Beamish - a place to visit

Beamish, previously named 'Pit Hill' is a village in County Durham, England situated between to the north east of Stanley[The name of Beamish, is derived from a corruption of the Norman word 'Beauvis', meaning beautiful place, or the old French phrase 'bew-mys' which when translated means 'beautiful mansion'.]. A general misconception (by Chester le Street Estate Agents) concerns most people who believe that Beamish is and always will be in Stanley. Beamish is contained within Hell Hole wood. It is home to Beamish Museum, an open air museum seeking to replicate a northern town of the early 20th century. Its principal pub is the Shepherd and Shepherdess near Beamish Museum entrance. Most people associate 'Beamish' with the Beamish Open Air Museum but there is much more to this village than the museum.
It is steeped in history and is/has been associated with many of the local gentry over the years, Robert Shafto (sometimes spelt Shaftoe) was an eighteenth-century British Member of Parliament who was the likeliest subject of a famous North East English folk song and nursery rhyme "Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea", James Joicey, 1st Baron Joicey was a coal mining magnate from Durham and a British Liberal Party, Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland and Sir Robert Eden.
It was also the victim of a German bomb raid on 1st May 1942, 3 people died during the raid, however a bigger tradgedy was waiting to happen. one of the bombs was a time bomb , it had gone thru the roof of a house and lay undetected. It went off llater that day and killed a further 5 people , injuring many more.
As well as the museum it also boasts several pubs, the Sustrans c2c cycle route passes through[Whitehaven to Sunderland], nearby Tanfield Steam railway and of course the Metro shopping Centre is nearby. One of the pubs is named Peggy's Wicket. The name comes from a well known local landmark, which is said to have been the scene of local anger when the North Eastern Railway cut through the area blocking access from Peggy's Wicket, or gate as it was known.
There is also the recently refurbished Beamish Hall Hotel, Beamish Park Hotel and the Beamish Golf Club. Each of these are set within stunning scenery. Beamish Hall has recently added a Wild Bird of Prey Conservation Centre and a Ropes Activity Centre - [a highwire adventure course].
Beamish was a mining village with several seams being worked in the area.The pits opened in 1763 and closed in 1966. The c2c sustrans cycle track uses what used to be the rail track that was used to take the coal from the various pits to the central yards. The pit was originally owned by Sir J Eden, then by James Joicey and eventually by the National Coal Board.
The local wood offers great walks , all of which are well signposted. A lot of these pathways are also used by off road cyclists.
Beamish is easily accessible from Durham, Newcastle & Gateshead.

the village clown - part 2

And so it goes on - stories from a local pub. Todays conversations have covered the village clown last nite 'dropping his trousers', a wasp attack which led to are wasps good for anything?, why are some adults worse than children re table manners and the one that really shows our age 'in my days ........'
Our resident comedian had been celebrating - what you ask - nothing in particular - dont really need an excuse. The celebration meant that large quantities of ale had to be consumed and so by early evening he decided to go home. that sounds sensible i am sure you agree, however, living only a few hundred yards away can have its problems when it is difficult to walk or even talk !!! Because he is so likeable someone volunteered to take him home in the car. the lift was accepted graciously and off they went. Arrived at the drive, he got out , the would be chauffer turned the car around only to be met with the site of him dropping his trousers as a way of showing his appreciation. (not the full bare thing by the way - no one could stand that !!).
The wasp attack, which could have been serious, fortunately turned out to be a source of humour, Please note - no wasps, animals or humans were hurt in the telling of this story. Well actually a few wasps were hurt but that was to prevent the dog from being hurt. The story - walking the dog in the countryside near us the dog came upon a wasps nest. The dogs natural instinct (its a terrier) is to dive into the hole - not for long, out he ran pursued by several wasps. the number varies- the same chap is a fisherman and we all know what that means in terms of numbers and sizes - and of course he ran towards his master for protection - even a very fast terrier was finding it difficult to catch up with his master running as fast as possible in the opposite direction. Eventually he stopped and decided to help the dog. He attempted to get the wasps away from the dog with the aid of a newspaper by swiping at the wasps around the dog. The dog now thinks he is being chastised for something - the dilema - stay here and be beaten up by the master or leg it back to the wasps. The wasps were also very interested in the owner of the dog, deciding that down the wellington boot would be a nice place to start - after a few mins the attack was over and no one unduly hurt, the dog had a sting to the nose and the human - just hurt pride as he was spotted running away from the wasps waving a newspaper around his head.
The other 2 subjects will be in the next post
Thanks for reading

the village clown - part 1 (of many i think)

It started when we first walked into the pub (our local). it is a pleasant country style pub frequented by many types, the visitors to the area, the business men and 'us' - 'us' being the locals. it is a semi rural area but we dont wear smocks or chew straw!!. The pub serves good quality food, reasonably priced and of course good beer.
anyway - back to the opening statement, as soon as we walked in i was asked if i knew anyone who wanted a job for a week - 'not sure' was my response then made the mistake of asking 'what is the work?'.
Well , he (pointing to one of the regulars) is going on holiday for a week so we need a substitute village idiot !!!!!.
Of course that brought a lot of laughs from the crowd , including the one being singled out as the VI.
Having said that he does act the clown, always has anecdotes re his work, his wife, his friends etc - he tells a good story and does play the fool - a lot.
But then you stand back and study him for a while - he lives in a very nice house set in its own grounds, works almost on the doorstep for a very prestigeous classic car company, drives a nice car, is never short of cash, is in the pub almost every evening - so who is the fool???
Me by comparison - start work very early, 10 miles from home, always under pressure to get tasks completed, project manage 4 - 5 projects at a time, often work evening & weekends, live in a normal 3 bed semi, drive a 'normal' car ....... mmmmm maybe there is something in this playing the fool - ok thats decided it - amending my CV to remove all references to my IT stuff - CV to be handed in for the VI post (hope i am not too late

thanks for reading

The History of Beamish

Beamish, previously named 'Pit Hill' is a village in County Durham, England situated between to the north east of Stanley[The name of Beamish, is derived from a corruption of the Norman word 'Beauvis', meaning beautiful place, or the old French phrase 'bew-mys' which when translated means 'beautiful mansion'.]. A general misconception (by Chester le Street Estate Agents) concerns most people who believe that Beamish is and always will be in Stanley. Beamish is contained within Hell Hole wood. It is home to Beamish Museum, an open air museum seeking to replicate a northern town of the early 20th century. Its principal pub is the Shepherd and Shepherdess near Beamish Museum entrance. Most people associate 'Beamish' with the Beamish Open Air Museum but there is much more to this village than the museum.
It is steeped in history and is/has been associated with many of the local gentry over the years, Robert Shafto (sometimes spelt Shaftoe) was an eighteenth-century British Member of Parliament who was the likeliest subject of a famous North East English folk song and nursery rhyme "Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea", James Joicey, 1st Baron Joicey was a coal mining magnate from Durham and a British Liberal Party, Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland and Sir Robert Eden.
It was also the victim of a German bomb raid on 1st May 1942, 3 people died during the raid, however a bigger tradgedy was waiting to happen. one of the bombs was a time bomb , it had gone thru the roof of a house and lay undetected. It went off llater that day and killed a further 5 people , injuring many more.
As well as the museum it also boasts several pubs, the Sustrans c2c cycle route passes through[Whitehaven to Sunderland], nearby Tanfield Steam railway and of course the Metro shopping Centre is nearby. One of the pubs is named Peggy's Wicket. The name comes from a well known local landmark, which is said to have been the scene of local anger when the North Eastern Railway cut through the area blocking access from Peggy's Wicket, or gate as it was known.
There is also the recently refurbished Beamish Hall Hotel, Beamish Park Hotel and the Beamish Golf Club. Each of these are set within stunning scenery. Beamish Hall has recently added a Wild Bird of Prey Conservation Centre and a Ropes Activity Centre - [a highwire adventure course].
Beamish was a mining village with several seams being worked in the area.The pits opened in 1763 and closed in 1966. The c2c sustrans cycle track uses what used to be the rail track that was used to take the coal from the various pits to the central yards. The pit was originally owned by Sir J Eden, then by James Joicey and eventually by the National Coal Board.
The local wood offers great walks , all of which are well signposted. A lot of these pathways are also used by off road cyclists.
Beamish is easily accessible from Durham, Newcastle & Gateshead.

Why call it a 'Practice' ??

Why do the call a dental surgery a practice - doesnt inspire you with confidence does it?
The reason for this post - My wife is petrified of the dentist, for no logical reason, and last week she had to visit them.
The reason - broken front tooth - the cause - me - no i didnt hit her - it was my generosity.
what had happenned was that it was a nice crisp Sunday afternoon and we decided to visit our local riverside park. Parked the car (a ridiculous 60p per hour - but thats another post) walked into the Park and there was an ice cream van. Being the kind hearted, and very generous husband that i am , i treated her to an ice cream cone. Last of the big spenders thats me!. However, continued with our walk enjoying the crisp fresh air and then suddenly she exclaimed 'my tooth has just broken' Actually it wasnt quite said in that mild mannered way - there were a few explitives as you can well imagine. Obviously it was all my fault but thats what being married is all about. So we had to book an emergency appointment at our local dentist. Hence the title of the post ' Mr Moler's Dental Practice' . i am sure that there will be thousands of you readers who fully understand the fear of the Dentist - a lot of it totally irrational and unjustified. Its similar to the fact that a lot of people squirm at the thought of snakes - there slimy - they are not actually but its the impression that so many people have. Now if i was going to put any part of my body in the'capable' hands of an expert for anything i would feel so much more comfortable knowing that they had completed all of the practice on someone else and had finished his training and didnt need any more practice - wouldnt you agree??

thanks for reading

Regards

Recession ! What Recession ??

Ok - it does sound flippant and gives the impression that it does not effect me - but of course it does. I, like an awful lot of other people, know someone who has been made redundant - in fact I know of 6 since Christmas - one of them is my wife. I myself only work 3 days per week in my 'proper job' and one of my collegues is also going down to 3 days.

We (that is my wife and I) have decided to try get the positive out of this -
My wife has 'dabbled' in a part time business for a few years now - she makes crystal wedding tiaras and jewellery. Now that she will have so much free time (ha ha) we have done some digging and found that our local business link still have funding available for new start up companies. After a lengthy discussion with one of their team where we outlined our grand plan to make an internet one stop wedding shop they have agreed to fund one of their suppliers to help us create an official Business Plan. So we get some good expertise - no charge to us. When this is completed we present this to Business Link and they then decide how to help us move it forward and advise on what , if any, funding is available. This could cover things such as web sites , search engine optimisation and marketting. Nothing in stone yet but a good start.
OK - this is trying to turn a hobby into a business and yes my wife has really good skills for making this kind of thing, but this is just us. There must be lots of things that recently made redundant people can do. For example are you a keen photographer - (have a look at what wedding photographers charge !!!) that could be a good option. Do you make things - can you make enough to go to your local market/craft fair and sell them. Do you paint or write - article writing can be very profitable see here for an idea of where to start - there are tutorials on this site to give help and guidance. A lot of advice about re-starting your career points to trying to utilise what you already know - hence the hobby thing. It doesnt have to be restricted to this , sit down and just bounce ideas around - who knows - one of them might turn out to be a success. I read somewhere recently about the do-ers and those that don't. The don't do-ers are those that will not put a timescale on when they will take the first step to their dreams. So it never happens, and they are never seen to fail - because they have done nothing to fail at. The do-ers, they will set a timescale , think carefully and plan, then do - If they fail, that will be a disappointment - but they tried - and will probabaly bounce back with another idea.
So take the positive out of this situation - if you are reading this I assume you have a roof over your head, utilities in the house , a PC, food and maybe even a glass of wine in your hand - think of those that have absolutly nothing, no roof , no food no hope !. look at what you have and appreciate it and enjoy it

Thanks for reading

Peter e

Dont look at the previous Blogs!!!!

Why - have you seen the date ???? - i had totally forgotten about this blog i have been keeping my new web sites uptodate - thats my excuse and i am sticking to it!!

This year i am trying to change my life style - up to now i have spent almost all of my time - work and so called leisure time - dealing with work and websites (still work).
Now i am trying to leave some leisure time for just that - leisure.

Mid last year we were lucky enough to be allocated an allotement by our local council. It was an absolute mess, couple of old sheds , lots of bricks and sheet metal and so overgrown that the neighbours had tried to cover the grass to stop the weeds spreading into theirs. My wife and I spent the next 4 weekends and several evenings trying to get it into some kind of order and it was getting there. However , the dreaded work pressure took over again and i found i was working lateish (i always start at 7:30 ) and the odd satuday and sunday morning. The garden was pushed to the back of the Q of priorities.
My other leisure pursuit is fishing. 2007 no fishing, 2008 replaced all of the lines and fly's - still no fishing - life needs to change - it has to be 2009.
We live in an area that boasts 3 trout lakes within 10 miles so its is not as if i have to drive for miles and miles !!.

If you asked most people i know what my favorite expression is they would probably reply 'i dont have enough time for that !!' - whatever that is.

So how have i managed almost one month into 2009 - not to well actually - been working extra hours as we have had one of my colleuges leave and, was trying to avaoid the expression but, with the recession he is not being replaced. also trying to consolidate lots of wedding sites i have created for my wife - she has been made reduntant and so she (we) are going to put 100% effort into getting the website(s) found in google and so she can sell more product - then i will be rich - and will have lots of leisure time - mmmmm maybe not quite

Thats all for now for this one.

thanks for reading
Regards

Peter E

the allotment !!!

Oh dear - what have i done. The allotment is a nightmare !!. we started work on knocking down the 2 sheds and thsi has left a huge pile of bricks , glass and steel sheets to clear away. The society cannot fund another skip so its all down to me - another £100+ - i thought gardenning was a cheap hobby. on top of that the plot of land not covered by rubbish gives a good representation of the alps. need a rotavator (another £100+)- its the only way to get this sorted. Having said all of that we have actually dug a small area and have some veg planted in it - probably too late in the year but didnt cost much for the seeds in the first place.
And of course the weather hasnt been too friendly up here - the only real time i have available is saturday and Sunday. it seems we have sunshine while i am in the office and then rains whenever i have free time.
never mind, we are still hoping to have everything ready for next season .

thanks for reading

how middle class is that ???

I have now become the proud owner of an allotment - well when i say owner i am renting it from the local council. i enquired about getting one last year and it has only just come through. i was offerred a choice of three, all pretty much in a bad state, but for the prices i am being charged i cant complain.
it is my intention to make it totally organic and recycle whatever i can . for example there are 2 sheds on the site that really do need to come down (surprised they are still standing!!!) however i will be using the wood from them to make a dividing fence. having read about this kind of thing and meeting a couple of the other tenents it seems that there is a great deal of cameradery amongst the group and people are always willing to give advice and surplus seeds/ plants - sounds good to me.

the reason for the blog title ? well i mentioned this to a couple of people and had the same reply "how very middle class" (i am working class) - it seems that it is now the 'trendy' thing to do to have a bit of land and grow your own produce.

i never thought that getting an allotement would shoot me up the class ladder !!

thanks for reading

I intend to set up a blog / web site devoted to my new garden - pictures before and after and also hints and tips

will let you all know when its live