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My garden is 2-3 acres! That's the bit nearest the house. Most of it I try to keep looking like woodland so most of those leaf trees are planted by me (saplings dug up on my travels) or self sown by wind and birds. I found the density of the forest close into the house on all sides rather oppressive when I came here and I've worked to open up and make more 'airy' the space around the house. The Hawthorn bush in the foreground is grown from a pip brought from England, Wooler to be precise! I've also planted in hundreds of Birch saplings. I like the way they move in a breeze. Fir trees are so stiff and lifeless to look at. I never tire of that view, which I also have from my kitchen window. It's beautiful whatever the time of year whether it be winter: or, my favourite, early autumn when the cold air pressing down on the lakes causes the moisture to rise into the air: Magical!

A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland Volume 1 mentions Birkinshaw building Hollymount Hall in 1844 and later selling it to Longridge. The book references the Memoir of J C Birkinshaw which I presume is the son of Birkinshaw ... John Cass Burkinshaw.

Hi Folks,age changes perspective of life in general,as we all know,so to us kids growing up around the place,and playing inside the empty building,going up actually onto the roof through the open skylights,that Hall was a big place to be in! We used to get lost in the corridors when we were exploring the rooms and passages! I remember lying on the ground over an iron grid,in the courtyard,at one side of the building,with my older Brother,and peering into the darkness of a room below ground,and my Brother telling me that this was the place where they tied people up to die,who they had kidnapped,and that there was loads of skeletons down there! .....it was the Wine cellar!!..[I realised as I grew older!] There were similar ventilation grids up Bedlington main street,outside the Grapes,as well as the Monkey,next to the Whitley School,and wherever the situation of the beer cellar called for one,whether it was on the front street,or to the rear of the buildings. I think the film "Moonfleet" inspired such imaginations in the kids in those days,as well as other films and comics of that ilk! Canny Lass,the building sems to follow the same pattern as Spring View,which is just over the road which takes you to Beattie Road,as you go past Hollymount Terrace,from the main road,just before you go down Bedlington Bank. In a Mining Community,where the Miner's "houses" were as basic as possibly necessary,to just call them "Houses"..[they didn't even have ceilings,you looked up through what was the upstairs floorboards..into the bedrooms..and the floorboards weren't even butted up to each other..presumably to save the cost of one floorboard per room!!],these two Halls,..Hollymount,and Spring View, would represent grandeur on a scale which could only be imagined in the eyes of the workers![the Miners pasted newspapers to the underside of the upstairs floorboard for a few reasons! [1] To preserve the dignity of the Ladies in the Bedrooms..!..[2]..to stop dust falling down through the big gaps onto those below..[3] ..to prevent heat loss fom the living area.]..Birky,and Holmsy,and Longridgy,wouldn't have had ti dae that ti their ceilings..they had fine plasterwork and covings..! Horses and coaches?...Servants?...wine cellars?...garden parties?....top hats?....hand crafted stone walls with lovely coping stones?..they were mini-estates !! I remember the fine wood panelling along the corridors,which,of course,had been smashed and stolen in places,as was the floorboards in the upper rooms..we used to walk along the floor joists to get across the rooms. I do remember distinctly when,as a kid about 10 or 11 yrs old,going down Hollymount Avenue,where we used to go to watch the Bats at night,and listen to them screeching,with my older Brother,[3 yrs older to the same day!!],to seek his friend,a lad called Micky Robinson..and I remember a blue painted outside staircase and balcony ,lit by the gas lamps we discussed earlier,and it was an eerie place..scary to a kid my age,even though I was a tough kid...[ha ha!],and wouldn't admit it to anyone!!..[years later Southfork Ranch,in "Dallas",reminded me of the Hall,cos it had a similar staircase and balcony!...wat a comparison ti mek!!] After the place became derelict,on a windy night,we couldn't get any sleep because of the shutters on the windows banging open and shut,all night long..all these events,coupled with tales of old tramps living in there,who would steal your clothes if he caught you...made us kids very wary,and we always went hanging around in groups,using coded signals like a particular whistle for a particular response..i.e....1 whistle..RUN! 2 whistles ....get down on the ground...etc etc!! The Colliery Managers all had mini-mansions,of pretty much the same design,look at Holmside Nursing Care Home at the Station,and the Care Home up at Netherton...you couldn't have turned a Miner's "Hovel" into a Care Home!! I can remember,being chased off the high wall which ran down the cut to Cornwall Crescent,a few times,when the place was kept in very good repair,nice lawns,garden parties etc....Aye,they had a completely different standard of living to us kids! That would have been before it was turned into seperate flats,maybe? When did that happen Ovalteeny? Heh heh!,I just realised ,I said "the high wall which ran down the cut"....and I was chased off it....I must have only been about 7-or 8 yrs old,for the wall to be "High" to me!!..looking at the pics,it seems to be aboot three or four feet high...more likely aboot four feet high..methinks! Carry on with the good work folks! Cheers,and Stay Safe! Bill.

The history of the house and Longridge family has a few gaps. I've tried to fill a few by looking at the census records through the years: What happened to Hollymount House and Michael Longridge? 1851, approximately one year after the house was sold to Michael Longridge and two years before he left Bedlington Ironworks, Hollymount is not mentioned in the census either as an address or an area of Bedlington. The 1851 census is somewhat sparse in details, in particular with addresses. However, there are two of the Longridge family living in Bedlington: William Smith Longridge, born 1819, occupation “Iron Master” is registered, along with many other households, at the address “Bedlington Iron Works”. He is 32 years old but appears to have his own household. He is not registered as the head of a family but as having “No family”. In his household are registered 3 other people aged between 23 and 26 years: one “house servant”, one “housemaid2 and one “dairymaid”. William’s neighbours are, on one side a “spade and shovel maker” and on the other a “clerk in the wagon works”. Not far from the iron works, somewhere in the east end of Bedlington, the enumerator has registered Robert ?Berwick? (almost unreadable) Longridge. Robert is a 30 year old “engine maker”, born in Bedlington and married to Elizabeth Selby Longridge, Elizabeth’s place of birth is given as “Africa. Mauritius”. They have a one year old son – Charles B Longridge – also born in Bedlington. Residing with the family are three other persons: one cook, one nurse, and one housemaid. Could this residence be Hollymount Hall? What relation is Robert to Michael? Michael Longridge is not registered in Bedlington. I found him registered at 24 Westgate Street, Newcastle. His occupation is given as “Retired Iron Manufacturer”. Apart from Michael and his wife there are two of the couple’s children registered here: Mary Francis 25yo and Henry Gordon 23 yo mining engineer. Also resident is one male servant aged 22y. Did Michael have two homes? 1861 the census records “Holly Mount” (2 words) as “Uninhabited”. Where are the Longridges? Michael died 1858. 1871 “Holly Mount House” is registered, but not to a household of Longridges. The head of the household is 76 yo labourer,George Henderson who shares the address with his wife 59 yo Julia, his daughter Catherine an 18yo housekeeper, Robert Willis his 38 yo son-in-law (engineer) and John Bailey his 89 yo father-in-law, a retired miner. It seems the house has passed its golden days. It may or may not have anything to do with this but one James Holmes, 29 yo greengrocer (possibly the same JH noted as the occupier of Hollymount House in the sales advert of 1875) is living just across the road next door to the Black Bull with his wife and three children. Just a thought. 1881 Hollymount (house or area unknown) is found in the enumerator’s description of the district (p2) and now, with more detail in the register, we can see that It is situated between the end of Walker Terrace and Spring View/Coach Road. However, Hollymount is not taken up as an address anywhere in the register itself, the entries proceeding direct from Coach Road to Walker Terrace suggesting that the name Hollymount house no longer exists. At the northern end of Walker Terrace, where I would have expected to find Hollymount House, I found instead two “lodging houses”. Two households possibly in the same building. The usual system of indicating this with pen-strokes is missing in this particular district of the census. The residents of the first lodging house are the keeper, his wife and one child together with 4 male lodgers while in the second lodging house we find the keeper, his wife and seventeen lodgers. The address is given as “Walker Terrace”. Has Hollymount House now become a lodging house? It must be quite large with many rooms and it’s not Spring View because that is occupied by the local curate and his housekeeping staff. 1891 Hollymount (one word) appears in the area description but reverts to Holly Mount (two words) in the register where two households are registered. It appears, as I would have expected, between Walker Terrace and Coach Lane. (I also found a pub nearby, “The Bridge Inn”! Anybody heard of that one?) Resident in the first household is George Heddon, the 55yo retired Inkeeper (Innkeeper at the Clayton Arms, Bedlington station 10 years earlier), his wife, son and widowed daughter with her 3yo son Gordon. In the second household we have Henry Ridley, 49 yo his wife Mary and their five children aged 12 – 22 years. 1901 I can find no mention of Hollymount. 1911 Hollymount pops up again, this time as two buildings. a) “1block, 3 flats” housing 3 families of 3-4 people and b) “Hollymount Private House” housing 12 families of 2-7 persons. Well, that’s day 47 in isolation taken care of. I think I deserve a whisky!

Magic - this one 2008 just before we moved and I stopped gardening.

After man discussion with 4 children who as they grew older were always right and new more than me I would keep my cool in the house and go outdoors and and plant where I wanted, where I knew was best and if they started growing to stringy and going their own way I would nip the heads out and force them to grow the way I wanted then to. None of the plants and shrubs put up any discussion or argument - they just had to accept it. Relax in a garden seat with a pint and a fag, stare at the garden and think - see if yous would just listen and do as your told. These days they definitely all now more than me on about what the youth of today are on about.

You can never 'fail' at gardening Vic. Results can never be wrong, they can only be 'different'. I'm not great at it myself and I try to make the most of natural features which saves time, effort and money. You learn by your mistakes and get a lot of time outdoors in which you're forced to think about things other than what's going on the world. A time for inward reflection and extreme relaxation.

I'm only a Facebook member to see whats posted on the local groups, especially Bedlington, but I do check out a few groups = Bedlington - Cambois - past Times History and Old photo's of holywell & seaton delaval & seghill & hartley sluice w/bay (cos I now live there) - Friends Of Bates Colliery (just to let HPW see any new photos and stories etc that get posted) & Barrington, Barnt' n memories and stuff!! and that's where I get most of the photos from that I add to the albums in this group. When I had those few days away from online activity I came back to 1200 + emails - took some time to catch up. I assume TW is Twitter - I don't Tweet or Instagram or anything else that is out there Keeps be occupied whilst the young lady is outside gardening . Gardenning used to be one of my passions, especially Fuscias - surprised I've never posted any photos. I used to get the grand kids to stand next to them and pretend I was taking a picture of the grand bairn

Hi Folks,Alan,Billy Winters was the oldest,as far as I always gathered,He was on Coalface work long before Dennis. I started the Aad Pit in 1965,when I was transferred there from Choppington High Pit. We were regarded by the Aad pit union as "Strangers",and " The Choppington Men". They were very clanny at the Aad pit,even when other pits closed,like the Doctor Pit,and Cambois Pit,they were also "Strangers"...and strangers had to stand at the back of the queue when it came to drawing for spare Cyevils...[spare men were needed to fill the vacated jobs of those men who were idle]. So,after being on coalface work as a Coalcutterman,and Coalfiller,aged 21 yrs,I suddenly found myself working at the shaft bottom area of the pit.[where trainees usually start their first jobs underground!] Dennis Winter worked on the Loader-end,at the High Main shaft bottom..and that is where I met him,and worked with him,till I got a cyevil on Composite work,with an older [41yrs old!!] Cambois Coalcutterman called Joe Hickman..a hell of a worker! Tom came down the pit as a 16 yr lad not long afore the pit closed..I remember him as being a smashing natured ,jovial kid,who would do owt ti help anybody. I never knew Gordon,or Willy's Sister. Jammy,I worked with all the Hillsy's,The old timers were "Famous" Coalcuttermen at the aad pit,and Billy was a Shearer/Coalcutterman at Bates. Norman was a canny kid. Uncle Billy,at Bates pit,used ti play "Lily the Pink" on his mooth organ owa the "DAC" [Coalface Tannoy system],which was connected throughout the pit,reet ti thi Control Centre at Bank..[the surface],so ivrybody in the whole pit,used ti hear him,and shout for requests..! The Manager had ti quietly ask him ti stop! Just ti clarify a point..he only ever did that when there was a major Conveyor belt stoppage,and all the Machines were standing...in case anybody though it was a crazy unsafe thing to do...and nothing in the Coal Mines and Quarries Act 1954,says you cannot play ya Moothie when the belts are standing!! I also worked with Alby Douds,Cappy Foreman ,Tommy O'Neil,Billy Crackett,Dusty Miller,and a fella called Billy Miller,who trained me to work on the Coalcutters..he was a hell of a Cutterman as weel. R.I.P. Billy Miller. There were 900 men at the Aad Pit,and I knew hundreds of them at any given point in time..it didn't take lang ti get ti knaa them,when there were 30 men on each face,in each shift!... Cheers Folks. Stay Safe! Bill.