What Do You Miss?

[keith lockey]

i will ask alan next time i see him

Was it Billy Nasbey?

[Keith Scantlebury]

Alan Davison runs the Blyth Hearts Jazzband and he drove their bus for years as well

[keith lockey]

Alan Davison runs the Blyth Hearts Jazzband and he drove their bus for years as well

Yeah, I remembered him, Keith. I also remember everybody having to get off the 'beck' at the Northumberland Arms zebra crossing when there was snow on the ground and the bus was spinning its wheels.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Noo! What aboot thi forst aad grey buses that Raisbeck ran from the Station,[bedltn Station i..e..] reet up ti Netherton pit village in the 1950's that aa used ti get on

sumtimes,ti gaan from Beddy's Market place,ti Westridge school......nae picters o' any o' them..er...IT!,cos they just had the one in them days,if aam not mistyekkin...!

Can anybody mind o' the gas lamp doon Bells Place,at the entrance ti Hollymoont Square?,we used ti climb the high waal and pull thi chain on the lever,ti close the gas doon,ti put thi leet oot so we cud play hiddeny,[hidy-seek],in the cooncil shrubbry,cos it wuz reet dark then!

That lamp,as weel as aal thi otha lamps like doon aad cobbled Hollymoont Avenue,and Terrace,were lit by coal gas,supplied from the Doctor pit gasometer.

Did anybody else raid Waaka's apple orchard,what backed onti thi gardens of Hollymoont Square...they were so soor they med ya eyes waata,but wi still raided

them ivry yeor anywheh!!

Wat aboot Smaily's shop?...aa used t gaan fo' me mutha's tea and sugar,etc,and while aad Mrs Smails weighed the stuff oot inti little broon paper bags from big

tea-chests,aa wud gaze up ti thi big tins on thi top shelf,and wonda wat they were for...they were indian or african,or summick like that,and painted aal in dark exotic patterns...weird-lukkin things thet were!

Howwww!!,and can anybody mind aad Gunter Metcalf,wi he's riding breeches,lang riding byeuts,and he's horse whip in he's hand...a strange sight ti see,waakin doon thi street!...He bred the forst Bedltn Terriers in the north,so we were led ti naa,is that reet John Dawson?.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Binks's shop,next door ti thi Whitley Memorial School...!I

It was a sweet shop when a was a kid,aa nivvor had any pocket money..[too hard-up...],but the Little aad Mrs Binks used ti sell loose "carbine" powder,for

the Doctor Pit Men's carbine [acetylene gas] naked caplamps.

SO...!...one of me schoolmates,now deceased.[R.I.P.],used ti buy two oonces of carbine,saying it was for he's Dad's pit lamp,[porky's!],and when we got into

the classroom,he'd put a knat's whisker of powder into the ink wells....![on the school desks].

The ink frothed and bubbled up like hell,producing a horrible smell,and covering the whole of the desks with black frothy explosive ink!!

When aad Mrs Molden,thi teacher waaked in,we aal got sent ti aad Nicky,[Mr Nicholson],the tyrannical Headmaster,ti get caned across the fingers on both hands...

"six of thi best"..it was called...three times on each hand.He wud be jailed if he did that nooadays!

It was a gud job that Mrs Molden wasn't smoking,as the teachers did then,or we wud have been blown sky-high!!

Then on the way yem after school,my mate wud hoy a handfull of carbine inti aal the pools o' rain-waata,gaan thro' thi park on thi way back ti Beattie Road,where

Norman lived,[me mate],and he'd hoy a lighted match inti thi pools....which instantly burst into intense flames!!!

Soonds bad!!!...in actual fact,aal thi kids just waaked past laughin',cos tha was nae danger ti anybody,or any trees or owt else,just gud/bad harmless fun!!!

The flames died quickly,but any adults wudda been sendin' for the police and fire brigade!!!

In fact,it wasn't carbine that injured me at the age of ten,as we were when this happened,it was a flying "aeroplane" firework,set of by another mate's Dad,in a supervised display in the street....and i was burned under my armpit through my wooly pullower,shirt,vest,to the skin..and traumatised by the accident..!

Eh,aa cud write a book aboot wa kids tricks in Bedltn in thi aad days...[late-40's.....on]

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

GGG.....Radio constructor.....Practical Wireless was my thing,in the mid-fifties,i was 12years old,learning aboot triode-pentodes and double-diode rectifier valves...

and reyrolle condensers...not capacitors!!!

Doon ti Barnton tip ti luk fo' aad pre-war wireless's cos the modern "smaala" sets came in....still the size of a suitcase like!,a used ti pull the aad sets apart ti use the bits ti build two-valve short-wave sets by a was 14 yrs aad!!!!

A had nae money,but me aada brutha bought the mag for us both ti use.Aboot 1956-9.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Aam posting inti thi wrang place again...not my daeing...hoo has that happened?

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

The Shane Fenton show was an all ticket. I seem to recall it was Monday night, the Friday night was the hop and nothing clashed with the hop. I arrived at the Clayton at about 10pm after a few drinks at Craiges. Only to discover that the Bedlington boys had been throwing pennies onto the stage and Fenton had packed up and gone home. I was not happy, but maybe it was a lucky escape. Does anyone else remember that incident ?

I also seem to remember in those days the pubs closed at 10.00pm and the dance hall close at 10.30. Times have certainly changed.

I was at the Shane Fenton and the Fentones show,at the Clayton Ballroom,i was a big fan of the Fentones on ther own,cos they did some great guitar instrumentals,

i played lead guitar in a group and played on that stage on Friday and Saturday nights sometimes,it was a great place to be,cos i met my Wife there on a Wednesday rollerskating night....in 1962!!!!

The Fenton show was brilliant,and i certainly don't remember him packing up quick!!...not saying it didn't happen,but i seem to think it went really well,and me,being a lead-guitarist,stood all night with my nose under their lead guitar's guitar...watching like a hawk how he did his riffs..[but they weren't riffs in those days..they were "solo's"]

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

test ... Scunthorpe United.

Captain Pugwash was great for the little we'ens was't it?....as weel!

Aye,great characters they had in them days,not like it is nooadays...wi aal this obscene stuff gaan on...aye,gud aad-fashioned characters like

Master Bates,and Seaman Staines..........wor kids loved it...it was SO INNOCENT... wasn't it?

Mind,it was my Son,in later life,who wisened me up,cos i was an old-fashioned "green" pitman............

Then there was the gud aad Cornflakes box,recently,giving tickets in a contest to see the new blockbuster film...starring the main character.....................

.........Owan Kinobi.......

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Yes Shane Fenton and the Fentones did appear on the Monday night and it was all ticket, cost three shillings and sixpence. You mention Craiges, do you remember the disco in there? The lights used to make your pint look like a pint of sump oil and if you were wearing a white shirt it became blue.

The Clayton Ballroom used to be a skating rink on a Saturday afternoon (Roller Skates)

The skating was on also on Wednesday nights,and it got jam-packed!

My first visit was in 1962,and thats where i met my Wife...on skates,!!

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Captain Pugwash was great for the little we'ens was't it?....as weel!

Aye,great characters they had in them days,not like it is nooadays...wi aal this obscene stuff gaan on...aye,gud aad-fashioned characters like

Master Bates,and Seaman Staines..........wor kids loved it...it was SO INNOCENT... wasn't it?

Mind,it was my Son,in later life,who wisened me up,cos i was an old-fashioned "green" pitman............

Then there was the gud aad Cornflakes box,recently,giving tickets in a contest to see the new blockbuster film...starring the main character.....................

.........Owan Kinobi.......

You forgot to Roger the cabin boy! I These name lived with me for years until :-

Libel case regarding double entendres

There is a persistent urban legend, repeated by the now defunct UK newspaper the Sunday Correspondent, that ascribes sexually suggestive names – such as Master Bates, Seaman Staines, and Roger (meaning "have sex with") the Cabin Boy – to Captain Pugwash's characters, and indicating that the captain's name was a slang Australian term for oral sex.^[2] John Ryan successfully sued both the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian newspapers in 1991 for printing this legend as fact.^[3] The origin of this myth is likely due to student rag mags from the 1970s.^[4]

^{That's Wikipedia for you, telling it as it really is and ruining are memories.}

^{Still a long way to go to bring me up-to-date with this site. Enjoying reading this topic but do not want to keep dragging you back to the topics you have already commented on :- Clayton Ballroom from 1965 - Roller Skating - Friday night dance, visits from Guidepost and Blyth lads wanting some of the action! Did they once try Wrestling at the Clayton?}

^{Raisbecks bus - Melrose Terrace, Bank Top, Terrier route to Top End and as stated avoiding all the United bus stops, but picking up anybody anywhere and exceeding the number of passengers allowed to stand (squash to gether)., on a Friday}

^{Fish & Chips - Wales and Patties - used them both, not on the same day. School days in 1960-65, kept me 5 bob dinner money so Monday to Thursday Moscadinies for half hour snooker & two bags of Tudor crisps with bag of salt. Fridays, sit in and have Fish, chips, bread & butter + glass of Tizer depending on how much money you had left by Friday.}

^{Men standing at A pit (entry by Barton Rafie) - I think that's where the pit bus picked up the workers, next to the corrugated roof structure that would be shelter or push bike stand? ved it to be the first in the county.}

Craigies disco - we always believed it to be the first discoteque in the county. Double Maxim looked like a point of engine oil. The landlady, can't remember her name absolutely loved it when a fight kicked off.

Edited May 25, 2013 by Eggy1948

[Son of Cheesah]

On 19/04/2010 at 20:11, Merlin said:

I miss the neighbourhood spirit,unlocked doors open to all! Some things I miss from my child hood are Milk Bottles(sweets) proper ones, Tudor Bovril crisps,Texan bars, being able to play in street without getting ran over by a chav in a super-charged Nova Waiting for buses that never turned up, ever! STANDING on the terraces at St James' Park, playing Japs 'n' English never Germans 'n' English for some reason! Playing on the pit heaps, getting chased off the farmer with his 'Jelly Gun' Tettie picking with same farmer Being scared of 'The Colliery Polis' Generally having fun and not knowing what 'white lightning' was and not being bothered anyway!

Am gettin auld

Just having a family argument about whether a "jelly gun" was a thing! Having grown up next to Wade's farm we are all very familiar...but the family who aren't from Bedlington reckon we've made it up! Does anyone know what the 'jelly gun" actually was?

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Cheesah! Welcome to the forum.

We kids from Hollymount Square used to go down the Bedlington Bank to what became the Miner's Picnic Field,in the early 1950's,it was a lovely grazing meadow wi lang horned coos in in them days.

Hunter's Farm was the lovely old Hoose at the bottom of the bank which the guy has re-built in recent years.

Hunter the farmer had a Jelly gun,and if he caught you he fired it at you ,and clumps of jelly would be aal owa ya claas.....

Ownly he never caught us..but  we were terrified of thi gun....the imagination of the bigger lads was amazing!!

A aalwis thowt that we were the ownly kids who had a farmer wi a Jelly Gun!!

 

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

You gotta remember we were green as grass in them days..nea telly,nae wireless,nae phones ,nae food hardly..rations were still on from WWII,we used to pinch a baigie oot the farmer's field,bite the peeling off and sit high up a tree chowing away...famished...even better if ye fund a field o' milky baigies!!

There was also "Saucer-eyes"..who used to terrorise us...in wor imagination..Gilly the Ghost..a fella who used to jump oot the hedge at neet wi a white bedsheet aroond him...poor bugga needed help..and Tramps who would pinch aal ya claas and shoes if they caught ye oot at neet in the dark...!

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

NIPPETS! It just came to me while weshing me brikfist dishes just noo!

They were tha smaalest sweeties on this planet..the size oof a wee breadcrumb...but hot as hell...queer shaped little things.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Nippits were black Liquorice sweets wat got inti ya teeth and were hard as hell..and hot!

A tiny bag wat lukked like nowt ,wud last a kid aal day at school,slyly slipping them aroond ahint him ti pass them ti he's mates, sitting behind him...cos tha wud be hell on if aad Mowldy Cheese got her beady eyes on ye chowing in class!!

A wonder if Dennis Green can mind o' them days,he's Dad was Engineer at the Aad Pit in Bedlington,and Dennis used ti caal in ti Binksy's shop next ti the Whitley Schyuul,and get 2 oz of Midget Gems,[or wine gums],and 2oz of Dolly Mixtures,and occasionally,a packet of Nippits,he knew we were hard up and got nae pocket money,and he used ti share his bullets wi us  reet through oot the day..

One kid who had everything he wanted but was nivvor a spoilt brat,a real canny kid..in later years a played at hes' 21 st Birthday party,wi me group.

So howweh,folks,hoo can mind o' "NIPPITS"! 

They lukked like wee chippings of black pitch wat we used ti chow,when Tarmac became the new road surface,and big chunks of pitch were hoyed at the roadsides for the tar-sprayer machine to fill up with alang the road,as he was gannin...!

 Heh heh!...aam gettin auld...!..[taakin' as if aa was an aad - timer.......aam oownly 17 yr aad...in me heed!]

[Canny lass]

I remember them - but they didn't come in a bag they came in a small tin box about the size of a matchbox but a bit thinner. My father used to take them down the pit instead of cigarettes.

[Vic Patterson]

Still around Bill. 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

9 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

Nippits were black Liquorice sweets wat got inti ya teeth and were hard as hell..and hot!

 

Can't remember them at all. The main sweets we got as kids were Barley Sugars and that was because my dad worked for Hugh Bolcows - breakers yard - at Cambois. All the men at Bolcows would search all the cabins on the ships that were there to be broken as the 'sailors' would have jars of Barley Sugars and many got left aboard there would have been other jars of sweets but I can't remember them🙃.

My favourite was McGowans Highland Black Toffee - Cambois beach -c1953.

Wouldn't mind some now but I don't think my dentures would  would stay put trying to bite through a bar 

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Wat a bonny wee bairn ye were Al.!!

For a split second ,and looking through me Varifocals at the wrang angle,[which has a distorting effect to the vision!]..

...a thowt ye had been in the Tardis...it luks like ya haadin' ya mobile in ya hand...!..typical of the world we are in...anywheh,sum great aad pics here,a once got a bar of McGowan's Chocolate Toffee,from me aader Sister,when a was aboot ten years aad..[we didn't get pocket money at aal till we started work after leaving Schyuul,so me Sister,who was then working at the Bedlington Store,next ti thi Lock Hall..],bought me this Taffee bar.

It was like a gift from heaven,and a waanted it ti last!!..but it didn't!

Vic,THESE  are more like thi  shape a remember,they weren't the round ones,they were like wee cushion-shaped pellets,but were three-cornered instead of four.Seems there were different versions of the same theme knocking around,and I am now thinking they were called "Little Imps",Wor Lass remembers them,so aam not imagining it!

A see tha's loads of Retro-Sweeties being made again....where?....where ivry bliddy thing else is made!! [Naa just kiddin'....ut one or two are made there!]

There's summik queer gaaning on wi this Editor,when a try and gaan back ti correct me typo's,it's deleting letters and CREATING TYPO'S!

Is it my Laptop,or is anybody else getting the same grief?

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

LITTLE IMPS,MADE IN BELGIUM..TRUE FLEMISH FLAVOUR!

SO IT SAYS ON THE BLURB!!

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

[ Aam showing off noo!...aav fund oot hoo ti post pictures and advorts n things!!]

[Vic Patterson]

3 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

3 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

and I am now thinking they were called "Little Imps",Wor Lass remembers them,so aam not imagining it!

Definitely Little Imps, my late brother's favourite.

 

[Vic Patterson]

Salmiak, is a European Fisherman's Friend candy, it contains ammonium chloride, and it reminds me of a sweet I used to get when I was just a bairn, anyone know what it was called then, I don't know anyone else that can eat them! and they aren't available in Canada so my son brings them when returning home.

[Canny lass]

7 hours ago, Vic Patterson said:

I don't know anyone else that can eat them!

You and I must be soul mates of the first degree! I love anything with salmiak!