Canny lass

The Slavic languages were never my cup of tea. I kept myself to the Romance and Germanic families, specializing in the Nordic languages. I did some teaching of A-level languages working mostly with immigrant children (and even their families). However, I preferred teaching adullts and I'm proud to say that there are more than a few medical practitioners who have 'improved' their verbal skills in English sufficiently to enable them to deliver and defend their final dissertation with just a hint of the North East dialect.

Welcome to the forum, Anne! There's plenty of nostalgia here if you start rummaging through the topics. I'm a bit (probably a lot) older than you but we have a couple of things in common: My father also worked at Netherton pit (and I was born in the colliery houses) and I also love languages and dialects and worked as a linguist for many years before retirement.

Answers to last week's quiz: Poult Medical student Five Broadcasting House 1950 9 Turin Chocolate A very tender, marinaded steak True 2009 13 New quiz tomorrow.

Ignore the last attachment. It should have been this:

Having established that all photos show the same cottage it remains to decide if it is in fact ’the’ Toll Cottage recorded in the 1939 register or any of the other ”cottages in the woods”. John Dawson has previously named the cottage in photo (2) as Toll Cottage (02 Jan 2013) and the newspaper cutting gives the use of the same cottage as a toll cottage. The toll sign in this photo, also originally posted by John Dawson, would, if common sense prevails, be located at Toll Cottage. Comparing my observations of the photos discussed in the previous post with details on the photo of the toll sign, I’m satisfied that the cottage in the photos is Toll Cottage. First, it’s easy to see that the toll sign photo is taken from the Bebside Furnace side of the boundary. Two things are immediately obvious. First, the leaning tree located on a curve to the right of the building appears to be the same tree as in all four photos. and second the garden wall would appear to be built of stones, seemingly of the same dimensions, as in the four cottage photos. The toll sign photo shows, behind the wall, a tree stump to which the sign is fixed. In John’s photo of the cottage (2) that tree stump can be seen in the same position. Zoom in far enough and you can see what I believe to be the reverse side of that sign still on the tree stump and just above the wall. A similar feature can be seen in both of Jennifer’s photos, particularly well in photo 4. The tree stump is, however gone and the sign now appears to be on top of the wall. Looking again at the toll sign photo, a white rectangle appears above the garden wall and against the front wall of the house. This may be the surface of the garden chair seen in that position on photo 2. If anything further is needed to determine that this is in fact Toll Cottage, I suggest another look at the 1897 map posted above (Jan. 28) by me. There you can see the footprint of Toll Cottage (marked in green). That footprint is rectangular with small extensions at either end and its frontage is aligned with the path which passes it. It is also next to the boundary – an ideal place for a toll house – all of which agrees with the cottage in the photos. There is no other footprint of that shape in the woods. Mill Cottage, apart from being at the other end of the woods, has a square footprint and does not have any extensions. Toll Cottage.docx

Back to business! The collage above, kindly made for me by @Eggy1948, shows four photos posted earlier in this topic. Thank you Alan. Thanks also to @James for the newspaper cutting showing that the old toll cottage was situated ”near Bebside Furnace Bank”. The photo in the cutting is a reproduction of John Dawson's photo (2). Thanks also James for your observations on the 1939 Register showing Toll Cottage, by name, located between Mill Cottage and Rose Cottage. Thanks to that we can now say with certainty that Toll Cottage is the building, earlier named Wood Cottage, situated immediately to the west of the parish boundary and neighbouring Rose Cottage, Bebside Furnace. Yet to be answered, however, is the question raised by Jennifer Ward as to whether or not the cottage in her photos (3 & 4 in the collage above) is the same cottage shown in John Dawson’s photos (1 & 2 in the collage) and the follow on question as to whether or not any of the above photos does in fact show Toll Cottage. Looking first at Jennifer’s question, I’ve compared details from the two photos supplied by John Dawson with details on the two photos supplied by Jennifer Ward and I’m satisfied that it is the same cottage in all photos. All four photos have been taken from the mill side of the boundary looking towards Bebside Furnace and apart from some obvious common details: the alignment with the road infront of the cottage, the cottage’s rectangular footprint and double front, the paved footpath and brick built lean-to on the right of the cottage (probably a wash house with a pot-boiler, judging by the separate chimney), there are a number of more specific details worth looking at. First, there is a wooden built lean-to with a square opening/window on the left of the cottage which appears in both of Jennifer’s photos and in one of John’s (2). It’s not possible to see that area on John’s other photo - the framed picture titled ”Bebside Woods” (1). Second, in Jennifer’s close-up photo (3), there are three ’discs’ clearly visible at roof level: one to the immediate right of the left-hand window, one to the immediate right of the door and one to the immediate left of the right-hand window. These discs are also visible in one of John’s photos (2). Would I be right in thinking these were connected to a bar running across the width of the cottage to similar disks on the other side and used to prevent the walls 'bulging' outwards) Third, there are a couple of strong, common features in the stonework between the door and the window on the right. In Jennifer’s photo (3) there is a V-shaped crack (or mortar joint) under the disc and this appears again in John’s photo (2). Jennifer’s photo also shows, to the right of the door lintel, and set slightly higher, a short row of very narrow stones supporting one large stone and bringing it into alignment with the lintel over the window on its right. This is also clearly evident in John’s photo. My only reservation about details in this area of stonework would be the amount of stone used between door and right-hand window. The much clearer detail in Jennifer’s photo (3) shows a 2½ stone width while John’s photo (2) shows only 1½. This can possibly be explained by the angle at which the photo has been taken as even the windows reflect the same change in proportions. Having said all that. I think the most reliable details lie not with the cottage itself but with its surroundings. There are a number of landscape details common to several photos. Most obvious is the tree, which is leaning steeply to the left, located on a curve to the right of the cottage in John’s photos (1 & 2). This appears again in Jennifer’s photo (4). Even the layout of the land, sloping away to the left of and behind the cottage is evident in all four photos as is the garden wall to the left of the cottage. That garden wall is interesting in its own right, showing the same, almost Z-shaped, area of a much lighter coloured stone in photos 2, 3 and 4. For me there is no doubt that all four photos show the same cottage.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to this topic! My wanderings through Bebside Woods revealed that the 1901 occupant of Wood Cottage, Thomas Aisbett, was the father of Edward Aisbett who married my grandfather’s sister - my Grandaunt Mary Ann. Naturally, my research into Toll Cottage went off at a tangent for a few days but now I’m back on track and hoping that the man in the framed photo posted earlier may be Edward’s brother, Richard Aisbett, market gardener (the 1911 occupant of Wood Cottage). Perhaps even the woman and children in Jennifer Ward’s photo are relatives. If anybody can help to date these photos, maybe from the clothing, I’d be forever grateful.

It's tomorrow already so here's the quiz: What is a young turkey called? What type of student takes the Hippocratic Oath? How many cards of the same suit are needed for a flush in poker? Outside which London building would you find Eric Gill’s sculpture Prospero and Ariel ? Which year were General Election results televised for the first time? How many children did Queen Victoria have with her husband Prince Albert? In which Italian town is the football club Juventus based? In 2013 the Belgian postal service launched a collection of stamps that smelled, and tasted, of what? What would you get if you ordered sauerbraten? The first air-hostesses had to be unmarried, have a nursing qualification and weigh no more than 52 kilos. True or false? Which year was the digital currency bitcoin created? How many people attended the last supper? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Churches in Malta have two clocks both showing different times to confuse the Devil about the time of the next service Answers on Thursday next week.

Answers to last week's quiz: Egypt Turkey St Baglan’s Church, Llanfaglan, near Caernarfon You would vomit. Ford Escort Columbo Font Louise Brown Fungi Spanish Captain Matthew Webb Don Cockell New quiz tomorrow.

I'll message you.

With the exception of one photo, I'm sure it's Toll Cottage. I'll get around to writing up my findings in the next few days.

The plans, released on Friday, have already hit a bottle-neck! The military have opposed the wind farm off the coast that would be needed to supply the enormous amounts of green energy required to run the plant and Nordvolt are now wondering if it's possible to recruit the necessary competence to run it.

No, no, no, no, no, we can't have that! We already have the Northern lights and they are green. Any red glow from lithium batteries woud just cause a red/green mess. Although, on the other hand, it would match the present political situation.

It's spreading! Volvo cars and Polestar together with Northvolt (Sweden's equivalent to Britishvolt) are about to establish a battery plant just outside of Gothenburg. It's planned to open 2025 but the research and development side of it is all set to start up this year. 3 000 new jobs and a production capacity that should satisfy the needs of half a million electric cars each year. How handy to have a lithium-ion battery disposal unit just a short trip across the North Sea.

Doctors Row:I should point out that it's the row of houses behind the arrowed building. You can just see the end of the street to the right of it.

Red marking shows gatehouses/Gatehouse Row, nrs 1 - 5 which later became Doctor's Row. Green marking shows Old Gatehouse Row, nrs 1 - 18 which later became Oldgate/Oldgate Row. I've never heard of a single building being called Gatehouse but people wrote many variations of address on census returns. My grandfather lived at 2 Gatehouses but that was crossed out by the enumerator and replaced with Doctors Row (1911). Hope this can be of help.

Every day's a school day here on bedders! Time to refresh/replenish our memory: In which country does the Nile reach the sea? From which country did the Bashi Bazouks come? Where is Lord Snowdon, Anthony Armstrong.Jones, buried? What would happen if you took an emetic medicine? Which model replaced the Ford Anglia in 1967? Which TV detective was played by Peter Falk? What name is given to a complete set of print characters of the same typeface, size and style? What is the name of the world’s first test-tube baby? Mycology is the study of what? What is the official language of Uruguay? Who was the first man to swim the English Channel? Which British boxer went 9 rounds with Rocky Marciano in 1955 before being knocked out? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Liverpool’s FA Cup winning side of 1986 did not contain a single Englishman. Answers on Thursday next week.

Thanks James! i didn't go further than 1911 because I'd already received the birth dates of the Ward and Godsmark families that may have been connected with the cottage. Nice to see that it eventually got the name 'officially'. However, the newspaper cutting doesn't give the name of the building, only its former use as a toll cottage. This is evident in the lack of capitalisation, should it be a proper noun, the use of the determiner this and the adjectival attributes picturesque and old which couldn't be applied to an address. Compare: this picturesque old 48 Green Street this picturesque old 14 Town Square I've been trying to find the picture in the newspaper archives but it's not easy. The building looks neglected and the word 'old' suggests that it's no longer in use at the time. Were there any signs/ruins from any of these buildings when you were a boy? It was, never the less,a lovely area to wander around for me knowing that my brothers and sisters must have played in those woods almost on a daily basis. I doubt if they ever had the ½d to enter by the official entry but boys being boys I'm sure they found a way round that.

Make a cuppa, this is long but I hope you find it as interesting as I did. If I had paid the ½d toll everytime I’ve gone through Bebside Woods the past couple of days, I’d now be 2/- out of pocket! However, I’d have considered it money well spent as I’ve managed not only to make aquaintance with the occupants of the ’Hapenny Woods’ and witness its change from agricultural to industrial but also to plot the development of Bebside from it becoming a civil parish in its own right,1866, to its abolishment and incorporaton in Blyth 1920 – long overdue in my research but I won't bore you with that bit. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find Toll Cottage recorded by this name in any public record. Neither have I been able to find any occupation recorded which relates to the collection of toll money. Presumably, like so many other addresses at that time, it was a familiar name given by the locals to aid identification. Census records from 1841 to 1911show only 4 dwellings in the woods between Bedlington bridge and Rose Cottage. In earlier years they are simply referred to as ” cottages in the woods” but since 1861 they are named. The names of these dwellings have, however, changed a few times. The properties are never the less identifiable because of similarities in their names, their location on the route of the enumerator, their occupants, who don’t appear to have moved much and, in later census records, by the number of rooms in each dwelling. Starting at the Bedlington end and working along the river Blyth towards Bebside we find: Bridge End Cottage (4 rooms), formerly called Bedlington Bridge and occupied 1871-1911 by Thomas Weighell, occupation winding engineman. Mill House (more than 5 rooms), even called Bebside Mill and occupied 1861 by horse dealer Samuel Gardner. The property was clearly well suited to horse dealng as it is occupied 1871 and 1881 by another horse dealer, John Henderson. In 1891 Mill House does not appear by name and instead is named as a second Bebside Mill Cottage. The occupant then is Joseph Thompson (former occupant of the smaller, two-room Bebside Mill Cottage) his wife, 5 children, mother-in-law and horse dealer John Henderson, the former Mill House occupant, who is now a lodger. Joseph Thompson remains in residence 1901 and 1911. Bebside Mill Cottage (2 rooms), also called Bebside Cottage, is unoccupied in 1861 but in 1871 the occupier is agricultural labourer, David Rutherford but 1881 sees coal miner Joseph Thompson in residence. Ten years later, 1891, he has moved into the next-door,larger, four-room Mill House together with his family and the 2 room Bebside Mill Cottage is occupied by steam-ploughman, George Summers, his wife and 3 children. 1901 Bebside Mill Cottage is recorded as unoccupied but the enumerator makes a marginal note that one person, a man, ”slept in house on night of 31 March but is entered on 200 schedule 3 Brick Row where he stays during day”. Thrown out by the wife perhaps or indulging in a bit of hankey-pankey? I’m sure there’s a story there somewhere and all the more interesting because he is a relative of mine! By 1911 the cottage is again occupied and coal miner Herbert Wilkie, son-in-law of neighbour Joseph Thompson, has moved in. Wood Cottage (2 rooms), in 1861 called ’Woodmans Cottage', lies on the parish boundary and as such is the last dwelling before Rose Cottage, Bebside Furnace. The name has changed many times: Bebside Woods Cottage (1871), Bedlington Cottage (1881) and Bedlington Woods Cottage in 1891 before becoming Wood Cottage in 1901. For more than 30 years, from 1861 to and including 1891, Wood Cottage was the home of Mathew Cairns and his family. He was a woodsman by occupation until 1881, possibly looking after the Halfpenny Woods. In 1891, aged 54 years, Mathew was still in residence but now living alone and his occupation is given as ’gardener’. In 1901, even Wood Cottage is occupied by a miner Thomas Aisbitt but in 1911 it has been taken over by his son, Richard, former ”pit heap lad” now market gardener. Wood Cottage is, I believe, the so-called ’Toll House’. It seems appropriate, because of its location at the boundary and that Mathew, being a woodsman, should have included in his duties the collection of toll money for the landowner – perhaps his employer. Why his occupation changes to gardener may be due to a change of land ownership or he may be working at Bebside gardens by the old Iron Works or at Cowpen gardens at the top of the hill. It could be interesting to know when the toll was abolished. But, is Wood Cottage the building in the previous photos?

Answers to last week's quiz: A percussion instrument Vienna Little Tommy Stout Delia Smith Wally Leonardo da Vinci Andrew Johnson Darts Lonnie Donnegan A dove and a raven James Fenimore Cooper Prince Charles (Duchy of Cornwall) New quiz tomorrow.

It's OK. A very kind non-member but avid reader contacted me with birth details for both Edith Godsmark and her father which solved the problem. Thank you LAB!

@Les Dixon This is not Frankie Morland. The name was later changed to Derek Taylor which I agree with. Would you be meaning Frankie Morland from netherton Colliery? I don't recall a brother Bob only a sister Joan. If it's frankie from Netherton, then his father was called Bob, I believe.

Have you looked at the actual book (Bergen's), David? In books of this age it's not unusual to find at the beginning or at the end a 'List of Illustrations' with a source reference. That source can be either a page in the book where the photo is to be found or the origin of the photo. Might give you a clue where to look next.

I haven't been able to find a marriage entry for either couple and I've searched 1880 -1920. Of course, it wasn't uncommon to 'live over the brush' as the saying went at that time. I haven't found them on any census yet either but if they weren't born before 1911 it would be impossible. I'm working on the photos at the minute and might have something to report back on tomorrow.