Hi everyone, 

 

New here and have lost my accent - born in Morpeth and now living in Dorset where my late father retired.

 

His name was LEMBIT ROHUMAA  and he died in 2009 at the age of 83, a good age for an ex-miner!

 

I'm really interested just for my own sake to find out if anyone knew him when he was a miner - I know he was a miner from about 1948 to middle of the sixties at Ashington and Bedlington. He said how kind and friendly people were to him, he was grateful to be alive and loved the humour and Newcastle Brown etc!  and they were some of the happiest memories even though the work must have been tough.....

 

A few clues:  he came here from Estonia after being in a displaced person's camp after the war and was in a terrible state when he arrived. He was 6ft 2, and big and strong probably with a thick accent, probably a bit quiet,  and might have been know as Len (since the name is a mouthful!)

 

And he was 'adopted' by a local family who took him in as lodger, fed him and who subsequently became part of an extended geordie family - Their good humour and kindness kept him alive and I will be eternally in their debt.  Such great people up there!!!

 

I'm just here to find out if anyone knew him, has any remembrances of him or any info on what he did in the mines as I am very interested in that time and history  (wished I'd asked more about it) - and have started reading copies of Creeful of Coals. 

 

Liisa Rohumaa

 

Welcome to the Bedlington forum Liisa, sorry I can't help and good luck in your search.

Good Luck with your search.

Hi Liisa!

            The only person I knew,down the coalmines,where I worked,with a description and nickname anywhere near that which you have described ,was a big STRONG! Polish [i always thought] fella with the nickname of "Limpet" ....and everybody he worked with pronounced his surname as "Llondundra"

....probably through lack of ability to pronounce his name correctly!

He was so strong and a massive build,that he could do some jobs which involved a lot of pure muscle,which otherwise would take two or three men to do the same work.

I once asked the Overman in charge,why they called him "Limpet",when I was just a young 17 year old transport lad , handling heavy machinery all day as my job.

Joe Barrat,the Overman replied to me,"'cos when he gets a hold of you,he doesn't let go...so don't cross him!!"

He was a very quiet fella,and kept himself to himself,but a hell of a good worker.

It seems a massive co-incidence for this fella to fit your Dad's description,and not BE him.

I worked with a canny few Polish,or Eukranian miner's,all who were really lovely natured blokes,and respected for their hardworking qualities,and the miners all had nicknames for them!!

They never took any offence with this,as everybody had a daft[sometimes!]nickname.....look at mine...."Wilma"..!!

One Polish fella was called "Gillawhisky" ["Gill of whisky"!],for "Gillazensky"!

It was at Choppington B colliery where "Limpet " worked,when I knew him,but he would have moved around the pits,as I did, due to pit closures in the mid 1960's-70's.

Now I am nearly 71,so that makes the age difference between us just about right,as he would have been probably in his thirties at the time,around 1961-66,when Choppington B Pit ["The  High Pit"...] closed.[although everybody over 17 yrs of age,  were old men....at the time!!,,life's funny like that isn't it!!

I never met another fella with his build,strength,quiet nature,and Name,remotely similar to your Dad's so I hope I have been of Some help to you!

A fellow contributor to this site,called "The Lone Ranger",also worked at the High Pit,and knew Limpet,so I hope he comes across this thread,as he knew him long before me.

When I knew him,he was a coal-filler,in the days before mechanisation.

The coalface was usually about 150 yards long,some coal seams were only two feet and two inches high,[occasionally down to eighteen inches high.]

Roof-water came in everywhere,and there was also a lot of ground-water which seeped into the seam from the strata below,which we referred to as "Bottom-waata"!!

The roof used to break up continually,and accidents were an everyday occurrence,most of which meant rubbing coal dust over an open wound to stop the bleeding,cos you couldn't squeal for an elastoplast when you are 70 yards up a low coalface working in atrocious conditions,you got cut and scraped to ribbons some days,and just carried working,sometimes after nearly being buried in falls of roof stone.

You never told your Wife or Family of the dangers you faced,so as not to worry them,even though they knew of other miner's families who had suffered tragic losses.

None of this is romantic reminiscing....it's ingrained into every miner's brains from starting down the mines from school at 15 years of age,in my case..straight from my school desk.

There were usually 12-14 coalfillers in a team,and they arranged the splitting-up of the length of the face to suit themselves,with the end stretches

referred to as "The Neuks"..["Nooks"],which had a dead-end,with no conveyor belt in the furthest reaches,and which meant the coal had to be double-casted back,before it could be filled onto the rubber conveyor belt. [these "neuk" areas were there to allow the coal-cutter to be turned around,to start cutting the face in the opposite direction to which it had just been.]

I sometimes meet ex-miners who say they would go back down the pit tomorrow if they could....and I smile......thinking......"you wouldn't if you had to go down the High Pit ....mate"!![....I always say...any daft bugga can talk!!!]

Your Dad worked in these conditions,and wouldn't mention owt about it to your Mam....methinks!!

Sorry you lost your Dad Liisa,hope I have given you a bit of an idea what he did...what we all did,in terrible conditions.

Regards,

Bill.

P.S. Please feel free to ask me anything you want regarding mineworking and how we all got on in a hostile environment.

Wilma - that last post #5 was very evocative ... it really did bring the underground scene to life.

Sym,thanks for your kind comments,this was the way it was right up to the closure of the industry in the 1980-90's as we knew it.

Even in the big, modern, fully mechanised pits like Bates, and Ellington,in Northumberland,the dangers we faced were just the same as in the old Coal-owner days before the war.

There was a lot of strata above your head,and in Bates and Ellington's case,a LOT of seawater above your head also!!

Bates was 12 miles out under the North Sea!...a long way to run home if you were easily scared when the roof started to "Lay-on"!

"Laying-on" was a term used in mining,to describe the effect that the movement of the strata had,as it broke away during the extraction of the coal.

I have been in 14feet wide -by- ten feet high arched girdered roadways,and watched as the roof pressure "Laying -on",made the whole roadway

sway from side to side crazily,as the girders bent and twisted under tremendous un-calculable weight and stresses,with roof stones falling between the girders,all along the length of the road.

This would go on for maybe a half an hour,or a few hours even,with the sound of thunderous evil crunching and creaking noises which would be better heard in some horror movie.

When the roadway settled,it was eerily calm and quiet,and this was when the skilled miner had to be fully aware of any relapse...and not fall into a false sense of security.

You never trusted "good stone"!

The coal faces where Liisa's Dad,and myself,[as time went by,and I became a face-worker],really were inhuman places for a man to work,in the old days,but just like our lads out fighting in the desert heat,you got used to it,and accepted that no-one else was going to pay your rent for you,or put bread on your table,so you got on with it.

In 1987 I was re-trained as a Cabinet-maker,and made very expensive hand-made furniture,[hand-cut dovetailed drawers etc..],working with exotic timbers.

For the first time in my life,I was given thanks personally from satisfied customers who were delighted with their new furniture!!

........No-one ever came and thanked me for risking my life every day,so they could have nice warm fires in their houses....!!

If you go to Google ,and type in.."High Pit Wima's Photostream" it will take you to "Flickr",where my photo's of Bates Colliery,underground,and on the surface,will help to give you an idea of what the roadways were like,and the conditions.

Liisa,I hope you have toured the Bedlington Community site,and enjoyed all the interesting subjects and comments,by people like myself and Sym,"the wise old Owl!"!

I remember the Father-in-law (Bill Dagless) telling us about when you sat doon with yer bait box you could hear the rooff dribling, he said the mine was talking to you, but when it stops you get out, fast! it was often up slope and not high enough to stand so you ran on all fours!

Welcome to the Forum Lisa, Hope you enjoy it here.

Wilma & Vic ... my Mum used to talk about the experiences of her Dad down the pit (Sherburn, Co.Durham).  I've posted before about him and his exploits during WW1 when he was in the Northumberland Hussars but when he was demobbed he became a miner for the rest of his working life.  During WW2 he attempted to join the army again to fight the Hun but was knocked back as being too old (and being in a 'reserved occupation') so had to be satisfied with the Home Guard.  Anyway, at the height of WW2 he was working double shifts (Government orders to increase production for the war effort) when he was caught under a roof fall and pinned by the leg by a massive stone (it broke his leg).  The first my Grandma knew about it was a knock on the door in the middle of the night and an ambulance parked in the street.  They brought him in and left him in her care ... his leg had been plastered at the pit (no Xrays!!);  the local Doctor came to the house the following day to check-up on him and my Grandma had to pay him 2/6p* as this was before NHS free health care.  Oh, and while he was off his pay was reduced by half.  When his leg got better he went back to work and his Home Guard duties;  he died in 1950 and was one of the first miners to be officially diagnosed with 'black lung' (pneumoconiosis) by the new NCB medics and my Grandma was one of the first widows to get proper compensation.  During the roof fall episode he heard the wooden props creaking and splintering and that gave him enough warning to make his escape ... he would have been killed without that 'early warning'.  He told of lying on his side in 18" seams with water halfway up his chest hacking away at the coal - I don't know how long shifts were in those days.

 

*for our younger viewers that was two shillings and six pence

Wilma - I've just had a look through your interesting snaps on Photostream.  A couple of observations ... how untidy everthing seems to be with discarded tackle everywhere;  it must have added to the dangers especially if the only working lights you had were the lamps on your helmets.  Was using a flash on the camera not dangerous (causing an possible explosion)?

Heh heh Sym!

                      Didn't ye read AAL thi comments on ivry pic on me photostream?!

Thi same subject was raised by young Westdrie,on one of them.

But firstly,thanks for telling the story of your Granda,it was very interesting, and re-iterates what I just said about the skilled miner bewareing of a relapse when the roof "Lays-on",then settles....you think thats it,she's sleeping,then the timbers talk to you,first,creaking and groaning,[weird at first!],then the small bits of stone like dried peas,fall from cracks in the roof above your head,and  that makes you jump first then check out later,after the roof made crunching  noises,due to the movement between the strata layers,a split second before the roof falls and you would have been buried if you hadn't sprung like a cat on hot bricks..happened so many times,,it tuned your senses to the limit.

There were no doctor's or ambulances down there!,in fact there wasn't anything except coal,stone,water,mice and midges,[the latter made worse by the abscence of toilets and wash-basins!]...[we won't go down that road will we?].

"Two Shillings and Sixpence"...= 12 1/2 Pence in modern money!

Don't start me off about the Coal-owner days , Sym,i'll go off on a rant!!!

On a better note,the NCB provided training and authorisation of Mine Deputies,[due to the Mines and Quarries act 1954],to allow them to administer Morphia [if requested by an injured miner].

The Deputy was the only person in any employment,other than a qualified Doctor,who,by the nature of his working conditions and responsibilties,was authorised to do this.[The colliery Manager wasn't even authorised to this extent...no-one.....except the Deputy.]

He had to show an examining Doctor,that he was trained,and understood the procedure,and physical and legal implications of administering a controlled drug,and when qualified,carried a "Morphia safe" key.

The Morphia Safes were placed at strategic points in the mine,and were small steel boxes,with a lockable lid,and containing the Phial of Morphia,as well as a record book,which the Deputy had to sign.

If a Deputy administered Morphia to an injured miner,he had,by law,to accompany that injured person to the surface,and hand him over to the medical profession.as well as tagging the person's wrist with the drug details,time administered,date,name,etc.

The safes were bricked in to a solid strata site,with no possibility of strata movement affecting the safe.

Your Granda would have had the benefit of this drug to ease his suffering,had it been available then,but men were dispensible to a greedy set of employers who would have had a man jailed if his pit Pony was killed,cos ponies costed money ....Miners came free.....no Wilma....don't.....

Edited April 26, 201511 yr by HIGH PIT WILMA

Vic,

     Every night,at around nine o' clock,we used to hear,and feel, a solid thump,go through the floor of our house,at Hollymount Square,and my Father used to say,"That's the caunch fired doon again"!!

The Doctor-pit Drift wasn't far away,if you remember,and they were working the High - Main seam,probably,due to it's close proximity to "Bank"...[the surface...]

The nature of coal-getting,meant you worked shifts,around a cyclical pattern.one shift cut the coal face with a coalcutter,the next shift advanced the

face conveyor belt into the new track,and the stonemen,[the "Caunch-Men"],advanced the roadways by drilling and firing the ripping-lip,[the "Caunch"...

....pronounced ..."Cansh"],and putting arched girders in to support the roadway.

The last shift,were the coalfiller's,who with the aid of the shotfirer,fired and filled off the coal face,to start the cycle again,after timbering the entire length

of the face to support the roof.

The thump we used to hear,were the Caunchmen,firing the Caunch down.[probably old Billy,...your Dot's Dad,and his Marra's,Vic!!]

Back to you,Sym,sorry I digressed a little,this was in the beginning ,Liisa's thread,and I haven't forgotten!

 The camera I used was my trusty old Halina 35X [35mm film..].[...yes!....film!],with everything manual,including a steam-driven shutter,and crash-gears on the focus-ring.........!

The camera was a Xmas gift from my Wife..[then my new Girl-friend...in around 1962-or there-abouts!!],when I was about 18 years old.

I still use it yet sometimes,cos it takes pics where digital fails![in poor light for example]

My photos down Bates were taken on 1 x 25th of a second with the camera on a solid surface and anchored by girder-plates using a shutter-cable.....

....[anyone know what that is/was?!]

Lighting provided on some by the Machine headlights,on others by using Brief-time exposure setting....[anyone know what that is/was?!]

Shutter open and closed after a few seconds,manually,experimentally at first,then down to experience finally,where no decent lighting existed other than our caplamps,and using light-painting techniques.....[anyone know what that is/still is..!!]

Nothing on my old Halina breached any laws,Sym,no use of Aluminium,nothing that could be classed as a lighting contrivance,contrary to the Naked flame regulations contained within the Mines and Quarries Act 1954...not required to be classified as flameproof and no different to carrying a metal,[as they used to be]...Thermos Flask full of hot tea!!

Now,Sym,I was a miner for nearly thirty years,skilled in every aspect of mining ,with a list of Authorisations,[look them up!],I was a mine Deputy for seven years,with over a hundred men in my charge sometimes,contravening the Mines and Quarries act 1954,and having to travel more than the officially laid down times,by law,to visit and examine three coal faces,and take charge of three coalface teams of men..totally against every law in the M&Q Act 1954.

....all due to a severe shortage of Deputies at the time,in a newly developed coal seam,in around 1973-on,at Bates pit.

It was o.k. for Management to break the laws,but not for the miners!

Anyway,all I mentioned all that for was,to let you know that I wouldn't be so daft,as to risk the lives of my Marra's,never mind my own life,by doing anything that would jeapordise the safety of everyone.

As for the "tidyness" aspect...this was real mining,not like the promo shots you see in some magazines,or on Flickr,even!!

Did you like the one down "R20's Tailgate"?,where the roof has fallen away,and it's fifteen feet high,instead of three feet high!!

Now Government Inspectors crawled down that face regularly,and turned a blind eye to every law that was broken,to keep that,and other faces like it,in the same seam,working,risking men's lives totally un-necessary,instead of giving orders to close the face,until satisfactory roof supports were sent down the mine.......which didn't happen.

As the pit were closing,some of these Inspectors changed their jobs,and became clerical staff,for the NCB,and some became..."Strata-Control"

Engineers.......coming into our work-place,and trying to tell us miners how to control the roof..as it was breaking up due to bad geological problems.......

....sucking eggs comes to my mind....!

Fabulous stuff Wilma, keep it up!

Welcome to the site Liisa.

How long did you live in Morpeth?

Good luck with your research.

Thanks Merc!!...ye knaa me.....ye just need ti ask me thi time,and aal start giving ye thi low-doon hoo Big  Ben works,and wat time a went ti the toilet...etc!!

A think it's only right that thi truths about mining should be told.....too many times ye read in some books....the miners were well-paid....the ponies were well looked after....etc..!!

The ponies WERE well looked after...by the horse-keeper,after some of them had just worked 15 hour shifts,cos they were known to be "good workers".

It's a well known phrase..."the willing horse gets the most work".....when applied to men,this is true also.

So "lazy" horses were left in the stables and willing ones were kept inbye doing double-shifts sometimes.[without food or clean drinking water...they used to get a sammidge off some men,and had to drink filthy black water out of long deep swalley's where ground water seeped in and no pumps were installed to control it,at Choppington High Pit.]

Should I start a new thread..."Wilma's Mining Stories...?!!

"Should I start a new thread..."Wilma's Mining Stories...?!!"

 

Without a shadow of a doubt, yes! You have a natural way of telling things as they are, but in an engaging and truly fascinating manner! You've taught me so much in just a few words; I come from a mining family - one one side grandparents wise - but sadly my grandad died before he could tell me his stories. His name was Henstock, Ridley Henstock, known of course as Henna....

Great stuff HPW

I feel the thread dedicated to your mining stories is essential.

You have done so much to educate us all.

mercuryg my dad was a Henna too but from a first name

Eeh,yi bugga!

Thanks Maggie, and Merc!

It's nice to feel appreciated,after sitting for hours typing slowly,dog-tired,in the wee smaa hoors of thi mornin' !!

Aam a bit late of replying,having a rough time since our Easter Sunday car accident by a hit and run driver.

Canna say owt more cos it's a police matter....but a will when it's aal sorted oot!!

Cheers kind friends!

Wilma.

Sorry to hear about your accident HPW. Hopeyou are OK and that everything is sorted out soon.

I missed this post HPW.

So sorry to hear of the accident.

Like Canny Lass I hope it is all sorted soon.

Standards of driving are not good.

People take so many risks for no reason other than to be two minutes earlier to there destination.

A very  interesting, informative thread, well done High Pit Wilma, and thank you for your time, all those hours spent at  your keyboard, no easy task when you are tired - I know this only too well. Again, thank you!

Wilma, when the Peelers finally (if ever) get their man/woman, and they get charged, why not publish their names here?  Anyway, I hope everything is OK with you now.

Many thanks for all your very kind words,all of you,I can say we were all, [My Wife and Little Black Jess..who was in the back fast asleep..and myself..]..

....very lucky to be alive.

I thank Vauxhall's Traction Control System for helping me to bring a car which was up on it's side on two wheels,[after being rammed from the front nearside],to a safe halt....even though my nearside front end of the car was severely damaged,and the roadwheel was mangled backwards,with the suspension,driveshaft,and steering rods all destroyed mechanically.My car veered violently from one side grass verge to the other side verge and back again,throwing my Wife around like a crash test dummy,knocking her unconcious.

My car travelled 150 yards down the road from the site of the collision,braking only on two wheels,and me fighting like hell to keep it on the road.

I truly thought my Wife was dead.

My little Dog [Jess] was also thrown around,and is now very nervous,and spooks at the slightest of unexpected noises.

Thankfully  we are all recovering slowly,from whiplash and other expected joint pains all over.

My Wife is now very frightened to travel in the car,even though she has to,being disabled to start with.

One thing I can tell you is what I told a Police Officer who attended the scene,"If she was standing here noo,a wudn't think twice aboot ripping her heed off,for wat she's done to my Wife and little Dog.."[Referring to the other female driver who tried to drive her wrecked car away,and did so,for about four hundred yards,and when it seized up,got out and ran away on foot.]

The Police Helicopter,and Tracker dogs failed to find her in the surrounding fields!

Stolen car-cloned registration plates!

What chance have I got?!

If she sees this,by any chance....[and you never know weirdo's].......she needs to take note.........if I get to know who she is...I just need to be lucky once .......she needs to be lucky all the time!

Thanks again folks,let's get back to light entertainment eh?!!