March 2, 201313 yr Author Hi me owld marra! Aye, right,Jimmy probably retired when the Aad pit closed.Cheers Hoggy.It's alright Bill anytime everyone makes mistakes (mainly me on this website )
March 3, 201313 yr Right!...Ranger,i just got back in from doggy-waakin',so aal start an elimination breakdown.First,only the men,[i.e.not deputies,tradesmen,etc.]Main drift was Albert and Alan,[the brothers],and Jimmy Parr,sadly deceased..[my old next door neighbour,46 years ago.R.I.P. Jimmy]The other shift was Ernie R. ,Sid ?,and little Jimmy P.The main drift was won oot when aa went doon ti start the back drift at the top.Back drift lads were Brian B.[who was on the belts and timberleading at Choppington high pit when aa started],Bob Keeley,[sadly deceased12 months ago and also a neighbour of mine ..R.I.P.Bob.]and Danny S.,who may,or may not be with us now...he was a good age back in 1973![no disrespect to you Danny,if you are still here!]Other shift were Billy C.[first heart transplant in Northumberland successfully...lovely lad!],Geordie R.[brother of Ernie R.],and the Cooncillorwi thi fancy twang![canna get he's name..]At the back-drift top were Keith C.,Geordie P.,and Tommy H.,wi thi greet big mop of ginger hair.A just canna think of the other shift lads names,just noo.Tommy left thi pits afore thi '84 strike started.Yi say yi were there reet up thi 1-in-2 ti the Beaumont seam,so that only leaves a few yi can coont on one hand who are left.Aam too tired ti think noo.....G'neet all!
March 3, 201313 yr hello bill regarding the drifts at bates and choppington high pit how did you know brian b ?
March 4, 201313 yr ' "Rising back drift".....a forgot it was driven from both top and bottom. 'I just love reading this stuff ... jargon from heroic pitmen. I usually have to go the The Durham Mining Museum site (www.dmm.org.uk/) for explanations of the meaning of some of these terms. For anybody here who hasn't explored that site you really should ... particularly poignant are the disaster pages.
March 4, 201313 yr hello bill regarding the three quarter i cant remember the twins albert and alan morten ever been in the drifts they were allways in the plessey seam driving the road ways the men that i was with was danny salem charlie smith and the dutch man cant remember his name .
March 5, 201313 yr Heh heh!...noo wa gettn sumwheor!A can mind OF the Dutchman but canna place he's face or proper name.Seein as Danny and Charlie were a canny age compared ti me,in the back drift [ aa was abt 30 yrs old then],a divvent mean any disrespect ti thi lads,but a sumhoo canna see them fiddling aboot wi computers in thier later life.A think they were in their 50's then,and that was 40 yrs ago![ cos aam 70 next year].Also,seeing as poor Bob passed away last year,that only leaves one o the canniest lads that worked at High PitChoppington,when aa started theor in December 1959.A went doon in 1960,onti transport wi John Dick,and John Ward,and the whole crew were canny,timber lads Frankie Grea,John Halli,Bob Barb,Billy Bu,Maverick,,Set lads Dor Dr,Cockney Ernie,Girder lads,Bob Broo,Tony Shi,John Mas,[ deceased R.I.P.]...Beltmen...John Eas,andBrian Bes,[the reet canny one who learnt me a lot aboot not only pitwark but things in life generally.......].......Dae yi still mend watches?,and dae yi still hae ya dinky little spirit level wat yi used ti suspend on the line to measure up for the gradient ti set the girder legs on the 1-in -2?Noo come on,tell me aam taakin a whole lotta b.........!!!!!!!!!!Aam 100% sure aam reet who yi are B.B.! Edited March 5, 201313 yr by HIGH PIT WILMA
March 5, 201313 yr It's just come ti me who thi Dutchman was,a can see his face clear noo,a was in charge o him at thi shaft landing for a short while,him and he's marra were tekkin thi stryght girders oot, and turning them upside doon,wi thi bend up-owa,ti save buying new ones!! ....a stocky bloke,strong as an ox.The Mortons,Alan and Albert and Jimmy Parr,drove 2's main road from thi start aal thi way in.until me and me marra's won the face oot,partly wi a prototype "In-seam Miner",and because management ditched it cos we made it gaan too fast..[money?...],we won the rest oot wi a coalcutter and 9-foot jib,blasting two feet oot off thi solidat each side,to give 24 feet width,ti save tekkin a side cut off...noo...30 years later,that £5million pound machine is still lying rotting doon thi three-quarter seam..alang wi hundreds of millions of pounds worth of otherface machinery.
March 5, 201313 yr Hi Symptoms!We pitmen canna describe pit topics to each other without using "Pitmatic" terminology,cos if we tried to use plain English,it would turn out to be a story explaining just one small facet of any operation we did"!Imagine me trying to explain how i would put the "breaking-off timber in" [brrekkin-off-timma"],to prepare for "Firing the ripping-lip down" [Tekkin' a caunch"]....where would i start?"Dreggin'-up on thi kip","Hingin'-on chummings in thi dish"..."Pan-pullin"......"Slippin' thi fyess"..."Shuvvin'thi sumpa owa".......a could go on and on!!Glad you are so fascinated by our heritage,and thanks for recognising how dangerous mining was,even though we miners didn't think about the dangers much because we were constantly aware,and senses tuned to thi limit.Check out my pics on Flickr.."High Pit Wilma's Photostream-Bates Colliery"I've got a good head of hair on those pics...i was only 42!
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