Double Row, Bedlington

[johnnie]

I was wondering if any members might be able to help me. I have a photo that shows four men in uniform (seems to of the Great War period) that has the following on the back:

James F (or T) Pringle

16 Double Row

Bedlington

North-

I was wondering if anybody might be able to tell me where Double Row used to stand as I cannot see to find it on any modern maps.

Many thanks,

Johnnie

[Mr Darn]

Double Row was part of the Pit Rows, which were demolished some time ago.

On a modern map, they were where the new police station stands.

[johnnie]

Many thanks for the reply and the information it contained.

It seems the photos I have relate mainly to the Tait and Barker family and include group school photos from Bedlington Station School and Bothal School.

Johnnie

[Mr Darn]

Do you have access to some way of uploading them? i'm sure they would bring back some memories for some of us

[threegee]

Double Row was part of the Pit Rows, which were demolished some time ago.

On a modern map, they were where the new police station stands.

Close, but isn't where the Police HQ is almost slap on the Dr Pit head, or at least just a tiny bit South of it?

The 'raas' were West and North of this. The most prominent one (nearest the Front Street) was Shiney Row, shown here on the right of Cympil's gallery photo:

If you look at the row on the left of this picture (Doctor Terrace) there were some shorter rows running at about ninety degrees way over at the back there. One of them, as I remember, was New South Row. Why it was called this I could never fathom as it wasn't South of anything I could see. Anyway, my guess is that Double Row was 'ower there'. These other rows were the first to see the bulldozer, and I don't think they had the renovation money spent on them the more prominent ones in the foreground had.

Waiting to be corrected on any of this!

Hey, start a gallery, and get those pictures up there for posterity! Need any help with this then just ask any of the Mods or Admins.

[johnnie]

Many thanks for the replies. I'll try and sort out scanning some of the images and adding them.

Johnnie

[threegee]

Of course we are all completely wrong on this - someone who was born there in 1955 has just mentioned the place on another thread in this section.

http://www.bedlingto...654-barrington/

For my part the annoying thing is that I've probably been called out to Double Row on a repair job in the dim and distant past, and on more than one occasion! Certainly the name rang a bell; unfortunately no one was in at the time.

BTW this one I've just spotted in Cympil's gallery really captures the spirit of almost 60 years ago in the rows. If it were a painting it would likely be a masterpiece! Where's the one of the free coal deliveries spilling over half the road though?

http://www.bedlington.co.uk/community/gallery/image/351-ice-cream-man-jack-antoniho-dr-pit-1951/

[Mr Darn]

Ref: Cympils pic:

Do you know if anyone is identified in the picture?

It brought back memories for my mother, who is convinced she is on the tin horse in the foreground!

She also asks, is that North Row?

[threegee]

Ref: Cympils pic:

Do you know if anyone is identified in the picture?

It brought back memories for my mother, who is convinced she is on the tin horse in the foreground!

She also asks, is that North Row?

It can't be North Terrace because if you look at the shadows they are coming from the South toward the back-doors. And it isn't Shiney Row either (which I initially thought it was) for exactly the same reason.

The only one of the long rows with the backs facing that way would be Doctor Terrace. Also if you look right down at the end you can see a large building on the other side of the Glebe Road. That would be the stores (Moores Stores?). An old map would confirm that alignment.

I know for a fact that the numbers on Shiney ran from low nearest the Dr Pit, to high at the Glebe Road end. Assuming this was true for all three of the major rows, then this has to be the lower numbers. Lets guess at the teens for now, though it could conceivably be single figures.

1951 says Cympil. Time of day looks about noon. It would be possible to pin that down to about 15 minutes, and have a pretty good stab at the month too.

[Cympil]

Looks like Doctor Terrace to me too.

This is a photo from 1988 when the house`s were being demolished. The back of Dr Terrace is to the right and North Terrace to the left.

[Cympil]

Double Row would have been here somewhere, you can see the colliery houses to the left of the photo. Best i could find at the moment, but i`m still searching

[threegee]

Double Row would have been here somewhere, you can see the colliery houses to the left of the photo. ...

In the picture - sort of - but not where you think it is! The houses off to the left in the middle distance are the Doctor Pit houses. And I think you can probably see Telephone Row nearest the pit head. That was the first row to be demolished, as my newly reclaimed memory now tells me!

No, where you are looking for Double Row is in the misty distance to the right of the large chimney. I'm not totally sure if you can see the Barrington Colliery houses extending from the right border just below the horizon, or if they are somewhere in the mist a bit nearer the chimney. But that's the general direction of Double Row, as this was obviously taken from the top of the Church Tower looking out a tiny bit West of North.

BTW that large chimney was demolished some time in the very early 1950's, as I can remember being asked to look North from behind the Market Place and say what was missing. Such is youth I had to be told; I simply couldn't see anything different about the view!

Any more pictures from this viewpoint? Difficult to date from this one alone - no vehicles, no close ups - but the 1920's seems a candidate.

[Cympil]

In the picture - sort of - but not where you think it is! The houses off to the left in the middle distance are the Doctor Pit houses. And I think you can probably see Telephone Row nearest the pit head. That was the first row to be demolished, as my newly reclaimed memory now tells me!

No, where you are looking for Double Row is in the misty distance to the right of the large chimney. I'm not totally sure if you can see the Barrington Colliery houses extending from the right border just below the horizon, or if they are somewhere in the mist a bit nearer the chimney. But that's the general direction of Double Row, as this was obviously taken from the top of the Church Tower looking out a tiny bit West of North.

BTW that large chimney was demolished some time in the very early 1950's, as I can remember being asked to look North from behind the Market Place and say what was missing. Such is youth I had to be told; I simply couldn't see anything different about the view!

Any more pictures from this viewpoint? Difficult to date from this one alone - no vehicles, no close ups - but the 1920's seems a candidate.

This is a bit clearer than the first photo, the year given is 1930, so you weren`t far off.

[threegee]

This is a bit clearer than the first photo, the year given is 1930, so you weren`t far off.

So Dr Trotter's house (the tallest of the buildings bottom right) was still a private house in 1930! Not yet a Martins Bank of Dad's Army fame! Certainly it doesn't look like a bank in this shot. That's the main reason I put this a few years earlier.

I wonder what those people walking across the Market Place would say if you told them that less than 80 years hence £2M of public money would be spent on repaving it. You'd have to tell them how much a loaf of bread or pint of beer would then cost to put things into perspective. But even after that they'd be struggling to believe it. In a town that's in danger of losing some of the basic services we had even then I'm still struggling to believe it!

[Mr Darn]

Those pictures are excelent!

just shows what can change given a bit of time eh?

[mickypotts]

This is a bit clearer than the first photo, the year given is 1930, so you weren`t far off.

Great picture of the market place, now how did anyone get to the top of the church clock tower to take it???

anyone recall the story of the sleepwalker who fell to his death from the tower in the night??

[Jedo_03]

Posting on an old thread here...

But hoping someone knows the reason that "Shiney Raa" was so called...

"Office Raa" and "Double Raa" are self explanatory...

But what is the legend behind "Shiney Raa"..???

Also - did the Bedlington/Barrington "Wharton's" have any connection to the Wharton's in Offerton (Co. Durham)..??

Thanks if you can help

Joe

[Maggie/915]

On the 24th March 2014 the Bedlington History Society has a talk on 'The Raws Housing the NE Miners in the 19th Century.

The talk is to be given by Dr Winifred Stokes.

Maybe a google search would give some information on Shinny Row.

Otherwise Joe the meetings start at 7-30 in the locally known Coffin Chapel

[Jedo_03]

Thanks Maggie...

Unfortunately I'm in Australia...

But thankyou.

[Jedo_03]

But still looking for possible origins of WHY that row of houses was called "SHINEY" Raa..???

WHY was it called "SHINEY" Raa...??

It may have been an Anglo-Saxon/Nordic influence...

I see that the adjacent mining village of "Shincliffe" in Co Durham derives its name from the Anglo Saxon "Evil Spirit on the Hill" (scin = evil spirit)...

So Now I'm wondering if the "Shin" of "Shiney Row" is related in some way to that..??

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Great picture of the market place, now how did anyone get to the top of the church clock tower to take it???

anyone recall the story of the sleepwalker who fell to his death from the tower in the night??

Only remember that I was told the sleepwalking incident was known as 'Watson's Wake'. Mrs Watson shouted up to him, he awoke and fell to death. I have nothing to substantiate this. 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Posting on an old thread here...

But hoping someone knows the reason that "Shiney Raa" was so called...

"Office Raa" and "Double Raa" are self explanatory...

But what is the legend behind "Shiney Raa"..???

Also - did the Bedlington/Barrington "Wharton's" have any connection to the Wharton's in Offerton (Co. Durham)..??

Thanks if you can help

Joe

Joe

I can't remember anyone on this site giving an explanation for any of the street names. I would agree that some would appear obvious but just so we (or just me) have the same idea - Office Row - I was always told that in a pit village the Office Row was built close to the pit and those house were for the white collar workers. 

Eggy

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Posting on an old thread here...

But hoping someone knows the reason that "Shiney Raa" was so called...

"Office Raa" and "Double Raa" are self explanatory...

But what is the legend behind "Shiney Raa"..???

Also - did the Bedlington/Barrington "Wharton's" have any connection to the Wharton's in Offerton (Co. Durham)..??

Thanks if you can help

Joe

Joe

asked a cousin to ask her parents if they had any idea why it was called Shiny Row. Really the answer was 'no-idea' but to confirm how asking one question does not get the hoped for answer but sends the aged off down memory lane - exact extract from email recieved:-

 

Heres the commentary as they are chatting!!

There are 2 shiny row's-one at Dr Pitt and one is a place in Durham. 

It was a street in the colliery and pops used to walk along it when he went to pictures which is now the gym on glebe row bank. Charlie Cofran lived there (apparently!)

No ideas on why it would be called Shiny Row I'm afraid! Just a random name?! Doctor Terrace and North Terrace were beside Shiny Row. 

Pops had piano lessons at Cross Row which was next to the Dr Pitt brickyard. Lukey lived at Doctor Terrace. They must all have been in the vicinity?!

Talk has gone off at a tangent to Jimmy Graves and very random other names!!

 

Doesn't help but getting oldies to recall the past makes me smile.

Edited January 5, 2014 by Eggy1948

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

On 2/7/2010 at 02:31, threegee said:

Close, but isn't where the Police HQ is almost slap on the Dr Pit head, or at least just a tiny bit South of it?

The 'raas' were West and North of this. The most prominent one (nearest the Front Street) was Shiney Row, shown here on the right of Cympil's gallery photo:

If you look at the row on the left of this picture (Doctor Terrace) there were some shorter rows running at about ninety degrees way over at the back there. One of them, as I remember, was New South Row. Why it was called this I could never fathom as it wasn't South of anything I could see. Anyway, my guess is that Double Row was 'ower there'. These other rows were the first to see the bulldozer, and I don't think they had the renovation money spent on them the more prominent ones in the foreground had.

Waiting to be corrected on any of this!

Hey, start a gallery, and get those pictures up there for posterity! Need any help with this then just ask any of the Mods or Admins.

Searching for info on the Barrington Double Row I noticed this old posting on 'Double Row - Bedlington'.

Double Row, Bedlington never appears on any of the old maps that search - http://maps.nls.uk/

New South Row first appears on the 1921 map and the only reason I could guess at the names is because South Row already existed at the 'A' pit, Bedlington Station.

South Row, although not named until the 1921 map, is drawn on the 1858 & 1896 maps.

Was there a Double Row at the Doctor Pit ? 

[threegee]

Ah, well, I got it wrong (but that was 3.30 in the morning!): New South Row was parallel to the main rows and not at right angles;  that one was (quite logically) Cross Row.  Got the vicinity right though.

So - after many decades - at last an explanation of why New South Row was called "New".  But still a mystery as to why it was labelled "South" when it was in fact North of North Terrace.  It seems that North Terrace was built long after the rest though, so perhaps not so illogical at the time NSR was named.  And, if it was built before the two major rows shown on the 1898 map were even planned, everything would then be explained: it would have been the most southern row at that point in time.