Phil

Hi Everyone As Malcolm has mentioned, Sustrans (and many members of the Bedlington Community) are organising an event for Saturday 10th September to unveil the new portrait bench and celebrate the new cycle routes which are close to completion. Full completion, including all the signs and markings will be December this year. The portrait bench unveling event will be in Gallagher Park, starting at 12:00noon with the ceremony at 12:30. Come along and meet steel figures of Dr Brown, Mary Weightman and Sir Daniel Gooch and find out why they have been voted by the people of Bedlington to be immortalised in steel. There will be a range of stalls and activities for everyone including cycling yourself a fruit smoothie, a fabulous treasure hunt, a tasty burger van, woodland crafts with Groundwork, stalls from Friends of Gallagher Park, Peoples Animal Welfare Service, WatBike, Sustrans and others. If your bike has been lurking in a dark corner for a while because it is no longer working, bring it on down and see if Dr Bike can help you out. For people wanting to try their cycling legs, join the Barnesbury Cycling Club for a 2 hour gentle ride for people over 12 years of age. It will be a road ride, so not suitable for knobbly tyres. Looking forward to seeing you there. Access to Gallagher Park on the day will be limited to self-propelled methods (with the exception of mobility scooters)! Bedlington event poster.pdf

Please see the News page for information about who is going to be immortalised in steel and a meeting to start planning an event to celebrate the new cycle routes and unveil the portrait bench this autumn.

The voting has been cleared and votes taken for counting. Thank you for taking the time to vote. We will be making the announcement as to who the three figures for the Portrait Bench will be in due course Thanks again Philippa

We have extended the voting for the Sustrans Artwork Bench for another 10 days. Please do take time to vote and let your friends and family know too. It would be lovely to see good representation from the people of Bedlington as to who they would like to see immortalised in steel and placed next to a bench somewhere along the new cycle route. There will be three figures, so we ask you to choose your top three people and let us know whether you think the Bedlington Terrier should be part of the artwork or not. 11 nominations have made it to the final voting - there were a few other nominees, but it was not possible to obtain permission from either them or their families to include them in the voting. 1. Ann Greenacre Ann has served the community of Bedlington over many years, especially through her work with the Salvation Army. 2. Sir Daniel Gooch Born in Bedlington in 1816 and became an engineer at Robert Stephenson's locomotive factory in Newcastle. The family left the NE in 1831 and at the age of 21 he was recruited by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to be the Superintendent of Locomotive Engines at the Great Western Railway factory in Swindon. He designed and produced engines, perhaps the most famous being The Great Western which could travel at speed of 67mph. Gooch's other claim to fame is his work as Chief Engineer of the Telegraph Construction Company and laid the first successful telegraph cable across the Atlantic, reducing the communication time from Europe to the US from 10 days to a few minutes. He was also an MP for many years. 3. George Todd Liberal-Democract Councillor for Wansbeck Bedlington West since 2008 and currently Deputy Town Mayor. Nominated for the support and help he gives to people in community in solving problems 4. Mary Weightman, MBE Mary set up the Peoples Animal Welfare Service (P.A.W.S.) in 1955. This is a Bedlington-based charity that provides vet treatment for the pets of people on low incomes. She was awarded an MBE for her work in 1998. Sadly, Mary passed away in 2005, however P.A.W.S is still going. 5. Mr Alastair Aitken Alastair taught Technology and Art at Bedlington High School and was a gifted teacher who could turn his hand to anything. He was passionate about cycling and a keen hill walker. Sadly, it was this passion that robbed him of his life. He died whilst trying to rescue a falled walker in the Highlands of Scotland in December 2009. Alastair is remembered as a great and inspiring teacher, both in and out of the classroom. He believed in getting young people out into the countryside and led expeditions for sutdents both in the UK and overseas. He also encouraged his year group to think of others and raise funds to buy bicycles for doctors in remote areas of Tanzania to reach their patients. The year group raised enough for 6 bicycles which Alastair took out to Tanzania in 2009. Many of his previous students still think of him as 'the best teacher I ever had'. Alastair regularly cycled to work and loved cycling as a way to explore new areas. 6. George Webster George is well known in Bedlington for his passion for the town and to ensure that it receives the faclilities and improvements it needs. He has been nominated particularly for his work in helping to set up Friends of Gallagher Park and for his work as the first Chairman of this charity. He has fought hard to get good facilities for this excellent community area. Despite a number of setbacks, he has kept goign and inspired others to do so. He was instrumental in achieving the funding for the BMX track and is not stopping there. 7. Dr John Brown Served the area for 50 years and was held in high respect by all who knew him. He was often seen around the town with his dog (a boxer called Rory, in latter years at least) stopping to talk to virtually everyone he met. When the mines were still open, Dr Brown was known for going down into the mines after accidents to help injured miners and bring them up to the surface. He ran a successful private medical practice, but believed in serving poeple before business and woudl treat people for free if they were short on funds. 8. Mr John B Topham DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) Flight Lieutanant JB Topham was a Lancaster bomber captain and pilot in WWII. He took part in 26 successful bombing sorties over Germany before his plane was struck by falling bombs from allied aircraft during a daytime raid in 1944. Flying Officer Topham had no choice but to make a crash landing in enemy occupied territory. His crew were uninjured but John had broken his left leg and crushed his right knee. His crew helped him hide in woods and found the local resistance organisation and a doctor. John was hidden and treated by the doctor and then stayed hidden in the homes of local people. After a couple of months in hiding, the Germans moved into the town and at one point started house-to-house searches. The shopkeeper who was looking after John dug a grave in his garden and John lay inside it – buried alive with only a tube to breathe through. The Germans inspected the grave and even saluted the 'dead British airman' buried there, but left two sentries on guard. Eventually, after 36 hours the sentries left as the Americans were approaching and John was freed. He was exhausted and fell asleep for a few moments, only to be awakened by the shopkeeper as a German SS man was returning. John refused to go back into the grave and was given a gun. He shot the German and with the shopkeeper, buried him in the now-empty grave. Later that day, the Americans took the town where John was hiding and he returned home. FL Topham was recommended for the award of Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of his great courage and excellent operational record. 9.Michael Longridge, Michael established RB Longridge and Company in 1785 to make locomotives. The company made around 200 engines by the time it closed in 1853. He also owned Bedlington Ironworks from 1819 and started manufacturing of the very first malleable iron rails using a method that greatly increased production helping towards the massive explosion of the railways during the 1800s. The Bedlington works exported both engines and railway lines across Europe, including producing rails and casting for the Crimean War. Michael is also known for his humanitarian nature and social conscience. He provided his workers with one of the first 'work's doctors' and supported better working conditions for his men. 10. Judith Bremner Judith was the head teacher of Whitley Memorial First School for over 12 years, retiring in summer 2010. Under her leadership, the school achieved the status of National School of Creativity in 2009 and also the Eco-Schools Silver Award, part of which was the development of the school grounds. Judith will be remembered by many students and their families for the many shows she put on, introducing many youngsters to the joy of being in a show. She is known locally as Mrs Bee and was sad to retire and leave her 'Whitley Memorial Family'. 11. John Birkenshaw John was a 19th Century railway engineer from Bedlington who invented wrought iron rails in 1820. These were manufactured at the Bedlington Iron Works and revolutionised the development of the railways. Prior to wrought iron rails, rail systems had used either wooden rails which couldn't support steam engines or cast iron rails which were only 3ft in length and steam engines had to go very slowly. The wrought iron rails could carry the steam engines at speed making them an economical option, launching the railway era. Thank you for taking the time to vote. You can also email connect2northumberland@hotmail.co.uk and there will be voting boxes around Bedlington - see posters in the town for details.

Hello This is an update on the new cycle track going through Gallagher Park. Firstly, it is good to hear that the track is making it easier for people to get to and through the park from both sides, especially for children and those with mobility issues. It is very sad that a few drivers are making life difficult for the majority of users and Sustrans with Northumberland County Council will rectify the situation by putting 3 speed humps along the way, with a 1m gap in the middle to allow cyclists and wheelchairs/mobility scooters through and bollards on the sides so the cars can't go into the verge. There will also be signs informing of the 10mph speed limit and the existance of the humps. I will be at the FoGP meeting on Monday 9th May if anyone would like further information about the new cycle route, especially the Gallagher Park Section. Regards Philippa Mitchell Assistant Area Manager Sustrans

Hi everyone Yes Dr Brown has been nominated for the Sustrans artwork bench portraits which will be going out for public vote next week (with luck). I would really love to find out a bit more about what he did in the town. I know he was a great Doctor for about 50 years, he was often seen with his dog (a boxer) and was well respected as well as being a fan of cricket. I am preparing some information to go with each of the nominees and it would be really good to get a bit more on Dr Brown - all information really welcome. Do reply via this website or you can find me at philippa dot mitchell at sustrans dot org dot uk (replace dots with . and at with @). Thanks in advance for any information you can give on Dr Brown. Also looking for similar information about James H Millne - what were his acheivements for the town? Thanks so much Philippa Mitchell Assistant Area Manager, Sustrans NE

I would like to nominate Jimmy Millne also. Hi Can you confirm the Jimmy Millne that you refer to - is this James H Millne, an entrepreneur from Bedlington? If so, do you have any details about him and what he achieved, photographs and also whether he has family still living in Bedlington. I have not found out much from search engines, so am a bit lost on who you are referring to. Many thanks Philippa

Hi Ange All I meant by the 'parenting' issue is that most youngsters with these pesky bikes are given them by family members and it really is a parenting issue to ensure that the youngsters ride responsibly and with respect to the rules of road, footpath and cycleway as well as other users of the paths. Though many parents do take their responsibilities seriously, sadly the few that don't and the youngsters that ignore their parents make a huge problem for everyone else. So, in the end, it is only the police who have any real power and ability to deal with the problem. Please do get in touch directly if you want to be involved. best wishes Philippa

Hi Ange and Malcolm thanks for the comments. Ange - the C2 part of the funding is secure and is still there, but as you can imagine £50 Mill divided by 79 projects countrywide means that each project recieved around-about £600Kto £700K each. In many cases this was insufficient to actually build what was needed (or desired) and as with many Lottery Funded Projects, the organisation in reciept of the funding has to find 'match funding'. Sadly, it was some of the match funding that Sustrans had originally found that was cut. On your second point of mini-motorbikes - I agree these are a real nuisance. Sadly, if a path is accessible to bicycles, buggies and wheelchairs (as our paths need to be)it is also accessible to these infuriating mini-bikes. It is really a policing (and perhaps, if I can dare say it, parenting) issue rather than anything that can be done via infrastructure. Sorry. thanks for the nominations Malcolm, the first three have already been nominated and I don't thing the Nail counts as it is an inanimate object rather than a person or living creature (the Bedlington Terrier has also been nominated). Hope this helps Philippa

Thanks Monsta I have all on the list of nominees except John Birkenshaw and have just added him - do you have any details on him or know of any photographs. Will try my old friend Google too

Hi Everyone Right, to put all the rumours at rest. My name is Philippa and I am the Assitant Area Manager for Sustrans and work on this project and so can pretty much tell you what is happening. RE the Blyth/Cambois route:- In the original plan, a ferry was proposed to take people and cyclists across from Blyth to Cambois and this is why the long distance cycle route from Newcastle to Edinburgh (NCN 1) was re-routed via Cambois. It is still perfectly possible to cycle the shorter section via West Sleekburn. The only way a cycle lane will be added to the Link Road between Bedlington Station and the turn-off to West Sleekburn if public pressure on the Council - over to you. On the new Connect2 Routes in Bedlington. Yes, sadly it is true that the link to Cramlington via a high level Bridge over the River Blyth has had to be removed from project. This is partly due to funding issues and partly due to landownership issues on the south side of the river. I can appreciate people's frustration at the loss of this link, as it would have made cycling for work, pleasure or exercise between Cramlington and Bedlington a lot easier, safer and more pleasurable. With luck, it is something that will happen in the future as a lot of the ground work in planning and mapping the route has already been completed. However, for the first time, Bedlington will get a good network of cycle and pedestiran routes around the town and linking to all the schools. The majority of these are off-road, including widening of pavements to make multi-user routes. I have attached the first newsletter for the project to this email which has a map of the routes and you can see for yourself that the majority of the network in Bedlington is remaining. My contact details are on this newsletter so if you would like to recieve this newsletter directly or would like further information about the project, please do get in touch directly In the meantime, thanks for your eyes Philippa Bedlington Oct 10.pdf