On Bedlington.uk Now...

Welcome to the group @Mark J Although everyone in Bedlington would have known of the Welwyn and people who worked there there has been very little mention on the facotry and staff that I can remember or find photos of. If you select the Gallery section of this group and enter the one word - Welwyn - into the search box at the far right of the screen you will get a link to every comment that has been made that contains the word Welwyn. @loopylou created an album - Welwyn Photos - in the Gallery section but there are only three photos that she had fond in her family home but no info with the photos and neither of them were taken inside the factory. I knowm there are a couple of ex Welwyn workkers who use the Facebook (FB) group, Bygone Bedlington, but I can't remember many photos having been posted within that group. I will havve a search of the FB group and see what I can find and if there is anything that fits what you are looking for I wil ask those that posted the info if it's ok to share with this group.

Hi Mark! I only ever got into the factory two or three times, and remember the IBM computer doing the wages, and the resistor banding machines on the metox precision resistor line. In fact, I probably still have some of the floor sweepings and production overruns gifted in a large paper bags by Dr Kirby (the head of research) as a thank you for very occasionally helping him with electrical and electronic bits and bobs he required urgently. Latterly, I also knew John Storey, who worked in engineering there, and was an assistant flying instructor at Newcastle airport in his spare time. The Magic Roundabout sounds like an interesting machine. Keen to know more.

Hi everyone, I’m putting together a career memory book for my father, Hugh Jefferies, who was an Engineer at Welwyn Electronics for many years. He is incredibly proud of his work on the factory’s automation, especially a machine nicknamed the "Magic Roundabout." I’m looking for any photos or scans that might help bring those memories to life for him: The "Magic Roundabout": Any shots of this or similar assembly/indexing machines. The Factory: Photos of the engineering offices or production floor (1970–2010). The Team: Candid shots of the engineering department, staff presentations, or old company newsletters. If you worked at Welwyn during this era or have any old photos tucked away, I would be so grateful for a digital copy or a lead on where to find one. Thank you for helping me celebrate his time at Welwyn! Best regards, Mark J

@Mal - I take it this is a photo fed into some AI software to make the video? Or have you found a singing Bedlington Terrier

@threegee Err... how would I have known of the bedlington.uk mail server? Within this site I have only been aware of the internal Mail service allowing members to communictae privately between each other I'm happy with the services outside of this site I currently use. If you wanted members to use an alternative service then should there not be something in the blue memu bar above giving members the option to check it out?

Err.. none of the above. Very surprised that you didn't know that there was a Bedlington.uk mail server that's quite independent of the board software. Longstanding supporters have only to ask. There's also a facility to have bedlington.uk mail redirects to your existing mailboxes. PM if you need more details.

I am a member of Facebook to allow me access to the the local FB groups like Bygone Bedlington. That's where the majority of the school album photos within this site have come from. Are you telling me there is an email service from this group to the outside world. Or are you writing about the 'Mail' service within this site that members of this group can use to message other members of this group.

Take heart that we are now on well on the way to restoring the traditional British values that have been thoroughly trashed by the current fascist government..

What's Facebuke? Do you mean one of those things which invades your privacy, and spams you constantly, for no actual benefit? 🙃 I'd have thought you'd have created yourself a bedlington.uk mailbox by now!

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@HIGH PIT WILMA @HIGH PIT WILMA - you used to be able to have multiple FB accounts by usinng different email addresses and I expect that is still the case. I'm not sure how far FB goes in the validation of your details if you create another account. I dont know if the unique IP address of the device you use to connect to the outside world services is validated by the sevices we connect to. I have two email services. One with btinternet and one with gmail. I use the my btinternet address to connect into FB and the rest of the world via Google and my gmail to connect to the rest of the world via Microsoft Edge. Do you know if your FB ban is permanent or a temporay one? I have just been talking to one of the sons-in-law and he said the lads he works with have been banned for comments etc they have posted but he tells me they were only temporary bans and the lads got back into their FB accounts.

Morning @HIGH PIT WILMA - I haven't been banned but about 4 or 5 years ago I did get a warning off Facebook, and my post removed, on the Facebook group Past Times History Group when I posed a photo of the 1960's topless girl band the Ladybirds. I posted it because another member had asked if anyone could remember what the 1960s topless group was called. So I haven't combined my Googling with FB anymore If I see anything on the FB groups on Bedlington or Bates Pit I will copy them onto this site for you

No recollection whatsoever of reading it earlier! Clearly another of my 'senior moments'.

@Canny lass That's the info I found when I was searching for muggers Corner a few years ago. I found it on the https://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/ site :-

Found this little gem while rummaging for information on the whereabouts of the Bedlington Post Office, mid 19th century. It is a "Report to the General Board of Health for Morpeth re Cholera, dated 1849. It certainly makes me grateful and thankful for how Bedlington is today.

I don't have census access and the only info, matching what @Canny lass has found, is an Extract from: History, Topography, and Directory of Northumberland...Whellan, William, & Co, 1855. :- https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/bedlingtonshire-1855/ = BEDLINGTONSHIRE BEDLINGTONSRIRE is situated at the north-east corner of Castle Ward, and is bounded on the north by the river Wansbeck, on the west by the parishes of Morpeth and Stannington, on the south by the river Blyth, and on the east by the German Ocean. It comprises the townships of Bedlington, Camboise, Choppington, Netherton, Sleekburn (East), and Sleekburn (West), whose united area is 9,011 acres. The population in 1801, was 1,422; in 1811, 1,488; in 1821, 1,862; in 1831, 2,120; in 1841, 3,155; and in 1851, 5,101 souls. The hundred of Bedlingtonshire and the parish of the same name are co-extensive. We possess no authentic information regarding the proprietorship of this parish, anterior to the commencement of the tenth century, when we find that it was purchased by Cutheard, the second Bishop of Chester-le-Street, who added it to the possessions of the see. Subsequent to the removal of the bishopric to Durham, it still continued to form an integral part of the palatinate, possessing its own courts and officers of justice who were appointed under the bishop's commission, until the reign of Henry VIII., when the Crown resumed this privilege, and ordained that in all matters of law and civil jurisdiction, Bedlingtonshire was to be considered a member of the county of Durham. This ordinance remained in force till October, 1844, when, in pursuance of the Acts 7 and 8 Vict., c. 61, it became a portion of the county of Northumberland. The ancient records inform us that lands in this parish were formerly held of the Bishops of Durham, by the families of Elliott and Hertford, by fealty, and the payment of a small rent, though the great majority of the inhabitants held theirs by servile tenures. During the civil wars, the possessions of the see of Durham having been sold by order of the Parliament, this manor was purchased by Robert Fenwick, Esq., who, on the restoration of the regal power, was obliged to restore it to its original proprietor. For parliamentary purposes Bedlingtonshire is included in the borough of Morpeth. BEDLINGTON is a township and considerable village in the parish of the same name, the property of W. W. Burdon, Esq., George Marshall, Esq., and others. The area of the township is returned with that of the parish, and its rateable value is £7,031 15s. The Bishop of Durham is lord of the manor. Here are several stone quarries, three collieries, and the Bedlington Iron Works, which rank among the oldest and most extensive in the north of England. They afford employment to a great number of persons, who are engaged in the manufacture of chain cables, bolts, bar and sheet iron, and other articles. The Glebe Colliery is worked by Longridge and Co., and the Bedlington Colliery by Davidson and Co. These two establishments employ respectively 200 and 400 persons. THE VILLAGE of Bedlington is pleasantly situated on the summit and slope of an eminence, about four and a half miles S.S.E. from Morpeth, and consists principally of one long and irregular street, forming a kind of sloping avenue from the river Blyth, which is navigable for small craft to the Bedlington Iron Works, about a mile east of the village. THE CHURCH, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, whose remains rested here for one night, in 1069, is a small Gothic structure, enlarged and repaired in 1818, at which time the workmen employed in these repairs and alterations discovered, on the north side of the Church, three grave stones, ornamented with crosses and swords in the style of the eleventh or twelfth centuries, and one of them had the request '' Ora pro nobis" upon it. In pulling down the north wall, there was also brought to light a fragment of a pillar, fourteen inches long, on which the remains of an inscription to the following effect were plainly discernible "CRVX, or LVX VNDIQUE FVLGET AMATA.'' In addition to the above, there were found the remains of a man, supposed to be those of Cuthbert Watson, a well known somnambulist, who was killed upon the spot where they were discovered. He had risen in his sleep, February 11th, 1669, and was in the act of climbing the north buttress of the tower, apparently with great ease and firmness, when a person, who was passing by at the time, dreading the danger of the poor man's situation, spoke to him, and he awoke, fell, and was instantly killed. This story is supported by the traditions of the place, by an entry said to be in the parish register, and by the above date, and the words "Watson's Wake," cut upon the buttress. The register of this parish comences in 1654. The living, a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Northumberland and deanery of Newcastle, is valued in the Liber Regis at £13 6s. 8d. ; gross income £455. The patronage is vested in the Dean and Chapter of Durham. Rev. Edward C. Ogle, vicar; Rev. Robert Taylor, Curate. The Baptists, Presbyterians, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, have commodious places of worship in the village. THE MECHANICS’ INSTITUTION, which comprises a news-room, and a good library, was established about five or six years ago by a few young men of the village, aided by the Earl of Carlisle, the Bishop of Durham, the Rev. E. C. Ogle, vicar, Captain Howard, and A. R. Fenwick, Esq, J.P.; James Gibson, and John B. Gibb, secretaries; Robert Young, librarian. THE COURT HOUSE, situated near the centre of the village, is a substantial and suitable building, containing a lockup, consisting of two apartments. Robert Drummond, superintendent constable for Bedlingtonshire district, is court keeper. Petty Sessions are held here once a month: the Rev. E. C. Ogle; M. J. F. Sidney, Esq., of Cowpen Hall; Sir M. W Ridley, Bart., Blagdon ; A. R. Fenwick, Esq.; and W. W. Burdon, Esq., are the presiding magistrates. The village stands much in need of a more copious supply of water, the limpid element being only obtainable from a few pumps and wells, which often become dry during the summer months. Sanitary improvements, and the introduction of gas are much to be desired. The ruins of an old hall are visible on the south side of the village. POST OFFICE, BEDLINGTON. John Urwin, postmaster, Letters arrive here, from Morpeth, at 10-1O a.m., and are despatched thereto at 2-35 p.m. Money Orders are issued and paid here.

@Nicola Riley welcome to the forum. Seeing your post made me check the album, Doctor Pit and Rows, we have in the gallery section and I see we don't have the old maps showing the rows so I have added a compilation from the old maps showing the siting of the rows. This 1896 map shows the location of the Dr Pit and rows within the town :-