Carole

Hi Maureen, I found your personal message first so I think you should have my message and email by now. I'm so pleased that I happened to have a photo that really means a lot to you. I inherited all my family photos from my Dad last year and I have been gradually going through them and scanning selected ones. When I came across my Mum's slide of the old Co-op at Netherton I admit that at first I wondered why on earth she had photographed a burned out building. Just as well that she did. I think you may well be right that it's the only photo in existence of the old Co-op. I agree that it's a shame that the old Co-op building was pulled down. The whole building would have made a fantastic house, and it would have been a real labour of love to restore it. From the photo it looks as if it could have been saved, but I suppose it didn't make financial sense at the time. At least they kept part which had been the Manager's house so the memory of what used to be there hasn't completely gone. I feel quite choked that virtually all trace of the colliery and colliery housing has gone, as if all that history has been wiped away. Maybe people who had to work at the colliery wouldn't feel the same, I don't know. I'm glad to have received your email address so that I could send you the other aerial photo which I don't think I should put up on the website - copyright, and all that. I'd take you up on your offer of a drink (and buy you one in return) but I now live at the other end of the country and I don't get back to the North East very often. My last visits to Netherton were to my great aunt who spent the last few years of her life at Howard House when it was a Care Home. She died in 1999 and I haven't been to Netherton since then. Before she moved into Howard House she lived at Nedderton, opposite the old school. I used to get up to see her as often as I could, and take her out. After a trip out she always wanted to end up at the Shangri-La cafe at Bedlington. If I turn up any more photos I'll make sure that I get them to you.

There is a copy of a postcard showing this Zeppelin over Blyth on the Northumberland Communities wesite - check this link: http://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/005594.htm Mind you, the website does point out that it looks suspiciously like a fake because no-one in the street is taking the slightest notice of the huge airship going overhead.

Inspired by Cympil's post of Netherton Pitmen, I have scanned some of old family photographs taken at Netherton Colliery. There are a lot of people I can't identify, but someone else might recognise them. Thanks to everyone who has sent me helpful and encouraging messages. I don't know if I'm going to get my photos in properly but I'll give it a go ... The first photo was taken in about 1911. The man 3rd right (with his ‘bait' under his arm) is my grandfather, Edward Rochester, known as Ned. He became a winding engineman at Netherton, and worked until he was 69. He died only 2 years later. I was 6 when he died but I remember him well. He was a lovely man, very kind to me when I was a child. The young lad on the left is Tommy Harrison, also called Percy by some (his middle name). His older sister later married my grandfather, so Tommy was my great uncle. When the First World War broke out he ran away and joined the army and he was sent to France. His parents contacted the army authorities because Tommy was only 16 and he was sent home. He did it again the next year and this time his parents decided to let him go. He served with the Scottish Regiment of Horse, surviving the Western Front and Battle of the Somme. After the War he worked as an engine fitter at Netherton Colliery. The slightly older lad second left is Joe Swann, Tommy's cousin. Joe also became a winding engineman. He worked at the Hall Pit (near Nedderton village) while my grandfather worked at the Howard Pit. I don't know who any of the others are. The second photo was taken at Netherton Colliery in about 1915, I think, but I'm not sure of the exact year. The man on the far left is Michael Harrison who was my great grandfather. He was the colliery engineer. The 3rd photo is of French Flag Day in 1915, a fundraising event for The Great War held in the grounds of Howard House at Netherton. My great aunt Kitty Harrison is 3rdleft but I can't identify anyone else. 4th is a photo of a Netherton Chapel outing in about 1917. I can only identify 3 people, Joe Rochester back row right, my grandfather's older brother, and Joe's 2 children Billy and Kitty front right and 3rd right. 5th photo is of the Pecketts engines at Netherton Colliery. The Office Row houses are behind. My great grandparents Michael and Thomasine Harrison and their 8 children lived in the house on the end of the row. 6th is Netherton football team in 1921. My grandfather Ned Rochester is 3rd left in the back row, but I don't know who any of the others were, and I don't know what the trophy was. 7th is a photo of some of the children at Netherton School in 1924. My Dad is front left (with his front teeth missing at the time) but I can't identify any of the others. 8th photo is Michael Harrison, my great uncle, and brother of Tommy in my first photo. He worked at Netherton as an engine fitter. He was a member of the underground rescue team even though he was a surface worker (perhaps because he was exceptionally strong). This photo was taken just before he was lowered down a disused shaft to look for a man who had gone missing, I think in the 1930s. Michael put on extra layers of jackets to try to give him some protection in the shaft. He told the family about the eerie experience of finding wooden coal tubs fully loaded and still in good condition, as if waiting to be raised up the shaft. He though he might be crushed when crawling under rotting bratishes to search for the missing man, but he wasn't there.

Thanks Threegee. I'm just beginning to work out how to use the website. I've got a few old photos of people at Netherton which I will upload.

Thanks for the information, I'll have a look at Photobucket.

Thanks for the kind message Jojo. Other people obviously know how to get their photos into their message but I couldn't see how to do it properly. Anyway, I hope Maureen finds it because I'm pretty sure it's what she's looking for.

Hello Maureen, I think this might be what you're looking for. The photo was taken by my Mum in 1963 when visiting relatives who used to live at Howard House. Carole