Canny lass

Thanks Symptoms.

Well thanks for that. I've had it all wrong for years!

Good question, Adam!

In Old English Bede is actually spelled 'Baed' and comes from the Word meaning to pray. However, I Think Cuthbert was his pupil so Bede was probably named before Cuthbert died. Didn't Bede die Before Cuthbert?

Or a tattooist, Merc. How on Earth does Bedlington support two tattoo parlours?

Maggie, i Think we can Believe Bosworth. His work is still a leading source of information within linguistics. It's almost a couple of hundred years old but is still reprinted, with amendments and modifications, even today. However, let's not be mislead by the entry quoted by Eggy (good work finding that Eggy). 'Baed' has other meanings. For example it's also the past tense of a verb 'beddan' which means to pray. Still used in the Scandinavian languages as 'bad' (prayed) and even in the English language, albeit archaic, as 'bade' (asked).

I Think most houses in Haig Rd., Beatty Rd. and Cornwall Crescent had arches. It was a modernity of the time to bring the outdoor toilet 'indoors'.

This is an interesting one Eggy! Good Point about the chimney stacks. However, there don't appear to be any Gable ends in the photo. I Think they are hipped 'rooves'. Could be the blocks of four houses on Beatty Road, behind Haig Road. There was a small area of grass there as well.

Broken Music: a memoir. GREAT!

What was the legal age for being served a drink in a pub back in the 50s -60s? I bought, and tasted, my first alcoholic drink (also a Cherry B ) in 1965 after completeing a nursing exam. I was 18½. Was I breaking the law? The drink was awful but I perservered and drank it.

Maggie, I must have missed your last posting dated 10th January 'told vs. telt'. I have no answer for that. Could be Geordie but I Think I've Heard it in other parts of England and Scotland. I'll keep it in mind for the next time in the faculty.

Fair enough Brett. I hadn't realised it was a private Company.

It wasn't a fountain as such, Maggie, with spurting water, but it was a drinking fountain where you could quench your thirst from a water outlet above the semi-circular Bowl on the side.

I'm with Keith 2 on this one, Haig Road. My aunt used to live there and her daughter and i used to play under the archway. The archway didn't separate two houses as you might Think but was under one half, the rear half, of one house. The toilet and coal house were on one side of the 'tunnel' and the back door, leading into the kitchen, was on the other. I Believe the Picture must be taken from the rear of the houses that backed onto the park (sorry, I can't remember the name) that ran the length of Park Road. There was often a football match going on there when we went past on a Saturday.

I Think you'll find they, traffic wardens, have quite a bit of lawful jurisdiction. When I lived in London (it's many years ago now) one of my colleages was fined on the spot by a traffic warden for parking too Close to a junction and thereby blocking it. She complained as she thought that it wasn't within the warden's rights to do so - but it certainly was! I Think there are a few other 'crimes' they can fine you for as well. They can certainly clamp your Wheels and have the police tow you away, and apparently the police can't refuse.

Sounds like a good start! It started here about 20 years ago with newspapers and glass jars/bottles and there was loads of information delivered, often, to all households, They've been adding to the list ever since. There was already a system for dealing with aluminium cans, which I forget to mention earlier. They all have a deposit and the empties are fed into a macine at the supermarket, when you do your weekly shopping. You get a receipt for the deposits which you use to pay for your groceries at any store. All PET bottles have a deposit as well as do glass bottles for soft drinks. These are also fed into the machine to get your Money back. We also have sorting for recycling at the tip and you can go there whenever you like with whatever you like. It's Always manned if you need help but the problem is they are usually very remote. Otherwise, Collection Points are numerous and usually adjoined to places that people visit often, so we're not polluting with extra car journeys. There are large centres that take care of composting and anybody can go there with a trailer and collect potting compost. The quality is excellent! On a less positive note, this system has caused untold problems for some elderly people and Home - helps are run off their feet taking care of household waste when they could be doing other things.

Recycling! They've got it off to a fine art here and it's compulsory. We recycle so much stuff here that the bin man comes only once a month and the wheelie bin (of the small variety) is never full. Those who package their Products are obliged to take care of the used packaging, so many companies have gone together and started a recycling Company who are responsible for the Collection Points. Furniture stores, like Ikea, provide package reclamation on site if you want to get rid of the packaging Before you leave the store. The list of recyclable materials is growing all the time but at the minute we have, both at home and at the Collection Points, separate containers for: paper, glossy paper, newsprint cardboard, (carton) thin cardboard and corrugated cardboard glass, uncoloured glass, coloured plastic packages, hard plastic packages, soft polystyrene cartons batteries and lightbulbs dangerous waste (paint, cleaning fluids, oil etc) metal, containers tins etc. metal, non-containers (kitchen ware etc) textiles electrical goods compostible material - but only if you don't have compost yourself. If you don't, then you must have a Collection every second week. If you have your own compost you can have Collection once a month, as I do. All that can be washed must be clean and dry and you take it to the Collection Point yourself. These are often placed adjacent to the car park at super markets or on the outskirts of villages. Furniture stores, such as Ikea Fridges, freezers and washig Machines are collected on request For larger items there are 3 Days a year when the wagon is stationary in the nearest village for 4 hours There's a second-hand shop (or 2) in almost every Town.

HPW, I'm pretty sure I remember the Bells and their pigs but I remember their Place being at the top end (the Netherton end) of Choppington Lonnen - sometimes called the White Lonnen, because it was a Concrete road that was almost White in colour. The 'ranch' was at the old Chapel (Weslyan, I Think). It was no longer used as a Chapel then and the pigs had the free run of the Place, Funny you should mention them now as I just mentioned the 'swill-man' in Another posting. That was Raymond Bell! and yes we did get a piece of bacon for saving our 'peelings' and cabbage stalks. I never liked the smell of the swill cooking though.

Hi HPW, Dougie Moore was my next-door neighbour in Netherton. I understand that he passed away some time ago. His oldest daughter and I were really good friends. I was her bridesmaid and she was godmother to one of my Children. She also passed away some time ago. Dougie was a keen member of the St. John's ambulance brigade and a 'first-aid man' at Netherton pit. He used to take me and his daughter to some of the competitions/training Days organised at Ashington where they, in very realistic conditions, had to deal with all sorts of mining accidents. I learned a lot there. I've never Heard anything about the figure you mention, or any other strange happenings down the pit for that matter. Nothing was ever mentioned at home and my father died when I was 19. I haven't so much Contact now with Netherton people. They seem to have been dispersed all over the Place when Netherton disappeared into the dust and by that time I'd been gone quite a long time. However I'll keep my ears open and there may just be somebody here who can throw some light on the mystery figure.

Thanks Eggy. Nice to know I'm not too senile yet. Thanks Symptoms. Enjoyed the film. It brought back memories but in our house it was us kids who did the donkey stoning every Saturday.

Reedy, I was very interested to see your Picture of "Bowers, The Neuk" yesterday. I got a book for my Birthday called Bedlingtonshire now and then written by Evan Martin. On page 30 there's aphoto of a James Bower with a horse and cart. I Think it say's General Dealer on the side of the cart but it looks more like a rag and bone man. It says that: "Mr James Bower provided transport for all occasions. Not a lot of house removal (shifting) took Place as the colliery folk especially tended to stay in the same property for many years. If the move was necessary, Mr Bower was reliable and available, even though the cartage was basic." Could it be the same family?

Was that not Pears soap that was amber and oval? Was it kind of transparent? Wright's is right though. However, I remember it as a Dirty beige/Brown opaque soap.

Moss doesn't grow on a busy street Maggie! Just Think of all the people who used the step apart from the family (10 in mine): the Ringtons man, the fishmonger, the greengrocer, the bread man, the swill collector, the coalman, the ticky man, the schoolboard man (on occasions) the vicar, the doctor, the milkman, the rag & bone man, the scissor grinder, the gipsies who sold clothes pegs, the meter reader (they were inside the house in those Days), and last but not least, the neighbours and playmates.

"EETUPTU gobbling up smaller Groups" that's very good Vic - (eat up 2)

That's interesting, what you say about your Donkey-stone substitute, Maggie. Was it for cleaning steps from moss? I thought it was purely for decorative purposes. Keith, nice to see a member of the male species who admits to being romantic!