DEATH OF BATES COLLIERY - MAGGIE THATCHERS AXE FALLS

BigLoada :- I always wondered, why were those staithes called the West Gears?

high pit wilma :- Probably cos they were westerly with respect to the staithes which ran along the east side of the river...You know,they are cut down to just above the high tide mark,and run along beside north blyth terraces,on the way up to the seven stars jetty.

BigLoada :- Is THAT what they are? Thats amazing. How did I never know this considering I have been going down there fishing since I was about 4! I thought they were supposed to be that height!

drdamp1 :- Check out this page if you want to know just what the staithes looked like on Low Quay before they were cropped down.

http://northumbrian-railways.co.uk/?page=blyth

high pit wilma :-Thanks drdamp1!

hoggy03 :- Enough to bring tears to your eyes when you look at pics of shut pits and ones in the middle of demolition shame should never have shut, but as i say governments come and go but the working class always suffer.

Stephen Franks :- Shocking what happend to our industries!

hoggy03 :- Well Bill It took 27 Years after the death of Bates Colliery, but the miners of the 80's still alive and kicking got their justice, with the end of her.

high pit wilma :-HI Westdrie!
Shocking ain't the word for it pard,[correct greeting?!],it weren't just the miners,it was every industry,and every union.
Young people won't know that thatcher-the-hatcheter even stopped free school milk to our children,when she was education minister,then later stopped free swimming lessons for our kids,which was a serious misjudgment of cost-cutting.
While all the time she and her rich cronies were reaping in millions of pounds in fraudulent expenses scandals...only she wasn't brought to justice cos she conveniently 
became dementia'd[?]...very conveniently......i think.... I hated the sight of her..and the mention of her name,then,and i always will..and i have a justified right to say so!

high pit wilma ~:- Hi Hoggy!
I just came out of hospital,when she snuffed it,and was bedridden for a week at yem,so my Wife lovingly made a little red,white,and blue flag,out of coloured card,and hung it on my bedroom door,for me to celebrate her kicking the bucket....it was only a pity she went peacefully,she should have gone in utter agony,like the agony and heartbreak she caused in thousands of families,during our fight to save our industry.
My Son came up from London,while i was in hospital,and he was telling me how he is constantly reminding ignorant Londonders,that the 1984 strike was about jobs....not money,which most people think it was,[people who know nothing about the industry of coalmining,and just spew out nonsense.]

hoggy03 :- I work with a load of them ( at Sir Robert McAlpine) who thinks it was about money Bill, none of them ever worked near or had anything to do with the pits (family never worked there) that commented so they don't know anything about it, Hope your fine now hope it was nothing major.

high pit wilma @:- Hi Hoggy!
Thanks for your kind greeting.
I went into Wansbeck hospital on 25th March,with severe chest pain,which was caused by blood clots [lots of them] on both my lungs,with associated pleurisy.
The Doc said,quite nonchalently,that this condition was potentially life-threatening......it's a bliddy good job nowt worries me,or a wudda been freaking oot!!
Am back oot and oot and aboot again,albeit tekking things canny for a while,cos a still have the Pleurisy chest pain.
Doc sed it would tek a few weeks ti heal properly,so nae lifting tubs on the way,or heavy girders!!!!!!
Anyway,that's enuff aboot me!
Noo,wat aboot these buggers hoo are a bit ignorant of the facts!
Keep spreading the gospel,Hoggy,and remind them that every word Scargill said,was right,and my photo's are utter proof!
Tell them to log onto this site....there again,mebbe we dinna want folks like that on here....
Rumour has it,that the witch was only in Hell 10 minutes,when she closed three furnaces doon,and paid Lucifer off,cos he was uneconomical!
A luv it!!
Cheers Marra!