Puddler's Raa[Row]

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi all!

Does anybody have any images at all of Puddlers Row?

McCAFFERTYS,Ellen Ruddy,Harry Craize,The Olivers,Rachel Walker are some of the family names who lived there.Surely someone has a pic or two of thier Granny in thier drawer!

[keith lockey]

Hi all!

Does anybody have any images at all of Puddlers Row?

McCAFFERTYS,Ellen Ruddy,Harry Craize,The Olivers,Rachel Walker are some of the family names who lived there.Surely someone has a pic or two of thier Granny in thier drawer!

HPW - do you mean Puddler's Lane? I remember my granny saying Terrier Close, where I live, was called Puddler's Lane.

[tonyg]

what about phoenix row

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi all!..call me Bill..that's my name.

Keith,it was called different names,my wife's parents and grandparents,and other relatives lived there,and they called

"the puddler's"...as in ...."aye,when we lived at the Puddler's"[example!]

We,my wife and me,would dearly love to see any drawings,or photo.'s of the Puddler's row..["raa"].

tonyg,i aint heard of that one marra!

[keith lockey]

Hi all!..call me Bill..that's my name.

Keith,it was called different names,my wife's parents and grandparents,and other relatives lived there,and they called

"the puddler's"...as in ...."aye,when we lived at the Puddler's"[example!]

We,my wife and me,would dearly love to see any drawings,or photo.'s of the Puddler's row..["raa"].

tonyg,i aint heard of that one marra!

Hi, Bill, I remember my nana telling us the only building at Puddlers Lane was the farmhouse. I believe that is the house on it's own next to where the Terrier Pub stood. The rest, she said, was all fields. We moved to Terrier Close in 1960, just when they finished building Terrier Close. As for photos...sorry, can't help there, wish I could.

[tonyg]

put your thinking cap on bedlington station

[tonyg]

phoenix row at bedlington station

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

tonyg,where was Phoenix row?,the name suggests to me that this row was built on top of a demolished row from the past...Phoenix rises again...no?!!

[tonyg]

phoenix row opposite the cinema what is now the health centre

[tonyg]

where was shop row

[johndawsonjune1955]

Hi all!..call me Bill..that's my name.

Keith,it was called different names,my wife's parents and grandparents,and other relatives lived there,and they called

"the puddler's"...as in ...."aye,when we lived at the Puddler's"[example!]

We,my wife and me,would dearly love to see any drawings,or photo.'s of the Puddler's row..["raa"].

tonyg,i aint heard of that one marra!

It was nicknemaed Piss Pot Row too. It was said to be the most filty place in Bedlington.

Will send pic soon of it.

[tonyg]

got photos

[doglover]

I TOO WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOME PICS OF PUDDLERS LANE DON'T KNOW I'VE EVER SEEN ANY. WHY ON EARTH THEY CHANGED THE NAME FROM PUDDLERS TO STEAD BEATS ME.

[keith lockey]

I TOO WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOME PICS OF PUDDLERS LANE DON'T KNOW I'VE EVER SEEN ANY. WHY ON EARTH THEY CHANGED THE NAME FROM PUDDLERS TO STEAD BEATS ME.

There was a Victorian guy called Stead who was into child reform. He fought against poverty and sanitary conditions I believe. I think he has a connection with Stead Lane ie named after him. (Then again I could be wrong)

[Orloff]

Puddlers Row as I was told when I was young was a row of terraced cottages that were to the left of the Bank Top pub, demolished in the fifties I think. They were tied houses for the workers of the Iron Works at the bottom of Furnace Bank.

Puddling was a job that iron workers did. I was chatting to a chap from Blyth about 6 years ago who is something to do with a history society in Blyth whose family (he said) owned Puddlers Row!!! As an aside he obtained a stack of photos that came from a local newspaper when it closed down, and was digitising them then. I bought a few prints of Blyth harbour from the fifties and sixties. If I can find his phone number I will ring him and see if he has any photos of the Row, or of Bedlington in general.

[Symptoms]

Spot on Orloff. Puddling was a process used in the manufature of wrought iron - guys would use very long iron ladles to mix the molten iron in the crucible during the melt. The purpose of this action was to stir-in the 'slag' (a bit like the scum floating on the top) and this resulted in the iron having a slightly fibrous structure and made it good in tension (not like cast iron which is good in compression). Facts remembered from school metalwork theory lessons.

[Maggie/915]

This is what they needed at the Iron Works

[Symptoms]

That's a Bessemer Converter ... used in the manufacture of steel not iron and not invented until the 1850s*. Ah, metalwork theory lessons again.

*maybe our Iron Works had closed by then?

[Malcolm Robinson]

*maybe our Iron Works had closed by then?

Around 1737-1867

[Maggie/915]

If we had some evidence of the Old Iron Works like the Bessemer Converter,we may have got more people taking notice of the contribution Bedlington made to the birth of the Railways.

I read somewhere that Barry Mead was doing a talk in Newcastle last night about Bedlington's contribution to the Railways.

A Crucible seems small by comparison.

We lost out when the Iron Works closed but we do have a lovely river valley

[keith lockey]

I've got a fold-up pamphlet that is quite interesting regarding the iron Works. Can't remember where I got it though.

[tonyg]

I've got a photo of my wife when she was young in her fathers garden down the furnace bank .i'll try to put it on the site

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

J.D.J.1955,did u ever manage to find any pics of Puddler's Raa please?

My wife was born there and would love to see any pics at all..whatever condition they are..as long you can make out the place.

The Puddler's raked the slag off the molten iron with long-handled colrakes,to enhance the purity of the iron.

Wrought iron was made by rolling out sheets and and overlaying them with the grain running at 90 degrees,several layers at a time,like plywood,

then re-rolling them,or sqeezing them with a steam hammer or press,to force the crossed grains of the metal to lock together.

As you say Wrought iron was very malleable used to make rails etc,while Cast iron was very resilient,could stand tons of steady pressure,as in bearing housings,but would crack if subjected to a sudden shock..like a blow from a mel..["sledge-hammer"]

Mr Epsley was a great metalwork teacher at Westridge School in 1956-59..[my years there...]!!!!!!

Hey,aam 69 this year,and aav got vivid memories of me schooldays!

[johndawsonjune1955]

what about phoenix row

Hi Tony. As promised that pic of Phoenix Row. Also known as Piss Pot Row. It was said to be a dirty place.

The photograph shows milk being delivered to Phoenix Row, Bedlington Station around 1910. A boy could earn a few pence per week helping the milkman on his daily rounds. The colliery houses in this row were built in the late 1850's and had one room down, one room up, and a pantry.

[tonyg]

got the photograph of Phoenix row can you remember shop row