Dr Pit Welfare Park

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Photo of a group of lads - 1951 - in Dr Pit Welfare Park. The ride in the top left corner we called the 'Lollipop' or 'Witches Tit'.

Do you recognise any of this lot @HIGH PIT WILMA ?

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Alan! Sorry a canna be any help ti ye, but Len Thompson, Aras Haley, a wud agree with.. a wonder if Arras can mind he's thick leather shorts he wore as a wee bairn. We called them Dutch pants, cos we saw them in the movies as kids. Mind, a dinna recognise the park! A knaa its a typo where ye say "Top left"... where it's top right, but the High flyer was extreme right, Swings on the left, teapot lid in the middle, Roondie.. (in the picture), to the right of the teapot lid, and the Low flyer in front of the Roondie, as ye looked down from the path from Hollymount Square, owa the playing field. Summik doesn't luk  reet in the pic but maybe it's just the way it was shot. Len Thompson was in my class from starting school ti me leaving and a think he stayed on ti sit he's GCE. Smashing lad was Len! No4 reminds me of the Woodie twins.. maybe not!.. its the specs....... Alan Sanderson. correct.. he was an Apprentice Sparky or Fitter at the Choppington High Pit when I worked there.

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

 

12 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

 a wonder if Arras can mind he's thick leather shorts he wore as a wee bairn. We called them Dutch pants, cos we saw them in the movies as kids.

Foxy has commented on Facebook - '..... Arras will be doon here next week....' so we should get the names filled in and might even find out if he is still wearing leather.

Latest update of the names is :- 

 

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

A must be gaan senile!..a realised after posting me above comment that it wasn't Alan Sanderson who worked at the High Pit,it was a lad called Jacky Watson!!...a knew them both,Alan Sanderson was a quiet lad,they both went to the Whitley School..as did a lot of the "Parky Gang"..as we called them.

With prompting,I can see Ronnie  Helmsley No 10,noo,he sat directly behind me and Alan Wilkinson..third desk from the front!

Same with No 3..Brian Parmley,his nickname was "Branchy",and his younger Brother Gordon,who was also in my class,[both great characters!],was nicknamed "Twiggy"..this was because Brian was a big strong lad,and Gordon was a very thin lad...totally opposite to his bigger Brother!...this was in the mid-1950's..

Funny hoo ye canna place a face till ye get a prompt!..a knew most of these lads as we grew up together,but canna recognise some of them on this pic..like Geordie Webster...knew naebody better..Micky Bradley..Jackie Hope was in my older Sister's class...

One other thing came to me after I posted the above comment aboot the park....I distinctly remember going through the park to school at the Whitley,one day,[aged aboot 10 years..1954-ish],and the Cooncil men were repairing all the broken swings,which were absoloutely vandalised for a lang time,and the whole park was in disrepair.

The Roondi had broken bars on it..sticking oot like spears,for a lang time..naebody got hurt,but it was the big lads who did the damage...deliberately crashing the Roondie against the centre pole..bending the bars till they broke.

Same with the High flyer..took it up weel past where it was supposed ti gaan...

So anywheh,as the days went by,aal the rides were repaired or renewed,and then painted a bonny Silver..that sticks in my mind..a can smell the paint yit!!

When they re-opened the park,the kids queued up for a go on the swings and things...but it didn't tek lang for the big lads ti come back and spoil things again..they used ti swing the seats so hard that they literally wrapped the swing chains roond and roond till they were suspended aboot six feet in the air,so we little kids cudn't reach them doon.We had ti wait till thi Parky [park-keeper],came and put them back in order.

We used ti say that the Parky was mair bothered aboot thi Bowling green,and tennis courts and gardens,than he was aboot the kids park!...cos they were kept absoloutely immaculate..aa can mind even in later years ,waaking through and seeing hoo luvly he kept the place for the adults!!

Mebbe they moved things aroond in the park while daeing the repair -work,and mebbe that's hoo a canna get me heed aroond the park background in thi pic...also it's thi big shelter behind thi Roondie,aav got no recollection of that shelter being there when a grew up playing there,cos even when aal us kids left school,and the majority of us went doon thi pits at 15 yrs aad,we used to congregate owa the park at neet time,in the summer,after the little we-ens were away ti bed,and compare stories aboot the different pits we were in,and what operations we were learning...such as timber-leading,transport lads,like me,pipe-fitter appprentices,welder apprentices as weel as the fitting and sparky trades..and we used ti just sit on the Roondie seats or Low-flyer seats or whatever..cos there was nae seats ti sit on properly...otherwise if the shelter had been there...whey it wudda med sense ti sit in there!

Mind , aam just reminiscing here,trying me best ti get things reet,in me heed!,not saying that thi shelter wasn't there aal thi time,just that aa canna mind of it...nor thi big trees in the background,aam sure yi cud see owa ti Roslin Avenue hooses from the where this pic was taken..lukkin owa the big playing field.

Can sumbody put me reet ,aam taaking aboot thi park from aboot 1954-9 ..ish..[this pic was 1951..was there a big clean-oot aroond that time?]

[Joe McNally]

I used to live at 11 Gladstone Terrace in the 50's before moving to Australia in 1960. I remember the shed and roundabout in the background. The "Parky" was Mr Elliott and lived at no.10. He was indeed more interested in his bowling green and gardens than the playground . Still, we had some great times there.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

A bit late as usual,  for me,Joe,but many thnks for keeping me reet!

[wdmytrenko]

On 08/11/2018 at 23:57, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

Photo of a group of lads - 1951 - in Dr Pit Welfare Park. The ride in the top left corner we called the 'Lollipop' or 'Witches Tit'.

Do you recognise any of this lot @HIGH PIT WILMA ?

#16 is peter dmytrenko, #17 is meself - walter dmytrenko. #18 is my old pal dennis smith.  we lived at hirst terrace & dennis was across the lane at gladstone terrace.  his family had a garden looking onto the park and at nightfall we would hear the ratatat tat of the parky dragging a stick across the fences as he walked the perimeter of the park.  a signal for us kids to be out of the park.  . . . best to all . . . w

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

10 hours ago, wdmytrenko said:

#16 is peter dmytrenko, #17 is meself - walter dmytrenko. #18 is my old pal dennis smith.  we lived at hirst terrace & dennis was across the lane at gladstone terrace.  his family had a garden looking onto the park and at nightfall we would hear the ratatat tat of the parky dragging a stick across the fences as he walked the perimeter of the park.  a signal for us kids to be out of the park.  . . . best to all . . . w

@wdmytrenko - this is an updated photo (also posted above). We have number 18 as your old pal Dennis Smith but numbers 16 and 17 were named by a member, Claire Ellis, of the Bygone Bedlington Facebook group who posted this comment :- 

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Claire Ellis

My dad says he is 17- Ted Ellis, and his brother Jim Ellis is 16

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If you confirm numbers 16 & 17 are you and your brother I will update the names

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@wdmytrenko - names updated

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

On the Facebook group - Bygone Bedlington - Ron Jones commented -  no 10 is my uncle Ronnie Hemsley

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Paul Cochrane, Bygone Bedlington Facebook group, thinks No 5 looks like his uncle - 'Billy Cochrane ?' added to photo.