IT'S a truism that if a community really wants something - or doesn't want it - it needs to fight.

That was the point made by community activist and local historian Tony Lynn, of Saltburn, when speaking to the local retired men's forum this week.

He was commenting on the fighting spirit shown by the Saltburn community as shown in the recent campaign to keep PC Stuart Smith as the town's community bobby (and reported on Page 1 of last week's D&S Times Cleveland edition).

It had also been seen over the last few decades, said Mr Lynn, in fights like renovating the pier, stopping it from demolition, the possibility of a modern pleasure park being sited in the Valley Gardens, and threats to close the police station and Huntcliff School (now in a handsome new building).

"This fighting attitude is special about Saltburn," he said.

Other communities might disagree about this attitude being at all unique to the coastal resort, but they could not fault the need to campaign on important issues.

The bleeding ...

POLITICIANS of all hues are often guilty of stating the obvious, so it is probably unfair for Spectator to pick on one individual.

However, Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods offered up a fine example of the art on Tuesday, in the hours before the Large Hadron Collider was switched on by scientists in Switzerland.

Dr Blackman-Woods said she sent "her warmest wishes and best of luck" to the team of scientists, including academics from Durham University, and was "looking forward to learning about how tomorrow's experiment goes".

At the same time, widespread publicity was being given to the possibility that the experiment could, in fact, create a mini black hole which could swallow the entire plant and pulverise the Earth into the size of a tennis ball within a matter of months.

Come Wednesday morning, Spectator was also offering up a silent prayer also wishing the Cern scientists the very best of luck, although he could not say he was particularly looking forward to seeing how the experiment turned out.

Make a will SPECTATOR was among the group of Brian Redhead's former colleagues who travelled on the memorial steam train on Saturday - the drama of which is reported on page 17 of this issue.

Our Bedale reporter died earlier this year of a heart attack.

His death was untimely for a number of reasons, not least the obvious - he was only 59. But he also died without having made a will and with no obvious close family.

Responsibility for tracing any family passed to the Home Office and Spectator is pleased to report that distant cousins have been found.

Unfortunately, they couldn't join us for Saturday's trip but the Darlington & Stockton Times is pleased they will benefit from Brian's estate, which otherwise would have gone to Gordon Brown. The moral of this story is: make a will.