Symptoms

The health of any small town shopping street can be easily gauged by surveying who is using it. For example, if it is predominantly the elderly (often lacking their own transport, low income, etc.) then there is no commercial incentive for the retail trade to invest in those areas. Nationally, the 'out-of-town' retail parks and supermarkets have done for the local shops. Given a choice, many folks who are able to, will drive to these places, park for free, have everything under one roof, experience a litter-free day, enjoy the piped music, emerge to find that no Parking Ticket has been slapped onto their car and return home satisfied - what a souless experience! The death of the high streets can often be traced back to the actions of local politicians who, as a means of generating revenue, introduced parking restrictions - guess what? People stayed away, the shops lost income, shut down, etc. etc. Those small towns that do still have viable shopping streets are the ones that campained against the retail park infection in their area. I remember Bedlington Front St in the 60's as being a vibrant (maybe that's too strong!) place to shop - there was somewhere to get just about anything you needed. Milne's department store for cataput rubber, records (who can remember the listening booths?) furniture and other household items - who needed Bainbridges in the Town! Fruit & Veg (Patton's?) next to the Top Club, butchers(was there one called Amers or something similar?), bakers, and so on. The point was that people had to shop locally - car ownership wasn't universal and it was a right shlep on the bus to Newcastle and back with loaded bags. I'm afraid the day of the local high street is a thing of the past. Rents can be too high so that freeholders will often only be able to generate a return by developing their holdings into residential units - that's where the money is!

There seems to be 3 or 4 active threads covering censorship topics all of which contain valid views. I made the point a couple of months ago that those who advocate censorship (in any form) need to be challenged, they must be certain of their aims and be able to justify them. It seems to me that the only imperative here (this Forum) is the protection of the owners of the site, against prosecution for the posting of hate stuff which is against the law. All other stuff, however stupid, cutting, inane, pointless, rude, etc. should be allowed. The 'normal' folks here know that the 'village idiots' stalk the site but that they should be allowed to mutter their nonesense un-impeded. Of course, true to village life we should laugh at their state and continue to throw 'rotten fruit' at them. Maybe there should be a 'health warning' to innocent visitors here that there is offensive stuff within. Moderating is a thankless task but I want to thank ours for their attempts

Pete - your memory isn't playing tricks with you about the shows and I'm sure that, judging from your other posts regarding the past, Alzheimer's hasn't kicked-in. Most of the owners of the individual rides and sideshows would have been members of the Showman's Guild who would have had great pride in the appearance of their kit. You're right - their wagons were usually painted a dark maroon or red colour with great sign-writing and pin-striping (usually in gold colour); their caravans were also things to behold. When the Picnic shows were on 20 acres I seem to remember local lads being recruited to help run the rides. There were things like the Wall of Death (I can only remember this attraction visiting on a couple of occasions), The Dance of the Seven Veils (some wizened old girl getting her kit off when what you were promised at the door were exotic ladies of the East - what a gyp!). The best of the lot was the Boxing Booth where the locals were challenged by the barker to go 3 rounds with some evil looking guy to win a fiver. It was brilliant to see all the local 'hard boys', and plenty of pissed pitmen, getting thumped. The last night always ended in a mass punch-up. Ah, happy days!

Churchill couldn't escape from being an Imperialist at heart, he was devoted to the notion of Empire (and all it represented). He did, however, often reveal - in domestic legislation - a progressive streak (Social Security, etc.) Shamefully, he wasn't too keen on the emanicipation of women. An amazingly complex guy who was very much of his time and certainly what was needed to thwart the Nazi hoards - yes, a great War leader. Greatest ever Britain ... on balance ... Yes!

Variety is the key I think. I agree with some posting here that a decent biography/autobiography can make a good read, the most inspiring I ever read was Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. Books like Michael Moore's Stupid Whitemen, and Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins nourish the hungry mind but must be consumed as part of a balanced intake ('left' & 'right') if that mind is to develop well. I also like to read crime/political/law fiction - Tom Clancy's stuff for example (shallow, I know). I do think that some modern fiction can a 'hard going' - I hated Man & Boy by Tony Parsons, and as for Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, it was an 'easy-to-put-down' book.

Good food, fine ale, plenty of exercise, good books, all keep mind and body sharp for the battles against the Forces of Darkness. I also find a little Mandrax mixed with my pint sends me to the Land of Insight where I see strange creatures, sitting gross and mal-formed in a gloomy cave, bathed in the flickering glow of monitors. These strange creatures only link to reality is seen through these blinking glass eyes; the cave is devoid of any weighty tomes which, if read, might lead to a greater appreciation of the world outside. There is no Marx, Flaubert, Dickens, Wells, Zola, Solzhenitsyn, Tolkien, Balzac, Yeates, Shelley, Keats or half-a-hundred others; all we have are piles of sticky magazine pages.

Dave, Dave, Dave ... the tract was meant to be a metaphor (clumsy, maybe!) to explain how all healthy communities contain a diverse mixture of views and beliefs (however repellent some of those may be) - it was not to be taken literally.

A thousand apologies Ms Hair for not mentioning you ... how could I have missed you out? Your presence around the pond dazzles us all, your magnificent plumes and sweet, sweet call are a joy to behold.

Monsta dear boy ... Symptoms is always watching and waiting, watching and waiting!

Thank goodness the reference is to "monster's hideaway" and not our very own monsta's hideaway!

Pete - I remember they used to have bands playing in the upstairs concert room at the Market Place Club every week; the girls would do their stuff around their handbags on the dance square at the front and the lads would crowd the back of the room near the long bar swilling ale (I have a vague feeling that a pint might have been either 10d or 1 shilling & 10d - ???). I seem to think that it might well have been couples sitting at the tables being 'waited-on'. Funny how the evenings usually ended-up with a 'bundle', fists flying, the cops arriving and all being turfed out onto the street. There used to be a tanner entrance fee up the narrow staircase, although we used to avoid paying it by waiting for a crowd signing-in, slip into the bottom bar and get a pint, then slip past the old guy on the desk whilst pretending to be members (we were under-age so couldn't have cards). Worked every time.

Sitting in the sunshine, sipping my Pimms, and watching the wee beasties flitting around the water, I got to thinking that my garden pond was very much like this forum .... Mr threegee, the pond's custodian, had created a wonderful environment for all forms of wildlife to thrive and co-exist. There is the wise old owl (lets call him Joe) perched on an overhanging Maple bough wistfully surveying all below and dreaming of what the pond used to be like when he was a chick. Then there's the two graceful Grey Herons (perhaps we could call them Colonel and Symptoms) watching with beady-eye and razor-sharp beaks, water rippling arounds their feet, poised to feast on morsels drifting up from the dark depths below. A diverse range of other attractive creatures also share this place (missvic, Mrs Pencilneck and many others) contributing to the rich mix that makes this a beautiful spot to visit. There is, however, a dark side to this idyll; the menace that slithers through the primordial soup at the lowest reaches of this place. Barely formed creatures, monster-like in appearance, drag their wizened bodies through the slime, spewing foul odours and disgusting bile from their mouth parts. Much to their confusion, the graceful Herons occasionally see signs of ambition flickering within these the bitter and twisted forms. Could it be that a graceful Dragonfly will emerge and soar majestically on the wing, impressing all those who witness the start of a meaningful life of contribution and wisdom around the pond. The Herons hope so! Danger lurks however ... the metamorphosis into this dapperly uniformed creature could fail, it could mutate into a belligerent beast who readily attacks the occasional, brightly coloured migrants who visit the pond for respite. The horrors visited on the local creatures by these malevolent beasts fade when compared to what awaits the innocent creatures standing in the way of the September migration through Poland and beyond.

I love you Monsta - all is forgiven. All pretence of me being reasonable is abandoned when considering that filth from The Stadium of Sh*te.

Probably not true. Remember that most child abuse and murder is committed by family members or by those known to the victim - so there could be one in every street.

I remember having my first (under-age) pint in the Railway back in the late 60's - Vaux Gold Tankard - a vile mackem brew! At the time I couldn't understand why blokes liked to consume beer until I was introduced to the Blue Star stuff - Ex & Broon. Of course there was always Fed at the Market Place Club. Ah, happy days.

Clean & smart. The up-to-date look represents what Bedlington should be saying for itself - modern & confident! Good job threegee.

I love it, I love it! Monsta'll be bleating-on about the 'good old Queen Mum' next. How she was the glue that held 'Dear Old Blighty' together during the last spot of bother. Conned, like most of the population, that the old girl was somehow our secret weapon against the Hun. Nonesense, of course; the gin-soaked old hag was living the life of luxury, gorging on black-market goods, whilst the rest of the population had to go without. Should have been strung-up alongside Lord Haw-Haw.

Well missvic, here goes ... Moet surely Great drummer riddled with demons Belle AND Sebastian clearly Not Percy? or maybe I just don't understand the mechanics of the test.

Ah, Monsta, Monsta, Monsta - you got me there! Hoisted by own petard - how embarrassing! However, before you disappear for a very short session of self-pleasuring by way of a celebration let me point-out that it was only ever my "aim" to provide good syntax, spelling, etc. An aim can only ever be an aspirational condition, never a pompous guarantee of perfection. Mmmm, but how to expain the missing letter .... maybe the Dragon voice recognition software couldn't accurately deal with my regional accent. Perhaps it was a sticking letter r on my keyboard - no, it couldn't be that as I gave-up the joys of self-pleasuring years ago (you'll discover that when you get to my age). Could it be down to the Rousseau effect (the philosopher Monsta, not that big fat Greek singer*) who after being abused by country bumpkins, escaped, and only later realised his mistake in not dealing with the problem immediately; of course by then it was much too late to rectify the error? Might it have something to do with a brain addled by chemotherapy dope - nope! Please Monsta (or should that be Monster) don't drag me off to the Camps ... forgive me. *the fat Greek bloke is of course Demis Roussos - my poor attempt at injecting some humour into the proceedings.

No suprise that I'm with the Colonel on this one - yep, the Bolsheviks had the right approach. With a bit of luck there'll be one less blood-sucking 'aristo' sponger around to enjoy the rest of his spoilt, privileged life.

She must be hopping mad!

Best wishes Joe - long may you keep us entertained with you incisive postings.

Hand over your dosh Monsta. Just because the Colonel's postings, like mine, may scan well doesn't mean we're the same person. My aim is to bring the correct syntax (good grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) to all that I write and by doing so hope make my point a little more clearly. CK may also share a distaste for some of the more unpleasant views expressed on this Forum. I would, however, be reluctant to 'gag' those who wish to proselytize the vile racist filth sometimes appearing here - let them show themselves up!

What's really disturbing is that people are actually watching breakfast TV or maybe they've just looked-up from reading that appalling rag The Daily Mail. Be grateful for living in a rich, multi-cultural society. Celebrate the black & Asian nurses and doctors who'll care for you when you're rushed into hospital. Be thankful for the Polish plumber who'll fix the leak. Maybe they worked hard to get-on in life, get qualified to help others; they probably didn't waste their lives watching morning TV and reading that hate-filled rag. When the pits and yards closed the parents of many of my school friends had to move away from the North East to find work - economic migrants. Many of these friends now live all over the world and have been welcomed by the locals; Diasporas happen all the time, shame on those who attack other groups! Maybe they just have fantasies of dressing-up in black uniforms, doing high-stepping marches and shouting orders.

A common bumper-sticker in the States is 'An Armed Society is a Polite Society'. The reasoning behind this is if you're obviously packing a weapon any perpetrator may think twice about targeting you 'cos they could get blasted back. The killer in the University shooting could have been sure that tight security (sic) - metal detectors, body-searches, etc. at entrances to buildings on all campuses in the States - would have ensured that none of the victims would shoot back. Would the death toll have been as high as 33 if the student body had been 'carrying'? The weak-kneed, yellow-bellied liberals will argue that by allowing people to carry weapons that it will somehow cause many more shootings, but I know that if I was faced with the situation of having a gunman bearing down on me, I would like to be able to defend myself with a bit more than pleading words and hysterical screams. New Labour banned handguns over here because of the Drumblane shootings and a public perception that gun-crime was out of control. Well guess what? Gun crime is at epidemic levels in some parts of the country and a large group of law-abiding people have been deprived of their sport and victimised. The cops in Scotland had the means of stopping Hamilton from shooting those kids and their teacher, but they didn't bother; he had form, was a known perv (with a record), all enough to prevent him access to firearms. But they granted him a Firearm Certificate! By the way, the Government has sealed all the files relating to Thomas Hamilton so we can't find out why he was granted permission to have guns. What have they got to hide?