Bates Colliery - Blyth

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@HIGH PIT WILMA - a new member on the Facebook group - Bedlington remembered - has posted this comment :-

 

I don't know where the nursing home is but I have asked her a few questions and pointed her to a couple of possible places where she might get some info and memorabilia. I have not passed on any info about your photos of Bates but if she was after some photos would it be ok to pass on some of yours? If that was ok I would add some of the text that you have written to each photo.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@HIGH PIT WILMA - Can't remember which group I found the newspaper cutting on or who gave the names but Malcolm Neslund, on the Facebook group Friends of Bates Colliery, has commented that the names someone had given me and I had added = No 3 TED REDFORD & No 5 BILLY SMITH are wrong and should be No 3 TOM WILKINSON & No 5 PHIL CLARK.

Names updated :-

 

 

[Canny lass]

Thanks, Vic, Pete and Alan! Those kind words mean a lot.

Really, things are going remarkably well, all things considered. It's just that it seems to drag on and on with never ending rounds of hospitals and health centres but we're getting there slowly. Of course we have our down days but we have plenty of 'up days' as well and these are becoming more frequent now.

Hope things are getting better for you and your wife Vic. This ageing thing is a beggar, the curse of the elderly.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Canny lass

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Alan,I knew aal these lads to taak ti,but not their names,except No 2 Gordon Hickson..[definately!],and No 5,who I took for a fella caaled Billy Smith.

Noo a wud gaan for the name ye have gotten from Malcom,cos he might have worked with him as a marra,I had Gordon Hickson on my Book,when I was  a Deputy,and I paid his wages ,virtually,every day for about two years.Now the lad who a thought was Billy Smith,must be the double of Billy,cos what's making me think twice about this,is the Specs!...Billy didn't wear specs when he was on my books,and maybe aad age is catching up wi me memory!

Ye knaa wat it's like when ya absoloutely sure,then doubt creeps in.....

Cheers Alan!

Bill.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Alan,as regards Heather needing Mining Memorabilia,I wouldn't mind any of my pics being used that doesn't have any body appearing in any of them,cos some of those Marra's are now Deceased,and others I haven't seen for years,to gain permission,but on the other hand,they are on here for the world to see!

I would be happier if I knew which Home it was ,and especially if I thought it was Holmside,at Bedlington Station...cos a  Heather,and her Mother used to be in Charge of that home when my Dear old Mother-in-law was residing there, a few years ago.

The wee picture of Heather on her post,looks like the Heather I am talking about....cud be a million miles wrang mind!

Is there any way ye cud find out for me Alan?

Cheers!

Bill.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

13 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

Alan,as regards Heather needing Mining Memorabilia,I wouldn't mind any of my pics being used that doesn't have any body appearing in any of them,cos some of those Marra's are now Deceased,and others I haven't seen for years,to gain permission,but on the other hand,they are on here for the world to see!

I would be happier if I knew which Home it was ,and especially if I thought it was Holmside,at Bedlington Station...cos a  Heather,and her Mother used to be in Charge of that home when my Dear old Mother-in-law was residing there, a few years ago.

The wee picture of Heather on her post,looks like the Heather I am talking about....cud be a million miles wrang mind!

Is there any way ye cud find out for me Alan?

Cheers!

Bill.

HPW - I have posted your comment to Heather and will let you know what she replies.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Posted on the Facebook group - Past Times History - by John Dawson. 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@HIGH PIT WILMA - now these two are the Miners Picnic, c1956, and the guy in the front of the first photo, with the girls either side of him, wearing the Davey Crocket gear is an ex Dr Pit, then Bates worker. I believe for the picnic in the 60's this guy would always be seen dancing, with rubbery legs, in front of one of the bands. He used to Live in Gordon Terrace in the 1950's then moved to Melrose Terrace in the 60's.  

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Alan,firstly,the Bates pic,No 7 is Derek Burt,a smashing really weel-liked lad,who went on deputy work and was posted back onto the face in charge of his own Marra's!!...Unconventional for that to happen,they usually sent new deputies to a different face. Derek used to shout and bawl on at the men ti keep the coal coming ...then play football with them all on a Sunday...highly unconventional,he's Marra's used ti say,jokingly,that he was "Crackers"..!!

No 1 looks very much like Davy Wood who took part in the short documentary called" Report from the Northern Coalface",also featuring Alan Dixon,[one of our contributors in the past],and John Douds,who built a model of a pit in intricate detail,which also features in that documentary,and which was on display  at the Woodhorn Museum a year or two ago. It's a brilliant well-made Pro. film Doc, and if ye haven't seen it Alan,it is really worth watching.

It was made by "Crinkle-cut Productions", and it's advertised on the web.

Noo! Thi 1956 pics doon Bedlington main street,and doon Bedlington Bank ,were taken when aa was only twelve years aad.

Aa lived just aboot 30 yards doon the street and in ti Hollymount Square on the left turn in, doon Bell's Place.

A divvent knaa anybody on thi pics,Alan,but a dae clearly remember an older fella,who used to dance side to side doon the road aal the way from the top-end doon ti thi Field,drunk as a newt,and  there is a bit of footage of him on this gallery in one of the short cine films on one of the picnic days. But that fella did that every year!,and he was a lot older,and not as tall,as this lad,in these pics.

A can only remember the one fella daeing that,Alan,a cud nivvor mind of anybody else daeing it..he was so funny,we kids used ti watch ti see where he was going to drop onto the road!!

 Great ti see thi aad Gas lamp on the Bank..nivvor seen that since aa was a wee skittering young ched!!

If ye look closely,ye can see a hundred years..[it seemed!], worth of Graffiti on the big wall on the bank,there used ti be some great bits of artwork,only lads in the old days didn't hae spray cans of paint..not even chalk...it was aal done wi a bit o stone,or a bit of red hoose brick!

...AND!...it wasn't caaled "Graffiti"...it was just "Aal thi writin' on thi waal doon thi bank"...ti local folk....and thi Cooncil weren't bothered aboot it...they didn't mek any effort ti clean it off..the weather gradually did a lot of the clean-up.

After the Wartime rations ceased,and import restrictions were relaxed, My Mother came in one day from Hemsteads,with a few bananas..the first time we had ever seen one,apart from in Bob Hope films at thi top-end pictures!...they were huge things,and as I grew up and started the pits in 1959,me Mutha used ti put 14 sammidges up for me bait,wi one banana!..YE try putting SIX sammidges up wi one Banana noo..!..aa dae ivry day for me midday bait at yem...and these wee banana's are an insult!

Then another day,me eldest Sister,aged aboot 16 yrs,in the mid '50s,came in wi a Pomegranite..the name alone freaked me oot,when a was aboot ten,and it seemed weird to me that we aal sat aroond wi sewing pins,picking sweet seeds oot o this queer-lukkin' fruit!

Aam digressing again Alan,but pics like this bring back floods of happy memories of me yem toon,and that bank was the gateway ti wor childhood living!..

Cheers Alan!

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Another memory was jogged ,on the right hand side,at thi top of the bank,them hooses have a walkway  built -up so each hoose has a pavement ootside their door.

Whey,cos thi bank gaans away doon-owa,and the path is horizontal,a waal is formed,getting higher as yi come doon the bank.

Whey, one day,when a was a wee bairn,me aulder Brother,[by exactly three years,born on the syem day!!],was poking aroond in  thi holes in thi waal,cos Starlings used ti nest in the holes every year.[in the days when we used ti gaan bird-nesting for eggs.]

He got excited this day when a Farthing came oot thi hole alang wi bits o' muck at the end of his stick that he was using as a poker.

Whey Farthings were still legal currency,so he kept on poking at thi hole wi he's black-handled Jack-knife.[ye knaa..thi one wi a blade at one side,and a steel slightly curved pointed "progger",at the other side...very common sight in kids' pockets, in them days!]

After a while,poking thi lime mortar oot wi thi progger,and using his stick ti rake thi hole oot,he got he's hand inside,and pulled dozens of Farthings,just them,nae other coin denominations,oot thi hole!...Buried Treasure!!

We got all  excited and started imagining that there might be Gold and Silver treasure in other parts of the wall,so we started howking oot thi lime where could,but we only ever found old Starlings' nests!!

NOO! ..there's nae reason not ti think that there COULD be  a cache of coins or jewellery inside the wall,cos we never telt anybody,but there MUST have been a reason for somebody,mebbe a hundred years before,ti stash a whack of Farthings inside a hole in that wall,in the days when that amount would have been a lot of money to a poor peasant,in the days before the  pits came alang!...mebbe the Bailiffs were coming ti tek aal he's belongings and ti kick him oot...like the Coal-owner's heavies did ti My Mother in 1944,when she was in Hospital having me.

I was maybe seven or eight yrs old,at thi time of the treasure trove,probably 1952-ish..I wonder if you could find out when the present houses were built Alan?,and whether them hooses are the original buildings on that plot...mebbe there were ancient primitive buildings standing there before the present ones,even though they are very old.

Cheers!

Bill.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

11 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

Noo! Thi 1956 pics doon Bedlington main street,and doon Bedlington Bank ,were taken when aa was only twelve years aad.

A divvent knaa anybody on thi pics,Alan,but a dae clearly remember an older fella,who used to dance side to side doon the road aal the way from the top-end doon ti thi Field,drunk as a newt,and  there is a bit of footage of him on this gallery in one of the short cine films on one of the picnic days. But that fella did that every year!,and he was a lot older,and not as tall,as this lad,in these pics.

A can only remember the one fella daeing that,Alan,a cud nivvor mind of anybody else daeing it..he was so funny,we kids used ti watch ti see where he was going to drop onto the road!!

 

Different dancing fella to the one in the Gallery Bill, this one also got drunk and danced in front of a band all the way doon to Atley Park but he must of had a year off when he dressed up as Davey Crocket. 

He is Elliot Hall

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

11 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

I was maybe seven or eight yrs old,at thi time of the treasure trove,probably 1952-ish..I wonder if you could find out when the present houses were built Alan?,and whether them hooses are the original buildings on that plot...mebbe there were ancient primitive buildings standing there before the present ones,even though they are very old.

 

Bill - I have seen something posted about the houses but can't remember where - I'll will do some searching and see if i can find it but it might not give the full history 

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Thanks Alan, it's intriguing me noo aav thowt aboot it! 

[gary crozier]

On 24/03/2019 at 21:14, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

Another one from Steven Tosney @HIGH PIT WILMA . He has named sievenbut stuck on  No 1 & No 4.

no1 is gus joice

 

[gary crozier]

1 minute ago, gary crozier said:

 

 

1 minute ago, gary crozier said:

 

i worked in 52s face buttons in 1986 thats me no3

[gary crozier]

On 24/03/2019 at 21:14, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

Another one from Steven Tosney @HIGH PIT WILMA . He has named sievenbut stuck on  No 1 & No 4.

no1 is gus joice and no3 is me gary crozier i worked on 52s face buttons with these lads in 1986

[gary crozier]

On 08/11/2019 at 20:42, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

Posted on the Facebook group - Past Times History - by John Dawson. 

no1is derek turner n02 is gary crozier no3 is bobby jones no4 is les joyce no5 is darin fawcett no7 is derek burt no 9 is eddie taylor

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

On 30/11/2019 at 10:43, gary crozier said:

 

@gary crozier - added your list of names to the photo and added the updated photo to the Facebook groups - Past Times History & Friends of Bates Colliery  

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

On 29/11/2019 at 21:27, gary crozier said:

no1 is gus joice and no3 is me gary crozier i worked on 52s face buttons with these lads in 1986

@gary crozier - updated the names 

[Leah]

Hi All, 

I'm trying to trace a bit about my grandad who worked at Bates from when he was a 'young lad' as he used to say to it's closure. 

He sadly passed away in 2017 and as we are no longer in possession of his lamp (long story) we know very little about his role etc. I keep hoping to see him in some of the photo's shared around on the local groups but so far no luck! 

His name was John Bennett and I know he may have been a deputy at some time but know very little else! I came across this topic and wondered if anyone has any memory of him or maybe worked with him at some point? 

It would mean a lot to my family if I can do a bit of digging, as you can imagine we miss him very much! 

Any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Leah Southern

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

On 06/12/2019 at 15:33, Leah said:

Hi All, 

I'm trying to trace a bit about my grandad who worked at Bates from when he was a 'young lad' as he used to say to it's closure. 

He sadly passed away in 2017 and as we are no longer in possession of his lamp (long story) we know very little about his role etc. I keep hoping to see him in some of the photo's shared around on the local groups but so far no luck! 

His name was John Bennett and I know he may have been a deputy at some time but know very little else! I came across this topic and wondered if anyone has any memory of him or maybe worked with him at some point? 

It would mean a lot to my family if I can do a bit of digging, as you can imagine we miss him very much! 

Any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Leah Southern

@Leah - you may have noticed many posts about bates Colliery from @HIGH PIT WILMA. Normally Highpit Wilma is on ths group weekly but I see he hasn't visited since the 24th on November but I am sure when he does, and if he knows your granda he will update you.

There is a Facebook group - Friends Of Bates Colliery - where there are a few ex Bates Colliery workers that occasionally add photos and we share many photos between the two groups. The facebook group is a 'Closed' group so you would have to join if you wanted to browse through the photos on that group. This is a link to that group :- https://www.facebook.com/groups/batescolliery/  

There is also a Bates Colliery Photo Album within the Gallery on this group. The album is under Galley>Places Gallery>Bates Pit by High Pit Wilma - this is a link to the album :-  

 

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Alan, gaan through a rough patch, please nivvor think that aav deserted!... (mebbe AWOL!!.. heh heh!) Noo! When a was a pit Deputy, a was in charge of John Bennett, and Gordon,and Dicky, his two Brothers. We all worked doon the Three Quarter seam.. among seawaata n clarts and bad roof stone.. as time went by, after seven years as a Deputy/Overman, I went back into the NUM, as a Composite man, and funnily enough, both John and Gordon WENT onto Deputy work.. John eventually became an Overman, the man who was in overall charge of the face, or the whole seam, but only responsible for Coal Production. The Deputy was solely responsible for the Safety, Health, and Welfare of the men under his charge, and directly responsible to Her Majesty's Government Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries. Not even the Manager had that responsibilty.. no-one except the Deputy..! Anyway, Gordon was our Deputy when I took these pit photos, he was down in another part of the seam, or I would have had him on the pics as well.. he was a great guy.. gud worker.. nice natured.. helped us all thi time... lost a lot of sweat every day... he used to say, it was thi beer coming oot of him! I haven't seen any of them for years. 

[Leah]

On 07/12/2019 at 20:52, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

Hi Alan, gaan through a rough patch, please nivvor think that aav deserted!... (mebbe AWOL!!.. heh heh!) Noo! When a was a pit Deputy, a was in charge of John Bennett, and Gordon,and Dicky, his two Brothers. We all worked doon the Three Quarter seam.. among seawaata n clarts and bad roof stone.. as time went by, after seven years as a Deputy/Overman, I went back into the NUM, as a Composite man, and funnily enough, both John and Gordon WENT onto Deputy work.. John eventually became an Overman, the man who was in overall charge of the face, or the whole seam, but only responsible for Coal Production. The Deputy was solely responsible for the Safety, Health, and Welfare of the men under his charge, and directly responsible to Her Majesty's Government Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries. Not even the Manager had that responsibilty.. no-one except the Deputy..! Anyway, Gordon was our Deputy when I took these pit photos, he was down in another part of the seam, or I would have had him on the pics as well.. he was a great guy.. gud worker.. nice natured.. helped us all thi time... lost a lot of sweat every day... he used to say, it was thi beer coming oot of him! I haven't seen any of them for years. 

Thank you so much for both of your replies! 

So great to hear a bit more about what my granda (John) got up to as a miner, like I said in the original post he sadly passed away in 2017 and there's only my uncle Gordon left now as my uncle Dixon has passed on as well. As John died suddenly I really regret not having the chance to ask him more about his job as I think the mines and mining communities are such an interesting part of local history. 

A shame Gordon isn't in any of the photo's either, maybe one day him and my granda will make an appearance! 

Much appreciated for the information! The next time I see Gordon I'll let him know you were asking after him  

[Leah]

On 07/12/2019 at 19:31, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

@Leah - you may have noticed many posts about bates Colliery from @HIGH PIT WILMA. Normally Highpit Wilma is on ths group weekly but I see he hasn't visited since the 24th on November but I am sure when he does, and if he knows your granda he will update you.

There is a Facebook group - Friends Of Bates Colliery - where there are a few ex Bates Colliery workers that occasionally add photos and we share many photos between the two groups. The facebook group is a 'Closed' group so you would have to join if you wanted to browse through the photos on that group. This is a link to that group :- https://www.facebook.com/groups/batescolliery/  

There is also a Bates Colliery Photo Album within the Gallery on this group. The album is under Galley>Places Gallery>Bates Pit by High Pit Wilma - this is a link to the album :-  

 

 

Thank you for the information Alan! 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Ex Bates deputy, George Henderson, Judo 3rd Dan and NUFC fan died yesterday morning aged 82. The NUFC photo is from 2017. I think the judo photo is late 60's early 70's and George is the one being thrown.