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The thing is Reedy, you hear them constantly screaming in parliament for an apology from the Tories for the miners strike. But you never hear the Labour Party apologising for the Iraq war. So many dead and the middle east in turmoil, all due to Tony Blair and the Labour Party.

The answer to your question Reedy is, yes, Lavery can be beaten. The support we have had in Bedlington alone has been tremendous, especially since we opened the shop/advice centre on the High Street. Ashington is the most surprising, the interest shown by a lot of people there has really taken us aback. You would be surprised at how many people over there are totally anti-Lavery. Most of the consensus of opinion by them is that they are embarrassed by his antics in parliament. Not only Ashington though, only this morning a guy came into the shop and asked if he could have 6 (I'm Voting UKIP) window posters. He turns out to have been a long time Labour Councillor, serving for many years on the County Council, but was now voting UKIP. I asked him why, his answer was quite vitriolic about the Labour Party (he is 72 now) he has had enough of their constant broken promises, lies, corruption and deceit. He is from Morpeth but had travelled to Bedlington just for the window posters. Needless to say I welcomed him into the fold and he went away with a bundle of leaflets for his family and friends. My point is, that its not just Bedlington, which I am proud to say has become our power base, it's spread quite well over the whole of the constituency. All we need is a last big effort up to election day, and our last public meeting on Tuesday 28th at the White House Club in Ashington will help that happen. Especially as the Deputy Leader, Paul Nuttall will be the main speaker, and he will certainly shake the foundations. Yes, we believe we can beat Lavery, it will be close, but it is do-able.

Sym,thanks for your kind comments,this was the way it was right up to the closure of the industry in the 1980-90's as we knew it. Even in the big, modern, fully mechanised pits like Bates, and Ellington,in Northumberland,the dangers we faced were just the same as in the old Coal-owner days before the war. There was a lot of strata above your head,and in Bates and Ellington's case,a LOT of seawater above your head also!! Bates was 12 miles out under the North Sea!...a long way to run home if you were easily scared when the roof started to "Lay-on"! "Laying-on" was a term used in mining,to describe the effect that the movement of the strata had,as it broke away during the extraction of the coal. I have been in 14feet wide -by- ten feet high arched girdered roadways,and watched as the roof pressure "Laying -on",made the whole roadway sway from side to side crazily,as the girders bent and twisted under tremendous un-calculable weight and stresses,with roof stones falling between the girders,all along the length of the road. This would go on for maybe a half an hour,or a few hours even,with the sound of thunderous evil crunching and creaking noises which would be better heard in some horror movie. When the roadway settled,it was eerily calm and quiet,and this was when the skilled miner had to be fully aware of any relapse...and not fall into a false sense of security. You never trusted "good stone"! The coal faces where Liisa's Dad,and myself,[as time went by,and I became a face-worker],really were inhuman places for a man to work,in the old days,but just like our lads out fighting in the desert heat,you got used to it,and accepted that no-one else was going to pay your rent for you,or put bread on your table,so you got on with it. In 1987 I was re-trained as a Cabinet-maker,and made very expensive hand-made furniture,[hand-cut dovetailed drawers etc..],working with exotic timbers. For the first time in my life,I was given thanks personally from satisfied customers who were delighted with their new furniture!! ........No-one ever came and thanked me for risking my life every day,so they could have nice warm fires in their houses....!! If you go to Google ,and type in.."High Pit Wima's Photostream" it will take you to "Flickr",where my photo's of Bates Colliery,underground,and on the surface,will help to give you an idea of what the roadways were like,and the conditions. Liisa,I hope you have toured the Bedlington Community site,and enjoyed all the interesting subjects and comments,by people like myself and Sym,"the wise old Owl!"!

I agree about his parliamentary antics being embarrasing. Both Lavery and Campell seem to be obsessed with mining issues (often debated on here). They should be more concerned with the future not the past. Time for change in both constituencies.

When I knew him,he was a coal-filler,in the days before mechanisation. The coalface was usually about 150 yards long,some coal seams were only two feet and two inches high,[occasionally down to eighteen inches high.] Roof-water came in everywhere,and there was also a lot of ground-water which seeped into the seam from the strata below,which we referred to as "Bottom-waata"!! The roof used to break up continually,and accidents were an everyday occurrence,most of which meant rubbing coal dust over an open wound to stop the bleeding,cos you couldn't squeal for an elastoplast when you are 70 yards up a low coalface working in atrocious conditions,you got cut and scraped to ribbons some days,and just carried working,sometimes after nearly being buried in falls of roof stone. You never told your Wife or Family of the dangers you faced,so as not to worry them,even though they knew of other miner's families who had suffered tragic losses. None of this is romantic reminiscing....it's ingrained into every miner's brains from starting down the mines from school at 15 years of age,in my case..straight from my school desk. There were usually 12-14 coalfillers in a team,and they arranged the splitting-up of the length of the face to suit themselves,with the end stretches referred to as "The Neuks"..["Nooks"],which had a dead-end,with no conveyor belt in the furthest reaches,and which meant the coal had to be double-casted back,before it could be filled onto the rubber conveyor belt. [these "neuk" areas were there to allow the coal-cutter to be turned around,to start cutting the face in the opposite direction to which it had just been.] I sometimes meet ex-miners who say they would go back down the pit tomorrow if they could....and I smile......thinking......"you wouldn't if you had to go down the High Pit ....mate"!![....I always say...any daft bugga can talk!!!] Your Dad worked in these conditions,and wouldn't mention owt about it to your Mam....methinks!! Sorry you lost your Dad Liisa,hope I have given you a bit of an idea what he did...what we all did,in terrible conditions. Regards, Bill. P.S. Please feel free to ask me anything you want regarding mineworking and how we all got on in a hostile environment.

Hi Liisa! The only person I knew,down the coalmines,where I worked,with a description and nickname anywhere near that which you have described ,was a big STRONG! Polish [i always thought] fella with the nickname of "Limpet" ....and everybody he worked with pronounced his surname as "Llondundra" ....probably through lack of ability to pronounce his name correctly! He was so strong and a massive build,that he could do some jobs which involved a lot of pure muscle,which otherwise would take two or three men to do the same work. I once asked the Overman in charge,why they called him "Limpet",when I was just a young 17 year old transport lad , handling heavy machinery all day as my job. Joe Barrat,the Overman replied to me,"'cos when he gets a hold of you,he doesn't let go...so don't cross him!!" He was a very quiet fella,and kept himself to himself,but a hell of a good worker. It seems a massive co-incidence for this fella to fit your Dad's description,and not BE him. I worked with a canny few Polish,or Eukranian miner's,all who were really lovely natured blokes,and respected for their hardworking qualities,and the miners all had nicknames for them!! They never took any offence with this,as everybody had a daft[sometimes!]nickname.....look at mine...."Wilma"..!! One Polish fella was called "Gillawhisky" ["Gill of whisky"!],for "Gillazensky"! It was at Choppington B colliery where "Limpet " worked,when I knew him,but he would have moved around the pits,as I did, due to pit closures in the mid 1960's-70's. Now I am nearly 71,so that makes the age difference between us just about right,as he would have been probably in his thirties at the time,around 1961-66,when Choppington B Pit ["The High Pit"...] closed.[although everybody over 17 yrs of age, were old men....at the time!!,,life's funny like that isn't it!! I never met another fella with his build,strength,quiet nature,and Name,remotely similar to your Dad's so I hope I have been of Some help to you! A fellow contributor to this site,called "The Lone Ranger",also worked at the High Pit,and knew Limpet,so I hope he comes across this thread,as he knew him long before me.

I do think you're a little wide of the mark, Tony! There's a difference between murdering millions of Jews and wanting to leave the EU....

Well, urging people to turn on their brains is a lot better than those on the left who work on the premise that people don't have one! At least I'm not telling people what they must think, and how they should think, or shouting them down! You'll note that the left is particularly prone to attacks on the messenger when they find the message unpalatable - those 'ist accusations are rather one-sided. There's a lot of indoctrination going on in the UK at present. More than I've ever seen in my lifetime, and it's particularly targeted at the young. I for one am no longer prepared to sit there and take it. I'm no conspiracy theorist, nor alone in this belief. If I'm too "smug", then you are appointed my moral guardian in this respect; please feel free to de-smugify all further postings and/or provide background "health warnings". Hopefully though this won't dominate the discussion, and we can stay on topic, most of the time.