Concrete things in fields

[James]

18 hours ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

Doesn't show the area either immediately either side of the Hartford Road but this is photo, of only a couple I have seen, shows the bridge that was built over the river Blyth for the opencast waste to be transported to the Bedside disposal site.

It was coal in the trucks not waste, The waste (overburden) from the opencast was put back in the “hole” and the raw coal transported to Bedside Colliery wash plant for cleaning. The photo shows the first Costain truck on the bridge. 

[Canny lass]

Apropos Ewart Hill, did you know that it was originally called Ewe herd Hill? I've always thought of Ewart as  family name but Ewe herd Hill was clearly a way of describing a landscape feature ( a hill where there were shepherds living or working). Here it is on Fryer's map of 1820:

 

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

6 minutes ago, James said:

It was coal in the trucks not waste, The waste (overburden) from the opencast was put back in the “hole” and the raw coal transported to Bedside Colliery wash plant for cleaning. The photo shows the first Costain truck on the bridge. 

👍

[lilbill15]

1 hour ago, James said:

I have no dates of the years that the Ewart Hill pit was in operation but the map shows it was disused in 1897.  It had only one shaft 361 ft. deep and worked the Low Main Seam. Following the Hartley Colliery disaster in 1862 when 204 men and boys died of carbon monoxide poisoning, all collieries had to have at least 2 shafts so that in the event that one shaft was out of action or damaged in some way there was a second shaft for the underground workers to use as a means of escape. I assume from this that it must have closed before 1862. If anyone can download an earlier map of the Ewart hill area it may give some idea of when it was in operation. Long after the Ewart Hill Pit had closed, the Doctor Pit mined a connecting roadway to the shaft in the Low Main seam workings and used it as a downcast ventilation shaft. You can see the shaft “cap” (a concrete cover) from the road as you walk past the farm

The photo shows the Low Ewart Hill farm that was demolished in the 1950's and the coal beneath it mined by the opencast. At the same time the road that used to pass this farm was diverted. This area is now the golf course.

Thank you very much, James, another couple of bricks in my Bedlington wall. I’m matching history to the present and negotiating this website as well, interesting fun x

[lilbill15]

1 hour ago, Canny lass said:

Apropos Ewart Hill, did you know that it was originally called Ewe herd Hill? I've always thought of Ewart as  family name but Ewe herd Hill was clearly a way of describing a landscape feature ( a hill where there were shepherds living or working). Here it is on Fryer's map of 1820:

 

 

Now, that is interesting, I like to see how place names change over the years, just like language. I can see no sign of Nedderton on this map, has it replaced what was Netherton, well along the road from the Blue House? Maybe another name which has evolved over time? You know, I start off with a plan and get diverted all around the houses with each new snippet of information- fascinating stuff. Thank you very much x

[Canny lass]

The community named Netherton on the map is what we now call Nedderton Village. The name was changed due to postal confusion when Netherton Colliery came into being – that’s to say the community that grew around the Howard- and Francis Pits.

What we previously knew as Netherton Colliery isn’t shown on this map. Probably a bit too early. Maps are great things but they are like photos – they record only a moment in time. Unfortunately, the ‘moment’ captured in the survey may, very often, not bear any resemblance to the area at the time of publication. That’s particularly true of maps from the 19^th century as, in order to keep pace with the needs of growing Industry, coal mines were springing up all over the place at a fair old rate of knots. Map-making, on the other hand was a long and tedious process.

Netherton Colliery community doesn’t appear in any detail until housing started to be provided. Though there were as many as 14 mines (not all coal producing) late 18^th century in and around Netherton the area was predominantly arable land. Blue-, Burnt- and Redhouse Farms were already established way back at the beginning of the 18^th century on land belonging to the Ogle family. The first ‘pit’ of any size was at Nedderton Village around 1789 but it wasn’t until 1837 that any major production started at Howard pit – around which the colliery rows were built. Production was good and in 1846 another shaft was sunk to give better access. This was the Francis pit. So, it was a bit after 1820 that any community worthy of notation on a map was established at Netherton Colliery.

[Canny lass]

4 hours ago, Canny lass said:

Apropos Ewart Hill, did you know that it was originally called Ewe herd Hill? I've always thought of Ewart as  family name but Ewe herd Hill was clearly a way of describing a landscape feature ( a hill where there were shepherds living or working). Here it is on Fryer's map of 1820:

Now, I've located the map I was looking for! Ewe herd Hill goes back much further than 1820. here it is on what, according to me, is a very beautiful map of the area from 1769:

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

16 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

The community named Netherton on the map is what we now call Nedderton Village. The name was changed due to postal confusion when Netherton Colliery came into being – that’s to say the community that grew around the Howard- and Francis Pits.

 

 

[Canny lass]

Interesting! I always thought it was confusion with the colliery. Never too old to learn!

[lilbill15]

17 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

The community named Netherton on the map is what we now call Nedderton Village. The name was changed due to postal confusion when Netherton Colliery came into being – that’s to say the community that grew around the Howard- and Francis Pits.

What we previously knew as Netherton Colliery isn’t shown on this map. Probably a bit too early. Maps are great things but they are like photos – they record only a moment in time. Unfortunately, the ‘moment’ captured in the survey may, very often, not bear any resemblance to the area at the time of publication. That’s particularly true of maps from the 19^th century as, in order to keep pace with the needs of growing Industry, coal mines were springing up all over the place at a fair old rate of knots. Map-making, on the other hand was a long and tedious process.

Netherton Colliery community doesn’t appear in any detail until housing started to be provided. Though there were as many as 14 mines (not all coal producing) late 18^th century in and around Netherton the area was predominantly arable land. Blue-, Burnt- and Redhouse Farms were already established way back at the beginning of the 18^th century on land belonging to the Ogle family. The first ‘pit’ of any size was at Nedderton Village around 1789 but it wasn’t until 1837 that any major production started at Howard pit – around which the colliery rows were built. Production was good and in 1846 another shaft was sunk to give better access. This was the Francis pit. So, it was a bit after 1820 that any community worthy of notation on a map was established at Netherton Colliery.

Oh, thank you for this- loads of information here. I suspected that’s how Nedderton came to be, am amazed that there were as many pits as that. I have wondered about piles of brick-riddled earthworks and hewn stone in a field over towards the Choppington road, having seen Francis Ville? street sign, plus subsequent info about Francis pit, whether they are the remains of an extinct community between Netherton colliery and Willow Bridge area? I’ve got loads of questions but I’ll try not to inundate you. I would appreciate your advice on where best to find old maps of the area? Best regards,  Roseanne x

[Canny lass]

7 minutes ago, lilbill15 said:

I would appreciate your advice on where best to find old maps of the area?

These are my favourites:

https://www.old-maps.co.uk/

https://www.oldmapsonline.org/

https://maps.nls.uk/

https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/

Enjoy!

[lilbill15]

28 minutes ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

 

Well, seemed straightforward differentiating between the village and the colliery, so why wasn’t the colliery called Nedderton colliery to avoid confusion with Rothbury’s Netherton? Post Office has a lot to answer for (seems a little high-handed, like their computerised accounting system?) just having a dig😂x

[lilbill15]

9 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

These are my favourites:

https://www.old-maps.co.uk/

https://www.oldmapsonline.org/

https://maps.nls.uk/

https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/

Enjoy!

Wow @Canny lass, now who’s inundated? HOURS of rummaging here, thank you very much xx

[lilbill15]

58 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

Now, I've located the map I was looking for! Ewe herd Hill goes back much further than 1820. here it is on what, according to me, is a very beautiful map of the area from 1769:

 

Very lovely indeed , @Canny lassdetails like the naive depiction of Ewart’s hill, making it stand out as a feature more significant then than it seems now. I’m wondering whether the mining activity has reduced it’s prominence in the same way the A pit heap has reduced over the years? I had a good look over that way this evening and there’s nothing so obvious on that horizon. Also, there is some evidence of industry in that area now, is there currently some excavation going on between RedHouse and Hartford road? x

[lilbill15]

Also.... now you’re getting sick of this! - there’s a grotto marked between Humford mill and? Attlee park, does this feature on any subsequent maps? Also interesting, iron mine near Foundry Bridge, makes absolute sense but never occurred to me that the iron was local originally.  I’ll shut up for a bit xx

[Canny lass]

14 hours ago, lilbill15 said:

I have wondered about piles of brick-riddled earthworks and hewn stone in a field over towards the Choppington road,

Could it be the remains of Choppington Brickworks?

 

It's just a small dot behind the Lord Clyde pub (above centre) on this 1896 map of the greater area of Netherton, Choppington and Barrington. As you can see, there are Brickworks the length of Choppington Road. Probably half of Bedlington is built of bricks from here. I know that the newer rows: First-, Second-, Plessey- and Third Street were.

Here's a close up. I'm afraid I don't know from which year.

 

If the remains are very near the Choppington road it's most likely to be this. There wasn't much remaining of the Francis pit houses when I grew up in the 50's. Only their gardens remained as allotments behind the new First Street.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Canny lass

[lilbill15]

15 minutes ago, Canny lass said:

Could it be the remains of Choppington Brickworks?

 

It's just a small dot behind the Lord Clyde pub (above centre) on this 1896 map of the greater area of Netherton, Choppington and Barrington. As you can see, there are Brickworks the length of Choppington Road. Probably half of Bedlington is built of bricks from here. I know that the newer rows: First-, Second-, Plessey- and Third Street were.

Here's a close up. I'm afraid I don't know from which year.

 

If the remains are very near the Choppington road it's most likely to be this. There wasn't much remaining of the Francis pit houses when I grew up in the 50's. Only their gardens remained as allotments behind the new First Street.

Morning @Canny lass, thanks very much for this, more ingredients for the Bedlington pot x. I don’t think it’s the brickworks itself as the area lies not far from the Green Letch which is on my right as I face the Choppington road and approx 10-15 minutes walk from the road (sorry, I’ve never been able to judge distance). I usually approach from Blue House direction, but I followed a new path (to me) Sunday morning from Willow Bridge, past “the Deck “, over the railway line and eventually met the Green Letch and the brick/soil/stone area was on my right with the field of “concrete things etc “ on my left, north side of the Letch. It actually looks like recent movement of the area, making me wonder if it’s being dug in preparation for something or maybe just reclamation because the bricks and stones look old and mixed with soil and ?bulldozed into big heaps, good stone separated out. Alan Dickson has said he thinks the concrete things could be vents for an old clay pit which subsequently became a landfill. I have downloaded one old map app so far and was browsing when I got your response, yours is a much better map than I’ve found so far and I’ll try to find some comparisons to nail down the location in question. I’m just learning how to use Google Earth while I’m out and about, apparently it’ll give me map coordinates for wherever I am so I can reference it when I get home. Thanks again, regards Rx

[lilbill15]

It’s not the Green Letch- there’s another stream travelling from West which looks like the Letch drains into?

[lilbill15]

Also wondering what the two features adjacent to Francis Pit are (round/oval’ish ‘’’’’’’ markings around them)?

[Canny lass]

1 hour ago, lilbill15 said:

Also wondering what the two features adjacent to Francis Pit are (round/oval’ish ‘’’’’’’ markings around them)?

I believe they are earthworks created when the Francis pit shaft was sunk. 

[Canny lass]

2 hours ago, lilbill15 said:

It’s not the Green Letch- there’s another stream travelling from West which looks like the Letch drains into?

Sounds like the Netherton Letch, shown in red. Naturally, I've painted the Green letch in a suitable shade of green:

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Canny lass

[Canny lass]

I may have been a bit too generous with the red pen there! I believe it's the Green letch which continues towards Willow Bridge - not the Netherton letch - and eventually meets up with Willow Burn.

[lilbill15]

4 hours ago, Canny lass said:

Sounds like the Netherton Letch, shown in red. Naturally, I've painted the Green letch in a suitable shade of green:

 

Hello @Canny lassYup! That’s definitely green 😃x Thank you very much for this x, although I’m not happy with this map, the Green Letch is indicated nearer Netherton than I think it really is. I’ve found one map suggesting it originated near Low “Eweherd”Hill (love to think about sheep), and runs North to join the Sleekburn eventually. I live on North Ridge Bedlington and I can look out of my window and see the course of the GLetch beside the bus stop across the road (B1331). I know you said that maps are really snapshots and I recognise they’re only as good as their authors. However, all that blether aside, I can now add Netherton Letch to the pot, and that does fit the picture. If I stand with my back to the “concrete things “ field, looking South, the GLetch is over to my left, at 9-10 o’clock ish. The Netherton Letch must be what runs in front of me from right to left, low down below in a deep gully. From this position I can look South and see the edge of the new houses built alongside the B1331. There’s a path I haven’t tried yet which drops down the steep slope down to the water, next step has to be follow this to see if this is where the Netherton and Green Letches meet? Best regards Roseanne xx

[Canny lass]

1 hour ago, lilbill15 said:

I’m not happy with this map, the Green Letch is indicated nearer Netherton than I think it really is. I’ve found one map suggesting it originated near Low “Eweherd”Hill

You’re not wrong in thinking that the green letch has its origin near Ewart Hill and that it runs north towards Red House passing west Lea cemetery on the west - causing havoc with flooding at times - before reaching the eastern outskirts of Netherton Colliery. It then continued past the Francis pit where the ravine was very deep. At that point, there was a small wooden bridge crossing the letch and leading onward was a footpath which terminated at Northumberland and Westmorland Avenues. It terrified me as a child as it was so deep. Passing the Francis pit workings the Green letch continued north east to eventually join forces with the Netherton Letch. I’ll let it be unsaid which name the letch took after that point but I’m inclined towards Green flowing towards Willow Bridge.

Here’s a map from 1886 showing its whole course between Ewart Hill and its merging with the Netherton Letch. It’s named on the map and I’ve tried to leave that visible for you. The direction of the flow is also shown (south to north) but it was difficult to keep that. If you’d like to see the map without markings I can post it for you or send it to you by direct message.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Canny lass

[Canny lass]

.... and here's a map from 1947 showing the origin of the Green Letch just north of Ewart Hill. It's the blue line starting just to the west of B in Bedlington.

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Canny lass