Clippie Shop At Choppington Station

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Heh heh!

Thanks Vic for the info on the  Pyrotenax!,ye canna whack a bit o' rambling on man!,ye tuk me back a bit there,a can vividly remember working with the Sparky's deaing H.T. cable extensions,as faces advanced,from age 16 yrs on.....winding the dynamo Meggar handle for them as they they did the insulation [pin to earth,and pin to pin...three-phase] tests,and also continuity tests,even stripping back the armouring wires etc ready for putting the new ends on!Sometimes pitwark was a little bit interesting!

Pilgrim,When me Wife hurt her back at work,and Paracetomols didn't have any effect,[20 years ago],Dr Carr did private treatment by "cracking"her back!

He had her arm behind her back,one leg bent up,lying on the couch,his arm behind and through the space between her arm and her back,and forced her spine to twist,mekking the most horrible cracking sounds....a thought he would break her back altogether,whey,he didn't,and it didn't work,over a 4-weekly session period,it cost £200 then,[20 yrs ago!!],which was paid for from the one and only lottery win she had before she realised [upon my advice],that gambling is a mug's game.....

When a worked for Ray Carlisle,mekking sliding mirror door bedroom furniture,kitchens etc,a made the business plaque for his Solicitor Son,which I fitted on the outside of the business premises,in Blyth,was that Son the one you mentioned above?

Jack White,[who we at the High pit called "Bet" or "Beth" after his Dad,who also worked at the pit],was a great friendly character,very well-liked by everybody,he was just one of them sort of characters who naebody could dislike.I got on very well with him.

If he has a memory like me,then he will remember young Wilma who was on transport with John Dickinson,and John Wardlow,before being face-trained and going on coal-filling.[cos everybody in the pit knew Wilma,in them days,due ti the nature of my job....I went into every part of the pit,and knew all the men on every face.]

I remember his bike,Walter Gobin also had a Triumph,[ T110],so did big Harvey Tilbury,we had some great characters at that pit!

Give Jack my regards please!

Ye fill me up taaking aboot Cathy Secker,we listened to her on Sundays for years,and she used ti answer the phone during playback,ti tek dedications,if Michael wasn't aroond ti tek calls,and she was the most likeable natured lass ti taak ti,nae rush,and would read oot exactly what ye requested,cos a did a few requests for me Wife's Birthdays,wor Anniversary etc.We were shocked when she died.R.I.P. Cathy.

 

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Sym,the only Jack Dixon that aa knew,was a Guitar/Banjo/Mandolin-Banjo....player,but a divvent knaa if he was an Electrician mind,a only knew him as a musician,another great character....a think we discussed him on another thread a while ago.

[pilgrim]

HPW - thank you very much for your kind comments about uncle 'Jack' I haven't seen him in a few years, but he was working at Wallsend police station as a driver - handyman last I saw him. and as daft as ever - he moved to a bungalow in Woodside above furnace bank so you are much closer than me (I am up in the wilds aside Berwick)  might be worth ya taking jess for a walk along that way!

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Heh heh! Pilgrim,me oldest sister lives in the bungalows at Woodside,be strange,and not the first time,if an old pit marra lived next door to her!

One of the Bates pit lads looked after her for a long time,as a good neighbour,and noo one of the lads from Bedlington A pit,[the "Auld pit"],looks to her in times of need..!!

A wud luv ti catch up wi Jackie again,after 50 years oot of touch!

A recently bumped into a "stranger",aroond Woodhorn lake,got taaking,wi wor dogs,etc,as ye dae like,recognised summick aboot him,[he's eyes!],then realised he was an aad [young] fitter from Bedlington auld pit,last saw him in 1971 when the pit closed!

Caught up aboot thi aad days as quick as a flash!

That's pitmen!!

[pilgrim]

update re the joistripper.

I have spoken to phil joisce and this is the background.

"My father produced a tool to enable him to save time when installing sliced bread plant at Proudlocks bakery in Ashington. All the bakeries agreed to introduce sliced bread at the same time but Rank launched early and many bakers, including Proudlocks ended up with van loads of bread unsold, as the saying goes "the best thing since sliced bread"! Proudlocks was one of the firms my father installed/maintained plant for, along with pop factories Waters & Robson in Morpeth and Muters at Bedlington Station, The Bedlington Glove Company (Rema I think they were called who made gloves for M&S etc) Aycroyd's shirt factory in Bedlington and many more. My father installed the slicing machinery AND designed equipment to join the new machinery to the existing production plant in 6 weeks, normal time was 3 months with 3 electricians and 4 apprentices. He managed to do it himself with only an apprentice to help.

The time saving was made as a result of him speeding up the installation of the Mineral Insulated cable (Pyro) terminations using what was the forerunner of the Joistripper. Ironically it was a severe back injury sustained when lifting an industrial fridge with seven other workers at Proudlocks that ended his active career. He was forced to find a way of earning a living without lifting heavy items, working outside etc. He picked up his makeshift tool used for terminating MI cable and decided to turn it into something that could be sold to help other electricians in their work - the Joistripper! He never made a fortune, but maintained his independence and managed to bring me up.

That is the brief history, I may enlarge at some point, but for a Bank Holiday Tuesday, that's the lot. I'd love to have something on my father on Wikipedia. He also designed and built the Joisce car, I still have the logbook (with Joisce as manufacturer) and many of the parts for the one he ran, one other was built for a good friend of the family, Rex Dixon, who owned Dixons Filling Station at Stannington (the one on the left as you travel South towards Newcastle on the A1)... Kind regards Philip"

So Bedlington was home to another innovation!!

 

Edited December 28, 2016 by pilgrim
amend

[threegee]

Philip was a friend of our family, and I'm sure did a fair bit of our industrial electrical work too.  I can recall some humorous discussion about his cable stripper in the late 1950's or early 1960's, but never actually encountered one of them myself. This info regarding his injury explains a lot.  Reg Dixon is another name that passed over my head as a child, along with Bill Orange, Bill Elliott, etc...  It was a smaller world then.

[pilgrim]

I would never have thought that not only did they build trains at Bedlington but also motor cars!!! - and where was the shirt factory? and what happened to all the trades and industries???? Bedlington should be booming now but seems to have 'missed the boat'

You do learn some amazing things on here.

3G was it Bill Elliot who had the garage in the market place?

and - I recall a garage on the road south of Bedlington, on the east side but cannot recall the name - it sticks in my mind as it had a sign in the hedgerow saying 'petrol 100 yards' - now that might not seem important but to a small child it was magic as for the first time you could see what 100 yards looked like!!!

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

1 hour ago, pilgrim said:

- and where was the shirt factory? and what happened to all the trades and industries????

3G was it Bill Elliot who had the garage in the market place?

and - I recall a garage on the road south of Bedlington, on the east side but cannot recall the name - it sticks in my mind as it had a sign in the hedgerow saying 'petrol 100 yards' - now that might not seem important but to a small child it was magic as for the first time you could see what 100 yards looked like!!!

Iv'e seen a couple of comments about the Shirt Factory and there is an old photo of Shiney Row and at the end of the row, before you got to the Dr Pit was the shirt factory. I will see if I can find it, probably on one of the Facebook groups - sixtownships or Bygone Bedlington.

Foxy has a couple of photos of Elliot's garage at the Market Place between the Market Place club and the Sun Inn.

There was Begbie's garage, South of Choppinton, and that was at the bottom of the Glebe Road, on the left as you went past the Dr Pit rows heading for the Red Lion.

Foxy has a 1995 photo of the garage - this one must be mid 1960's, if not before.

[pilgrim]

Begbies - yes I think that was the name ! thank you - I not that you are in Seghill -- one of the most historic places in the county

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Thanks everybody for some interesting information about our history!

Pleased Mr Joice took the patent out.

I lost out on two inventions of mine underground,wi my big gob!....I was daft enough to tell the Overman about one,and a Deputy on a different face,at a different pit,about the other.....within months,co-incidentally,both devices appeared in the mines,being designed..[supposedly],at S.M.R.E.[Safety in Mines Research Establishment down south..Bretby,I think,but not sure!].

I was only in my early twenties,at the time,and just pleased at least they contributed to the safety of all my pit marra's everywhere in the coalfields!

Just thinking,did Mr Joice ever live,or have relatives,living in a small-holding down the "Black Path",which leads to the Furnace Bank,from Beattie Road?

As kids we used to raid "Joicie's Pear tree"!

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

20 hours ago, pilgrim said:

 - and where was the shirt factory?

Pilgrim - I have this photo saved  on my PC with 'Shiney Row' & 'Shirt Factory' labelled, by me. I have searched this site and the 3 Facebook sites where many old Bedlington images are posted but I can't find it and therefore can't say who originally posted it. I would suspect john Dawson and I have just added the labels from the comments made with the posting :-

[pilgrim]

much obliged eggy1948! the gasometer sets the location for me - another mystery solved.

[James]

The photo supposedly showing the shirt factory was taken at the “back” of Shiney Row. Between the bottom and Shiney Row and the gasometer was the surface infrastructure of the Doctor Pit – rail sidings, timber yard, workshops, heapstead, offices etc. What is shown as the Shirt Factory was one of the Dr Pit offices, probably the Planned Maintenance office.

The shirt factory was at the top end of Bedlington roughly where the library is now. There used to be a footpath from Shiney Row to the front street, exiting near the Bluebell pub. The entrance to the shirt factory was from this footpath.

My photo was taken from Glebe Road looking toward the Dr Pit.

[moe19]

2 hours ago, James said:

.

The shirt factory was at the top end of Bedlington roughly where the library is now. .

Your not far off James, I believe it was on the site of the old Bedlington day centre and a little of it would have overlapped  on what is now Milnne Court      

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

8 hours ago, James said:

The photo supposedly showing the shirt factory was taken at the “back” of Shiney Row. Between the bottom and Shiney Row and the gasometer was the surface infrastructure of the Doctor Pit – rail sidings, timber yard, workshops, heapstead, offices etc. What is shown as the Shirt Factory was one of the Dr Pit offices, probably the Planned Maintenance office.

The shirt factory was at the top end of Bedlington roughly where the library is now. There used to be a footpath from Shiney Row to the front street, exiting near the Bluebell pub. The entrance to the shirt factory was from this footpath.

Cheers James - I will update my photo, replacing Shirt Factory with Planned Maintenance Office.

I still can't find the original posting of the photo, with the comments, so I can't update that - somebody will still believe that those offices were the shirt factory!

[pilgrim]

its wonderful that we still have living memories - we can put down the facts now before they are gone forever - this is why local history is so important and has to be done now!

[Canny lass]

On 2016-12-30 at 09:18, James said:

The shirt factory was at the top end of Bedlington roughly where the library is now. There used to be a footpath from Shiney Row to the front street, exiting near the Bluebell pub. The entrance to the shirt factory was from this footpath.

I can confirm that. My sister worked there for a while. There was another factory that made Christmas cake decorations and silver coloured cake boards to put the cakes on. I had a sister who worked there as well but I was probably too small to ever visit the factory at that time. However, I used to get loads of off-cuts from the silver paper used to cover the cake boards and other bits and pieces to play with. Can anybody remember where the factory was?

[2 Hartford Road]

From memory, Ackroyds shirt factory was through an arch where the Bedlington Urban District Council offices were. It was through the arch and down a bit on the left. As it was a long time ago and I haven't been near Bedlington for years, the arch in question (with offices above) was on the left going down the Front Street from the Red Lion towards the turning down to Bedlington Station. It was on the opposite side of the Front Street to the library which had Abbs milkman behind the library. I know it is an old thread but thought it may still be of interest.

Further down past the turning for Bedlington Station, going towards Bebside on the left was the Bedlington Glove Company run by Mr and Mrs Mautner, I think the Manager was called Mr Sharman. They made gloves for Marks & Spencer among other companies.

 

Edited May 6 by 2 Hartford Road
typos!

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

3 hours ago, 2 Hartford Road said:

From memory, Ackroyds shirt factory was through an arch where the Bedlington Urban District Council offices were. It was through the arch and down a bit on the left. As it was a long time ago and I haven't been near Bedlington for years, the arch in question (with offices above) was on the left going down the Front Street from the Red Lion towards the turning down to Bedlington Station. It was on the opposite side of the Front Street to the library which had Abbs milkman behind the library. I know it is an old thread but thought it may still be of interest.

Further down past the turning for Bedlington Station, going towards Bebside on the left was the Bedlington Glove Company run by Mr and Mrs Mautner, I think the Manager was called Mr Sharman. They made gloves for Marks & Spencer among other companies.

 

Never knew the shirt factory or the glove factory going towards Bebside. This is the only image I have ever seen of the shirt factory and that was as you looked down Shiney row, from the Glebe road, towards the old gasometer :-

 

The glove company I knew was always on the Barrington Road and called the Barrington Glove Company. I used to live behind the Oval shops in the 1950's and 60's and in the 50's a lot of the kids, like me and my brothers, went to Barrington County primary School.

The Barrington Glove Comany building, on the right as you travel from Bedlington Station along the Barrington road to Choppington, is still in use. Originally it was the Barrington colliery institute and the engraved sign for the institute is still there but it is covered over by the current owners, NLS (Natural Light Systems Ltd), of the building.

I knew one or two who worked at the Barrington Glove Company and I do remeber them talking about Mr Sharman and he is identifed on a photo from the 1970's with the staff grouped outside the side of the buiding :-  

 

[2 Hartford Road]

The pic from down Shiney Row of the shirt factory is correct I think, but you could also get to it from the way I said under the Council Offices, just 90 degrees around 😉

The Glove factory was in a double fronted shop with the windows blanked, possibly where PremierExpress/ R&S Convenience Store is, or close by. I think it was a couple of doors away from Hay the butchers shop, I'm talking about over 60 years ago and the East End Front Street isn't recognisable from then as all the shops have changed. I think it may have changed to the Barrington Glove Company when Mr Sharman bought it from the Mautners...

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

12 hours ago, 2 Hartford Road said:

......The Glove factory was in a double fronted shop with the windows blanked, possibly where PremierExpress/ R&S Convenience Store is, or close by. I think it was a couple of doors away from Hay the butchers shop, I'm talking about over 60 years ago and the East End Front Street isn't recognisable from then as all the shops have changed. .....

In the earl 1960's I don't think I ever went onto Front Street East apart from when me mam would drag me to the Co-op to get school uniform clothes and on the Northumberland Miners Picnic day when the streets were too crowded to see any shop fronts. Late 1960's by the time we got to the bottom end of Front Street East,  via Red Lion, Blue Bell, Grapes, Sun Inn, Howard Arms, Market Place Club, Northumberland Arms I would not have recognsed, or remembered anything but would still have managed to get into the Black Bull then the Dun Cow before heading down to Atlee Park for a lie down and snooze. 

I can't ever remember ever going into the Gardners Arms. 

As usual I have gone off track of the origal topic

Edited May 7 by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)