January 3, 201412 yr Hello...My name is Joe and I actually live in Australia now.I was born in Sunderland.I have no family connections north of the Tyne, but played in a group in many of the clubs around Bedlington, Ashington, Cramlington, etc. in the mid to late 60's, and remember many of the towns.My wife, Sheila, has strong connections with the mining community, being from Whitburn. Many of the menfolk in her family worked at Marsden Colliery, and some at Westoe.I'm 67 now, and full of nostalgia for the "Owld Times and Places"I am doing some "amateur" research on an old mining community down there in Co. Durham called Shiney Row. Shiney Row is 2 miles NW of Houghton-Le-Spring...Specifically, I'm interested in the origin of the name "Shiney Row"One 'story' goes that a member of the local gentry (or royalty) was passing the row of cottages and remarked on how "Shiny" they appeared... But that sounds folk-lorish...We think that the hamlet was known as "Wharton's Row" in the 1780's, probably named after a prominent landowner in the area, Richard Wharton, one time owner of Offerton Hall.Whartons Row stood on the site now occupied by the war memorial opposite Westbourne Terrace at Shiney Row.On a search, I discovered this link on your site:http://www.bedlington.co.uk/community/topic/2684-double-row-bedlington/#entry29551which references a "Shiney Row" in Bedlington...Sorry for being "long-winded"...What was the (likely) origin of the "Shiney Row" in Bedlington..?? Why would they have called it "Shiney Raa"..??The origins for "Office Raa" and Double Raa" are ?self-evident? - but what of Bedlington's "Shiney Raa"...?Thanks if you can help.
January 3, 201412 yr In Bedlington we still have a pub called The Wharton and locally Shiney Row was referred to as Shiney Raa.Put Wharton and Shiney Row into search on this website and I am sure you will get results.Good luck with your search Joe
January 3, 201412 yr Hi Joe ... you may already know about The Durham Mining Museum - it can be found at: www.dmm.org.uk It's a mine (sorry about that) of information about the Durham and Northumberland coalfields. What was the name of your band? Maybe I saw you play at Bedlington's Market Place Club.
January 5, 201412 yr Joe my thoughts are that Wharton and Shiney Row are the key to your search.Basically coal mining and Wharton may have come to Bedlington.Whatever persuaded them to change the name of Whartons Row to Shiney Row in Durham would be relevant to Bedlington.Miners would move between the mines. Particularly if the owners acquired more mines or opened new mines in other areas.As today key workers would be persuaded to move.Interesting to speculate on names generally.Shiney new houses has my vote.
January 5, 201412 yr Or perhaps their orientation to the Sun; they get the Sun shining on them for longer periods.
January 7, 201412 yr I've always assumed that this was the first row to get electricity from the pit generators. Certainly No 1 (nearest to pit head and the most Easterly house), was slightly larger (higher) than the rest, and was the colliery under manager's house. It seems possible that this was the very first one to be wired. That might be backed up by the fact that a certain James H Millne lived there in his early days as an apprentice electrician at the pit. This probably needs some research as to the exact build / naming date, and also the exact time a domestic electricity supply was first run from the colliery generators.
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