Olympic Torch

[P.A.W.S.]

What is the date for the Olympic Torch Carnival and how does it link in with The Big Event and Bedrock?

[Malcolm Robinson]

The Torch is 15th June.

[P.A.W.S.]

Thanks, Malcolm.

[threegee]

...subject only to a successful Greek Govt. appeal for the cash to buy a couple of tins of lighter fluid!

[Malcolm Robinson]

Thanks, Malcolm.

I was going to say there isn't really a connection but there is..............

Bedlington now has some people willing to put the graft in to organise these things for our Town.

Well done Lyn, Colin and Richard!

[threegee]

...subject only to a successful Greek Govt. appeal for the cash to buy a couple of tins of lighter fluid!

The flame went out briefly before being relit and transferred to the first torchbearer. Wrong kind of lighter fluid then?

[Malcolm Robinson]

The flame went out briefly before being relit and transferred to the first torchbearer. Wrong kind of lighter fluid then?

Wrong kind of bailout..........

[Neil]

Good luck for the parade. I hope to be there to see it, I think I'm the only person from Bedlington given the honour of carrying the torch, but my torch carrying stint has been allocated in North Shields at around 3pm. I'm not sure what the itinerary is before carrying the torch so I may already be through that way.

Good luck to those organising the event, it sounds fantastic!

[Malcolm Robinson]

15th June 2012 – Olympic Torch through Bedlington's Front Street.

On Friday 15th June, the Olympic Torch passes through Bedlington and over 5000 people will be on Bedlington Front Street in the morning to see its procession.

Leading Link and the Bedlingtonshire Development Trust have got together to help make this historic moment an event never to be forgotten and to bring back that magnificent community feeling that was at the heart of Bedlington years ago.

As a pre-empt to the torch arriving, we have been working with several organisations in the town to put on a 'carnival' like parade to celebrate the area and entertain the school children and general public that will be there. Local television cameras, including the BBC, will also be in attendance.

We already have a brass band on the procession, local dance companies showcasing, 30 decorated and dressed up wheelchairs from a local residential home, over 15 Bedlington Terrier owners and their dogs walking down the street (numbers growing!), and our own massive Bedlington Terrier in the style of a Chinese Dragon, which will be carried by two children from each of the local schools. We will also have a stage in the Market Place, with a compere and music to give regular updates on the torch procession through the county, and to help excite the crowds.

To make this a true community affair, we are still seeking support from other local groups and communities who may wish to showcase themselves to the community during the parade, and we welcome your input. You could actively promote your organisation and/or help to make a truly great atmosphere to show the nation that Bedlington is here and we're proud of it!

Our parade will start at 10:30 from the top of the street and will proceed down towards the Market Place and back up and into the Community Centre for a 11:00am prompt finish. We must be ready to go at 10:15am and must be clear of the street by 11:05am, to allow for official Olympic procession vehicles to take over. During this time this part of the road will be closed to traffic.

If this is something that you are interested in being involved with, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with us as soon as possible. You can ring me on 01670 820088 or email lyn.horton@leadinglink.co.uk

I look forward to your response!

[Brett]

You put this as an announcement malcolm?

[Malcolm Robinson]

Brett,

I put it as a news item...............I just wonder how many members go to the news section so the title of this thread looks fitting.............

[Symptoms]

Maybe some old pit banners, borrowed from Woodhorn, could be included in the parade ... it would be wonderful to see maybe the banners from the Bedlington pits on show. Aye, a reference to the Miners' Picnic and historic Bedders! But I bet the Ashington mob wouldn't let the stuff out of Woodhorn!

Oh, and just to gently rile old GGG why not borrow a NUM banner to lead the parade?

[Malcolm Robinson]

I have looked into it Sym………… that why I asked about a Bedlington Crest or Logo or whatever.

There are two banners in Woodhorn but they are in very fragile states. They are the NUM Bedlington pit banners. Only way we could get them was to pay a hefty insurance and even then one is dropping to bits! We could get paper copies but that's a non-starter with our weather!

I now believe BUDC did have a crest and I have a team of amateur detectives trying to track down an image. If I can get an image we might be able to screen print onto a banner or flag or summ'ik..........

There were two or three wooden crests made too but they disappeared when BUDC did..........anyone know the whereabouts of them?

Great to have something unique to the Town to use.........................

[Malcolm Robinson]

Anyone else wondering............................

http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/community=bedlington/

[Neil]

Anyone else wondering............................

http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/community=bedlington/

YES!

[mobius]

I now believe BUDC did have a crest and I have a team of amateur detectives trying to track down an image. If I can get an image we might be able to screen print onto a banner or flag or summ'ik..........

Hi there

I'm a bit of an amateur heraldist in my spare time, but nothing relating to the old BUDC turns up in any of the standard catalogues of UK heraldry. The civicheraldry website shows nothing either.

But, I remember seeing an image of it, a *long* time ago. IIRC the arms were something like:

In base a cross formy quadrate between four lozenges, in chief a lymphad in full sail with pennant the sail charged with a cross couped between two lions combattant. The crest a Bedlington Terrier on hindquarters supporting ??? (maybe a pickaxe?). Motto 'De Profundis' - From out of the depths.

The image I saw was black and white sadly, so I can't give the tinctures or metal colours. The lozenges are probably sable (black) in reference to the coal mining history of the town.

The current Bedlington Golf Club was owned by the old BUDC, so they may still have some images of the arms in their records. Failing that it might be worthwhile to ask at the College of Arms in London. The current 'coat of arms' used by the golf club do appear to be derived from the old BUDC arms, but I don't think they have been officially granted and are thus, illegal.

[Malcolm Robinson]

thanks Mobius,

I do now have the original plates for the coat of arms BUDC bought!

Don't know why you couldn't find them in something like civic heraldry?????? (I couldn't either when I was looking for them!)

I know these are the real things I got them off one of the guys who did the original purchase!

[mobius]

Excellent! I'd love to see a scan of them, if only to see how good my memory is

[threegee]

...

Oh, and just to gently rile old GGG why not borrow a NUM banner to lead the parade?

Nothing too much wrong with the NUM before it was thoroughly infiltrated by revolutionaries, who's only purpose in life was to overthrow a democratically elected government, and hold the Country to ransom. Nothing very much wrong with the early Labour Party when they had some principles. It was the armchair socialists - who briefly marched behind the banners, spouted nonsense from the platform, then got back into their chauffeur-driven Bentleys and were whisked back to Hampstead until the next election year - that I had any issue with.

Bedders has paid dearly for its gullibility and naivety. A proud history, but whatever happened to the "sunlit uplands" emblazoned on some of those fine banners?

[Adam Hogg]

Nothing too much wrong with the NUM before it was thoroughly infiltrated by revolutionaries, who's only purpose in life was to overthrow a democratically elected government, and hold the Country to ransom. Nothing very much wrong with the early Labour Party when they had some principles. It was the armchair socialists - who briefly marched behind the banners, spouted nonsense from the platform, then got back into their chauffeur-driven Bentleys and were whisked back to Hampstead until the next election year - that I had any issue with.

Bedders has paid dearly for its gullibility and naivety. A proud history, but whatever happened to the "sunlit uplands" emblazoned on some of those fine banners?

Should invite Arthur Scargill or Tony Benn to the event for you and let them have a speech at Attlee Park.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Excellent! I'd love to see a scan of them, if only to see how good my memory is

Watch BBC1 Friday evening Mobius. I am doing my best to get the crest highlighted!

It should now be part of the Bedlington Torch Parade.

[mobius]

Great news! I'll keep my eyes peeled!

[threegee]

Should invite Arthur Scargill or Tony Benn to the event for you and let them have a speech at Attlee Park.

Assuming that they'd come - which they wouldn't - and that they'd appear on the same platform - unlikely, as they have nothing in common - they'd likely be talking to the grass slope these days. And that, considering the solid vote for "New Labour", is more instructive about the sad state of our town than either of them could ever recount!

[curly]

It is great that Bedlington is actually part of the route for the torch carrying, however it would have been a better day if the route had travelled through the rest of bedlington (say down rothsay/victoria/ station road then on to bebside via the Banktop)as well - How come Ashington gets 2 goes at it?

how were the routes planned?

[Keith Scantlebury]

It is great that Bedlington is actually part of the route for the torch carrying, however it would have been a better day if the route had travelled through the rest of bedlington (say down rothsay/victoria/ station road then on to bebside via the Banktop)as well - How come Ashington gets 2 goes at it?

how were the routes planned?

Too much effort required to tidy the place up, re grass cutting thread.