johndawsonjune1955

This is a story of an interesting coincidence. The other day we were discussing World War II. In the bitter struggle of 1914-18 and in wars long before that, the men of Bedlington did their part in the bitter battles. To see if we could find anything which might throw some light on this reference to the wars beyond 1914-18, I looked into the groups records and there was the interesting coincidence facing me - an account of four soldier sons of Mr. Will Corby, a sexton, of Bedlington. Anyone related to this family ? Just thought the forum members would find this interesting and post it. All four sons, Thomas, George, Robert and William, served with the Duke of Wellington's forces which fought the army of Napoleon in the Peninsular War (1808-1814) A member of the gallant 42nd, or Highland Watch, Thomas was with Sir John Moore in the celebrated retreat of Corunna, but was mortally wounded in a later action at Burgos, in Spain. George Corby took part in most of the Spanish campaigns without injury. After peace he went with his regiment to the West Indies, where he remained his appointed time, but on his passage home he fell ill and died. Robert, who was in the 2nd Foot, or Queen's Regiment, also shared in the retreat of Corunna. He held on grimly till Corunna was reached, but at the last stage of that terrible night march from Lugo proved more than he, and many others, could stand. A severe storm of wind and rain, mixed with sleet, burst upon the troops, and it was stated that Robert died from sheer fatigue. As a result of his health failing, William was discharged from the Army, so that he was the only one of these four Bedlington brothers who lived to return to his native heath. On further research we find that Mr. Will Corby had a fifth son, John, who, however, lost a leg in his youth. John was never heard to bemoan the loss of his limb, except on the ground that the misfortune had prevented him joining the Army.

Here is a brilliant story for the forum members. Enjoy 137 years ago two young East Northumberland brothers, worried because of the declining number of jobs in the coal mining industry, decided to start a new life in Australia. Nowadays, the journey is comparatively safe and a comfortable one, but not so then. For they set out knowing that they were almost certainly leaving the land of their birth for-ever and heading to a country still largely unknown. Their trip was by sailing ship, horse and cab, train and foot. Diesels buses and cars were still inventions of the future. But they made it. The two brothers were Isaac and Thomas Hetherington, who were to become two of the first to emigrate "Down-under,†from East Northumberland. To tell his family back in Bedlington just what the journey was like, one of the brothers, Thomas, kept a diary of the passage from London to the thriving coalfield of New South Wales. It is an enthralling tale, written by the hand of a man with virtually no schooling and whose only way of putting across what he had to say was to write what he saw and felt in plain and simple language. He sent the diary home where it lay forgotten for many years, but it has eventually turned up for the Sixtownships to digest how hard it was for them in tackling this journey and the group has given permission for me to share it with the forum members of Bedlington.co.uk Here are extracts from the diary of this young pitman. London, January 5th, 1886. Dear brothers and sisters. I write to let you know that we landed at King's Cross safely but very cold and they told us we would have to wait a good bit before we could get a train for Aldgate Street, so we took one of the Company cabs. After that we had our dinners then we down the main street from our lodgings at White Chapel Street to try to get to the end of it, but we had to turn back after about walking about two hours and a half. When we were coming back we met more funerals than there is coal sets goes past besides when they are all at work. It is astonishing how many people you see here and not know anyone. January 6th: We left Fenchurch at half past nine and reached Gravesend at eleven o'clock. Then we went straight on to the Austral. It snowed all the time till we got our luggage out. We had a cold time of it. January 7th. We sailed from Gravesend about ten o'clock. It was very thick with fog. We had to drop our anchor after we went a short distance. Then it cleared away a bit. We tried again but we did not go very far till we had to stop again for all night. January 8th: We drew our anchor and set off again. When we were passing Dover there was a man along with us belonging Shields, the name of Dixon. He comes to me and says he had a good mind to get out and take the train to Cardiff. After that he said he had lost his bunk and we had to take him to it. Then he picked up all his clothes and came on deck and came right along and said he must not lose the train and he was just going to jump overboard with them when they stopped him. The doctor got hold of him and took him away. We had a grand concert in our cabin last night. There was a good few passengers sick after she started to rock a little. You can very nigh throw a stone into Dover you go that nigh to it. January 9th: We left Plymouth after staying about one hour. J. Todd had to go before the doctor and tell them about Dixon. When he was coming out Dixon asked him if he was not going to pack his luggage up and catch the train. They say on board that he is right off his chump. There is a lot of passengers sick today. Isaac and J. Todd had to go to bed. We entered the Bay of Biscay about seven o'clock. January 10th: We had sailed 331 miles from Plymouth by half past twelve o'clock. They say she is going about 14 or 15 miles an hour. We had a birth on board today, but it was dead. We have had a good passage through the Bay of Biscay. We got through about ten o'clock at night. We sighted the lights of Cape Finisterre, that is just after you pass out of the Bay. January 11th: We are in the Atlantic Ocean now, we have run about 350 miles since yesterday. They buried the child today. January 12th: We saw a shoal of porpoise pigs today. They were still diving about in the water. We have gone 320 miles today. We passed Gibraltar Rock about two o'clock. There is some very high mountains just after you pass by it. We are going through the Mediterranean now. January 13th: We have gone 342 miles and there is a good many passengers sick today. January 14th: We have run 332 miles. We are going past a place they call Sardinia. January 15th: Today we ran 320 miles and got to Naples about one o'clock. It is a nice place to look at. As you are coming into it we stopped close by the burning mountain of Mount Vesuvius. The smoke was coming right out the top of it. The flames were coming right out of the mountain at night when we were leaving. January 16th: Morning we are passing through the Straits of Messina. Italy is on one side and Sicily on the other. I think it is better scenery than Naples. There is a great high mountain right along and houses right along the bottom of them. January 17th: The sea is running very high and she is pitching up and down just like a sailing vessel. There is one young lad belonging to the ship got washed down on the deck and was hurt a little. We have gone 200 miles since yesterday, but we have just been going half speed for a good few hours/ Three parts of the passengers is sick. The times I am writing this the water is coming over the fore-end and some of it is coming down our cabin steps. Isaac and the other two were all sick today and it was very rough right up till about two or three o'clock in the morning. It was as good as a play in our cabin, the boxes and tins were rolling about in all directions. January 18th: It is a good deal calmer today but she is rolling from one side to the other, but we are going a great deal faster. It is a grand sight to see the water running so high but it makes you feel rather queer. January 19th: We have had a good run today, 352 miles. We arrived at Port Said about ten o'clock at night. We are there. It is a nice little place to look at but I think it is about as bad a place as anybody could go into. The public houses is all like concert halls. There was two fiddle bands there half of them were women. You should see them carrying the coals onboard. They are just like a lot of black devils. They carried about 1,300 tons on in about 13 hours. It was just like being on the pit heap everything was that black. Nearly all the men are dressed like women some of them like a priest. All the women that I saw going about the street you could not see anything but their eyes they had something like a net hanging down from their mouth. January 20th: It is just like a summer day here. I hardly know that I have been born till now. We left Port Said about one o'clock but we did not get very far up the canal till we had to stop and let two ships past. We had to go very slow up. It is just like going up the river at the Furnace it is so narrow. Note: The Furnace he refers too is Bedlington Furnace. January 21st: We passed through the Ismailia Lakes this morning. We had a lot of little Arabs running alongside of us. We were throwing them biscuits. It is a pleasant sail up the canal. We reached Suez about five o'clock at night. We left about one o'clock in the morning again. I have heard often about the sandy deserts but I have seen none of them till now. January 22nd: We are in the Red Sea now. We passed Mount Sinai. We are close into shore at both ends. January 23rd: The sun is that hot today they have put a canvas right over the deck to shade it off. We are right out of sight of land. January 24th: I saw a good sight at night looking over the side of the ship. The porpoises in the water was shining just like stars. The water was that smooth you could hardly know you were going. January 26th: We passed through the Straits into the Gulf of Aden sometime in the night. We reached Aden about half past nine in the morning. January 27th: They were trying what depth of water there was. They got to 80 fathoms and they were not at the bottom. We passed Cape Guardaful at night. They say it is about 300 miles from Aden then you enter the Indian Ocean. January 29th: We saw a lot of flying fish this morning. They are very small but some of them fly 30 or 40 yards. We get boiled rice and condensed milk twice in a week now. Anyone coming out should fetch a sheet with them the blankets are too warm and the straw beds are beginning to smell. January 30th: We had a bit of a disturbance in our cabin today. There was a few not satisfied with the meat we are getting and they are trying to get a paper signed to send to the chief steward but they failed. Taken on the whole I think it is very fair and they try to keep you as clean as possible. You can eat your meat off the boards. You have got to alter your language a good deal or they cannot make out what you say. There is about eight of us from Northumberland. January 31st: We crossed the line today. February 1st: We had to sleep on deck last night. You could not stop down below it was that hot but they waken you at four o'clock on deck to get them washed. There was two or three men saying that they dare not leave the port holes open in the fine weather that she was not fit to carry passengers. February 2nd: We passed five island this morning. They were all full of coconut trees. We arrived at Diego Garica aboot two o'clock. February 5th: We had another death onboard last night. An old woman about 70. It would have been something fearful if it had been hot this time because you cannot get them to keep the port holes open. February 6th: We are beginning to get rather weary of it now. You think it is a long time before you get across the Indian Ocean because you cannot see anything but water on all sides. February 7th: They say we are through the hottest of it now what they call the Tropics. There is very few onboard knows what part we belong to. Some of them asks us if we have come from Ireland and others Wales so we are highly honoured. February 8th: I was up in the morning soon on and I saw the seven stars - what we call Charlie and his waggon. I had a dream one night and thought the ship was coming down the Hathery Lane and we got into Swan's field and was going sailing about it. It has been a good deal cooler this past day or two. We passed a sailing vessel today, the first we have seen in the Indian Ocean. The heat was too much for brother Isaac's fiddle, it made the tail piece give way. February 11th: We had J. Dawn on shaving us. He did very well for the ship to be going. I was looking to be getting my throat cut. It is the whole talk now how long it will be before we get to Adelaide. February 12th: We sighted the shores of Australia today. Everyone was looking out. You would well nigh say we had never seen land before and everybody seemed that pleased. February 13th: We are out of sight of land again today. We have made a mistake in not bringing a few books to read on our journey. February 16th: We passed the Kangaroo Islands in the morning. They say it is about 108 miles from the starting of them to Adelaide. We reached Adelaide about 12' o'clock. I saw in the papers here that there had been some rioting in London and that there was going to be a meeting with the Socialists. I hear that Gladstone got into Parliament again. February 17th: All along the coast here you can see the smoke rising. You should have seen me and J. Todd on patching his trousers. We made a grand job of them. There was a shirt hung on deck today after it had been washed and you could see the great big lice running on it. February 18th: We put into Melbourne Bay. February 19th: We were up at Melbourne. It is something like Newcastle in England but the streets are a great deal wider. February 20th: We left Williamstown Pier at two o'clock in the afternoon. This is nothing like the same country here today it is that much colder. February 21st: The sea is rather roughish today but we are going very well. With her pitching many a time when we are eating our meals our plates would be sliding up and down and you just had to get a bite when they were going past. The following day Thomas and Isaac Hetherington arrived at Sydney and on Thursday February 25th they landed at Newcastle. They found Australia far from being the promised land but despite hearing of unemployment and poor pay soon found work at nearby Wallsend Colliery. Thomas ends his tale: "This is the country for young men. If I keep my health I think I will bide here altogether.†Yes a tale from long ago and so interesting as its from our neck of the woods.

Here some interesting history for you all. What do you think ? The patron saint of miners is St Barbara. Her sainthood is due to her virginity and martyrdom but her patronage of miners owes more to her father by whom she was martyred for converting to Christianity. In retaliation for her murder, her father was struck dead by lightning. This act caused Barbara to be regarded by ordinary people as the patron saint in time of danger from thunder-storms and fire; thus later, by analogy, she became the protector of artillerymen and miners. However, Barbara is also an Arabic word which means to talk confusedly, in a strange tongue. In folktales miners are often depicted as gnomes who possess infinite, but seldom lasting, riches. The association with gnomes is all pervasive and extends back to the earliest mythologies and religious beliefs. In Chinese mythology the creator is Pán G? who is often depicted in art as a horned gnome holding a hammer and chisel. This first of all living things was undoubtedly a miner. He hewed the universe from blocks of granite. This task took him 18,000 years and then he died. His death was the final act of creation: all things which he had not hewn from granite were created from his bodily remains. The mythology is particularly explicit about minerals and geology: his blood became the rivers of the earth, his bone marrow became the gemstones, his bones and teeth became the metals and minerals, his flesh became the soil and his muscles became the earth's strata. Gnomes and goblins are associated with mining in Britain from the earliest times and every mining district has its own named goblin spirits which both tormented and protected the miner. One such is Bellikan, the god of prospecting, the imp of good luck. Unlike the virginal Barbara, Bellikan is completely naked and shows every satisfaction with his state. The mining historian, Thomas Rickard, described him as "having a knowing smile, as if the contentions of the experts were a joke to him and as if the trappings of technology were a costume out of date. He himself wears nothing only the smile of happy days." Blue-caps were mine spirits in the North of England. The following account appeared in The Colliery Guardian in May 1863: The supernatural person in question was no other than a ghostly putter, and his name was Blue-cap. Sometimes the miners would perceive a light-blue flame flicker through the air and settle on a full coal-tub, which immediately moved towards the rolly-way as though impelled by the sturdiest sinews in the working. Industrious Blue-cap required, and rightly, to be paid for his services, which he moderately rated as those of an ordinary average putter, therefore once a fortnight Blue-cap's wages were left for him in a solitary corner of the mine. If they were a farthing below his due, the indignant Blue-cap would not pocket a stiver; if they were a farthing above his due, indignant Blue-cap left the surplus where he found it . Knockers were Cornish mine spirits who knocked to indicate where rich tin ore was to be found. They were supposed to be the ghosts of Jews who worked the mines, and primitive smelting houses sometimes found in the mines were called 'Jew's houses'. Many Jews did join the Cornish mines in the 11th and 12th centuries, but tradition puts their working much earlier. The mine goblins of England had names of their own, Coblynau, Cutty Soams, Dunters, Knockers and the like, but there was one kind that was imported into English literature in the 17th century, and was so often mentioned as to be almost proverbial - 'the goblins who laboured in the mines'.

Lets get some interested names for thew steering group on here and get it rolling.

I knew Cliffy Hunter and his family, John his son, knocked about with me. They moved from Barnton to Guide Post Morpeth Road estate. Alan and Geordie Dickson, do you remember them two lads ?As a kid we went over to the old clay pit to knock about and the tip to shoot vermine. Not just vermine, but anything. Remember shooting out the face of an old grandfather clock one day. Think i should have taken it, worth a few bob these days.

That must be Brian Ward the newsagent ? Lovely family they are. Don't know if Brian is still around. I aint seen his son Kenneth neither for a few years. He took the business over at Guide Post, The Square, and when they moved into the post office i think they sold up. I just aint seen any of them for a few years really.I delivered papaers at Guide Post for them back in the 60s when at school.

Not in Bedlington. But Dinnington Colliery was for sure. Its the only colliery i know of locally with women.The group also have records of a women underground at Netherton Colliery. Funny thing about the story tho was that her husband was on the coal face and the face was near the shaft. She actually went underground to give her husband his bait. Hard to believe, but you can only go by records that have nbeen left and this was the story. I will try and get the records together to share with the forum members when i can. Hopefully soon, as the names of the family are also on record. Look at our DVD "Coal Queens" Fantastic accounts of women working in the pits. Mostly women worked on the surface in Scotland and the Wigan districts. But as i say previously they did work at Dinnington. There is another DVD available online "Women and Mining in Scotland" I purchased it a year ago, what an account by women who did the job. They tell you the info you want to know, but with still pics. Worth buying if your interested. Coal Queens by Sixtownships has lots of footage too. But the Scotland one is good, just to look at their faces telling you the story speaks for the hard graft they did. Type it in Google and it should come up.

Thanks for putting me right on that.

What about asking for help from the local councilor. I have heard that they get a sum of money (like for funding) and they put it into the community in what ever way they want. I now know of a councilor who has done that localy very very close to Bedlington.

Very good comments of late, and let us see how we can progress on this memorial now. I am looking forward to it beginning.

It is a good idea Keith and worth doing. I was thinking last night about the memorial. I think when you look at the whole picture Bedlington is the place for a single memorial in memory of those who lost their lives working for coal. We had the Northumberland Miners Picnic held here on numerous occastions and they came from every colliery for that. So yes, Bedlington should be the place for this memorial. You dont need one in every village, just one splendid memorial erected in Bedlington itself would be all that is needed. You could also include memorial garden too for people to sit and maybe have a few thoughts of loved ones. Yes Keith, your idea too is good. I think we have actually got it right and it should be moved on to another level. Why not form a memorial committee and then it can progress. Comments welcome

Chatting to Mark about 30 minutes ago and think this should be included in Mining Fatalities. I agreed with him. On January 19th, 1957, at the Netherton Hall opencast coal site, 49 year old Irish ganger Martin McNicholson, of Co-operative Street, Chester-le-Street, was killed by a hail of rocks following blasting. The story begins when at 9.45 a.m. on the morning of the unfortunate accident, Edward Bell, a shot-firer, drilled nine holes, 10feet deep into the stone and charged each with 6 ¼ lbs of Gelignite and two 10 lb bags of nobelite. Bell then told Mr. McNicholson that the charges were ready to be detonated and he gave instructions that the personnel and machinery had to be moved to a safe distance. Bell then gave two warning blasts on a whistle as he was quite satisfied no one was nearby and retired 80 yards from the point of the intended explosion in the southerly direction. Mr. McNicholson, who was standing on a ledge about 30 feet from Bell, with another Irish ganger, Joseph Gallagher, then gave the signal to fire. When the explosion went off a considerable amount of debris flew straight up and went towards the two officials and Bell, who put his hands over his head and fortunately nothing hit him. However, stones were in the air flying towards McNicholson and Gallagher who started to run to escape. The stones were falling all around them and McNicholson was struck down by the debris. Gallagher noticed a stone about 10 lbs in weight lying beside McNicholson and shouted to Bell who saw Mr. McNicholson lying face upwards on the ground. Bell then ran over to assist and saw he was unconscious and breathing badly after being struck in the lower back by the stones. At the inquest the jury heard how previous explosions at the site had been perfect, but on this occasion the rock had gone up straight in the air. A verdict of accidental death as a result of shock and injuries received following an explosion was returned on the unfortunate man.

Yeh the group is trying hard, and may they continue.Derek says he will keep uploading whats on our private website to update the public one. Maybe get more pics up on it. Have you seen the update yey Keith ?

cracking ideas keep them coming and maybe Malcolm can help us out. What you think Malcolm

The tubs are beginning to look a bit hard up. Its a shame really.The Choppington High Pit has a cracking info on the place in a large case for people to read. Pics of people underground too. Very interesting. However, i believe it has been defaced in the passed. Just shows you what some people are like. Disrespectful of their heritage. However, the good people do try and there are some very good and decent people on the is forum who care and want to see something done to remember certain aspects of their heritage. Coal mining is definately a good priority for the future.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of miners, including young boys, have lost their lives while working in the pits, not only in Northumberland, but the whole of the country. Now, painstaking research by the Six Townships Community History Group is helping to keep their memory alive. We are currently putting together accounts of how these miners died in the Bedlingtonshire, Wansbeck, Blyth and Morpeth areas. Tyneside Collieries is online too. Deaths in coal mines were a sad and inevitable part of life in the colliery communities. Mining disasters claimed many lives and these tragic events often made the headlines, but today only a few of the worst colliery disasters are ever remembered. In truth there are simply too many deaths and disasters to recall and, like casualties of war, most mine deaths are only remembered as statistics. Attempts are being made to compile definitive statistics on how many men were killed in the mines in our locality, but it is an almost impossible task and we will probably never know the true figure. Read for yourself how these miners died in the bowls of the earth. They should never be forgotten. Latest update to the sixtownships website is now online. It is all about coal mining fatalities in our area and Tyneside http://www.sixtownships.org.uk Latest update to the sixtownships website is now online. It is all about coal mining fatalities in our area and Tyneside

Yes Micky i agree with you. And, starting this topic has given food for thought on the memorial side of things. Maybe Malcolm can come up with ideas. Like funding to get them made and erected in the area. Maybe the Coalfields Regeneration Trust can help ? In fact i am sure they can. Maybe start with one at a time and move on to other localities in our area. Our website has now been updated with 3 pages of coal mining fataliteis. They are in our archives under coal mining deaths. You know asking for funding is not hard, i believe, just get things together and off you go. I recon Malcolm may know the score on this one Micky, and a good and interesting topic it is. One final comment to Lone Ranger, sorry if this topic offends you. However, same as war this is not nice too. Don't watch tele programmes on the WAr either. Mind you, i still think they are very interesting to watch. Luckily, i was never in a war, maybe i was, when Thatcher took the miners on 1n 1984-85. However luckily enough i was never a soldier, a miner ! yes, but still as you know a dirty, dangerous and hard graft it was. It cost lives, and robbed families of a loved one. Not nice at all, and it must have been so hard to pick the pieces up after a tragic death. http://www.sixtownships.org.uk

I won't get dragged into a dispute, but i think you are not understanding the topic.I am an ex miner too, nearly killed underground, and two other near accidents. One when the water broke in at Ellington Colliery in 42 s flat at number four pit. Might give you them stories one day. We are not glorifying death underground or on the surface etc. We are discussing it, and the accidents are terrible whatever form and my condolences go out to anyone who lost loved ones whilst working in the mines, as i am sure other members of the forum are too. However some of the replies from the start of the topic have had an interest in it, and i agree that something fitting should really be in place for the victims of mining accidents. Why not just like a war memorial, however, we do not know everyone who sadly lost their lives. But maybe something to say in their memory. When i look around and see a coal tub in the areas of mines i now rethink because of this topic. We never know as something could always be forthcoming in the future to remember the sacrifice of those sadly killed and in the most tragic of circumstances as they all were when someone lost their life. The final point i will put to you is that there are relatives out there who maybe would like to know what happened to a loved one that lost their life in the mines. More so with family trees being a big thing these days. This could be valuable information for them, but remember i dont think it is glorifying death, i believe it is important to record and share information as has another forum user on here about his father, bless him, that sadly he never knew, and was robbed of in his quest to bring a wage home to support his family and hoping to give his family a better future. I know i went to work for that same reason down the mine. It aint as if i loved it, but it paid canny money, and i thought i had a job for life. Well, thats all i can say at the moment, but one final thing has just come to mind, just like war, death in the mines is so sad. And remember, Britain depended on coal and the sacrifice in the mines when the ultimate price was paid was the same as war, and in many other industries, very sad indeed. We are not glorifying death at all. We are discussing it, and bringing true stories to light for people to understand, and hopefull remember those who did pay the ultimare sacrifice when Britain needed coal. God bless them all, and my heart goes out to all those who lost a loved one, and i know the forum members will feel just like i do, not only in the mines, but other industries too. But recording these tragic events should continue, as it should never be forgotten what price they paid to support their families. I was nearly one of those too.

As promised Keith, The Character of the Working Collier The working collier delights in gardening, he is a bird fancier, and a dog fancier also. In all rural games of the district he excels. He can throw the quoit well, and "thumb it in†most dextrously if required, he is the truest shot at a target, the best bowler in the summer, and sometimes the best jumper. He keeps the best bred and fattest pig, the most choice and best singing canary, and sometimes, unfortunately for himself the best fighting dog. He grows the best potatoes, the finest cabbages, and frequently cultivates the most choice and rare turnips. The collier would not exchange his occupation for any form of day labour above ground, and give him full work, his regular pay, and the means of following the cherished pursuits afforded by a private garden with the comforts of a clean cottage, and few labourers are more contented and happy. It is true a thoughtless and negligent employer may reserve much of this feeling. If the man is sent day after day into a mine carelessly ventilated, he becomes himself careless. If he has no means of home comfort above ground in house or garden, he may become dissipated and neglected, in respects it is not to be wondered at that under such circumstance he becomes reckless. A deficiency of regular employment, from whatever cause, produces discontent, not only with the collier, but amongst all classes dependant on their labour.

Thanks Keith. I can only imagine what your mother went through. Very hard indeed. You know many miers were pigeon fanciers. If i get time i will post you the character of the working collier. It is very interesting. Again, Thanks for sharing your story.

That must have been so hard Vic. He probably began on the surface (the screens) and odd jobs or underground as a trapper boy.

In perfect health they left their homes, not knowing their time had come. A sudden change upon them fell, no time to bid their friends farewell.

I cant believe how far back some of our archives go. Just look at this, 1841 On March 15th, 1841, five men were repairing the shaft of Cowpen North Pit, Blyth, when a heavy fall of old material from the sides crashed down upon the cradle in which they were suspended to carry out their job. Four of the men, James Reay, Joseph Wright, Stephen Heron and Francis Reay, were hurled to the bottom of the shaft and killed instantly. The other man, William Heron, caught hold of some timber attached to the side of the shaft and managed to hold on to his precarious position until help arrived and he was rescued.

Read this and see how easy an accident can happen. It could have easily resulted in death when you think about it. However, these stories make fascinating reading for anyone interested in coal mining. On November 26th, 1916, at the Dr. Pit, Bedlington, owned by the Bedlington Coal Company, two miners, Alexander Carney and Jonathan Harrison, both shifters, were clearing up a gateway in the Plessey Seam, using the debris to build a pack. They kept the larger stones for last and it was whilst Harrison, who was standing ankle deep in water, was throwing one of these large stones that one of them rebounded and struck him on the left leg which resulted in it being cut. The left leg was immediately bandaged and the two men continued and finished their shift.

This poem, by the late David P. Allison who was our Chairman. When Coal Was King Of this life I remember one thing I can recall when coal was King Young, strong, keen and fit I ended up at the pit You started out on the heap But longed to go in the deep Soon enough your turn came round You got a job underground Driving ponies or filling coals Packing stones or drilling holes Day after day, Year after year In dust and dark old age grew near Time to rest these weary bones In a little house at the Easton Homes Some were not as lucky as me They gave their lives for the N.C.B. For These brave hearts I proudly sing Can you remember when coal was King? D. P. Allison.