Whitley Memorial

[Maggie/915]

That is a great photo Ovalteeny.

Sadly the generation in my family who would recognise these people are long gone.

Good luck with finding the names.

[Ovalteeny]

Thanks Mags

[Reedy]

Dad was given this photo a while ago by someone who had stuck the title of 'Bedlington Station 1928' on it. He reckons it is the school which was where the library is now near the Railway Tavern.

The only person he can identify is the lad in the second row from the back, second from the right next to the girl who looks like she's about to burst into tears. He was called McSparron and lived next to the Bank Top on Stead Lane. Dad has another photo with the same background and railings which has McSparrons sister on it.

[Reedy]

Ovalteeny, if your Grandad was Sepp Kidd he was my Dads boss when he was an apprentice at the Doctor Pit and was Chairman of Bedlington Mechanics FC.

[Ovalteeny]

Hi Reedy, yes my Dad's Dad was Christopher Septimus Kidd (known to one and all as Sepp) and as well as being Chairman of Bedlington Mechanics (when they played their home games at Milne Park), I believe he was something like "The Colliery Engineer" for the Dr. Pit. He and the family lived in No. 1 Dr. Pit Cottages, right on the Pit Head so that he could be called upon at short notice, should there be any engineering issues to be solved. 

[Maggie/915]

I wonder if the date of the picture is correct.

Whitley Memorial or the Station is important so is the date.

My lot would have left school if the date is really 1928

My Dad opted out of school to make money.

The date of the photo rules out most of my relatives who lived in and around the Station.

[Reedy]

Double check on the date - it was actually 1929.

[Millbank]

Hi Millbank!

                   The Chivers family lived in Hollymount square,2 doors from the cut into Cornwall Crescent/Haig/Beattie Roads.[adjacent to old Hollymount hall]

That wasn't the Park cut,the Park cut was along from there leading from the "new hooses" [as we kids called them],which faced over to the Whitley school,and Knoxy's Field.It led straight onto the tennis courts area,with a short walk left ti the swings,and continuing through ti the main road and the Whitley School.

Old Frankie Latimer lived right on the cut at the right side,and he always chased us kids if we even showed our faces,not even daeing owt wrang!!

My earliest memory of little Billy[?] Chivers,was him hitting me,when I was aboot four yrs old,not yet at school.and me faatha gaan aroond wi me,and

telling me ti hit him back harder or HE would belt me!!

I vividly remember that traumatic day,having to run down and hit thi kid back,which was totally against my grain,cos I wasn't a fighter then,and I've never been a fighter in my life since....am aal for a peaceful life!!

I don't think they lived there very long after that incident.

My Parents were given number 13 Hollymount Square,as soon as it was completed being built,and the wall plaster was still not dried oot!!

In aboot 1948,as it was,there was nae waalpaper !!....aad-fashioned distemper stippled onti aal thi waals when they finally dried.

Ye taak aboot giving families chest complaints!!...thi new hoose was damper than Aad Storey's Buildings at Willow Bridge,in Choppington.

We had the end hoose,of the first half of the building programme,and they were still pulling the old colliery hooses doon,in Bell's Place,to allow for the completion of the square,a year or two later.

[Millbank]

Hi Millbank!

                   The Chivers family lived in Hollymount square,2 doors from the cut into Cornwall Crescent/Haig/Beattie Roads.[adjacent to old Hollymount hall]

That wasn't the Park cut,the Park cut was along from there leading from the "new hooses" [as we kids called them],which faced over to the Whitley school,and Knoxy's Field.It led straight onto the tennis courts area,with a short walk left ti the swings,and continuing through ti the main road and the Whitley School.

Old Frankie Latimer lived right on the cut at the right side,and he always chased us kids if we even showed our faces,not even daeing owt wrang!!

My earliest memory of little Billy[?] Chivers,was him hitting me,when I was aboot four yrs old,not yet at school.and me faatha gaan aroond wi me,and

telling me ti hit him back harder or HE would belt me!!

I vividly remember that traumatic day,having to run down and hit thi kid back,which was totally against my grain,cos I wasn't a fighter then,and I've never been a fighter in my life since....am aal for a peaceful life!!

I don't think they lived there very long after that incident.

My Parents were given number 13 Hollymount Square,as soon as it was completed being built,and the wall plaster was still not dried oot!!

In aboot 1948,as it was,there was nae waalpaper !!....aad-fashioned distemper stippled onti aal thi waals when they finally dried.

Ye taak aboot giving families chest complaints!!...thi new hoose was damper than Aad Storey's Buildings at Willow Bridge,in Choppington.

We had the end hoose,of the first half of the building programme,and they were still pulling the old colliery hooses doon,in Bell's Place,to allow for the completion of the square,a year or two later.

Hi High Pit Wilma

Brian Chivers definitely lived near the park cut, in number 43 Hollymount Square. They moved there about 1955, when he was about five years old, and were there for many years.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Thanks Millbank!

You got me working things oot here,cos I knew every family in the 66 houses in Hollymount Square,when I was a bairn.

I was living there when the site of number 43 Hollymount was still a row of ancient pit raas for the Doctor Pit men.

I was 11,going on 12 yrs old,when the Chiver's moved in,[one of the big lads by then!]

Brian was 5yrs old,and a bairn!........5yrs later I was 15 yrs old and working underground,doon the pit,amang men,learning a man's job!

It figures that my friends and I who were all the same age  group would be roaming fields and woods and Barn'ton tip etc,when Brian moved there.

I have no recollection of The Chiver's family living at that side,only next ti the cut ti Cornwall Crescent,and Beattie/Haig roads.

Was it a member of the same family who lived in 43,or was it THE actual family who might have moved across the Square,as some others used ti swap in them days.

As I got older,there were a lot of changes,but I lost track,cos I spent a lot of time with my lass at her house,who has been my Wife for 48 years noo!

As a kid,I spent a lot of time in Millbank,playing wi me friends Alan Wilkinson,and Ronnie Leyland,and my  older Sister used ti take me with her ti see her friend [when I about 5 yrs old] who was Millie Madison.

We all went ti thi Whitley  School.

[Millbank]

Thanks Millbank!

You got me working things oot here,cos I knew every family in the 66 houses in Hollymount Square,when I was a bairn.

I was living there when the site of number 43 Hollymount was still a row of ancient pit raas for the Doctor Pit men.

I was 11,going on 12 yrs old,when the Chiver's moved in,[one of the big lads by then!]

Brian was 5yrs old,and a bairn!........5yrs later I was 15 yrs old and working underground,doon the pit,amang men,learning a man's job!

It figures that my friends and I who were all the same age  group would be roaming fields and woods and Barn'ton tip etc,when Brian moved there.

I have no recollection of The Chiver's family living at that side,only next ti the cut ti Cornwall Crescent,and Beattie/Haig roads.

Was it a member of the same family who lived in 43,or was it THE actual family who might have moved across the Square,as some others used ti swap in them days.

As I got older,there were a lot of changes,but I lost track,cos I spent a lot of time with my lass at her house,who has been my Wife for 48 years noo!

As a kid,I spent a lot of time in Millbank,playing wi me friends Alan Wilkinson,and Ronnie Leyland,and my  older Sister used ti take me with her ti see her friend [when I about 5 yrs old] who was Millie Madison.

We all went ti thi Whitley  School.

Morning High Pit Wilma

43 Hollymount Square is the second house from the park cut. The Chivers family moved from Gladstone Terrace in the 50s and lived there for over 30 years. I was a regular visitor to the house.

I too went to the Whitley but do not recognise any of your friends' names. Think you're a little bit older than me!

[stevenmcvey963]

On 17/11/2013 at 17:10, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

My family moved into number 13 Hollymount square in 1948,it was the first building programme after the war ended,by the Bedlington Urban District Council.

I spent a lot of my youth hanging around Hollymount square with the likes of Les Chivers,Bob Tweedy,Micky Mole a few lasses as well,Kim Haig and her mate Christine,Les and Bob lived in the 2 houses to the left of the cut leading to the park,Bob with his grandad,also called Bob,a proper gent you'd see walking his blue whippet (Betty).We used the kerbs and gates as goals for football and the lines on the roads for tennis nets,not a gameboy or nintendo in sight,In later life I knocked around with Jim Mullarky who built his own house at the other entrance to the square behind Clousons shop,which belonged to his Mam,you probably new his dad, Jim,who I used to talk to about his work down the pit that left him on oxygen tanks in his latter life,a proper diamond he was,ring any bells HPW

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi folks!,am a bit late of catching up,but it seems we are from a slight generation gap,as most of these names are new to me!

The Chivers family a refer to,lived aside the Beattie road cut from Hollymount Square,didn't live there very lang and shifted.

As a said before,my family knew every single family that lived in the 66 houses,and when aa was young,could name them starting at no 1,with Sid Newman,and so on.

But as time goes by,folk move on,and nothing stays the same!

Strangely enough,aa knew a Jimmy Chivers when a worked at Choppington High Pit,in the early '60s,never saw him for aboot 40 years,and just before a moved ti where a aam noo,he became my new next door neighbour!!

It was strange seeing him as an adult,from a lang-haired kid in the sixties...dinna knaa if he is any relation ti Les Chivers.

I worked with the Mullarkey's from Millfield,and Hollymount Square,[around opposite Hollymount Terrace...that side of the square],two Brothers,older than me by a long way,canny fellas ti work with.[remember aa was only in me early twenties in them days!...at Bedlington A pit in the mid-1960's ]

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Heh heh!A bit late.....again!, but a pitmatic phrase came into me heed the otha day........."Aye,ye'll bump thi set if ye keep gannin wi ya buck"!!.....or...."Aye,thi poor bugga bumped thi set when he met hor,aa reet"...!

It's another way of saying..." Aye, ye backed a losser there hinny"!....or.."Gaan on a bit mair wi ya cheek,and aal thrash ye Son"!

A keep racking me aad brains for mair of them.....it's hard work!

[Brian Steel]

On 15/06/2012 at 10:31, curly said:

can people really remember why it had to be demolished?............and having classes in the porta cabins

Ted coils burnt it down

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

HI Brian,welcome to the forum!

Are you any relation ti one of me aad Bates' pit marra's...[whey,"Aad" is a figure of speech,cos the lad aam taaking aboot was just a young'un when the pit was gaanin'!]

Jimmy Steel? Went ti live in Perth Australia a few years ago.

Aye,Ted was a crackerjack aal reet!,if we heard he was coming through the free woods  doon Bedlington bank,[jungle drums!],we used ti climb up the tallest,thinnest tree we could find,cos we knew he couldn't climb that far up a tree for fear of the tree branch breaking off,or for fear of falling!

That was our safety escape plan,cos if ye hung aroond by the river,he wud delight in tossing ye in fully clothed and wud watch ye droond....not so funny.[and aa cudn't swim,but a cud climb higher,and faster than any of the lads doon the woods...[cudn't run,used ti get caught by farmers etc for apple-raiding etc!!]

There was aalwis loads of lads doon the woods in them days....circa 1954...[before that and after that also... aa was 10 yrs aad in that year]

Sym,mebbe the cooncil was strapped for cash ti build a new block of classrooms,and had ti mek dae wi "Pre-fabs"..[they weren't  portacabins],they must have been built after the end of the war,at least,mebbe earlier,but my eldest Sister started the family trend of attending the Whitley,[aal five of us..],and she would have started there in aroond 1948-ish,and I think....THINK,mind,!,that they were there then.

I stand to be willingly corrected if I am wrong on that point.[they were there when I started in aroond 1952-ish.]

[Brian Steel]

5 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

HI Brian,welcome to the forum!

Are you any relation ti one of me aad Bates' pit marra's...[whey,"Aad" is a figure of speech,cos the lad aam taaking aboot was just a young'un when the pit was gaanin'!]

Jimmy Steel? Went ti live in Perth Australia a few years ago.

Aye,Ted was a crackerjack aal reet!,if we heard he was coming through the free woods  doon Bedlington bank,[jungle drums!],we used ti climb up the tallest,thinnest tree we could find,cos we knew he couldn't climb that far up a tree for fear of the tree branch breaking off,or for fear of falling!

That was our safety escape plan,cos if ye hung aroond by the river,he wud delight in tossing ye in fully clothed and wud watch ye droond....not so funny.[and aa cudn't swim,but a cud climb higher,and faster than any of the lads doon the woods...[cudn't run,used ti get caught by farmers etc for apple-raiding etc!!]

There was aalwis loads of lads doon the woods in them days....circa 1954...[before that and after that also... aa was 10 yrs aad in that year]

Sym,mebbe the cooncil was strapped for cash ti build a new block of classrooms,and had ti mek dae wi "Pre-fabs"..[they weren't  portacabins],they must have been built after the end of the war,at least,mebbe earlier,but my eldest Sister started the family trend of attending the Whitley,[aal five of us..],and she would have started there in aroond 1948-ish,and I think....THINK,mind,!,that they were there then.

I stand to be willingly corrected if I am wrong on that point.[they were there when I started in aroond 1952-ish.]

Jimmy is my cousin but never seen him for years

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

19 hours ago, Brian Steel said:

Ted coils burnt it down

Link to the Album for the school and the 1970 newspaper article on the fire is in the album but they have kept Ted Coils name out of it.

https://www.bedlington.co.uk/gallery/album/183-whitley-memorial-school/

 

[Symptoms]

Oh, dear!  Ted will now have to keep looking over his shoulder in case the Peelers grab him.  No Statute of Limitations for arson in Blighty.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Past history noo,Sym,sentence served..free to do other nasty things...that is...if he is still alive.

I understand from previous posts on the forums that he has family living near and we should respect that,and I do....but I canna help but feel the utmost sympathy

for the family of his very young female murder victim,many years ago,whose Dad I worked underground with and who turned overnight from comedian doon thi pit amang the lads,to a virtual walking zombie,long after the incident,and never got over it.

Let's not forget.

 

[Symptoms]

HPW - that last post of yours has confused me ... who got murdered and who did the murder?  Have I missed something?

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Sym,I would rather P.M. you about that incident,cos ti tell you the story as it was,wouldn't be fitting for a nice quiet family forum like this one,plus,a lang while back,when I first joined this site,and knew naebody,I was discreetly "requested"!! not to "turn over a rat's nest here,as he has a Daughter living nearby,and we don't want to upset her....she wasn't responsible......etc".

Well,like I said , fair enough,but it seems we always protect the perpetrator,and ignore the victims!

The subject was brought up,without regard to the victim's family who also live in Bedlington Station.

Noo,hoo dae a P.M. ye,Sym?...leave me for a few hoors!

Cheers!

HPW.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Sym, a spent an hour describing everything  about Teddy Coils,in my e-mail box,meaning ti cut and paste it on the P.M. box ti you,like Vic telt me ti dae,but had ti tek L.B.J. oot,in the middle  of typing,so a put it in me drafts box,and when a finished it,it wudn't paste on the P.M. ti you .

 A tried ti paint an accurate picture of everything I knew about the case and my relationship[working...that is!] with the poor young victim's Dad.

It's still saved in my drafts box,so aam still trying ti send it.

Noo L.B.J. has just woke up and crying ti gaan oot!....aa divvent knaa...!! ...wat ye hae ti dae for those you love!!

Cheers,Sym.

[Symptoms]

HPW - my woof's just the same as yours ... hours spent on the beach (most days) with ball thrown dozens, and dozens, and dozens of times into the surf, soaked woofa emerging to gallop through the sand, then back into the water.  A walk home, hose the sand off the woof, then off she goes running around the garden getting covered in clarts.  Out with the hose again, then in it comes to dry off in front of the stove and falls asleep.  Now to get some work done ... only for it to wake up and demand more fun and games.  Mind, I wouldn't change a thing (it's watching me now out of one eye ready to interrupt this typing task) - yep, here we go!

[Vic Patterson]

41 minutes ago, Symptoms said:

HPW - my woof's just the same as yours ... hours spent on the beach (most days) with ball thrown dozens, and dozens, and dozens of times into the surf, soaked woofa emerging to gallop through the sand, then back into the water.  A walk home, hose the sand off the woof, then off she goes running around the garden getting covered in clarts.  Out with the hose again, then in it comes to dry off in front of the stove and falls asleep.  Now to get some work done ... only for it to wake up and demand more fun and games.  Mind, I wouldn't change a thing (it's watching me now out of one eye ready to interrupt this typing task) - yep, here we go!

I wonder who is realy having the most fun!