Bedlington D pit

[Bill Harries]

Met recently a chap "Bob Shadforth" in Morpeth Chantry tearoom,& coming from Bedlington.

Talked of coal mining of our youth!,Bob at "D" pit, me at Coneygarth drift,Ashington Colliery.

Mentioned a fella called James Fish,who was killed using Explosives,in the Sultanate of Oman in the 70's, & coming from Bed D pit earlier.

Could not believe it when Bob said he was Jim's marra at Doctor & later Netherton pit, before Jim went to the Sultanate.

This would be towards the end of the nasty conflict on the Oman,Yemani border in the Dhorfar mountains,with lots of dissident tribesman"wandering" around.

I myself just about replaced Jimmy in 1979,working blasting with explosives for a contractor to the shell/pdo oil company,from when I did 14 years in that land.

Such a coincidence that I meet Bob in the Chantry tearoom on Tuesday last,and with this 50+ year "connection.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Welcome to the group @Bill Harries. 

can't help you with the name Bob Shadforth but @James who worked at the Doctor Pit might be able to. 

In the gallery section of this site are numerous albums and on with info (a lot from James) on the Doctor Pit.

This is a direct link to that album :- 

 

[James]

On 22/12/2022 at 19:57, Bill Harries said:

Met recently a chap "Bob Shadforth" in Morpeth Chantry tearoom,& coming from Bedlington.

Talked of coal mining of our youth!,Bob at "D" pit, me at Coneygarth drift,Ashington Colliery.

Mentioned a fella called James Fish,who was killed using Explosives,in the Sultanate of Oman in the 70's, & coming from Bed D pit earlier.

Could not believe it when Bob said he was Jim's marra at Doctor & later Netherton pit, before Jim went to the Sultanate.

This would be towards the end of the nasty conflict on the Oman,Yemani border in the Dhorfar mountains,with lots of dissident tribesman"wandering" around.

I myself just about replaced Jimmy in 1979,working blasting with explosives for a contractor to the shell/pdo oil company,from when I did 14 years in that land.

Such a coincidence that I meet Bob in the Chantry tearoom on Tuesday last,and with this 50+ year "connection.

 

I worked with both Bob Shadforth and Jim Fish.

Bob Shadforth worked at the Doctor Pit till it closed in 1968 and was (and still is) known as ‘Shafty’. His father also worked at the Doctor Pit.

There was a loading machine called a Sky – Hi Loader that was used on one of the longwall faces in the Plessey seam and Shafty was the operator of this machine. During my period of ‘face training’ I worked under Shafty, who instructed me in the use of the loader. We have met a few times over the years and he has often reminded me of the time when we worked together and he was my ‘supervising officer’

Jim Fish was a drilling operator in the Plessey Seam and this was one of the most physically demanding jobs imaginable in a 36 inch seam. I was in the Doctor Pit rescue team with Jim and the other member of the team was Sid Cole. We all completed a training course at the Ashington Mine Rescue Station. As mentioned, Jim was killed in a blasting accident in the 70’s. Sid Cole was transferred to Bedlington ‘A’ colliery (the ‘auld pit’) after the Doctor Pit closed and was sadly killed in a shaft incident 1970. The report at the Beamish mining museum states -

 “He was killed while transporting girders from one level to another, the girders slipped and trapped him also getting the cage fast, a rescue attempt by his mate who climbed down the shaft using the guides and buntings was unsuccessful, and Mr. Jimmy Foster was awarded a medal for his attempt.”