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I've attached a photo of a "man riding set" at Bates Colliery taken around 1955 before the modernisation of the colliery.

Hi Eggy,would "Unsung Heroes of the Industrial Revolution" ,be out of place? These guys were "Hewing" solid coal,down,from the seam,using only a pick,sheer brute strength,and stamina,and a shovel to load the pit tubs....no drills or explosives,or coal-cutting machines!...it was a soul-destroying job which they faced with no other option,to enable warships,aeroplanes,tanks etc to be built,and to provide power,gas,and not least,warm fires at home,which everybody took for granted. They should be remembered nationally,as thier efforts shaped our world and society. A canna think of owt mair fitting,Eggy,that's from the bottom of me heart,hoo a feel aboot me ancestors and the early coal industry,we had it bad,they had it as legal slavery. Many thanks again!

This is one of Westridge threads that could be co-joined with the others. I'm off to look for more ...

Pity they had to 'pebble-dash' (cos a don't know the right term for adding non-slip material onto the tarmac) that riverside walk. On a mobility scooter even those small chippings make you feel as if your riding over cobble stones and if you haven't got ya teeth glued in it's murder! I see they took the the one disabled bay away from outside the Newcastle Hotel so if tour wanting to eat then The Three Wheat Heads, in Thropton is worth a visit and normally lunch time through the week ample parking. Through the main door and turn right for the bar and left for the restaurant with a pleasing view. Bar meals served in both areas.

All done HPW - Unsung Heroes.......................... it is.

This is 25 Clifton row where my family lived The Armstrongs .It looks like the same windows.

HPW - there is just the one photo left from your bates Colliery Flickr set to add to the album on this site. That's the photo of your dad. I have left this one till last as if it wasn't for him, and your mam of course, your BATES pit stories and photos would not have have been posted. I know there are comments on the Flickr site that I will copy across and add as comments when I upload this last photo. The first comment you have on the Flickr site is :- MY FATHER AGED 14 OR15 YRS OLD [COAL PUTTER] AND HE'S MARRA [COAL-HEWER] [CHOPPINGTON HIGH PIT] CIRCA 1929-30 [ SAVED 15-7-08] My father aged about 15 yrs old,with his pony,at bait time,and his marra,a coal filler,taken down Choppington high pit, in an unusually dry place!! The pit was the wettest in the northeast coalfield,and the roughest conditions,according to the influx of men from other collieries in the area,during the 1960's closure programme!![ they all said the same thing when they went down the first day....."this is just a tetty pit"....!] Before I post this photo, and the other Flickr comments, is there anything you would like to add that will be the initial comment with this photo.

Excellent! The Choo-Choo of The North - eat your heart out Gormley! P.S. We might want to avoid coining The Dog of...

Been organised even before you wrote it _Pauls I hesitate to say we are not all amateurs! They have all been placed at 90 degrees to the section of the road as you come in. Like them or loath them they "announce" when you enter Bedlington Town, in other words they are gateway features....

I just realised that there is one thing of interest in my Bates' pic,which Eggy has kindly posted here for us all to refer to,and that is the machine on the right of the pic,where hoses lead from the machine and actually into the coal seam. For those who might not know,the machine is a "Cementation" pump. Holes were drilled into the coal seam,and liquid cement slurry,which was quick-setting,was pumped under very high pressure,into the holes in the coal,therefore grouting and sealing any breaks in the strata which would cause inrushes of Methane,or other noxious gases,or water,which could be lethal to us,as we were very near to breaking through a 36-feet thick Blue Whinstone Dyke,[Igneous Intrusion]. By virtue of the fact that the Whinstone was molten rock,200 million years ago,when it first forced it's way through the strata,by brute force,and extreme temperatures and pressures,it figures that a lot of damage to the surrounding strata occurred,including burning of the coal seam,to cinder coal,on either side of the seam. So that was the purpose of the grouting pump. Last year,My Wife and Myself were walking LBJ,[well my Wife was driving her mobility scooter!],along the riverside walk at Rothbury. Heading along the path,away from the town centre,towards Thropton,about a quarter of a mile,I heard a very familiar sound. Wndy drillers?....out here?....as we got up the source of the noises,it became clear that they were impact percussive drill-rigs,only they were hydraulic,and not compressed-air[windy] drills. Apparently,the substrate beneath the road had began showing signs of movement,and so these contractors were drilling hundreds of very long holes into the strata all the way from the level of the road,down to the level of the path,maybe a difference in height of about 40 feet or so. They had huge "Cementation" pumps similar to that on my pic,and one lad had the sole responsibility of keeping the pump tanks filled with the cement slurry mix. He was constantly humping big bags of cement powder,from the stack,across to the pumps,and then filling the tanks with water.Upon requests from his Marra's,he switched the pumps supply hoses on and off as each hole was filled up. I had a quick chat with him,had a laugh when I told him I was doing this over thirty years ago,and left him to his job. A few weeks went by,and when we walked along again,there was no trace of them ever having been there!...ground landscaped,trees planted,all so-so!! It was the first time I had witnessed Cementation being used anywhere other than down a mine!!....Ignorance is bliss!!