On Bedlington.uk Now...

Eggy, I see you had a question earlier about how the pit rows were named. My experience in researching the pit villages has shown that many of them have three names in common: Wood Row, Stone Row, Brick Row and the explanation, I believe, is that there weren't any 'official' street names until postal services were developed. Originally one row of wooden houses sufficed for the small pits and it had no name. Wood was cheap and houses could be quickly erected. Later, as production expanded, more houses were needed and a new row was built - in stone. Residents distinguished their place of abode as either the wood row or the stone row. Later houses were built of brick and these were referred to as the brick row. When postal addresses were introduced these names became 'official'. It's a pattern seen in many many collieries.

@7RIrF Hi James, Wood Row was located between Double Row and Chapel Row in Barrington Colliery. That part of the 1901 census you posted shows schedule numbers 127 – 130. If you move a long a few pages to schedule nr 143 (still on Wood Street) you’ll see that the Post Office was situated in that house (probably looked after by the lady of the house, Marg. Ross). This bit of info makes it easier to identify Wood Street on the 1898 map which Eggy posted above as the post office is clearly marked PO. On the map from 1924 Wood Row no longer exists - probably demolished because of its deplorable state.

@7RIrF using the info @Cympil obtained from the genealogy site and the old maps I would be speculating that Old Wood Row (and any other wooden rows) was replace by School Row. The oldest map I can find is for 1858 and none of the rows on that map are named. I have added an extract from a 1921 map showing the brick rows that were built where the wooden rows used to be. In Cympils comment on the Barrington topic he notes he got the info from 'here' but that direct link no longer works. this was the direct link :- http://www.fynesg.freeserve.co.uk/Genealogy/The Mining Communities of Victorian Northumberland.htm

@7RIrF - searched this group for "Wood Row" and it gets a mention in a History Hollow topic 'Barrington' started in 2007. This is @Cympil's comment :- And this is a link back to that topic on Barrington that is six pages long :-

@7RIrF The 1896 map doesn't have any names on the rows. The 1920 map has the names but can't see a Wood Row. There is a Blacksmiths Row and a School Row that you have not mentioned from the 1901 census.

@7RIrF don't recall seeing Wood Row on any of the old maps or of anyone mentioning Wood Row in Barrington

Hello, On the census for 1901, there is a "Wood Row".... was this Barrington? As the street mentioned before "Wood Row" is Chapel Row. The streets mentioned after "Wood Row" are Double Row, Office Row, New Single Row (Possibly Victoria or Alexandra) and Freehold Row. So it must have been in Barrington, no? As the other Rows match Barrington. It appears there are 16 families living at "Wood Row" on the 1901 census. Many thanks, James

No change from me and I will continue to avoid any reports on what what happened in any event. As for watching live debates - I would rather play Words With Friends online

This morning's Torygraph headline: Farage wins BBC election debate, snap poll finds A slightly more nuanced result from the Torygraph's own poll of 75,000 readers: So Tory voters prefer Reform over the imploding Tory Party by more than three to one! Labour's recent drop in the polls illustrates that there are a good many Labour voters who will gravitate to voting against the status quo, too. Never before in modern history has a third out-of-the-blue party been contesting second place like this. It's only a matter of time before most voters get the message. There's still time to change your prediction, Eggy!

Right from the dawn of the space age, we've been led to believe that there's an inevitable communications blackout during reentry. This has led to many anxious moments. Today we've just seen that communications are possible "all the way down" if the vehicle is big enough and the communications equipment is suitably placed. That's actually game changing, but In the excitement of the today's successful launch, no one seems to have pointed this out. Congratulations to everyone involved. I've no doubts that at long last we are on our way to Mars, and that Mars will be populated way before the end of the present century.

Long shot - @HIGH PIT WILMA & @James recognise anyone in this photo? Don't know where thes eight colliery workers worked after the Choppinton Colliery closed in 1966 but they are said to have worked in the electrical shop at Choppinton Colliery. Photo from Carole Liddle, daughter of George Grand, :-

NCC Community Award

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0yiZLVbSw7aAsSBP3SMA6FK8HHa4Xwyo2Yf9cTzjnFxJRcNMdPtyMeocu4f8Hf61hl&id=100057586923534&notif_id=1717437245989643&notif_t=notify_me_page&ref=notif

If we are doubly forgotten BEFORE the election, then there's zero chance when all the election promises are forgotten. First law of voting: Never ever vote for any party that has been established for more than twenty years. Why? Twenty years is more than enough time for all the "main chance" slimeball career politicos to gravitate to it and all the motivated people who established it to forget exactly why it was established in the first place! If you vote for it, then you become part of the problem and not part of the solution.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1905943/Levelling-Up-towns-high-streets-business-Rishi-Sunak-Michael-Gove?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1t6s2IuUaAqhAMdeZWxDeJhO74oEi-uT2LWlD2DgerlTNOyZ2aFhCZTdE_aem_AWdH2NBtAYk4Y2KQ98BBFDQ2GkMaJh5CJdOBthpYFU9aX9QUd7e3HgR1ENu2efBFOgBsY76cHkZw0wHXf1vszaQC

Well... as long as the prior imposition of Wansbeck doesn't exist too, I'm sort of OK with that. Look at it as if Bedlington is now the real centre of the Ashington/Blyth universe.

https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/constituency-changes?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR27wmArvW1DtguDUBCT2dsv3E3PvZrJGni59Lsh5RdEq-0h8ME4jwWhHF8_aem_Afor76pP4-107_8G6SqdEfb7kFQ7pR5l3ixQzwOb9_-LEYuvpksyDk0yGf6DQJ0BLiKQnbKfBQI86bPGQwwkWx3I

Despite being branded "extreme right" by the BBC, GB News does in fact broadcast a pretty broad spectrum of views. One of its founders was Andrew Neil when he was pushed out of the BBC by the woke mob. You can get GB News Radio anywhere in the world with several Android or iPhone radio apps. If you have a Google smart speaker, simply say Hey Google, play GB News Radio, and I'm guessing Amazon and Apple devices will respond similarly. This is novel: I'm providing a link to an old Guardian article (interpret with care)! GB News launch gains more viewers than BBC or Sky news channels Several ex-BBC and ITV people present regularly, and particularly notable is young Geordie lad Darren Grimes - who used to be a Lib Dem activist. You can view part of the TV coverage on their YouTube channel. They seem to have started a GB News America recently too. If you have a Roku box or stick, there's a Roku app that will connect your TV to the full monty. I see that there's an Android Play Store app too, but I've never needed it. Almost definitely an Apple Store app too, and maybe other platforms. Unlike other UK TV broadcasters, they don't block international streaming, so you can get their full 24/7 UK TV coverage wherever you are in the world.

It's a failed leftist publication with strong links to the Kremlin and KGB! It failed commercially and "went digital" in order to keep churning out its anti-British propaganda. Like C4 it has taken significant funding from the EU which it prefers not to reveal. Naturally, it was vehemently anti-Brexit and remains metropolitan centric.

The BBC doesn't earn money, it has a route into everyone's pockets via the TV Tax! It is in a privileged position as the state broadcaster and a royal charter which is supposed to guarantee complete political neutrality. If it wants to go the commercial route, then that seems to be fine by most people. But then it will have to stop threatening to imprison people who don't want to fund its leftist propaganda.

I remember there being an attempt a few years ago to publish a newspaper 'without bias'. The publication was simply called 'i' and was, I think, started by The Independent. I gave it a quick Google today and it's still going strong but it is now said to have a centre-left political flavour.