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Just a heads up that there is a long overdue Gallery update coming in February. The way images are added is staying the same but there will be some fairly big improvements in how the images are presented to members. The main changes are the awful screen overlay is being removed and the overview page will be much better at highlighting images that are being commented on.

2nd load went off yesterday from the Community Centre.

I know it's earlier than normal but I keep thinking my PC might catch an omicron variant, 'Desktop Lock Out'. Stay safe. Eggy

Merry Christmas from the cold NE i wish everyone a healthy 2022

Wilf's here! It's officially Christmas! A very merry Christmas to you all. Stay safe and avoid Covid and we'll see each other in the new year. Meanwhile, I've said this before and it's worth repeating:

Have a good one Alan, Merry Christmas to every one and a Happy New Year

Billy Mcglen was my Grandad. I often (on what would have been his birthday) Google his name. This year I came across your post. It's nice to think he is so well remembered.

Wow!

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas to all.

Merry Christmas to everyone in this group from Bygone Bedlington:-

Happy to pay the necessary earlier this year to turn the old dilapidated building at West Lea Cemetery into a suitable base for the Friends of West Lea Cemetery. Instead of making their Xmas wreaths in their respective kitchens and having pine needles and holly all over their houses to pick up they can now use this. It took well over a year to sort out with the legals themselves taking for ever, but it been worth all the time and effort put into it. Anyone visiting the cemetery and the lasses are there just say “Hi”, I’m sure they will be pleased to chat and I know anyone wanting to join them in their quest to make this cemetery the very best it can be will be very warmly welcomed. And a big round of thanks for all the help off NCC cemetery staff!

Happy Christmas to you all Maggie

Following a long absence on this site I have just become aware of Derek's passing today, sad news indeed. A true gentleman respected by all who were fortunate enough to have the pleasure of his company.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY! Hope it's a better one than thi last one was! Cheers Bill.

@ShaunL Hi Shaun. Like you, I've come across this site by accident. I was a seafarer, and studied at South Shields. In 1974 I was parachuting at Usworth (before Nissan goth there) and managed to break my leg. After surgery at Sunderland Orthopaedic Hospital, part of my recovery programme was a spell at Hartford Hall. At the time I lived in Cramlington New Town, but was still admitted as a residential patient. I think it was your Dad at the time who had a VW Beetle, and was having trouble with his carburettor. One or two of us fancied ourselves as amateur mechanics, and spent a happy afternoon diagnosing and fixing the problem for him. I remember Joyce Miller very well: I was once invited round to her house for dinner, and gave her a Bohemia cut crystal fruit bowl and water jug in return (cheap as chips in Poland, and I had a house full). Very down to earth, and loved a good chat. She was a bit of a match-maker, though. One of the other residents was in for treatment for a broken neck, and somehow he managed to slip on a walk down to the river, and broke his wrist. He had a yellow Triumph Sprite, which he asked me to look after, since he couldn't drive. One of the junior physios was a lovely Canadian girl. I was 27 and single, so Joyce tried to fix me up with her by telling me to take her home one evening. Being naive, I assumed she only wanted the lift home for a chance ride in the sports car, so dropped her off like the gallant gentleman I was, and drove back to the hall. The next day Joyce gave me a right going over for not asking her out. Those were the days! For my sins, I ended up doing a second spell at the hall in 1975, after a further operation, and this time it all worked out OK, so I have some happy memories of that place.

Have a merry Christmas and happy new year to all.

https://www.northumberlandline.uk/post/bedlington-works

Merry Christmas to all my gud friends on wor great channel!...Nice ti see ye back Brian..mind aav been idle an aal...but aam chinkaplonka,it's looking after Cath full on noo,that limits time for me..nivvor mind,one thing a wud like ti remind ye aal...if ye get tipsy,keep ya phones switched off!!...aam a teetotaller,so aam fully aware constantly......aav had aboot a dozen scam texts and calls owa the last few months,more so this last few weeks..from Lloyds Bank..[supposedly!],Royal Mail wanting 2 quid for a parcel ti be redelivered..[nonsense!]Hermes,[same thing],and just last week and today,a text saying "I think you are in this Video"..beware that one,my marras have fallen for it,thinking it was from old Pit Marras,but it scans all your contacts....I dont know if this has been covered already,apologies if it has,better be safe than scammed! Cheers and all the best folks! Bill and Cath xx

Thank you kind sirs! I am delighted, honoured and humbled to receive this prestigious award. I coudn’t have done it without your help - and the help of Covid which gave me, and you, loads of spare time. There are a couple of others I’d like to mention and thank for their help along the way: My parents, who provided the raw material. The people of Bedlington and Netherton who moulded that material. Friends and colleagues around the world who made adjustments and amendments to the design. The many educational establishments who nurtured my thirst for knowledge. Esther at the corner shop. Tommy the milkman. The colliery pollis at Netherton. The next door neighbours, here and elsewhere. Santa Clause. The Witch of Wookey Hole. Moscardini’s coffee shop. Lidl’s. The staff of Keenleyside’s. The Swedish Government, for letting me in. The British Government, for letting me out. Bedlington YMCA. The Metropolitan Police Force. The Canadian Royal Mounties. The Toon Moor. Newcastle United FC. Morrison’s. SAAB motors. … and not forgetting: Robson’s the printers. Jack, the ice-cream man. Netherton Socail Club. Prestos, Market Place, Bedlington. Jimmy Millne. The French Onion Sellers. The Beano. The nr 48 United Bus. St Cuthbert’s Church. Doncaster Royal Infirmary. … and, last but not least, Old Uncle Tom Cobley (and all). Thank you once again kind people of Bedders.

Greetings and best wishes from Oz. (35 degrees here in Adelaide today). May you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas .

Merry Christmas,and a happy new year to all,if we get that far!! Hope to be seeing you all a bit more next year,past two years have been disastrous ,healthwise,with my Wife. The NHS have been absoloutely MAGNIFICENT ,between Wansbeck,The RVI,The Freeman,and The Mount at Morpeth,all the Consultants and Staff,all the way down the ranks,deserve medals,solid gold ones the size of dustbin lids! My Wife and me hope the NHS gets the Appreciation,and funding that it deserves Nationally. ALL THE BEST! Bill.

Merry Christmas Alan and to all of our friends, followers and families, and a safe and happy New Year.

Just to keep our friends overseas in the loop........

If the project comes off, and I should know better after next week, trees will be supplied.

https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/miller/5241321 Those who remember Joyce Miller (and Biffy the dog), please see the attached. She loved Hartford and telling patients “there’s no such thing as can’t - if you say you can’t you really mean you won’t”.

I have attached photos of the only ironworks building remaining. The first one was probably taken in the 1950’s and the second one taken about 5 years ago. The building is now completely covered with ivy. I asked an East Bedlington councillor on site a few years ago why they were allowing ivy to cover this important historical building. He replied that once it was covered with ivy, no one will know it is there so the building will not be vandalized. An unusual way to protect historical buildings! I have attached a copy of Chris Bergen’s book on the Ironworks that may be of interest. Old ordinance maps should show the layout of the ironworks. History of Bedlington Ironworks.pdf

not at all. I have even got a paper hat which was worn by one of my uncles at the celebration

CL,I live next to the main road,and when the Bedlington Station High School is coming out,after 3-30pm,the "kids"...aged anywhere from 13-18 yrs old come past my front garden each day walking along in small groups,or some are on cycles.While it's wrong to generalise..I have seen a massive change in their attitudes over the last 24 yrs I have lived here..I have noticed how Boys aged 15-16 yrs ,a lot of them,act like wee bairns..in fact my two wee bairns didn't gaan on like some of these dae..and a think..when aa was 15 yrs aad..straight from my school desk...[yawn...roll eyes!!]..I was working and training underground at Seaton Burn Colliery..six miles away from home..I went down Choppington High Pit after my 16th birthday ,working with two older men,for twenty days "close personal supervision",then I was on my own..still working with the two John's,who were by now,my good Marra's..by the time I reached 17 yrs,my two older marra's left me to go to another pit to do their coalface training.After a few days.Ned Cushing,our old Training Officer,brought a lad inbye,same age as me ,and gave me a Certificate to say I was in charge of this lad for twenty days,then he would be my new Marra..next day, Ned brought this Lad's older Brother in and gave me another Certificate putting me in charge of him also.My point is,at 17 yrs old I was down a mine,in atrocious wet,dangerous conditions,in charge of two strangers..who were to become great Marra's IN and OUT of the pit..Now!..when I see these "Children"[by definition"]..aged 15-17 yrs,acting like idiots..and showing off in front of the lasses..I think...by hell..a wadn't waant them buggers working wi me a thoosand feet doon and ten miles oot under the North Sea filling 24 tons of coal onto a conveyor belt..driving an old fashioned coalcutter,drilling hard coal and stone by hand..carrying heavy arched girders which weighed aboot the same as two bags of cement..on their shoulders...for a quarter of a mile at a time...if we ever get back to mining coal..we will have to bring the German Contractors in..as we did in the past sometimes when the NCB wouldn't invest in specialist tunneling techniques which were way above what we had at our disposal..like at the Bewick Drift at Lynemouth..so much Water pouring in and flooding the workings..they brought Thyssens in..who had specialist refrigeration and freezing techniques ...they drilled holes all around the tunnel roadway,pumped a refrigerant into all the holes under high pressure..and this froze the water..allowing concreting of the roadway to take place..which sealed the roadway from water ingress..and I think these Specialist mining companies from Germany..even China!! will mine our coal in the future..if at all..seems I am back again....sorry for digressing!! Cheers!!

Hi Folks!.Canny Lass,ye knaa me,not a nitpicker,only for correctness,for the education of the uneducated!!...but miner's coaal was never FREE!!..NOR WERE THE "FREE" houses they lived in!!..They were part of a miner's wage in lieu..and speaking personally,Linton Colliery gave the Miners coal which otherwise would be tipped on the pit heap..more stone bands than coal,also full of "Brass"[!!]..Iron Pyrites..which used to spit out onto the clippy mat and us if we sat too close!!..So!!Putters!!..the pic in my gallery on here,of my Father aged 14 yrs old,with his pony,in 1929,is when he was coal putting to his Marra,the older fella who was a Hewer.My Father putted the tubs out to a landing,where the other putters did the same thing..when there was a set of six tubs or more..the Drivers used to drive the set of tubs to the shaft bottom to be taken to bank.Every pit had it's own terms,but putters was generally the term used either for hand putting,or Pony putting.Hope that clarifies the subject.Never heard the term Cartman anywhere in any of the pits I worked at..[5 in total].

Wasn't "The Shirt Factory" in the council (BUDC) yard? I can remember the outpouring of girls from there at the end of their shift. It was always a place anyone industrious could get employment. The phrase "she works (worked) at the shirt factory" did have a tiny bit of social stigma in those days, though. It implied that the person might have done better at school. Having said that, it probably paid a lot better than shopworker or clerical jobs. The Rag Trade on TV epitomised this type of work. Work which was steadily eroded by the waves of imports from overseas "sweat shops", but don't get me started on so-called "globalism"! I recall they had a problem with asbestos roofing in the BUDC yard, and some poor worker being killed when the roof didn't support their weight. This might jog someone's memory on the place. I can also remember going into the Barrington establishment to deliver or attend to something, or maybe to seek someone out. At this point in time, I can't remember why I was there, though I have a brief mental image of the offices but not the work floor. It was, I think, a conversion and not a purpose-built factory. Update: Ah, yes, that's it above. Should have scrolled up! Just pointing out the social attitudes (snobbery) of the era, and no downers on the industrious salt-of-the earth people that worked there. A lot of that lingers on in the present day, when the thoroughly brainwashed ex-uni types regard themselves as socially superior and have a right to do everyone's thinking for them!

Miners picnic 1957

You should just be able to drag and drop the video into your post or upload to the gallery. If it's not a playable format inline it will embed as an attachment for download. You can also upload to Youtube/Vimeo and paste the link from there and it will embed inline here. e.g.

It’s that time of year again when thoughts of old friends emerge again and fond memories stir the soul. I hope everybody here is well. Wishing you all good time over the holidays and a safe happy New Year. Sym

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.

Hi again, i don’t recognise any of the names in your previous post even though my dad lived at no15 which I should think was next door. Two families living next door to each other with the same name would sort of suggest that they may have been related. As I said before my dad was really secretive about his upbringing and his family. It’s almost as if he wanted to forget about where he came from. He went down south when he joined the RAF in the Second World War. His brother ,my uncle Basil also went south, he joined the navy and was in the Special Boat Service. Uncle Baz and their sister Hazel never really lost their accents but my dad lost most of his. Thanks for all your information,it’s really appreciated

Well that was a heck of a meeting yesterday! Extraordinary meeting of full council to hear the findings of the Max Caller report into governance at NCC and the chief financial officer’s report into the International business NCC has. Some of us have been asking for quite some time about this International business NCC has and even why the heck we were involved in a healthcare operation in China when there is so much to do much much closer to home! Anyway here is the meeting. With only about 30 mins to read through the report we were allowed one question at each presentation; mine were asking if it was a systems failure or a personnel failure or both and secondly if we have hundreds of thousands of pounds sitting in a unused business bank account, that should be put to better use! It was really disturbing to hear the extent of both but I have to say I think we have seen two female officers who have shown remarkable professionalism and stoicism to get the second item before full council and I would like to thank them for that! The first shows just what some of us have been faced with when trying to get our jobs done! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUVNDwajSBY

Just so. And I wouldnt disafgree with rosco's last bit of his take!!!!!

Bedlington share world record with Washington. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60688397

Hello to all my friends on the forum yes this is Brian Cross and I’m still alive I’ve been fairly ill for the last couple of years but hopefully I am over the worst of it now I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all my mates on the forum I have not forgotten you guys that was my eyes Not been real good I haven’t been able to post

The poll is now closed and this years Piper Award goes to @Canny lass who throughout this pandemic has kept us occupied with her weekly quiz and has done a load or family and historic research to help many members of the group.

Yoohoo everyone! I’m having a little holiday near Haltwhistle 😁x I saw this and thought of you:-R🌈xxxxxxx

I agree a full blown leisure centre is not necessarily what we need, I was just pointing out that some leisure facilities including a swimming pool seemed to be promised/announced by Advance Northumberland 14 months ago and has now seemingly disappeared. I'm just looking for something other than another small budget supermarket and a row of shops and flats which is all that has been confirmed. No sign of any update on plans to "boost the scale of leisure facilities in the town centre" I'd like to think that the millions from the various national regeneration/levelling up schemes that have been announced will land us something more than an Aldi. I appreciate Malcolm's comments here and in the video clip that suggests that there are plans well underway that haven't been announced to the public yet and his request that there can be an update. I am just pointing out again that its more then 6 years since the council took control of the Tesco site and so far there is is still no confirmed leisure offering. In that time I think we've lost half a library and a swimming pool.

More great news for our area and more skilled jobs on offer. Like I said at a recent NCC meeting this will soon be the employment centre for the county! https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/130m-factory-offshore-wind-cables-21692953?fbclid=IwAR0-0RpkeA9cXFV7Q-ygarMhrt4BxLcxl4nJREz4Pl-wL5aZttBl1x6LV3A

Ex-pats, how about planting a tree? Of course, we'd have to get Malcolm to do the digging - or at least delegate it to someone.

@Malcolm Robinson. LIKE +++! I was up there just before 7 this morning, soo peaceful and good for the soul. I visited Marsh Heslop’s grave while I was there, just to say hello, you’re missed Bonny lass and read the very moving messages left at her grave by her nearest and dearest. I confess I shed a few tears: this world has lost the little rainbow 🌈 which was Marsha. Adding to your list of the living residents of WestLea cemetery, not seen but heard in the evenings tawny owls, visible if you stand still long enough wrens and you’ll hear the little twittering flurries of goldfinches as they bustle about in the hedges. Our place in this life is put firmly into perspective by a visit to the resting places of our dead and, you’re absolutely right Malcolm, the young’ us should be guided to recognise that our own short span of time on Earth should be valued, used well and is ultimately brief in comparison to the bigger picture. The message being ‘don’t waste a single day and stop racing around making lots of noise, because you’re a long time dead . Spend your time wisely“ The Mexicans and the Japanese set aside special times to respect and revere their dead forbears: please Bedlington Council don’t put up a blockade to spiritually healthy meandering through this beautiful space! (However I do recognise that the a******s on dirt bikes do cause a lot of disruption and irritation- instead of closing access maybe just make it only accessible on foot? Regards RoseanneRainbow 😁🌈xxR