bangers, a lighter and a packet of snouts were found. Whacking followed ... ah, happy days. More tales may follow ....

What about Caa' Hawkie (pronounced Kare Hacky)? I recall the class being taught many of the local folk songs ... top class at West End Juniors (Ridge Terrace) in 61 and I still remember the words to many of them to this day. I can't remember the name of the teacher but she served-up a wide range of topics, ranging from Greek Mythology (I'm still hooked on this) through to the ubiquitous Nature Table. The table was loaded with fossils obviously recovered from Costains. Ah, happy days. Do check-out this site which has all the songs listed and you can listen to them http://www.northumbriaanthology.com/

Thanks Micky - I'd already clocked Keith in the 1st pic ... the second one was a shuffled pack of lads - mainly the same guys and snapped on the same day; ditto John Harmeson. Keith was a canny lad and would have been 60 this year ... I remember he had a hair-lip. Micky is that your brother Jimmy in the earlier photo of Ford Castle that I posted in this thread (Westridge5)?

HPW's recollections of the House system and House points reminds me (I had truely forgotton this) of the 'Great House Points Racket'. In my time the HPs were small yellow tickets with an image of the School's badge printed on the front and I discovered where they were stored ... an unlocked stock cupboard next to the Art Room. Anyway, a sizable bundle of these things were removed by me and ended-up on the 'blackmarket' - I was kept in snouts & sweeties for ages until caught. Whacked by Geordie Hemming for my troubles. Spot on with the location of the Display Case. What's this about the School Hall being demolished?

Excellent news GGG and it's good to have the structure of the place explained. However, there must be cost implications in running the site, domain fee, hosting fees, and so on; how are these managed and from wha income? Of course, the term 'commercial confidentiality' would be understood.

I think there may have been a bit more than UKIP membership impinging on that couple's suitability to foster - of course, some of that stuff may not have appeared in that hateful rag The Mail. Perhaps that 'bit more' might have ruined the story/agenda.

"Wrong about what? Wrong about letting anyone who wants to live off our state entry into our country (thus packing out the formerly dwindling ranks of something-for-nothing socialism, as per the Blair/Brown/Balls hidden agenda)? Wrong about not funding the tired old men of Europe and their gravy-train politics? Wrong about getting back to trading freely with the rest of the world and not participating in the biggest cartel in history? Wrong about the need for a party that provides a true alternative to the three woolly social democratic parties we now have? Wrong about actually having the long-overdue referendum on the EU (not The Common Market), and not simply "cast iron" promising one, then having total amnesia on the matter the moment they get into power? Wrong about not giving away eight billion pounds a year on an entry ticket to a club that we don't need to be a member of, when that money could be recirculating in our own economy producing jobs and services for British people?" Like I said ... xenophobia. "Look up the meaning of the word xenophobic, because it doesn't mean what the extreme left want it to mean, and has a second meaning too!" Come on GGG, you know that language isn't a static beast, it gets tuned for the moment. Current usage of the word is understood to mean an intense fear or dislike of foreign people, their customs and culture, or foreign things. I could of applied an extended code and used phrases like, intolerant, racist, chauvinistic, fascist, and so on, but chose the least offensive. Farage is "a brilliant politician and an extraordinary public speaker" - it doesn't matter what the message is, he's just a great 'snake oil' salesman. I agree with you GGG about the awful twisted morality of just about every politico irrespective of where their feet are planted. I'm not at all upset by the line spouted by the hate-mongers, I defend their right to say what they like but in return expect the right to confront them; surely you're not suggesting/demanding my silence - that really would be repressive (another one from the extended code above).

I'm on a roll here folks ... Photos of the School Karting Club, snapped in 66 at the back of the 'new' sportshall. Taffy Williams was the Metalwork teacher and organiser of the club. In the second snap I can't remember the names of the little guy with specs in the centre or the little guy on the right. Note to GGG - is it possible to upload video here? I've got quite a bit of us Westridge lads racing the karts up at Boulmer as part of the Northumberland School Karting Association. My Dad, one of a number of volunteer dads who had cars to take us up to Boulmer in convoy, had a 8mm film camera. When my Mum died I got reels and reels of his stuff transferred to DVD ... what a suprise I had when I discovered the karting footage.

And a couple more. These two are rehearsals for prize-giving evening, again 1966/7. The second photo shows the Headmaster George (Geordie) Hemmings. As to other names ... fill-in the blanks folks.