Canny lass

@lilbill15 Mystery solved. Ninette is advertised in the booklet that Eggy just added to the gallery. You'll find it on page 2.

4 days!!

I had my first tentative rummage today! It's wonderful! Here are some of the places that cropped up: Cadger's Highway Gravy Hill Cow Gut Pancake Well and my all time favourite - Shinny Gripe Lug. ... and, did anyone know of any of the following drinking eastablishments in the shire: The Brown Bear Inn (Beer House) The Prince of Wales The Lord Byron Inn The Sir Colin Campbell (Beer House) Can't wait to start researching.

@lilbill15 The jam-making has given way to wine making. Elderberries are looking good and I've just made a batch of mead from the mountain of tomatoes needing to be taken care of before they become over-ripe. It sounds strange but it's really very good (and very easy to make). I've just read about Puce Bush in the Name Book. If anything remains of it, you should find it "About 10 chains SW of Choppington Colliery". Looking forward to the photos.

.... and an even more belated happy Birthday from me! Hope the day was good to you.

That's an excellent information source! handy tool to have in the research tool-box. Haven't had time to have a good rummage through the site yet but looking forward to doing so during the coming week.

What a pity I don't live nearer! I hope that @lilbill15 can give us a short written account of the walk.

No, no, no! You must never give in! Yes, it's very possible your G nan dropped initials - or even whole names. It's also possible that someone else was doing the 'dropping'. In the case of census records the original household form was transcribed into the enumeration book and these don't always match. The book has been further transcribed to digital format by companies like Ancestry and again, they don't always match. People didn't always give their regitered name and simply wrote down the names in every day use and lastly the birth reister birth certificates) doesn't always match the baptismal register. Forms didn't always have room for all names and the writer sometimes abbreviated to an initial or simply missed out a name. Going back a hundred years or so, parents waited much longer to baptise their children than they do today so many had time to think and the baby got an extra name at the baptism which doesn't appear on the birth certificate, So, you need to think of all those possibilities, variations, additions and transcribing errors when you research. When I first looked at your query regarding Margaret Alice Walker I couldn't find anybody with that name: I only found Margaret Jane Walker or Alice Jane Walker with that birth year and birth place. Margaret Alice Jane showed up first in baptismal records and marriage records for the appropriate year and place. So it's possible your G nan got an extra baptismal name. Two of them had parents named Henry and Dorothy (but two completely different couples) and one of them had parents named Michael and Mary J. I chose to follow one of the henrys because of the Blyth connection. I can't say with certainty if Elijah on the marriage certificate is from Haltwhistle. Even the marriage certificate wouldn't give that information - only his residence at the time of the marriage. However, it would give the name of Margaret Alice J's father which would solve the query of her parents. Myself I'm 95% certain that it is the same Elijah because so many other things fit in. Had he simply been called Elijah Smith I wouldn't be sure but how many Elijah 'Wilkinson' Smiths married a much younger girl named Margaret AJ Walker in that registration district in the early 1920s? I can't find any. Likewise, I am 95% certain that it is the same Margaret A J living with James Waldock in 1939. Two questions: Do you know if Margaret Alice and Elijah had any children? There are some interesting Smith births (mother's maiden name Walker) in the early 20s. Margaret Alice's twin girls - did they have the surname Smith (as Margaret doesn't seem to have married Mr Waldock) Divorce, way back, then was relatively new (1858, first divorce law) and an expensive luxury affordable only to the rich. So people chose to go their own way and "live over the brush" with someone else. I'm not sure, but I also think that it was only men who could apply for a divorce. Some, almost certainly refrained deliberately to prevent their estranged wife from re-marrying. You hint that shame or scandal may have been involved. It needn't necessarily be so. Perhaps Elijah wasn't kind and Margaret left him. Whatever the case may have been, I think your G nan must have been a very strong woman. It can't have been easy remaining in Bedlington with all the wagging tongues. Her early life was either exciting or tragic and it's up to you to get to the bottom of the mystery. If I can be of any help feel free to ask.

Apologies! This info can't be correct. Madge is only 5 yo so must have been born in 1906 rather than 1896. back to the drawing board.

Update. it was also Margaret A J who married Elijah Wilkinson Smith in the second quarter of 1922.

That’s interesting!! Margaret Alice Jane’s father was Henry Walker – born in Newsham (a district of Blyth). Shelley Crescent is in this area. 1881 Henry aged 18 is living in Shiney Row Bedlington with his parents and 8 siblings. The family seems to have moved frequently with children being born in Bedlington, Barrington, and Newsham before returning to Bedlington where the last six were born. 1891 Henry. Now 28 yo and married, is living in Dr Terrace (the next street), Bedlington at the home of his wife’s parents. This is only a stone’s throw from the boundary with Choppington where Margaret AJ was christened. However, at that time he had only one child, Mary aged 3 months. In 1901 Henry and Dorothy are living in Glebe Row, Bedlington just yards away from Doctor Terrace. They now have 3 daughters: Henrietta , Mary and Annie. Living in are two of the Dixon Family, Charles (24 yo) and Edward (21 yo) - Dorothy’s brothers. (NB: Henry has now become” Henry J”) 1911 The family have moved from the Bedlington area and are living in Newburn in the western part of Newcastle. (Henry, who himself has filled in the census form, now calls himself Harry). Two of their six children are dead. Still living at home are: Mary (20 yo, single, born Bedlington), Henry jr. (9 yo, born Bedlington) and Madge (5 yo, born Bedlington). So, the family seems to have been in the Bedlington are until at least 1896 and I believe that Madge (a common short-form for Margaret) may well be your Great nan. It’s not uncommon in census returns for parents to write the name they commonly use for their child rather than the registered/baptismal name. My grandfather was called Francis but is always recorded as Frank in census records - because that's what his parents called him. You can see here that Henry Walker does the same thing. It might be worth having a look at this family. Do any of the names I've mentioned ring any bells? Is there any history of the family moving away from Northumberland?

@Paul Billanie This may be of some help: 1911 Census James Waldock (Occupation: Bill Poster, general) born abt.1874, married with 5 of 6 children still living (4th is Thomas aged 6) and his wife Susannah living at Cars Back Buildings, Scotland Gate. 1939 James Waldock (Billposter, light work), born, more specifically, 04 SEP 1873, is now widowed, aged abt. 66 years. Also resident is Margaret A J Smith, born 22 JAN 1897, (now 42 and therefore 24 years younger than James). Margaret’s civil status is given as ‘married’ and occupation as "umpaid housekeeper" a title usually applied to wives. They are living at Victoria Terrace, Bedlington (number difficult to read but situated between 77½ and 78 which seems impossible to me). There is one other person registered here but that record is closed. However, being listed last suggests that it is a child or a boarder. The latter seems unlikely in view of my next findings. The 1939 register also records another family Waldock living at 77½ : John Waldock, born 17 OCT 1901 (miner, underground shift work – heavy), his wife Margaret J Waldock born 18 JUN 1905 and one child Lena Waldock (later married Cavoner), born 04 JAN 1935 (year uncertain) now at school. There is one other person registered possibly a child, possibly a boarder but that record is also closed. As there is no house or dwelling between 77½ and 78 I think it’s fair to assume that James and Margaret Alice are living in at 77½ Victoria Terrace. The present occupier, John born 1901 could well be James’ son – aged 9 years on the 1911 census which would agree with the d.o.b given in 1939. I hope this is of some help. If you would like the documentation from which I've taken this info let me know and I will send it in a personal message, or, with your permission, publish it here.

Vicious little beggars! ... and not always so 'little'. I've seen them almost 3 cm long. Here's a true story: The local name for horse flies here is "klägg" (pronounced 'clegg'). In my first job here the boss asked me to nip down to the corner bakery and by a dozen buns for the afternoon coffee break. I asked if he wanted any particular sort. Imagine my surprise when he answered "just get anything with klägg in it or on it". I wandered off to the bakery agog with anticipation expecting to be introduced to some new scandinavian delicacy and in my mind I was imagining something akin to sweet mincemeat. The bakery staff had a good laugh when I asked for buns with anything made from kläggs. I learned a new word: klägg also meant 'something sticky' like, jam, cream or soft icing. Compare the lovely geordie word 'claggy'. I think it may have come with the vikings.

Too many years have gone by to be able to recognise anything but I'm sure that must be the bridge (but not the original). There was only the one crossing that I knew of. There weren't any trees as such, just hawthorn hedges skirting the fields, and the grass was only up to my knees. Mind you, my legs were a lot shorter then!

Just wondering how it will be with parking spaces for people arriving at the station by car? Or am I out of date, are there already good parking facilities in the area?

It's disappeared!!!! My fig leaf has blown away and taken all the silly badges with it! Thank you to whoever was responsible. normal service can now be resumed.

Malcolm is a man of great integrity. I'm sure it's the hat he's referring to. Euphemism??

I'm sure you could!

This is what happens when you talk on the phone in one language and write on a computer in another language at the same time! Redigera bort = edit out, in case anybody was wondering. Clearly my multi-tasking skills are already in decline.

I do have an incandescent purple hat but it's attached to a busty brunette which I've tried to redigera bort several times. Unfortunately it's not possible without removing 2/3 of the hat as well.

Good Heavens! I've been awarded a leaf! I'm officially an "Apprentice (3/14)", How the H---- does this system work?

1st post in the topic.

That's looking much better! I had a (ONE) hornet sting about 10 years ago and it was pure agony. Several must have been a nightmare.

The pig - all of it - is the mainstay of the Christmas dinner with ham being top of the list. The various parts are turned into several dishes: cheeks & trotters (brawn), ribs (glazed and roasted), shoulder (smoked), belly (salted & smoked) guts (sausage skin), just about everything else (sausage). The pigs head is, today, purely decorative but an essential part of the festivities. Artificial ones come in all sorts of materials and sizes. They are decorated yearly and the icing removed before being stored for the following year. I think the tradition is dying out. None of the children use them. You can buy all the dishes ready made but we always do our own ham, ribs and sausage.