Another apology from someone who has been using this site for a few weeks now.

Born and bred in Bedlington, lived at Hartford Camp, then Hollymount Hall then The Oval.

Went to Whitley Memorial, then Westridge (1959-64).

However, moved south to find work in 1969, but returned to live in Northumberland 6 years ago.

Welcome Ovalteeny, nice to see you using the forum.

Welcome to thi forum Ovalteenie!!!

.....I used ti luv listening to your show on steam radio when I was a young pup!!!![a knaa!...yiv hord it aal before!]

Me older Brother's Schoolmate used ti live in Hartford Hall,[three years older than me,],and HE went ti London as weel....in 1969-ish........

....Initials M.J.and partner H.Y...I wonder if you knew them.

You are about 6 years older,cos they..[ My Brother,and MJ..] left school,in 1956. 

A spooky place thon,when we were kids,we used ti gaan inside thi Hall,it seemed like millions of corridors and rooms!...skylights leading onto thi roof....tramps living in there,gaslit courtyard,rickety wooden ootside staircase ti thi  upper floors.....shutters on the windows banged all night in thi wind,keeping us awake in our cosy little bedroom in Hollymoont Square!![aal this was after it was totally vacated,by thi way!!]

Just ti put me right in me thinking,Ovalteeny,when exactly was it vacated?....I reckoned it was aroond 1955-ish...give or take a year each way.

Am I near?,cos aa was aboot 11 years aad when a used ti mooch aroond in the hall![mebbe even ten yrs in 1954..]

Welcome to the forum Ovalteeny, hope you enjoy it here.

Thanks for the welcome Vic, Adam & HPW.  

In response to HPW, we lived at No. 1 Hollymount Hall from 1951 to 1956/57, I can't quite remember when we moved to our "Cooncil Hoose" down at The Oval. However, I do remember that parts of Hollymount Hall were already un-inhabited and in serious decay when we lived there, rickety wooden staircases etc.

In No. 1 Hollymount Hall we just had 2 or 3 rooms, no bathroom or indoor toilet. There was me Mam & Dad plus my brother & sister living in these couple of rooms, we had nowt, but we were happy. Then when we were handed the keys to the house at The Oval, we were ecstatic, as that had 3 bedrooms & a separate, indoor toilet & bathroom, heaven indeed.

Back to Hollymount Hall, we used to play in the ruins and also in the streets of Hollymount Avenue and on the green & bandstand that was on Spring Avenue. My Uncle Andy taught me and my brother (as 4/5/6 year olds) most of what we knew about football on that green in Spring Avenue.

Welcome to the site Ovalteeny.

Thanks Maggie/915

Bonjour... very cosmopolitan site this!

Bonjour (if not Bonsoir) to you too, Malcolm.

 

Can anyone help me get access to The Gallery on here. Each time I try I get rejected (and I am logged in) with the following message  :- 

 

Sorry, but you do not have permission to use this feature. If you are not logged in, you may do so using the form below if available. 

....I get rejected (and I am logged in) with the following message  :- 

 

Sorry, but you do not have permission to use this feature. If you are not logged in, you may do so using the form below if available. 

 

Anyone can view the gallery - you don't need to be logged in.

 

Just hit the Gallery tab up top (fourth from the left) and you are there.

 

The only way I can imagine you'd get that security challenge is if another member had provided you with a link to a gallery that had been set as a private gallery.

threegee,

many thanks for the prompt reply, obviously I am not anyone, as I do hit the fourth from the left button, namely Gallery and I get that message. No links from anyone else, either.

Hopefully, someone can provide an answer to this query.

Just to add regards accessing The Gallery, I have completed the "form below" which was an e-mail sent to admin@bedlington.co.uk on 26th. November. No reply, as yet.

Heh heh!

              Ovalteenie!!,I can vividly picture the blue external staircase on thi right side,as yi went into the courtyard!

Wasn't it spooky,in them days,wi gas leets aal doon thi cobbled streets of Hollymoont Avenue.?!

Noo!,can ye mind thi big Co-op dairy sliding doors up thi Avenue?

Can ye also mind the big milk lorries coming every night from Stocksfield,delivering the crates ti thi dairy,and aad Bob Reed,loading he's little 5cwt

van up,ready for the next day's deliveries aroond Bedlington,wi only one arm,[the other one was completely off ti his shoulder].

Bob drove that van,with he's one hand,for donkey's years,and used ti put he's arm through the spokes of the steering wheel ti change gear!

Nae synchromesh,in them days,it was double-de-clutching ti change doon![a used ti help Bob in the dairy,as a bairn,wouldn't be allowed noo...lifting crates that were a ton weight!,and also the other aspect of adult/kids poison in folks's brains nooadays!]

This was in the mid - fifties that aam taakin aboot here.

Coooncil hoose!...we played wi thi flush toilet and the two-way leet switches on thi stairs,for ages before thi novelty wore off!! [aa was aboot three-and-a-haaf,and me aader Brother aboot six-and-a-haaf,in 1947/8 ish,when we moved inti 13,Hollymoont Square,and like yi say,it was heaven....a bedroom for me Brother and Me,one for me two Sisters,and one for me Parents!..[having lived in two rooms wi nowt also!!]

Nae wallpaper in them days,just distemper "stippled" in patterns randomly,wi a scrunched-up rag....nae carpets...just clippy mats...or bare floors!

Wat a blast from thi past!

Pleased yi came on 'Teeny!!

HPW,

my memories are not so vivid, except at Hollymount Hall, between the ages of 3 to 7, I can only remember the outside toilet, next to our Chicken Runs. Me and my brother had 3 wheeler bikes that we used to bomb around the Hall and Hollymount Avenue and down into Beaty Road, where my Grandma & Grandad lived.

The Co-op Dairy doors do stir something in the old ether, but as my Dad worked across the Front Street, at the Store Abattoir, I can obviously recall more of what that looked like. You had to go through the cut, between the Locke Hall and the main Store (the cut through to Millfield) and then the Abattoir was to the left, at the back of the main Store. I'm fairly sure there were stables round there, as well, as horses are etched in the memory. The classic Store Horse jokes now come flooding back.

I'm pleased that I have joined and I'm enjoying participating with yourself and the other regulars. I used to think that nostalgia was a thing of the past, but it clearly can be part of all our todays.

By the way, the day I went south, to find work and god knows what else, someone called Alan Edgar (aka Eggy who frequently appears on here) met me at Kings Cross and assisted my first few weeks in the Smoke. Small world or what?

Edited December 1, 201411 yr by Ovalteeny

threegee,

many thanks for the prompt reply, obviously I am not anyone, as I do hit the fourth from the left button, namely Gallery and I get that message. No links from anyone else, either.

Hopefully, someone can provide an answer to this query.

 

Should be fixed for you now Ovalteeny

Heh heh!

                The "Abbatoir".....!!.....us kids caaled it thi slaaatahoose!

A lad called "Hi-ti" [Nickname],used ti ti work there also,and we used ti get thi pigs' bladders off him,tie one end and blow it up ,then tie the other end..........

.....a perfect football for laddies whose Mother's couldn't affford a proper one!

We lay in bed on a peaceful Sunday morning,me Brother and me,then we would hear squealing...[loudl]...bang.....then silence.......for a few minutes.......

more squeals...more bangs....more silence.......

Iv'e never twigged till noo,why The Savation Army used to stand outside wor hoose,sort of in thi middle of the street,in a circle,playing their hearts oot......

Sumtimes they must have been a bit late,for us to hear the squeals and bangs,from the humane killer.

We just used ti wander aal aroond the place,cos it was open,and thi public right of way was through thi cut ti gaan ti Millfield from Bedlington main street,past thi Locke Hall.

We used ti watch Hi-Ti scrubbing what we thought was the "Tripe" bags.....[!!!!!!!!].....to keep it decent on here..!

He had a big wood bench oot in the yard,and a pail of water,and a scrubbing brush....and Joe Steel,the Bedlington pie-eater,used to eat three and a half yards of raw tripe withoot a pint of beer ti swill it doon wi'...!

Howw!! Aam robbing me life-story book that aam busy writing,which a hev been deaing for thi last few years,just a bit at a time.!

Fourgee = many thanks, I can now access the Gallery

 

HPW = looking forward this book of yours, if it's anything like your postings on here.

Thanks for your kind comments Ovalteenie!

I've been writing a bit of my life story on and off for aboot four years or more,I finished "Book One",which charts my life from aboot aged two-and-a-half years,[being dragged back on my little feet by my Mother,in my leather reins with the metal studs in for decoration!]

I am now on Book Two,which takes my life from my first day doon Choppington High Pit,and will,if I live long enough to finish it,cover all the pits that I worked at over nearly thirty years,and then jobs as a re-trained Cabinet-Maker etc,that I did in the following years ,until I retired due to ill-health.

My memory is vivid,and I don't sit thinking what to write,the words just flow from my pen,only very slowly,because of disabilities to my writing hand,due to having severed tendons and dislocated and broken fingers after an accident in 1996.

So I write a few pages,then it lies for a week or two...or sometimes a month or two!

But hopefully I will get there,but there is only one problem.!

I don't think a publisher would publish it,unless I seriously edited it,which I would have nothing to do with,it stays as it is ,or not at all....too many high-up

chiefs in high up places in the National Coal Board, AND the Government named for risking the miner's lives by sending inferior equipment and roof supports down the mines,for cheapness,and also for suspected "gifts for contracts".....!!

Methinks it wouldn't pass!

Pity,cos I sometimes re-read bits that I wrote about 3 years ago,just to re-cap,and I get really into it,as if it was written by someone else....crazy or what?!

Obviously, you have trouble getting to sleep, as well as your other crosses to bear, 02:18am indeed.

I wish my memory was as clear and vivid as yours, so I say keep on writing your Book Two and there must be someone who will help you publish it (just as it is without any editoring).

 

One memory that has come back to me that may be relevant to you, relates to when I was working in the Stoke on Trent area in the 1970's. I walk into this pub in Kidsgrove (a small mining village to the west of Stoke) and ask the barman if he could please fetch the landlord of the pub for me to speak to. The barman said ok but the Landlord would be a few minutes. The Barman then asked where I came from. When I said Bedlington, he asked my name and I replied Kidd. The Barman then says - "was your Grandad Sep Kidd from the Dr. Pit and chairman of Bedlington Mechanics". I said yes. He then said, "then tell your Uncle Andy that he still owes me a pint from a night in the Monkey". His name was Jackie Brown and he said he used to live in Hollymount Square before moving to Staffordshire with the NCB. 

So, did the Browns live near you in Hollymount Square?

Welcome on board

Heh heh Ovalteeny!

                               A lot of lads went ti Nottingham and DerbyShire in the sixties...[Mind,a canny few came back an aal!]

Jacky Broon was an electrician at Choppington High Pit,His younger Brother Billy was one of my playmates,and yes,they lived aroond thi corner from me,

sort of on the corner of the square,next ti thi cut,which led past Hollymoont Hall,and doon ti Cornwall Crescent-Haigh-and Beattie Roads.

There was a comedy character on thi telly in the 60's,called "Whacky-Jacky",and inevitebly,Jacky got that nickname tagged onto him,in the same way that aa got "Wilma" tagged ti me cos aa had lang hair which turned straggly with being soaked from the roof water underground.[witty  lot,were some of the lads!!] [mind, a was just a young kid from me skyuul desk,stryght doon thi tetty hole,when aa was christened!]

Jacky wud hev escaped that tag,by gaan doon sooth,but Wilma followed me ti every pit aa went ti,as one pit closed after another!

It's a smaal world isn't it?[ye bumping inti him! ]

Naa,a divvent hae any trouble getting ti sleep,Teeny,aam asleep afore me heed hits thi pillow,cos aam on thi go from mornin' till neet,lukking after me

disabled Wife ,me little Lab-cross Jess has ti be waaked three times a day ,sumtimes,usually twice,and the last waak is sumtimes anywhere from midneet ti 3-0 am,as it was a few neets ago,when it was bitter caad and white wi frost ,wi a full moon,like dayleet!!

Oh,then Percy has ti be fed,his bath water changed,his cage cleaned,caged up at neet,and let oot in the morning,so Mr Fox doesn't have an early Xmas dinner.......Percy is my Tame disabled [permanently],Herring Gull...!!

One wing is at right angles when spread,the elbow joint being fused at birth,so he is grounded for life,only being able to teeter a  couple of feet from thi ground as he races across the garden ti chase Mr Cat,Mr Sparrowhawk,and any other gulls,crows,or large birds,that dare to try and penetrate his territory..!!

He leaves the small birds alone to feed,and walks around chasing after little black Jess's tail...!!!  [my Labrador cross bitch]

Watching these two in the garden is better than Coronation Street!...Jess walks around sniffing,as dogs dae,and Percy waaks aroond,either close behind,or in front,ti see if there is any food on thi go,ti beat Jess ti it!!!...nae kid!....he has been with us since birth,almost,from 2 years ago,and has

just gone through his second-year's moult,lukking a smart young kid,so we must be lukking after him well.......whey,he gets better lukked after,and taaked ti,than sum bairns dae...!!!

Constantly buying cheap cans of dog food,tins  of sardines occasionally,and fish scraps from a local fishmonger,for which we remain very indebted,for thier kindness!!

 A tame gull is totally different to the flocks at the harbour's or the waste tips.

Percy won't get into his bath,unless it is freshly filled with clean water,then he jumps in before you get the hosepipe out!!..[preens himself for hours on end,after bathing..]

He also won't eat bread on it's own,unless there is a filling,or even just margarine on it,nae kid!!...this is the best fed bird in the land!!

..........but an aad pitman like me wud say he's ..."Paaky"..!

....Er....aav just lukked back ti check me spelling..........it luks like a strayed a little bit off thi rails....!

Wheor waas aa......?..!!

Teeny,a lived at Storey's Buildings,Choppington Station,on the bank,near ti the Willow Bridge,from aboot a year aad,till a was aboot three-and-a - half years aad,that was in 1947-8-ish.

One of me Mutha's neighbour's was living next door,and the Man of thi hoose was in the Paratroops during thi  War..[WW2]

His name was Jimmy Kidd..[not sure aboot the spelling of his surname...]

Any relation ti ye,dae yi knaa?

My dad (Stan) had a cousin, Jimmy who lived at Scotland Gate (when I was 10-14 yard old), 3 or 4 times a year my dad and Jimmy would have a Saturday night out and then come back to our house at The Oval for supper. Sometimes they were coherent, mostly not, which usually ruined Match of the Day for me and my brother. However, I'm not sure if Jimmy was a para, could have been?

Edited December 11, 201411 yr by Ovalteeny

Would be a helluva co-incidence to have two Jimmy Kidds living in the same place at thi syem time dae yi not think.?

Aa wud luv ti hae met him in later life ti gaan back ti thi aad days!!,find oot mair aboot thi folks who lived there when a was young!

Since I last replied I have had some further thoughts jogging my old memory. I'm fairly sure that Uncle Jimmy was also in the butchering business and worked for Harry Ternent at Guide Post. I'm not 100% sure and as he was a batchelor, I don't think there will be any remaining relatives to confirm one way or the other.