Bedlington Colliery

[Grahame Appleby]

Hi,

Just found this site, and what a great thread. My grandfather (Ernest Appleby) lived in 18 Chapel Row (as of the 1921 census). His father (Henry) was killed on the 1st day of the Somme in 1916, and Ernest was living with his grandfather (Thomas Appleby - 1845-1923).

Grahame

[Canny lass]

Welcome to the forum, Grahame. It is a good thread and if you look around the site there are plenty more like it. Feel welcome and make yourself at home.

[Grahame Appleby]

1 hour ago, Canny lass said:

Welcome to the forum, Grahame. It is a good thread and if you look around the site there are plenty more like it. Feel welcome and make yourself at home.

Thank you Canny lass. I've gleaned quite a bit already from the forum. My grandfather died when I was three, so have had very little to go on. He moved to London in the early 1930s and after the war returned to Northumberland to work on the buses. His father is included on the war memorial in the hall; not sure about the war memorial itself.

Grahame

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

6 hours ago, Grahame Appleby said:

Hi,

Just found this site, and what a great thread. My grandfather (Ernest Appleby) lived in 18 Chapel Row (as of the 1921 census). His father (Henry) was killed on the 1st day of the Somme in 1916, and Ernest was living with his grandfather (Thomas Appleby - 1845-1923).

Grahame

@Grahame Appleby - I could have this wrong but the only Chapel Row that I can bring to mind at the moment is the one that used to be at Barrington. Would the Barrington Chapel Row be the one on the 1921 census? 

[Canny lass]

I think there must be a mistake here. The 1921 census hasn't been released yet. It's not due until Jan 2022.

Eggy, I think you're right about a Chapel Row being located in Barrington Colliery but it was located within the parish of Bedlington and for the purposes of the census (at least those of 1901 1nd 1911) it lay within the boundaries of the enumeration district of Bedlington (sub-district 9). Some enumerators were a bit careless when it came to filling in the town name at the top of every page so it can sometimes be confusing.

However, there was also a Chapel Row at the East end of the town, roughly in the vicinity of Bell's Place and Walker Terrace. I'll try and locate some paperwork on it tomorrow.

Grahame, I don't suppose you ever had any relatives at Netherton Colliery?

Edited January 7, 2022 by Canny lass

[Canny lass]

58 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

I think there must be a mistake here. The 1921 census hasn't been released yet. It's not due until Jan 2022.

Silly me! It is January 2022. I must take more water with my whisky. Just checked, it's not available on Ancestry yet.

[Grahame Appleby]

11 hours ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

@Grahame Appleby - I could have this wrong but the only Chapel Row that I can bring to mind at the moment is the one that used to be at Barrington. Would the Barrington Chapel Row be the one on the 1921 census? 

Hi Alan,

You are correct re: the 1921 census. There was a Chapel Row in Bedlington as well - see attached (source National Library of Scotland Map Images. Below is the transcript from the 1921 census; the address is given as both Bedlington and Barrington:

First name(s)    Ernest
Last name    Appleby
Sex    Male
Birth year    1906
Census date    19 June 1921
Age in years    15
Age in months    5
Age as transcribed    15 y 5 m
Relationship to head    Grandson
Marital status    Single
Birth place    Bedlington, Durham, England
Birth county    Durham, Northumberland
Birth country    England
Transcribed birth place    Bedlington
Nationality    British
Occupation    Coal Miner Driver
Occupation code    043
Occupation code with suffix    043/6
Employer    Bedlington Coal Co Ld
Employer code    030
Place of work    Barrington
Language used to complete form    English
Person making return    Henry Dixon
House number    18
Street    Chapel Row, Bedlington
Address    18 Chapel Row, Bedlington
Full address as transcribed    18 Chapel Row, Barrington
Parish    Bedlington
Registration district    Morpeth
Registration district number    564
Sub-district    Bedlington
Sub-district number    2

[Grahame Appleby]

7 hours ago, Canny lass said:

Silly me! It is January 2022. I must take more water with my whisky. Just checked, it's not available on Ancestry yet.

I think we all do this around this time of year. I'm convinced it's still 2020!

[Canny lass]

@Grahame ApplebyThanks for the map showing Chapel Row, East End. Saved me looking for it.

Have you seen this:

http://www.newmp.org.uk/article.php?categoryid=99&articleid=1511&displayorder=97

You do appear to have some connections with Netherton Colliery. I asked about that connection because I was born there - in the next street, Howard Row. That was many years after Henry's death of course, but there were still two Appleby families in the 50s. Relatives, maybe?

 

[Canny lass]

3 hours ago, Grahame Appleby said:

I think we all do this around this time of year. I'm convinced it's still 2020!

Thank heavens it's not! We'd have two years of Covid in front of us!

[Grahame Appleby]

1 minute ago, Canny lass said:

@Grahame ApplebyThanks for the map showing Chapel Row, East End. Saved me looking for it.

Have you seen this:

http://www.newmp.org.uk/article.php?categoryid=99&articleid=1511&displayorder=97

You do appear to have some connections with Netherton Colliery. I asked about that connection because I was born there - in the next street, Howard Row. That was many years after Henry's death of course, but there were still two Appleby families in the 50s. Relatives, maybe?

 

Hi,

Thanks for this link, I haven't seen this before and I 'suspected' there may be a photo of him following his death, but hadn't tracked one down. This is fantastic. I don't know if they are related, possibly. I also have a great-great-grandfather and mother, Henry and Elizabeth Dixon, living at Railway Row, Bedlington, according to the 1891 census. They had a daugher, Sarah Ellen Dixon, who married Henry. After he was killed she married a Joseph Shelton (London) and moved to Greenwich c. 1919.

Grahame

[Canny lass]

It might be worth looking through the gallery images for Netherton and Nedderton old photos. There are school photos and mining photos where you might be able to place Henry or even Ernest now that you have a face to compare. Ernest must have started his schooling at the same infant school as me. feel free to ask if there's anything about Netherton I can help with.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

 @Canny lass & @Grahame Appleby- yep, I had forgotten about Chapel Row at the east End of Bedlington☺️ 

I have never accessed the census records - do you two pay to access the records or do you use the FreeCEN web site?

Grahame - do  you live in Bedlington? It's just that it makes it less to type and explain when replying to someone who knows the area.

Do we know how many houses there was in the Bedlington Chapel Row?

Barrington Chapel Row had 21 :- 

 

 

 

[Grahame Appleby]

5 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

It might be worth looking through the gallery images for Netherton and Nedderton old photos. There are school photos and mining photos where you might be able to place Henry or even Ernest now that you have a face to compare. Ernest must have started his schooling at the same infant school as me. feel free to ask if there's anything about Netherton I can help with.

I will certainly look through them (I've also e-mailed the person at the website to add a little extra detail if desired). Ernest must have attended the school as he was living with his grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth, as the time of the 1921 census; his mother had moved south and remarried. I may also take you up on offer to answer questions.

Thank you,

Grahame

[Canny lass]

Ernest was living with his parents and 3 siblings in Yard Row, 1911 and is recorded as attending school, aged 5.

Here's a picture of the school (compliments of Evan Martin):

 

[Canny lass]

30 minutes ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

I had forgotten about Chapel Row at the east End of Bedlington☺️ 

There's a Chapel Row at Cambois as well, and even that came under the heading 'Bedlington' for census and parish purposes way back then. i remember being bogged down with Chapel Lane research for ages, a few years ago. It can be quite confusing - as can most of the 'row' names of the greater area of the six townships. Fantasy in naming wasn't at it's best.

I use Ancestry for my census research. It costs me about 120 pounds a year, but I think it's well worth it.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Canny lass

[Grahame Appleby]

34 minutes ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

 @Canny lass & @Grahame Appleby- yep, I had forgotten about Chapel Row at the east End of Bedlington☺️ 

I have never accessed the census records - do you two pay to access the records or do you use the FreeCEN web site?

Grahame - do  you live in Bedlington? It's just that it makes it less to type and explain when replying to someone who knows the area.

Do we know how many houses there was in the Bedlington Chapel Row?

Barrington Chapel Row had 21 :- 

 

 

 

Hi Alan,

Many thanks for this. I have a subscription to Ancestry, but for the 1921 census I am paying by record. Unfortunately, I don't live locally (I'm in Rutland). My grandfather moved to London in the 1930s, where he met my grandmother (Beatrice). They moved back to Ashington in the late 50s.

[Grahame Appleby]

18 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

Ernest was living with his parents and 3 siblings in Yard Row, 1911 and is recorded as attending school, aged 5.

Here's a picture of the school (compliments of Evan Martin):

 

Hi,

In a much better state than Bedlington Old School (recorded in 2014):

https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1153089&recordType=GreyLitSeries

vindomor1-197083_1-1.pdf

[Canny lass]

2 hours ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

Do we know how many houses there was in the Bedlington Chapel Row?

In 1881, according to the census of that year, there were 23 dwellings on Chapel Row. However, by 1911 this number had been reduced to six. It was a period of great change in the area with a lot of development around the Bell's Yard area. In 1911, while the enumerator notes 6 dwellings with a Chapel Row address, two of the residents give their address as Bell's Place so there was a modicum of confusion. There still weren't any house numbers to speak of which makes it even more difficult. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Canny lass

[Canny lass]

1 hour ago, Grahame Appleby said:

Hi,

In a much better state than Bedlington Old School (recorded in 2014):

https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1153089&recordType=GreyLitSeries

vindomor1-197083_1-1.pdf 10.6 MB · 0 downloads

Both long gone, I'm afraid.

[Grahame Appleby]

21 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

Both long gone, I'm afraid.

It's a funny feeling when buildings you know well are demolished. Two of the houses I grew up in no longer exist and my secondary school was demolished about 5 years ago. As an archaeologist, my relationship with the past changes the nearer it comes to living memory.

[Canny lass]

24 minutes ago, Grahame Appleby said:

It's a funny feeling when buildings you know well are demolished. Two of the houses I grew up in no longer exist and my secondary school was demolished about 5 years ago. As an archaeologist, my relationship with the past changes the nearer it comes to living memory.

It certainly is!

My childhood Netherton Colliery and the same area today:

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

5 hours ago, Grahame Appleby said:

Hi,

In a much better state than Bedlington Old School (recorded in 2014):

https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1153089&recordType=GreyLitSeries

 

@Grahame Appleby - I can see from the images you posted that you use Google Street view. If you search for Northumberland Arms East End Front Street, Bedlington you can see a 'Then (2009) & Now (2020)' of The Village School = Bedlington Old School. Just swivel around 180 degress from looking at The Northumberland Arms and on the right of the entrance to Church Lane you will see the 2020 view of the flats built on the land where the Old School and playground used to be. If you then move into Church Lane it switches from a 2020 view to a 2009 view and the Old school can be seen.  

[Grahame Appleby]

34 minutes ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

@Grahame Appleby - I can see from the images you posted that you use Google Street view. If you search for Northumberland Arms East End Front Street, Bedlington you can see a 'Then (2009) & Now (2020)' of The Village School = Bedlington Old School. Just swivel around 180 degress from looking at The Northumberland Arms and on the right of the entrance to Church Lane you will see the 2020 view of the flats built on the land where the Old School and playground used to be. If you then move into Church Lane it switches from a 2020 view to a 2009 view and the Old school can be seen.  

@Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)many thanks. I do use Google Street View quite a bit in my line of work. The aerial photo beside the map is from the National Library of Scotland Side by Side viewer (https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=5&lat=56.00000&lon=-4.00000&layers=1&right=ESRIWorld). It's very handy for a quick look and the maps the library holds against recent aerial photos.

Thank you for the heads up on the school site. The historic street view does tell quite a visual tale and the 2016 image shows the site with the school gone and before construction of the flats started. Beside the church the flats are something of a striking visual difference. Have you used Google Earth Pro (free)? Tha also provides older aerial pictures (some of better quality than others). I have also order a copy of 'Barrington Colliery Village (Bar'n'ton)' by S.B. Martin.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

14 hours ago, Grahame Appleby said:

Have you used Google Earth Pro (free)? Tha also provides older aerial pictures (some of better quality than others). I have also order a copy of 'Barrington Colliery Village (Bar'n'ton)' by S.B. Martin.

I did download Google Earth Pro a couple of years ago and had a bit play but I though my Desktop PC didn't have enough working memory to use all the features without having to swap different procedure code in and out of memory. So I went beck to using Google maps which does have the facility to switch Street Views back to 2008-9. 

I haven'r read Steven B. Martin's booklet on Barrington. I rely on ex Barn'ton lads who are Admin of the Facebook group - Barrington, Barnt'n memories and stuff!!! - if I need info. 

I don't know who added the text to this one but Chapel Row is named🙂  

Edited January 8, 2022 by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)