paul mann

Can anybody mind the bus railin's at the Top End? Many a gay young blade (when gay had a different meaning) would escort his lady to the bus stop and while she wisely ducked under the railin' he would vault elegantly owa the railin', catch his toe and face plant into the cement.

I can remember folks arranging for the 'right' forst footer. The preference was for a tall, dark handsome bloke because he would bring good luck to the hoose for the rest of the year. Especially if he brought a piece of coal. We lived next door to the Cains at West Lea so it was big Sammy Cain (as opposed to little Sammy Cain) who was usually wor first foot. After the pubs and clubs had closed doon folk had just enough time to gan yem and start the New Year Party. Some blokes did ahlreet gannin from hoose te hoose forst footin and gettin' a free drink at ivery hoose.

Went to the Majestic more than the Mayfair. Remember seeing The Animals at The Mayfair - with The Junco Partners as the warm-up act. The GoGo was fun any night - got any pictures of that?

Di folk in Bedlington still gan forst footin' at New Year?

Great topic, real bit of colour, wish I knew something about it. Remember my mam saying there was a bookie's runner came door to door at West Lea. He usually gave our house a miss because it was the polis's house. Didn't stop my mam having the occasional couple of bob on though. That and the football pools. do they still do the pools?

Sometimes me dad would put his police cape on top of the blankets to keep me warm. I still have the cape.

Was anybody else sae cahd in the wintah they'd wake up i' the mornin' wi frost in tha hair?

Life is complete, I can now get black bullets in the U.S.

Was tha any other young uns used te gan lawn bowlin in the late 1950's, orly 1960's in Bedlin'ton? Me an' me mate, Brian Goodwill, used te gan lawn bowlin' quite often at the bowlin' lawns ah think were ahint the retired miner's cottages. The forst time we went the ahd gadgies didn't think we were serious but afta a few teyms they were very welcomin', Ahd afore wa teym ah suppose.

I remember the bagie field ahint Westridge, I got caught there by the farmer and his lad one day while I was cuttin' through to get away from some big lads. He thought I was stealin' bagies.

I started at the Chronicle in 1963. They made me the music reporter because I was the youngest on staff. Pretty well saw them all and got to interview most of them, including The Beatles at the City Hall during their last concert tour of the U.K. in 1965. Too many reporters went to interview The Beatles first time so me and another lad went for a Chinese then back to the City Hall stage door to try our luck. Only us. They let us in. Spent a good 40 minutes with Paul McCartney. John offered me a fag, I should have kept it, be worth a fortune now. George was quiet and watched The Avengers on telly and Ringo sat next to the buffet table eating a bloody great bowl of trifle. Not that I remember any of it.

Honk! Yes! Forgotten all about that lovely word for a pong.

It's the smells of the past that get the memories started fo' me. A neyt ott at the pitchas, fag smoke and B.O. at the Prince Of Wales when it was packed then oot inte the cahd neyt air an' the smell o' fish an' chips an' vinegar. Autumn was another one, wet leaves and Harvest Fest - the smell of ahll the vegetables in dank ahd St. Cuthbert's Church afore the baskets went oot te the miner's cottages.

I only went to Moscadini's a few times because it was at Bedlington Station. Jimmy Milne's coffee shop was always full of smoke and teds and they didn't want kids hanging around.

Yep, that looks like the general layout from the outside.

Was it Moscadinis used to be the Italian milk shake bar at Bedlington Station? Ah can mind gannin' somewhere like that wi me mate, Neave Tweddle when wi had two lasses we wanted ti impress.

Just discovered ah can get Rington's Tea in the States noo an' ordered two boxes. Wa gittin' real civilized like heyah noo. Me dad's forst job was workin' fo' Rington's Tea in Ashin'ton. He started oot as a van lad and got ahll the way up ti van driver afore he joined the Navy. He went back te Rington's streyt aftah the war afore he became a polis. Apparently he was reyt put oot when me mutha put fatha's occupation on me borth certificate as 'horse van driver.' Noo, if'n ah can only get Craster Kippers heyah ah'll be ah'll set an' wor lass - we's a Canadian by borth - can come te appreciate the aroma of poached kippers lingerin' around the hoose fo' days aftawad.

I don't think visitors to Bedlington have anything to fear from violence in the 1950's - unless the ghosts of teddy boys are haunting Front Street. And if that's the case you should promote it.

Wee can mind fight night at the Clayton Ballroom at Bedlington Station?

Apparently a Quebecker cooked it up in the 1950's as just the job to warm a bloke up and keep him warm in the long Canadian winter. It stayed pretty much a Quebec regional dish until it started to grow in popularity in the 1980's-90's. Once it hit the big cities, like Montreal, it exploded and was soon adopted in English speaking Canada. They now have poutine restaurants in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. The Calgary chain recently opened a poutine restaurant in Chicago. Canadian expats - especially celebrities - have popularized it in L.A. and New York so it's an option in some restaurants there. For anybody who goes to Montreal, try La Banquise, one of the most famous poutine restaurants in the country now. It has something like 37 different poutine options from the regular chips, cheese curds and gravy - to barbecue sauce instead of gravy. They also do a pepper sauce and they have extreme options like bacon gravy or smoked meat sauce with bloody big chunks of pastrami.

Just got back from a trip to Canada where I had some of my favorite junk food - poutine. Chips topped with cheese curds and gravy. It's grown hugely in popularity the last few years and is spreading into the U.S. Knowing the Geordie palate I thought it'd be popular there too. Anybody familiar with it?

Wee can mind the poor kid's lolly, a stick of rhubarb and a bowl o' sugar?

And they gave us a new national anthem: "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life."

Wee can mind Muter's pop? We used te get fower bottles delivered ivery Friday. Ah was addicted te dandelion an' bordock an' once ah'd started ah couldn't stop. Ah can mind me mutha gannin' mental cos ah drank a whole bottle afore she got yem.

Divvent knah hoo ye spelt it but te mah lug hole it soonded like: "Scramshuns."l