Bedlington Station - Miners Houses Ownership

[tullybrone]

Hi,

I'm looking for some help in working out which Bedlington colliery my relatives worked at pre 1914.

On the 1911 census my great uncle Peter Devlin, born Workington, Cumberland, 1893 is living at 1 Phoenix Row, Bedlington Station lodging with a Wills family, employed as a Coal Miner (Putter) Underground. There are some 50 Workington born people in Bedlington on the census.

He was joined by his widowed mother and youngest brother Frank Devlin, born 1897, later that year after his brother left school. Frank joined him to work at a local pit.

Frank enlisted in 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers in May 1914, aged 16 years. He was killed in action with 1st NF at Bazentin Le Grand, Somme, France Friday 14th July 1916, aged 18 years.

Peter enlisted in 1st Battalion Tyneside Scottish (20th NF) in October 1914. He was killed in action at La Boisselle, Somme, France Saturday 1st July 1916, aged 23 years.

I have recently obtained the soldiers will made by Frank Devlin in January 1915 before he went to France with 2nd NF. He gives his mothers address as 13 Clayton Street, Bedlington Station.

The 1911 census shows a Front and Back Clayton Street. I think they were close to Phoenix Row as they are listed on consecutive pages.

I know that miners homes were in effect "tied cottages" so I am hoping that someone will be able to help me with the ownership of the Phoenix Row and Clayton Street houses and perhaps be able to narrow it down to a colliery where my relatives would have been working before they joined the army.

They are commemorated on a memorial at St Bede's RC Church, Bedlington.

Thanks.

Steve Y,

Maghull,

Merseyside

[keith lockey]

Hi Tullybrone (Steve) I suggest you look in PUDDLER'S RAA (ROW) in this section (HISTORY HOLLOW). Someone else asked about Phoenix Row there. Good luck.

[tullybrone]

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the advice.

I'll copy my message into that thread.

Steve Y

[tullybrone]

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the advice.

I'll copy my message into that thread.

Steve Y

[Vic Patterson]

Welcome to the Forum Steve, good luck tracing your family's roots.

[Adam Hogg]

I know that miners homes were in effect "tied cottages" so I am hoping that someone will be able to help me with the ownership of the Phoenix Row and Clayton Street houses and perhaps be able to narrow it down to a colliery where my relatives would have been working before they joined the army.

At the time you are talking about the miners cottages, I would have thought they would be owned by the colliery company so the Bedlington Coal Company, as well as that the colliery your relatives would have most likely worked at would have been Bedlington A colliery next to Bedlington station.

at least i would have thought i may be wrong.

[Keith Scantlebury]

South Row was the miners houses down here in gods little acre (the station) Ran from about where the entrance to Bower Grange is to the railway crossing. The home next to the spar was the colliery managers house. The Easton homes opposite were the retired miners cottages.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Steve

Hopefully I will input this info correctly but no doubt any mistakes will be picked up and corrected. Hope this helps.

If you input 'Clayton Street Bedlington' into Google maps the first picture you get is a good one to try and fit in the comments/links you will get back from the members.

You will see , approximately

W to E = Station Road – the Bedlington Station Railway crossing – Clayton St.

N to S = Stakeford Road – Ravensworth St. – Palace Road

From the Puddler's Row topic they say Phoenix Row was where St. Johns Road is, and it met with Palace Road.

The entrance to the 'A' Pit at Bedlington Station was situated between what is now Blagdon Court and Chatsworth Drive. This estate is now called Bower Grange but used to have a row of colliery houses on the south side of the pit– South Row - down from the pit entrance to the railway crossing.

The records show that this pit shaft was sunk in 1838 so would have been working when your relatives move to Clayton Street.

I have never attempted to obtain information on anyone employed at a pit but assume a starting point would be the Coal Authority – 01623 637429. I have used this number when researching when the pit was built; depth of shaft and when the new Bower Grange estate was built on the site.

If you haven't found any pictures then the following are ones that have been posted in other forums etc.

Entrance off Station Road to 'A' pit.

Bedlington Station level crossing 1963:-

Station Road – South Row on the left:-

[aClayton Corner- The pub, The Clayton Arms, was at the west end of Clayton Street. Turn right where the blokes with the dogs are and you are on Clayton Street:-ttachment=3340:Station Road.jpg]

Edited November 4, 2013 by Eggy1948

[tullybrone]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone for their comments and help.

Sorry to ask another question but -

Does anyone know whether the current Clayton Street is the previous Back or Front Clayton Street that are on the 1911 census?

Regards

Steve Y

[keith lockey]

You needn't apologise, Tullybrone, that's what this site is for - getting answers to questions. I can't personally help you on this one but I bet someone else will be able. Good luck.

Edited November 6, 2013 by keith lockey

[Canny lass]

Welcome and good luck with the search. This site is a mine of information.

[Keith Scantlebury]

The present Clayton St would most probably be what was Front Clayton St

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Welcom to the site,Tullybrone,good luck with your search.

I worked at Bedlington A pit from 1965-1971,and knew all the men,except some of the surface workers, but i cannot remember  anyone of that neme during that period of time.

However,i will,like the others on this forum,try and put word out through old pit "marra's" [mates],to see if we can find anything of help to you.

Cheers,

Bill.

[tullybrone]

Welcom to the site,Tullybrone,good luck with your search.

I worked at Bedlington A pit from 1965-1971,and knew all the men,except some of the surface workers, but i cannot remember anyone of that neme during that period of time.

However,i will,like the others on this forum,try and put word out through old pit "marra's" [mates],to see if we can find anything of help to you.

Cheers,

Bill.

Hi Bill,

Thanks but I doubt if any of your contemporaries would know of the Devlin brothers as they were killed in France in 1916.

However, do you know if there was/are any memorials to Bedlington Miners killed in the First World War?

Thanks again to everyone for their help.

Steve Y

[norman]

Welcome to the site Tullybrone, I worked in the A pit from 1958 to 1961 on the surface until I was 16 then underground, there is a web site that may be helpful, it helped me find out when some of my relations worked there. It is as follows,

 

www.aditnow.co.uk/BedlingtonACoal-mine/- or a good source would be the Mining Museum at Woodhall Colliery.

 

Good Luck in your search.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@tullybrone - in a book The Archive Series, Bedlingtonshire - compiled by Evan Martin (lived and worked in the town) there is this photo of Phoenix Row plus some info :- 

I have looked at some of the old maps - maps.nls.uk & old-maps.co.uk and can't find a map with Phoenix Row named. I can't prove it but my guess is that this could be it on this 1896 (published 1898) map. The area now is St John's Way & St John's Crescent.

You will note the name Sleekburn appears on many of the old maps. I don't know the year that the Sleekburn area changed it's name to Bedlington Station. After I have done some 'clarting' (local word for preparing/playing/etc) I will post an aerial shot of the Bedlington 'A' pit (used to be Sleekburn 'A) so you can see it's position in relation to Phoenix Row. 

Edited September 21, 2020 by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

[Canny lass]

2 hours ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

I will post an aerial shot of the Bedlington 'A' pit (used to be Sleekburn 'A) so you can see it's position in relation to Phoenix Row. 

Is it perhaps time for a new set of specs? Bedlington A Pit is shown on the map above. Directly above the 'O' in BEDLINGTON.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

1 hour ago, Canny lass said:

Is it perhaps time for a new set of specs? Bedlington A Pit is shown on the map above. Directly above the 'O' in BEDLINGTON.

Nooo, mines perfect🧐. I was just pointing out to Steve that the old maps show the area as Sleekburn - even the one above has Bedlington Colliery (A Pit) and the name Sleekburn on the east side of the railway gates.🙃

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@tullybrone - A 1948 map + aerial shots from Google Street View to show the Bedlington 'A' pit and Doctor pit areas. Of course any resident of Bedlington Station could easily have worked at the Doctor pit but I would assume around the start of the 20th century  if the miners didn't live in the colliery houses then they lived as close as possible to the colliery they worked at.  

 

Unfortunately the only way I can think of to prove which pit the family worked at would be if they had been killed in an acident at the pit and that 'might' be recorded in the list of names in the 'In Memoriam' section of the Durham Mining Museun site :- 

http://www.dmm.org.uk/collnear/b022.htm

Edited September 21, 2020 by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

[tullybrone]

20 hours ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

@tullybrone - A 1948 map + aerial shots from Google Street View to show the Bedlington 'A' pit and Doctor pit areas. Of course any resident of Bedlington Station could easily have worked at the Doctor pit but I would assume around the start of the 20th century  if the miners didn't live in the colliery houses then they lived as close as possible to the colliery they worked at.  

 

Unfortunately the only way I can think of to prove which pit the family worked at would be if they had been killed in an acident at the pit and that 'might' be recorded in the list of names in the 'In Memoriam' section of the Durham Mining Museun site :- 

http://www.dmm.org.uk/collnear/b022.htm

Hi Alan,

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to pull together the various maps and images and for adding the additional explanatory notes to them.

It makes it all a lot clearer to me.

Best wishes.

Steve

PS My great grandmother returned to Workington in 1919/20 to live with my grandfather (her eldest son who served Coldstream Guards 1905/08 & 1914/18) who was also a pre 1914 miner (hewer).
 

She clearly made efforts to have her 2 youngest sons names recorded on the Bedlington RC Church WW1 memorial before she left the area (with a 4th son who had a disability and worked above ground at the pit) but presumably left before plans were being made to erect the Bedlington Civil War Memorial.

She died in 1920 so my grandfather ensured his brothers names were recorded on the Workington War Memorial.