Canny lass

One of the nice hings about this site Pauls, is that there is no obligation to contribute, or even to read the contributions of others. Members enter discussion of their own free will should they feel that they have a contribution to make or a question to ask, so I’m sorry if you feel that you are being ’dragged’ into a discussion against your will. That was certainly not my intention. I’ve read through the topic again and I don’t see that I, or anyone else, has said that parents were better or worse in the1950s than they are today. I think you may be misinterpreting my response to your argument that ”few kids in those days (1950s) grew up in households where both parents worked full time so there was more scope for parents to take them to facilities that were further afield”. I found that statement to be far from how I remembered my childhood and that of my peers. I responded with a counter argument, claiming that there was in fact less scope, as working hours were longer for both parents. Additionally I argued that less money was available to parents than today, which further decreased the scope for providing outings to facilities further away. I supported those arguments as best I could with factual information from my own childhood but at no time did I suggest that parents were either better or worse than they are now. I did suggest that perhaps parents of the 1950s prioritised other things than parents of today – there are, after all, some things today which didn’t exist then, thus eradicating that need - but I did not suggest that their priorities were better or worse than those of today’s parents. However, I have to disagree with you about the relevance of parents to a discussion about public leisure facilities, because without parents involvement, children would not be seeing the inside of a leisure complex until they were teenagers, and that would be far too late. Again, I’m sorry if you’ve misunderstood my contribution to the discussion. In relation to your last statement It appears it is I who may have misunderstood. I believed that we were talking about the facilities provided by NCC in ’their’ districts and that being the case it is the facilities provided elsewhere in the country that are of not really relevant. Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought taxes paid by residents went into a communal pot. If that’s not the case can you, or anybody else, please explain to me how the 600 or so residents of Otterburn managed to get a school, a bed in a hospital or a road to get them to their nearest leisure centre, 15 miles/27 minutes away in Rothbury?

It's very late, I know but we had unexpected visitors who just left. Here are the answers to last week's quiz: Bird Light-heavyweight Melon Lake Victoria The Book of Malachi Michael Faraday Columbia Mother Teresa Caesium Napoleon Mercury Edward VI New quiz tomorrow.

Is that swimming and leisure centre managed by Active Northumberland for NCC?

Back to leisure centres! This will be long! I’ve been in bed three days with the after effects of the third dose of Covid vaccine so I've had time to ponder and even do a little bit of research. With regards to Leisure/sports facilities, let me make it clear, Pauls, that I, like you, am 100% behind the introduction of ANY amenity in Bedlington which will enhance the lives of its residents, children or otherwise. It was, therefore rather disturbing to read that any development in Bedlington while it ”may be of interest to those who may once have lived here but now reside elsewhere it will have little or no impact on their lives”. Speaking as an ex Bedlingtonian I can say to you that residence in another town, city or even another country does not necessarily sever all ties. Several former residents, myself among them, retain some strong, physical ties which include property, family and friends or even a plot in a cemetary alongside other family members. I can also say that some developments do have a big impact even for non residents. If, for example, you own property renting it out or selling it can be very dependent on the amenities offered by the town. But that’s by the by. We were discussing Leisure and sports facilities and their eventual introduction to the town of Bedlington. Good discussion so far, the rest of you guys! As I said initially, I’m 100% behind the introduction of ANY amenity in Bedlington which will enhance the lives of its residents but I would be 200% behind the introduction of any amenity that would enhance the lives of Bedlington residents, even those who do not want or are unable to partake in sporting activities, while at the same time encouraging footfall from visitors, possibly leading to opportunities for further development of, and for, sthe town. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that a Leisure/Sports facility can achieve that footfall. If I understand the situation with such leisure/sports facilities in Northumberland correctly, it is the charitable institution ’Active Northumberland’ who manage ALL leisure facilities (and some other services) on behalf of NCC and looking at their website, I can see that they manage the following leisure/sports facilities (listed here in opening order for the benefit of ex- residents who may not know): Blyth Sports Centre (Opened 1967, extended 1979 and 2006, modernised 2021) Ashington Leisure Centre (Opened 1972 Refurbished 2009, New centre Opened 2016.) Newbiggin Sports and Community Centre (Opened 1973) Concordia Leisure Centre, Cramlington (Opened 1977, refurbished 2016) Wentworth Leisure Centre, Hexham (Opened 1986, new pool 2008, Refurbished 2016) Swan Centre, Berwick ( Opened 1990) (rebuilt 2021) Riverside Leisure Centre, Morpeth (Opened 1991) Sporting Club Cramlington (Opened 2002) Willowburn Sports and Leisure Centre, Alnwick (Opened 2003) Hirst Welfare Centre, Ashington (Opened 2004) Northburn Sports and Community Centre, Cramlington (Opened 2005) Rothbury Pool and Gym (Opened 2008) Sporting Club Bedlington (Opened 2016) Druridge Bay Fitness Centre (Opened 2017) (Temporarily closed) Ponteland Leisure Centre (Opened 2020) Amble facility* * NCC make no mention i of any facility in Amble yet they claim to manage ”all” NCC’s facilities. So, for the purpose of this discussion, I’ll take Pauls’ word for it that NCC do have a facility there, bringing the total to 16. I’ve plotted these, in red, on a Northumberland County Council map dated 2018. Bedlington, I’ve marked in blue. As you would expect, these amenities are located in the 14 most heavily populated areas in NCC’s region and only one amenity is in Bedlington, that’s the small red spot on the upper edge of the blue. I agree, Pauls, that Bedlington today is no longer a small village, but have you considered how it was in the 70s when the leisure centre boom began and local councils all over England were building centres as if their lives depended on it? I have no figures to support it but I believe the population was infinitely smaller. I know that it increased by 2,000 in the decade 2001 -2011 alone and goodness knows how much prior to that. Looking at the development of Leisure/sporting facilities in Northumberland I would guess that local councils got into the groove very quickly with the first centres springing up in Ashington 1972, Newbiggin 1973, Cramlington 1977 and they even extended and modernised the already exixting facility in Blyth, built 1967, in 1979. That’s not a bad achievment given the money, planning and work involved. Clearly someone involved in the decision-making had read the then newly published report of John Birch 1972 Provision for Sport and followed his recommendations of centres with a catchment of approximately ”4 miles or 20 minutes”, because those four centres are very close to each other when compared to similar facilities in the rest of Northumberland. Note here that Birch’s recommendation refers to catchment area size, not town size, or population size. After Blyth in 1979, there seems to have been a considerable break in the building programme as the next centre didn’t see the light of day until 1986 when the Wentworth Centre in Hexham came into being. This must have been a blow to Bedlingtonians whose temperatures were already running high in 1977 when the third centre, Concordia, was built in Cramlington. Unlike its counterparts Concordia didn’t get the town name, instead it was called Concordia Leisure Centre. Being a new Bedlingtonian you may not be aware of the reason for that name. There were long discussions about it. It is based on the word ’concord’, meaning ”harmony between people; lack of quarrelling and unfriendliness” (OED), and was a response to the ongoing disputes about allocation of resources within the district. My brother, a brickie actually had stones thrown at him by people from Bedlington because he was working on Concordia! So why Hexham and not Bedlington for the fifth leisure centre? I personally don’t think Bedlington was forgotten as seems to be the general opinion. I believe it was a conscious decision at council level, possibly from the very early planning stages, as Bedlington does fit nicely into the catchment areas of all four centres (Google measurements from Bedlington Market Place): Newbiggin Sports and Community Centre 5.8 miles /10 minutes Blyth Sports Centre 4.5 – 6.7 miles / 10-12 minutes Concordia Leisure Centre 4.8 – 5.2 miles / 9 -11 minutes Ashington Leisure Centre 5.8 – 7.5 miles /11-12 minutes Alternately, the decision may have come during the building programme when planners had a look at what lay within reach of Bedlington and decided that people within 4 miles/20 minutes of Hexham were entitled to the same opportunities. After all, they pay their taxes too. It’s worth remembering here, that until 1986 Ashington, Blyth, Cramlington and Newbiggin were the ONLY places in the whole of NCC’s region with a leisure centre. Then there is the economical aspect of building a leisure centre. Councils, like families, do not have pockets that are endlessly deep. What self-respecting family would put a swing in their garden when there’s a public play park on the other side of the garden fence? Would it not be better to simply put a gate in the fence and use the existing swings? The money saved could well provide something else, another experience, for the child, or why not something for another child who doesn’t like swings and has no use for them. Of course, there would still be the dilemma faced by all parents: at what age do I let my child go through that gate on his/her own or indeed play on the swings on his/her own? I don’t believe that falls within the remit of council planning at county level or otherwise. It’s a parental responsibility and always has been – even in the 1950s. That said, I do not mean we shouln’t be concerned about safety outside the home, whether the assessed risk be from by traffic, paedophiles or people unable to control their fingers (nicking bikes) or their temper, and if these are our concerns for people of any age travelling to Ashington, Blyth, Cramlington or Newbiggin to enjoy leisure facilities then I personally believe that the problem is being addressed in the wrong way by asking for a costly leisure facility in Bedlington. That is not addressing the real problem. Traffic accidents, assaults, even of a sexual nature are not unique to Ashington, Blyth or Cramlington or to the roads leading to them. Neither are they unique to the twenty first century. They can just as easily occur today in Bedlington, yards from your own front door, as the tragic death of Bethany Fisher on Victoria Terrace in 2017 ought to remind us. I myself was witness to an attempted sexual assault on my own 14 year old sister just 600 yards from home. (@Lilbill, the slipperiness of the bank leading down to the bridge over the Green Letch was not the only cause of my fear for that place), and don’t think I need to remind anybody about the recent incidents involving Bedlington residents Colin Proctor and Robert Edington. hile roads are common places for traffic accidents, Internet and ... I read recently… leisure centres are common places for grooming by paedophiles. Should we stop our children from using any of them to reduce the risk? No we should not. As parents, and grandparents, we have a responsibility to teach awareness, without scaring, road sense and respect for others while at the same time judgingwhen to reduce parental support and let the child enjoy the ”independence” that Pauls had in the 70s ”without the risk of being knocked off her bike or having it nicked. Why not direct efforts and finace to improving safety to, from and at existing leisure centres instead: cycle paths, provision of a (free) bus for school children once a week to Cramlington, better bus service, more crossings, bann mobile phones around pools and in changing rooms (it’s always amazed me the number of parent who sit poolside with mobile in hand and eyes on mobile instead of on their children in the pool). And, as you took up bike theft Pauls, why not bike lockers or two-tier ground anchored bike racks outside the entrance to leisure centres where they would be under continuous surveillance from passers by. They work extremely well in all parts of Amsterdam and Copenhagen and the cost of buying say 1,000, would be infinitely cheaper than yet another multi-million pound leisure centre which, unless it has some mega-super, state of the art, bank-breaking attraction in situ, is not going to attract anyone from Ashington, Blyth, Cramlington, Newbiggin or even the nearby Morpeth, cos they’ve already got one. That money, could then be used to provide another amenity in Bedlington to cater for the needs of other groups than gymgoers who, looking at the map, are in my opinion, already well catered for. Should that amenity be something that Ashington, Blyth, Cramlington, Newbiggin or nearby Morpeth don’t have that would be a bonus. Myself, I could think a larger cultural venue for all types of music or theatre. A spin off could be cafes, restaurants and possibly overnight accomodation so that people could make a weekend of it; have a meal, see a show, stay overnight and maybe even walk the heritage trail next day before returning home. Another spin off, especially for youngsters could be music or drama schools in a corner of the venue. Sport and fitness are extremely important but there are other aspects to a healthy, well-balanced life

I'm not quite sure what your message is there, Malcolm. Are you saying that children prefer TV and video games to going out? If so, why all the fuss about a leisure centre for youngsters? Or perhaps you are saying that parents just want a quiet night and the child has no choice about going out?

I see where you are coming from Pauls but before I get into the discussion on Sports and Leisure facilities let me just ask, am I right in thinking that you believe ” there was more scope for parents to take them [children] to facilities that were further afield” because ”few kids in those days grew up in households where both parents worked full time”? My father , like those of my peers, was a miner working 8-9 hour shifts, 6 days a week, 2 weeks holiday and five bank holidays off. My mother on the other hand, also like those of my peers, was a housewife working 16 hour shifts, 7 days a week, no holidays or bankholidays off. In Netherton, and I imagine Bedlington, this seemed to be the rule rather than the exception to it. So my experience was that every child grew up with two parents working MORE than full time compared to today’s standards. OK, we may have had one parent working at home, without a wage of course, but that didn’t give either parent more time than the parents of today. In fact, I would argue to the contrary. My married life and, I suspect, yours became infinitely easier than my mother’s with the availability of: washing machine/tumble dryer instead of red raw hands and a mangle in the back yard vaccuum cleaner instead of brush, shovel and carpet beater late-night supermarkets instead of a bus journey to Bedlington while the kids were at school fridge/freezer instead of almost daily shopping trips sewing machine to mend clothes and household linnen – not that I bothered much with the latter, the era of ’just throw it away and buy new’ was just beginning. no garden/allotment of any necessity (vegetables) to tend to instead of a garden for relaxing pre-fabricated meals and take-away meals, instead of home-cooked, should the need/urge arise gas/electric cooker instead of coal-fired kitchen range requiring endless carrying of coal central heating instead of above-mentioned kitchen range electric food mixer instead of a wooden spoon in-house, running, hot and cold water instead of a cold water street tap – one to every 8 houses. own transport (other than bike, which wasn’t available to my mother either) shorter working hours and 2 days off and, as if all that time saved wasn’t enough, two wages coming in instead of one. Given that, it seems reasonable to believe that time and money ought to be more abundant now than in the 50s and if not, perhaps we should be asking ourselves why not. Perhaps today we have different priorities for the use of our time and money and that certainly is open to comparison. I feel, rightly or wrongly, that if two parents work outside the home then that is their choice and no-one else’s. They alone have made the decision that they have the time to do so without detracting from the quality of the family life they wish for. Likewise it is their choice as to what they spend their earnings on. However, given the above comparison of life in the 50s and life today, it leaves me wondering how my parents could find the time and money, to take their children on an outing involving a bus ride, once a week to the playground park at Beech Grove or to the ’Picnic Field’ as we then called Atlee park, while parents today feel that they can not? For my parents, it most certainly involved making sacrifices to be able to prioritise time and money for that purpose. I’m sure my father would have preferred being at home listening to a football match on the radio on Saturday afternoon and my mother would most certainly have liked to get into bed before 1am the day before instead having to stay up and prepare the dinner for the next day so that we could get out. For us, the children, it involved learning that we couldn’t have everything we asked for and that waiting was part of life.

Big round of applause from me, Andy and Eggy - and Maggie for the first photos in what i think can be a great album.

With all due respect, Malcolm. You are one of the most hard-working and caring councillors I've ever come across and I appreciate that you give many hours of your time and energy fighting for improvements to our beloved home town but ... .. there are Olympic champions across the world who haven't ever had a pair of running shoes, never mind a sporting facility to train in. It requires a bit more than that. It requires passion, dedication, a will to succeed and possibly an adult or two to support and encourage and maybe cheer you on along the way. If you have that you don't need the luxury of a sporting facility - as several great athletes have shown us through the years.

No disrespect taken, Pauls and no disrespect intended in what I am about to say. I grew up in Netherton, in the 50s, which also had no 'council provided', leisure facilities and had only ONE playing field. It didn't have a library, butcher's, baker's, supermarket, hairdressers, clothing outlet or health centre either. For all of those amenities my caring parents had to take me on a bus-ride to the nearest town - Bedlington. It didn't have any leisure facilities then either, other than a cinema, Humford Baths and the Hapenny Woods. Humford Baths, nearest thing to a leisure centre then, was a luxury my parents couldn't afford but there was, and still is, a river on its doorstep. That's where I learned to swim. There was no gym either but the Hapenny Woods was a good substitute on a family day out with a picnic thrown in for good measure. The lack of 'council provided' facilities didn't do me, or any of my schoolmates, any harm. On the contrary I think we were fitter, more social, and perhaps better prepared for adulthood than today's children. I returned to Bedlington in the late 80s and lo and behold there were 'Leisure Centres' in Blyth and Cramlington. There was also a good bus service so it wasn't as though I needed to travel to the ends of the earth if I wanted chlorinated water to swim in, a wall to climb on or a place to meet friends. You are abviously a caring parent too and clearly have the best interests of your child at heart. Has it really been more of a struggle for you than for my parents, to provide meaningful leisure activities for your daughter simply because what you want for her doesn't exist in Bedlington? I know from my visits that the bus service is infinitely better than when I was a child and maybe you have the luxury of a car? Like you, I'm not hoping for more retail and apartments but there again, anything would be better than it is today. What I'm hoping for is something that attracts visitors and their hard earned money to Bedlington which may eventually initiate even further development of Bedlington. Unfortunately I don't think a leisure centre is going to do that. Most towns in the immediate vicinity already have one and I get the impression that parents don't seem to want to take a bus/car journey away from their home town today.

Everything comes to those who wait!

Separate entry would be great from a research point of view.

"You must have ptience Grasshopper". (With apologies to KungFu).

I see the album is now created so I'm assuming that you are 'back in action' already. I hope that whatever was ailing you is under control. Take it easy and listen to your body, because your body always knows best. When it says "rest" it means just that. When you feel like it, do you think that the stones in this topic could be copied to the new album together with the names on them? It would be a fantastic research material.

Posting very early today as I'm not sure I'll get time later. Busy day ahead! This week's quiz: What sort of creature is a Greenshank? At what weight did Cassius Clay win his 1960 Olympic boxing title? Honeydew and Cantaloupe are varieties of what? Which lake is surrounded by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania? What is the last book of the Old Testament? Which British scientist discovered benzene? USA launched its first space-shuttle in 1981. What was it called? By what name is Agnes Gonxha Bejaxhui better known? Which metal is represented by the symbol Cs? Who sailed away to die on HMS Bellerophon? Which planet is nearest the sun? Who succeeded Henry VIII as monarch? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. In Sienna, Italy, there is a law which forbids any woman christened Mary to ever work as a prostitute. Answers on Thursday as usual.

Thanks James! I'd forgotten about the 39 register. I don't suppose you know which year the shop closed down?

The Smail family continued: A business is born ... Isabella’s residence address in 1871 is given as ”Grocers shop” ”Front Street” and Isabella’s occupation is given as ”Grocer & Provision Dealer”. Isabella is now a businesswoman and the family is clearly living over the shop where they even have room enough to accomodate a boarder. Even his occupation is given as ”Grocer” and he may be employed by Isabella. I notice that even the 17 year old son of the next door neighbour is working as a ”grocer’s apprentice” and could also be employed by her, in which case things seem to be going well for Isabella whose social ranking has now progressed from employee to employer. Ten years later in April 1881 only Isabella and John Robert are recorded at the address. Isabella is now 52 years old and her son John Robert is 23 and still single. He has followed his mother into the grocery and provisions business but no mention is made of his sister Dorothy Ann. I can’t find her either working- or visiting away from home in the census. However, she does reappear at the address in 1891. Prior to this however, on 10 APR 1888, Isabella dies,aged 59 years and it is her headstone on the photo which Maggie posted above. It’s quite an elegant stone, with a lot of detail in the design which is in strong contrast to that of her parents, reflecting perhaps the progress made from her humble beginnings as a nursery maid to successful Bedlington businesswoman. In 1891, following Isabella’s death, John Robert 33 yo is still living at the same adress. He is still running the grocer’s shop and is now head of the household. His sister, Dorothy Ann 30 yo, has returned but appears not to have any occupation. However, they now have a resident domestic servant, 17 year old, Bedlington born, Lily Whitfield a further sign of the family’s increasing social status. In 1901 Dorothy Ann, 40 years old and as yet unmarried, and John Robert, now 43 and still in the grocery business continue to reside above the shop. Only John Robert is working and they no longer have a servant. However, there is a new family member because John Robert has finally married. I can see from his marriage record that he married at the age of 41 to Jane Isabella Grey, 14 years his younger, in the first half of 1899 in the village of Rothbury, Northumberland. They do not appear to have any children at this time. First in 1911 can we see Dorothy Ann working. She is still living with her brother and she appears to have joined him working in the business and the family once again has a servant – 20 year old Mary Ann Elizabeth Dixon of Sleekburn. That, however, is not the only change in circumstances. John Robert and Jane Isabella now have a family of four children ranging in age from 1 to 8: Isabella Smail born abt. 1903. Died 26 SEP 1994 aged 92. Isabella died as Smail and seemingly never married. Edwin Smail born abt. 1904. Died 20 JAN 1982 aged 78 years. I can find no record of any marriage. He is buried in Bedlington together with his sister Isabella. It is their headstone we see above, posted by James. Catherine Dorothy Smail born abt- 1910. Died 1990. She also died as Smail and appears not to have married. The above three children all appear to have joined their father in the grocery business. James tells us that all three were working in the shop in the 1950s. The fourth child, George Grey Smail born 17SEP 1905 died 2 MAR 1969, was a well educated man and was admitted 1930 as graduate B.Sc. to the List of Electrical Engineers in Hebburn on Tyne. In 1939 he was living and working in Guildford as ”Assistant engineer (Technical) and the following year married Adeline Beethem in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. He appears to have later moved to Scotland, where he died, and is remembered on his grandmother’s headstone in Bedlington. With no available census records after 1911 it is impossible to say if the unmarried children of John Robert and Jane Isabell Smail continued to live together above the business started by their grandmother. The house was certainly big enough. The 1911 census describes it as having 7 rooms all, or at least most, of them would have been above the shop. Could it be possible that the Smail family now owned both parts of the building? I wonder if Isabella Smail was the first businesswomanof any rank in Bedlington? She was certainly a tough woman. I'm impressed.

Answers to last week's Halloween Special: 1.Count Wampyr (Stoker's initial plans for Dracula markedly differ from the final novel. Had Stoker completed his original plans, a German professor called Max Windshoeffel "would have confronted Count Wampyr from Styria") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula. 2. The Puritan Pilgrims 3. Wet sheets 4. Samhain, All Hallow’s Eve, The Feast of the Dead 5. Monster Mash 6. A coven 7. All Hallow’s Eve 8. Red eyes 9. Rumania 10. Mary Shelley 11. Samana or Herne the Hunter 12. Saint 13. Vines 14. Any thing from the first four lines of verse: ”Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.” 15. Long-legged beasties 16. Scream 17. The fairies might steal you away. 18. Ghost Town 19. A witch 20. Celts New quiz tomorrow.

Sounds good, but I think a picture gives so much more information about the deceased. Symbols and ornamentation, for instance, can give clues about the economic and social status of the deceased. Do you know if the Woodhorn list can be researched online?

... continuing the history of the Smail family: According to the 1871 census, Isabella Smail and her two children are now living in Bedlington but I am unable to ascertain when they returned. I can, however, see from the death register for England and Wales that her parents were still alive at the time of her husband’s death in September 1862. I can also see that Isabella’s grieving had barely begun when her father, Robert Fish, also passed away in January 1863 barely 3 months after the death of her husband. It was perhaps in connection with her father’s death that Isabella returned to Bedlington, possibly to assist her widowed mother, Dorothy Fish (born Dorothy Kirkup). It is also a possibility that, should Isabella and her husband Edwin have been living in a tied cottage in Chatton, she and the children were obliged to find other accomodation upon his death. Sadly, even Isabella’s mother died a few years later, in October 1869, and she is buried alongside her husband in St Cuthbert´s Churchyard Bedlington. Their grave is marked by the simplest of headstones. That headstone is interesting in that it is engraved on both sides. The east-facing side, shown above, records the deaths of Isabella’s parents while the west-facing side documents the deaths of ten members of the Kirkup family – Isabella’s mother’s side of the family (no photo available on Findagrave, only text, perhaps a project for one of our photo enthusiasts?). It seems, that by the time of the 1871 census, only Isabella, now 42 years old, and the two children, aged 10 and 13 years, were left in Bedlington and I find them living in the east end on the north side of Front Street. At first I thought they might be living in the former first home of her parents, three doors down from the entrance to Colliery Row, but comparing maps and census records showed that they were living further down the street towards Bedlington Bank in what appears to be a relatively new building occupying land between Bell’s Place and Hollymount – shown here as undeveloped, a few years earlier in 1866: The next most recent map with any detail, dated 1897, shows the same area developed, with left to right: A semi-detached property comprising two dwellings, the Oddfellows Arms public house and behind them the new East End School followed by a further semi-detached property of which the left hand property was occupied by the Smail family. The census of 1871 shows that this was the layout even then. It also shows that the property adjoining Isabella’s was divided into two dwellings with entrances facing Hollymount and thus named ”Hollymount” rather than Front Street. As mentioned earlier, Isabella’s mother had died just 18 months prior to the census of 1871 and that census makes no mention of Fish’s Yard. The buildings are still there, as evidenced by the census schedule numbers. But the adress is now simply ”Front Street”. Possibly Dorothy Smail, following her husband’s death, has sold the properties and moved back to the north side of the street, maybe together with her daughter living in. More probable, in view of Dorothy’s advancing years, is that Isabella may have inherited her parents, sold the properties and invested in the new development on the north side. To be continued ...

Can anybody tell me what "boxings" and "sharps" are?

Thanks for your input, Vic. I'm sure Eggy will work his usual magic!

Would that be Catherine Dorothy, daughter of John Robert Smail, born about 1911?

Thanks for confirming that, James! Nice to know that my linguistic skills haven't rusted away completely. It's a real pleasure tracing the family's roots and following Isabella's journey through life. I'm impressed by the sheer toughness the woman had in making it alone after her husband's death. Today I've started plotting her time in Bedlington after her return from Chatton. If you have any more information about the family I'd love to hear it.

Hi Eggy! I needed a bit of time to have a play around in the gallery before replying. I had a look around the gallery to see if there was any format that was useful and I think that the format you’ve used in creating the school albums could also work well here. Using the gallery album ”Bedlingtonshire Community High School” as an example the new album name could be ’St Cuthbert’s Churchyard, headstones’. Then each photo could have a file name that is the name of the deceased, in the same way the school photos are named, or the family name, if there are several memorials on one stone. Really, when I suggested an album my main idea was to preserve the stones of Bedlington together in digital form, before the original texts are weathered away. completely They are a valuable source of information for researchers. I wasn’t thinking that we should be providing information about the meaning of symbols etc. There are plenty of sites on Internet doing that already. Of course, should any such information pop up in the discussion related to each photo then that would be a point of interest, specific to that particular photo. Your system with school photos works well when searching for a particular person. I typed in Nicola Downey and was redirected to the first photo in the album immediately. Once in the album you have created some basic information on the High School (to the left of the screen). That would also work well for the planned album butI think it might be wise to keep the album and file titles simple, Album: Name of churchyard – File:Name of person/family. It makes searching so much easier. What do other members think)