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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:-

You might have to explain that to our nursery age school children who are being offered gender realignment services! The world is going mad!!!!!!!

Just to keep everyone updated.......here is my 'application' for County Councillor. So we have a full list of candidates for the NCC Bedlington West Ward seat and it looks like an election has had its starter gate opened with claims, counter claims, spin and misdirection already! As I have said the only promise I give is to continue to do my best for the ward, so more of the same if you like! Like any job applicant a CV would seem an obvious starting option. So here are the main points in mine: As a resident I wasn’t happy with the way our Town’s needs had been ignored for decades so as a private individual I decided to try and do something about that. You don’t really need a position but you do need a commitment and some level of understanding as to how the system works. Set up the Bedlingtonshire Development Trust. Worked with NCC to get the sports pavilion at Gallagher Park. Ran a Fields in Trust campaign after getting Gallagher Park qualified as a QE11 Park and won a national award! Did the training in counselling skills so I could interact confidentially with people on a one to one basis. Completed training in procurement, project management, VCS development, planning training and others which I thought would be beneficial. Got the funding for and ran a Heritage themed event with Leading Link, which we had to go to Manchester and receive a commendation for. I had to go to Blyth Sports Centre and push in to argue with the Olympic Torch Committee for Bedlington to be included in their processional route so our kids could see it pass too. This after NCC said no! With Richard from Salvation Army and Lyn from Leading Link we had over 5000 people lining a very wet Front Street that day! Bedlington Terrier seats……..my design and my project with the money made paying for Xmas lunches for our seniors and support for our food banks. In May 2013 I was elected as a Town Councillor. The chevron parking on Glebe Road, my idea to stop the double parking there so others could pass. My project through the Town Council. New footpath down to Attlee Park, to stop the need for pedestrians having to step out on the main road. Again my project through the Town Council. After lacklustre and aimless two years under Labour control, which was more about claiming the council to be a Labour one instead of actually doing things, I was elected to the chair of the Town Council. What happened in the next two years was more than had happened at any time before! New Bus shelters throughout. Street furniture painted gold and green. Two new play parks at West Lea and Meadowdale. New Town Gateway features, which I designed and oversaw the project. Started on the discussions with a local resident who made sun dials internationally, but who couldn’t get one in their home town. Now in the Market Place! We bought the two new commemorative seats which now sit behind the War Memorial after I did the research and costing. Restarted the Town Fair and held it on the street. First to put on a show for the Xmas Lights switch on. Put in the original three defibrillators onto the street after the existing NCC Councillors refused to back them. Brought in a REDUCTION to the Town Council tax charge, the only one to ever manage that and do everything (plus) listed above. No wonder we got phone calls from all over asking how on earth we had done it. Then in 2017 I was elected to County Council. I said “I’m drawing a line in the sand…….we don’t go backwards from here!” First job get a light controlled crossing next to the COOP because it was gravely needed! All main roads into my ward area resurfaced. I recorded every pot hole in the ward and sent in the lists. I also had to stand up to what had happened at Arch and Active Northumberland to try and bring some resolution after unbelievably bad independent audits. Covid hit and while everyone else hid under the blankets I was running around dropping food parcels off because the government essentially locked up elderly people for 12 weeks! I made sure the ones I knew in my ward had something at least once a week. I got the 100’s of food parcels from the Salvation Army so I raised money for our food banks to make sure I wasn’t taking out more than I put it! West Lea Cemetery needs a special mention: First try and sort out the flooding issues which saw flooding on the children’s graves. Cleaned out the main culvert pipe which runs alongside the western side of the cemetery. Next the road inside the Cemetery needed resurfacing. Helped set up the Friends of West Lea Cemetery group. Did the D Day commemorative plaque at the side of the entrance. Renovated the old derelict hut which stands in there for a base for the Friends of West Lea Cemetery. Flooding reoccurred so I had to fight for new field drains fitted at the lowest bit on the South side. Did the Covid plaque at the other side of the entrance. Garden of Remembrance needed sorting out. The path between the cemetery and St Bennies needed sorting out too so QE11 Memorial Path, again after Bedlington not planned to get one. Now we have the best! New railings along the Front. Worked with Cemeteries management to turn the look of this cemetery around. It’s a popular place to visit these days and the Garden of Remembrance is now filled with flowers on tended plots. Plessey Woods needs a mention too. Went down 8 years ago and spoke to the staff there and saw it was only been used by a few dog walkers. Lobbied for the money to get the new playground done as well as path repairs etc. I got the funding on the proviso that I increased visitor numbers Put on events (children’s and adults) to get people there so they could see what was on offer. Argued for the extra parking area because it was proving that popular now. Had to get double yellow lines outside to stop the indiscriminate parking along Shields Road. Set up a Friends of Plessy Woods group. Continually argued for café and toilets upgrades which are now planned for end of this summer. Came up with the idea of Climbing Boulders as a way of attracting more people down there. Worked on the design, costs and siting with manufacturers and park managers. Should see them soon! More events in the pipeline for this park! Road speeds are an issue in several places, first one to tackle, Hazelmere. The internal roads have now gone to 20 MPH. Also the B1331 as it passes four school entrances……now 20 MPH after being told it wasn’t going to happen! New path opposite Hartford Hall, again after being told it wouldn’t happen. Had to fight to get Bedlington into the mix for a PlayZone but we were eventually. Then loads of fences and hoops to jump to get it actually built. Now being built at West Lea. The first new build leisure facility in Bedlington I can remember! I’ve also had to tackle house builders on behalf of residents and we have residents meetings with them (I’d like to say regularly but………) so problems can be worked out and residents made aware of what’s going to happen. Sensible communications is very often the key! I have documented just about every aspect to this ‘job’ over the last 8 years even to the point of being referred to solicitors when it doesn’t suit one party’s narrative! I’ve told everyone what’s going on, what’s about to happen and the reasons behind the way I’ve voted on most issues. I can’t think of any resident who has been in touch and who I’ve not responded to. We might not get the answer we wanted but all concerns have been forwarded to the right place. In short this is the sort of stuff I’ve been doing for the last 8 years, a lot of which aren’t really the remit of a councillor but hey it’s Bedlington, someone has to do something! This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, and for more examples in much greater detail take a look at the Historical Factoids I posted on my Facebook page: “Malcolm Robinson Bedlington West Ward.” If you vote for me it’s not difficult to work out what you will get! Trying to inject some common sense into the county council instead of the political spin and gyrations of the Political Party’s! ‘Residents First’ because I don’t have a political party to promote and gain benefit for, so the only people who tell me what to say and do are my residents. We don’t go backwards and we don’t leave anyone behind! It’s that simple really!

Welcome back! You are right when you say that there were lodging houses at the entrance to Mugger’s Neuk in 1861. There were in fact two, but in 1851 these were one larger lodging house. As I mentioned earlier, housing was scarce for the increasing workforce so as well as the lodging house which housed 17 lodgers (and the family of three who ran it), there were a further 60 people lodging in the market place within the homes of various families. However, I don’t think your relatives were lodgers of either sort. In 1851 there were no Dixons living in the lodging house or lodging with private families in the area where the lodging house was ie. the market place. If your relative is who I think he is, Charles Dixon with father of the same name and a mother named Dorothy, then he did live in the Market Place just to the left of the Howard Arms when facing that building. Why do I think this? The enumerator’s route, 1n 1851, went from “the first house in the corner below the Cross to the last house at the east end of the town on the same side”. He then crossed the road and enumerated “the south side of the town from the first house in the Mill Yard at the east end to the last house in the Half Closes on the same side”. There was a general lack of postal addresses in the 1851 census as the postal system hadn’t really developed at that time. However, there were schedule numbers for each household in the census documents and certain locations were identifiable by the occupation of the residents – such as “innkeepers” and “grocers” who usually lived on the premises. Looking at the 1851 census for Bedlington, district 2a (which includes the market place), and following the enumerators route, as he himself describes it above, the first house below the cross has schedule number 1. Successive sch. nrs. are given in sequence to the various households along the route. NB. The sch. nr. applies to a household, NOT a building. There may be several households in one building. Continuing eastwards in the enumerator’s footsteps from Muggers corner towards Leadgate House (on the corner opposite the Northumberland Arms) you will find at sch. nr 29 an innkeeper with the unusual surname Petrie. Unfortunately, there is no name to the inn. However, if we look up Petrie in the following 1861 census, we can see that he is in the same position and that his business is the Howard Arms. That sorted out we leave sch. Nr 29, the Howard Arms, and get back onto the enumerator’s route. We don’t have to go far to find Charles and Dorothy Dixon together with 5-year-old Charles Dixon and his siblings because he is at sch. nr 31, almost next door to the tavern. At sch. nrs. 30, 31 and 32 are three small households which probably, but not certainly, occupy the small row of buildings which I’ve arrowed blue in the map below. What I can say with certainty is that Charles Dixon lived in one of the buildings - or the buildings in the yards behind them -which I’ve marked in red.

Its getting pretty acrimonious this election period. First rebuttal, "It seems the Labour canvassers going around today are saying the schemes and projects I’ve listed in my ‘CV’ post are only what I’m claiming to have been part of or done, in other words a figment of my imagination? Well the lists are there if you want to challenge them, Im quite happy to justify each and every one! In fact if you want some more………. Ill just say this in response, we had a Labour councillor for the four years before I got in and he picked up the nickname……..”The Invisible Man!” Lets not go back to those dark days! We have lost trust in the national government in record time, God forbid the same happens to our county!" Second one, "Just by way of a post script to my last ‘political’ post another claim by the Labour canvassers was that I always vote with the Conservatives. Doesn’t take too much effort to show that’s not true either! As part of the last NCC pre Budget presentations all councillors were given a large number of papers to read through. As I said at the time the financials alone were 467 pages. It would seem I was the only one to pick up on the Advance proposals they contained. You might think with tens of millions of pounds at stake it would be a stand alone item but I could only find three quite curtailed references to it. As usual I asked about it because I didn’t understand completely what was intended. Once I had the explanations my words were……….”That’s a deal breaker for me, if I went along with it I couldn’t look my residents in the eyes ever again!” Now I’ve put that in inverted commas because that’s exactly what I said at the time in the faces of the main political and professional players at County Hall and that why I voted against the conservative proposed budget. Fast forward to the recent vote on the restructure of Advance, only a month or so ago, and we see the whole Labour group vote with the conservatives on this issue with only Independents voting against. These days I only believe half of what I see and nothing of what I hear, that might be good advice for residents in what is fast becoming a pretty acrimonious election period. I’m trying to remain positive and not descend to levels others are crawling around in, but it’s hard!"

An honour and a great privilege to lay a wreath today at the Bedlington Cenotaph on this, Remembrance Sunday, on behalf of all residents in my Bedlington West Ward.

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”.

Hi Hi @AvrilG! Welcome to the forum. If Edward was 2 years and 10 months, rather than ‘almost 2’ then I believe that the following is his obituary, published in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle on March 15 1929. My 11-year experience of rummaging through old documents, digital or hard copy, leads me to believe that the churchyard you refer to is Cambois Churchyard. Old newspapers, and therefore digitalised copies, can vary in quality due to the ravages of time. I can understand your mistaking Cambois for Cambels. The letter ‘i’ can look very much like the letter ‘l’ in faded or blurred print (compare the ‘li’ in ‘Bedlington’ next to the MORTON name). Likewise, ‘e’ and ‘o’. It might help you in your search to know that St Andrews (Cambois) was a small church built in the 1860s as the mission church of St Peter (West Sleekburn). West Sleekburn is often referred to as Bedlington Station, as in the obituary. St Andrews didn’t have the full status of a parish church but was supported by the parish. You could say that St Andrews was a ‘subsidiary’ of St Peters (West Sleekburn) which was the parish church of both West Sleekburn and Cambois. St Andrews was, therefore, served by the vicar of St Peters with the help of a non-stipendiary priest until its consecration in 1998 when it became a parish church. All parish records for St Andrews would be held at St Peters (West Sleekburn) until that date. Andy has given you a link to St Andrews and here you can see where St Peters is. Good luck with your search! I have some newspaper cuttings about Edwards death if you would like them.

I had it confirmed this week that West Lea in Bedlington will get its new Playzone. This is something I've been fighting for since they were first considered for Northumberland! Originally 12 were projected, none for Bedlington but I managed to get that decision changed! It represents a substantial investment not just in terms of finance but in leisure activities as well! So for anyone who doesn't know what a PlayZone is, and they are not just for football, here is a taster...........

Seasonal Greetings to all here and wishing you all a happy New Year.

Is that Wilf i can see loitering by the traffic lights? Hopefully it is, cos that means it's officially Christmas! Whoopee!!! A very merry Christmas to everybody. I hope to be a bit more active next year as two eye operations have meant I've had to rely on someone else to read and write for me for a couple of months. Reading has been a little bit easier but only if I lift the laptop to within an inch of my face. However, I'm on the mend now but can't get new specs until the beginning of February when everything is healed. Have a great Christmas and knock hell out of what's left of the year!

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

That's difficult to read even when you zoom in! Try these:

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!!

Hello. I posted on this forum a few years ago and exchanged some info with member @Rigger. Is he/she still around? He posted a photo of the Anvil Inn, Guide Post, which is useful in my researchers. I'm updating my website and the website designer is checking I have copyright to use the photo he posted. I just want to check it's ok to use it, and I will credit him/her as owner of the pic. I think it's good etiquette to credit - it's not right to go lifting stuff off the web. I don't make any money from this, so this is really a courtesy Thanks, all.

my Father was coal minor at isabella pit Jonty jobson as kids the joppa's would steak in and nick the pit props and cut them up for firewood we were chased by the caretaker one night as it happens we got a good hiding good old days the gala every year my first taste of caramac 1950's

Hi Canny Lass,we are now talking about conditions under the National Coal Board which was invested [is that the right word?!]..in 1947,in which Widows were allowed to live in their family home.Remember my Mother was evicted by the coal owners thugs ["Bailiffs"...THUGS]...BECAUSE MY fATHER WAS IN hOSPITAL DYING..AND NOT WORKING DOWN THE PIT WHERE THE OWNERS THOUGHT HE SHOULD BE..THEY HAD NO CONSCIENCE..NO CONCERN ABOUT THE WORKERS AT ALL..BUT IF A PONY WAS INJURED OR KILLED..THERE WAS AN INQUIREY AND THE PONY HANDLER WOULD LOSE HIS JOB AND POOSSIBLY BE JAILED ON TRUMPED UP NEGLIGENCE CHARGES....sorry about caps lock being on..glaucoma now..difficult trying to type and watch the screen..didn't realise it was on!!..I live at West Terrace in Stakeford for thirty years..the first 14 yrs were under NCB ownership,and I paid rent weekly from my pay.Down the street there were several Miner's Widows living with families in those houses.But NOT in the days before 1947!!...The pony's were "hung" onto the tubs or trams with either tracing chains from their collar each side and onto the tub handles,or Limbers..["Limma's"]..Shafts either side attached to a steel yoke and coupled to the tub middle "CockHole"..[I explained a few years ago about that term!...not indecent!!"]..with a Sheckle and Sheckle pin.So they PULLED the tubs along behind them.

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].

Sunak will lose over 150 Tory seats on July 4th. Tony Blair will resurface in some capacity (Starmer owes him, and he owns Starmer). We will get a one-term Labour government that will be in total disarray within 3 years. (maybe less) The Reform Party will win some seat(s) despite the huge FPTP disadvantage. Sunak and his wife will decamp to the USA, tempted by some plumb position. Donald Trump will practically sweep the board in the USA elections. By year-end, Nigel Farage will be appointed US special ambassador to the UK, and Starmer will be forced to go through him. Five out of seven is a win, and 7/7 would cement my pure genius! Feel free to add your own predictions. Go on, you know you want to! BTW Trump does support Starmer already, and I think I can probably see why.

1961: The delight of the MINERS' BRASS BAND PICNIC | Monitor 54 | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive John Gibson introduces us to the brass band carnival and the colliery band contest at Bedlington, Northumberland which occurs each year - as a grand occasion for the family - mixing politics, beauty queens and, of course, music. John was representing Pegswood Colliery in Morpeth, Northumberland, which as he predicted was to soon close, doing so in 1969, some 101 years after it first opened. This short film was directed by Ken Russell. Clip taken from Monitor 54, originally broadcast on BBC Television on Sunday 3 July 1960.

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

Didn't one of those on the left used to be Wemyss (sp?), the wholesale confectioner, back in the mid 1950s? I can remember carting an unstable load of empty crisp tins there on my bogey as an infant. Yes, those packets of crisps with the little blue bag of salt used to come in oversized biscuit tins to keep them fresh. My motive was purely economic - to pocket the deposit on them. Mr Wemyss, however - god rest his soul - wasn't prepared to cough up the going rate, likely embossed on the tins, and all I got was a pittance (or maybe a few sweets) for my trouble. The sweets are long forgotten, but the bitterness lingers on - such is life! 🤣

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.

I know its a few years since the last post on this thread, but I'm doing some family history stuff and searched 2 gate house... it would appear my ancestors lived there between yours! Mine were there in the 1921 census, and moved on by 1939! Thanks so much for that map canny lass!

Seems everyday there is a different attack..........and I am not attacking any other candidates but I am going to defend myself! I don’t normally respond to overtly ‘aggressive’ posts, that’s a one way route, but somehow I’m being accused of ‘hiding’ something about this Members Local Improvement Scheme funding? Not quite sure how seeing as I posted the FULL details of the scheme three weeks ago on 1st April on this page, a page that’s open to public access. I do try and keep my residents informed! So the funding is there, the list of things I’ve supported with it is there along with the costings. Even the cancelled projects are listed so I’m not quite sure what’s been hidden? Members get an allowance of up to £15K PA to ‘spend’ on small projects in their wards. I make sure every penny of mine is spent in the ward or very close to it, if there are things which benefit my residents. Just some very recent examples: First the small path I had been asked to get done opposite Hartford Hall. I had it priced up off NCC and it came back at over £30K. I put in the last of my MLIS funding, just over £10K, and Christine, Bedlington Central, agreed to put in £4K to make it happen. So for the £10K in my pot we got over £30k’s worth of work done. Second one, the QE11 Memorial Path and Garden of Remembrance at West Lea Cemetery. We weren’t getting anything so I badgered the Leader of NCC until he told me to design a scheme and they would consider it for funding out of the QE11 funding NCC had already agreed. I did and eventually got £24K out of them. Along with £1K donation from the Friends of West Lea Cemetery group I put in the rest out of this MLIS funding. So we got over £50Ks worth of work done there. I’ve also put in £5K into the café and toilets upgrades at Plessey Woods which is costing about £300K! So nothing hidden it’s all there in black and white but given the associated funding it unlocks I’m happy to use it for projects which can be ramped up with clear community benefits, some smaller projects like dropped kerbs and bollards to larger projects like the QE11 stuff. Even sharing costs with neighbouring ward councillors on projects with joint benefits makes sense to me.

Then and Now

Well we have finally got the upgrades to the Garden of Remembrance at West Lea Cemetery done and the new QE11 Memorial Path. It’s taken some time but finally we have something we can all be proud of. It’s about tackling a problem by bringing in the right team, trusting them and letting them do what they do best! This new QE11 Memorial Arch has some underlying significance to Bedlington. Firstly I make all my ‘stuff’ in metal as homage to the world famous Bedlington Iron Works 1736-1867. Secondly if you look you will see the arch is outlined by two tubular bars or rails across its length. These pay tribute to John Birkenshaw who invented the malleable steel rails the world came to use for rail tracks. Previously they were made from wrought iron which was too small and too fragile for that use being only 3 feet long Birkenshaw’s were 19 feet long by comparison and incidentally the first rail lines laid in Russia! Next we come to the steam train. Not just any steam train but a scaled version of the De Arned which was the first steam train exported to Holland built in Bedlington. It’s the one I used for the gateway feature at Attlee Park, after getting permission from the national Dutch railway museum to use their full sized replica as a template . We also built the Bayard steam train which went to Italy as well as a host of other steam trains. Interestingly a Bedlington steam train boiler is reputedly in the Smithsonian in America. Of course we couldn’t miss out the world famous Bedlington Terrier which originated here. Originally bred to hunt badgers and game. Again that’s what I used to develop the seats we make which are scattered around the Town and the large one which is the southern gateway feature coming into the Town. When I did that one it caused a bit of consternation amongst some locals but I said people will come from all over to have their picture taken next to it and they have, as far away as Australia and Canada! Lastly we see a rose and it’s not just attributed to Queen Elizabeth as the quintessential English rose. This also represents the Bedlington Rose, a variety specifically developed for Wansbeck District Council but which has now all but disappeared. In fact the last bed I know of is in Bedlington so I’m calling it the Bedlington Rose! The pathway itself which we can walk on to see the rest of the installation was actually quite overgrown with weeds and vegetation along both sides. You couldn’t even see the stone wall for large stretches and the single track was just what walkers had flattened down. It was scraped back, treated, hard-core laid and then fine gravel so we now have a much wider usable path. All in all a fitting tribute to our late Queen. The Garden of Remembrance was somewhere I have wanted to sort out for some time. Previously it was encompassed with overgrown hedging, broken paving, burnt out litter bin and a broken seat. A dark and dingy place which was really just used for nefarious activities. We now have an open aspect, new hooped metal fencing, new entrance arch (which by the way transforms at certain times of the day from the black arch we see into a shining golden arch!), new bespoke seats, new tarmacked surface, new retaining walls, a bust of Queen Elizabeth mounted on a sandstone memorial plinth and fantastic new planting at the back end. Thanks go to: Firstly thanks have to go to the Leader of NCC who must have become that sick of my constant arguing for a QE11 Memorial scheme for Bedlington that he told me to go away and come up with a scheme and he would consider it. So I did just that! After coming up with some designs and ideas I went and saw Chris and Mike at Barrington Metal Works because they turn my very rough drafts and ideas into workable and deliverable products. Not only that they also took on the installation works for much of it. Next I had to get permission off the cemetery management officers. Tony and Stephen agreed and Stephen even suggested expanding on my initial ideas for the Garden of Remembrance so we might get the back path done at the same time. He also sorted out the planting and the main preparation works so huge thanks to him and the lads who did the work. Also thanks to the Friends of West Lea Cemetery group who made a significant contribution to the planting scheme. Of course things don’t go smoothly but with a sustained effort and everyone pulling together we managed to pull the whole project off. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/restoration-bedlingtons-garden-remembrance-hailed-30705914?fbclid=IwY2xjawHl3MRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZ81xblU3F1xe3CqBHdvb2mB3-pLqjYk-MffOsMbtONDKW9x3z4MAL8SrA_aem_chW2-l6eCHTfTri_-CTn3w

Thought you guys might like a look........... 2083ad64-7e6f-47a0-b230-f3b96e429de7 (1).mp4

The awrd initiated by @Bedlingtonian in 2020. Last year, 2023, the members voted for https://www.facebook.com/Thefriendsofwestleacemetery The first three years we had a poll, created by @Andy Millne, and last years was a suggestion that the members agreed with with so no poll. As it has been another quiet year, even for the regulars @Canny lass - @threegee - @Vic Patterson & me, I would suggest the same method as last year but naturally if anyone wants a pool then please ask Andy to set it up. Even Piper has had a quiet year and hasn't even had his coat trimmed for the trophy and is lying down on the job My vote this year would be for Malcolm Robinson. Regardless of his politics he has fought tirlessly for Bedlington and kept us and Facebook members aware of what is going on, or not going to happen, in Bedlington.

HPW - perhaps there's someone near you and on here with a scanner; some of these have software that'll scan handwriting then convert it into text ... any mistakes could be picked up via you proof reading the results and making corrections. The fact that you're using a computer to access this place may mean that your PC may have voice to text software so all you need is a microphone to dictate into ... currently, this type of software is very accurate for 'normal' speech so I don't know how it'll cope with a dialect. You'll recall that we messaged each other previously when I advised you to maybe get an agent for your project ... these folk have loads of resources including contacts who may help with recording/transcribing your story. Also, don't forget that podcasts are huge these days and there may be an additional outlet there for your story. There will be an audience for it. Whatever you do keep writing the stuff and make sure that you leave instructions about what should happen to your archive when you're gone. Don't really worry about your tale being written in pen and ink ... some of our greatest writers used the method (and some still do).

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/cambois-qts-blackstone-datacentre-30040349?fbclid=IwY2xjawFo1G1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHelTQqer6zG_UMIyHLIej9wtdt55fpMWziqjd2EJh_jgRYQLM85ZoS9rQg_aem_Kw40vxjBh9gk9qudhLBkKA

I started by looking for marriages between a male Ivison and a female Warnes and followed up by by looking for an Ivison in passenger lists for Australia 1927. I had a stroke of luck when Robert, Bertha and your mother Margaret Audrey turned up. Even better was that they were accompanied by George Alfred Warnes, his wife and son! I worked backwards from him - if that makes any sense! I've started sending you some files. Hope you enjoy their content.

@Margaret Daley Hi again, Margaret, I think there has been some misunderstanding. Usually when we talk about ”Shiney Row” and ”Railway cottages” in this forum we are referring to the street shown in the above photo and the two cottages at its eastern end. I’ve had a look at your question about the Warnes family in Shiney Row and if your grandmother was Bertha Warnes and your mother Margaret Audrey Ivison then I’m afraid you’re in the wrong Shiney Row. They had their roots not in the street Shiney Row, in Bedlington, but in the village of Shiney Row located about 30 miles south of Bedlington in Penshaw, County Durham . Your great great grandfather William Warnes, born in Norfolk, lived there from about 1881 until his death in 1925 manning the railway signal box at Penshaw junction and occupying one of four cottages reserved for the job – Railway cottages (marked blue on the map below). Shiney Row is today included in the greater area of Houghton - le - Spring. It’s an easy mistake to make. However, your grandmother, Bertha did have some connection with the Bedlington area as your mother’s birth is registered in Ashington (Morpeth registration district) in 1926. There have been several families of Warnes in the Bedlingtonshire area – though not in the town of Bedlington. They lived predominantly in Cambois, which is located in Bedlingtonshire, but seem to have spread themselves over the years to Ashington and Pegswood. The earliest Warnes I’ve found arrived about the same time as William (Late 1800s) and were, like him, also from Norfolk so they may all be related and there may well be Warnes even today. If you would like any of the documentation related to this you can message me an e-mail address and I'll send the files on to you.

Reuters, BBC, Associated Press were all reliable and trusted news sources, even Blyth News Ashington post was good (especially to use as a bleezer!) Daily Mirror was just for the crossword. The Newcastle Journal/Evening Chronicle on line was alright but I gave up fighting all of the advertising. Can't beat Facebook for the real facts.....

part 2. Sorry you've had to wait but my geraniums, fuchsias, dahlias and vegetable patch couldn't! Part 2 The Gibson family When Henry and Hannah Gibson experienced the sorrow of losing a child, albeit an adult child, in 1808 they probably couldn’t begin to imagine the sorrow which their son, Philip, and his wife Ann would start to endure just seven years later. Together, Philip and Ann had at least ten children. The firstborn, Henry born 1814, was followed by son James in 1815 but James lived only one day. The next child, daughter Barbara, was born 1816 and died at just 39 days old. The following year, 1817, a third son is born. He is named William but dies before reaching the age of four. As if this wasn’t enough, Philip’s father, Henry, also dies in 1818 and a further son, John born 1824, dies at the age of ten months. The children James, Barbara, William and John are also remembered on their grandfather’s gravestone, shown in my previous post. What a start to a marriage! Four infant deaths and Ann was probably pregnant on the occasion of each. She must have been a really tough woman – which later history in fact confirms. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Philip and Ann. As well as the firstborn, Henry, there are five other survivors. Ann born 1820, lives to be 58 years old and Philip, born 1822, lives to be 36. At the time of his death, in Keekle near Whitehaven, Cumberland, he was unmarried and engineer to the Whitehaven Cleator and Egremont Railway. His sister Elizabeth, born 1827, dies also in Cumberland unmarried at the age of 69. Brother James, born 1829, reaches the age of 49 and the youngest, another Barbara* born 1916, attains the great age of 85 years. (*it was then common practice to re-use the names of children who had previously died. These were family names intended to ’live on’ in the family). Where in Bedlington the family lives is initially difficult to determine as postal addresses were almost non-existant but here is ample evidence that the family resided in Bedlington’s East End where the family business is recorded as early as 1814 and by 1841 it is evident that Philip and Ann lived in a house on Front Street in Bedlington’s East End and adjacent to the entrance to Bell’s Place – the house which now has a blue plaque. About the time of baby Henry’s birth in 1814, Philip’s entrepreneurial side comes into evidence when he, a grocer and draper, branches out into the world of iron goods – more specifically, nail making. His location on Front Street East is perfectly situated for this enterprise, just a stone’s throw from the Bebside slit mill which could provide materials (shown below on Greenwood’s map of 1828) and the river Blyth which provided a means of transport for the finished product by keel boat to the port of Blyth for further distribution nationwide – and perhaps even world wide, as the British Empire grew. Just where Philip’s workshop was located isn’t known and initially there may not have been any workshop. Nail-making was, at least in the Midlands, predominantly a cottage industry and I can find nothing to suggest that it wasn’t so even in Bedlington. The master nailer would purchase rods of iron from the slitting/slit mill. These were then distributed to nailers who hammered a point at one end and a flat head at the other. The finished article was then collected for shipment and the nailer was paid for his work which more often than not took place in a lean-to shed at a simple two up one-down nailer’s cottage which probably housed two families. This had the benefit that even wives and children could help in the work. Well worth a read is https://bromsgrovenailmaking.wixsite.com/nail-making/untitled-c139r a graphic description of the nail trade in Bromsgrove. The type of trade described there had it’s negative aspects in regard to payment of nailers though I am not suggesting that the Gibson family were engaged in anything of that nature. However, at some point Philip did have a workshop and it is documented that his son Henry ”after leaving school, served his apprenticeship as a chainmaker with his father” and worked at his trade for many years in ”his father’s workshop” (Morpeth Herald 12 APR 1902). In 1941 Philip, then about 50 years old, gives his occupation only as ”grocer” and his sons Henry and Philip, appear to have become involved in the industrial side of the business which has developed to include chainmaking. The youngest son, James, is still at school but will, on leaving, join the firm. Sadly, some five years later in 1846, Philip passes away after a short illness, aged 59 years. He is also buried in St Cuthbert’s churchyard. The business falls to his widow, Ann who continues to run it with the help of sons Henry, Philip and James. By 1855 the nail and chain manufacturing side of the business has expanded to include a blacksmith’s shop. The drapery side of the business has ceased to exist but in its wake appears an ironmonger’s business. Philip and James are named as managers of all aspects of the business. While Henry seems to concentrate on chain-making. The family clearly has a goodhead head for business and now has a finger in several of Bedlington’s trade and industry pies. To be continued. Note: It’s always difficult with ages and dates unless birth and marriage certificates are obtained. It is therefore advisable to think +/- 2 years on everything.

Hello Lee - I am the person creating the toontimes website. I had a Quick Look on the BNA website for your grandfather and found a couple of snippets from 1927 - I’ll do a bit more looking over the coming weeks and post again.

Coming soon! This is an interesting family and I've been researching them this week. I'll post soon, probably on John Dawson's thread The Last of the Nailers. It will probably be long so it may need a few posts.