Canny lass

You’re not wrong in thinking that the green letch has its origin near Ewart Hill and that it runs north towards Red House passing west Lea cemetery on the west - causing havoc with flooding at times - before reaching the eastern outskirts of Netherton Colliery. It then continued past the Francis pit where the ravine was very deep. At that point, there was a small wooden bridge crossing the letch and leading onward was a footpath which terminated at Northumberland and Westmorland Avenues. It terrified me as a child as it was so deep. Passing the Francis pit workings the Green letch continued north east to eventually join forces with the Netherton Letch. I’ll let it be unsaid which name the letch took after that point but I’m inclined towards Green flowing towards Willow Bridge. Here’s a map from 1886 showing its whole course between Ewart Hill and its merging with the Netherton Letch. It’s named on the map and I’ve tried to leave that visible for you. The direction of the flow is also shown (south to north) but it was difficult to keep that. If you’d like to see the map without markings I can post it for you or send it to you by direct message.

I may have been a bit too generous with the red pen there! I believe it's the Green letch which continues towards Willow Bridge - not the Netherton letch - and eventually meets up with Willow Burn.

Sounds like the Netherton Letch, shown in red. Naturally, I've painted the Green letch in a suitable shade of green:

I believe they are earthworks created when the Francis pit shaft was sunk.

No idea what happened to them, Tony but Joseph (Joe, a ginger headed, spectacle wearing lad) was in my class at school.

Could it be the remains of Choppington Brickworks? It's just a small dot behind the Lord Clyde pub (above centre) on this 1896 map of the greater area of Netherton, Choppington and Barrington. As you can see, there are Brickworks the length of Choppington Road. Probably half of Bedlington is built of bricks from here. I know that the newer rows: First-, Second-, Plessey- and Third Street were. Here's a close up. I'm afraid I don't know from which year. If the remains are very near the Choppington road it's most likely to be this. There wasn't much remaining of the Francis pit houses when I grew up in the 50's. Only their gardens remained as allotments behind the new First Street.

These are my favourites: https://www.old-maps.co.uk/ https://www.oldmapsonline.org/ https://maps.nls.uk/ https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/ Enjoy!

Interesting! I always thought it was confusion with the colliery. Never too old to learn!

Now, I've located the map I was looking for! Ewe herd Hill goes back much further than 1820. here it is on what, according to me, is a very beautiful map of the area from 1769:

The community named Netherton on the map is what we now call Nedderton Village. The name was changed due to postal confusion when Netherton Colliery came into being – that’s to say the community that grew around the Howard- and Francis Pits. What we previously knew as Netherton Colliery isn’t shown on this map. Probably a bit too early. Maps are great things but they are like photos – they record only a moment in time. Unfortunately, the ‘moment’ captured in the survey may, very often, not bear any resemblance to the area at the time of publication. That’s particularly true of maps from the 19th century as, in order to keep pace with the needs of growing Industry, coal mines were springing up all over the place at a fair old rate of knots. Map-making, on the other hand was a long and tedious process. Netherton Colliery community doesn’t appear in any detail until housing started to be provided. Though there were as many as 14 mines (not all coal producing) late 18th century in and around Netherton the area was predominantly arable land. Blue-, Burnt- and Redhouse Farms were already established way back at the beginning of the 18th century on land belonging to the Ogle family. The first ‘pit’ of any size was at Nedderton Village around 1789 but it wasn’t until 1837 that any major production started at Howard pit – around which the colliery rows were built. Production was good and in 1846 another shaft was sunk to give better access. This was the Francis pit. So, it was a bit after 1820 that any community worthy of notation on a map was established at Netherton Colliery.

Apropos Ewart Hill, did you know that it was originally called Ewe herd Hill? I've always thought of Ewart as family name but Ewe herd Hill was clearly a way of describing a landscape feature ( a hill where there were shepherds living or working). Here it is on Fryer's map of 1820:

Try having a look at another topic on this forum: https://www.bedlington.co.uk/forums/topic/3197-ewart-hill-opencast/ HPW gives a good description of the wooden trestles of the bridge being built in 1954. There's a lot of information about the workings at Acorn Bank as well.

Neither did I. My girl-guiding knowledge stretched to Granny- and reef knot. What a mine of information this quiz is!

It's Friday, it's quiz night. Time to give the old bumps of knowledge an airing: 1. What name is given to a joint of beef cut from the breast next to the ribs? 2. Which English king married Mary of Teck? 3. Yenisey and Irtysh are both major examples of which kind of geographical feature? 4. The Dome of the Rock was built in 691 by Abd-al-Malik. Where is it? 5. Which Cole Porter song was inspired by a leaky tap? 6. In boxing, what name is given to a class under 8 stone? 7. What is the more common name for aquaculture? 8. Which member of the British Royal family was born on 15th September 1984? 9. Which US President’s presidency was called the Thousand Days? 10. In which year was the Wall Street Crash? 11. Ryeland, Kerry Hill and Roscommon are all breeds of which animal? 12. Who played the title role in The Incredible Hulk? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. There are 4,000 different types of knot. Answers on Thursday next week.

Answers to last week's quiz: 1. Bismark 2. Pericardium 3. Harold Wilson 4. Weser 5. Georgie Fame 6. Whitehall 7. Bullfighting 8. Biggles 9. Almonds 10. In the temporal lobe of the brain 11. Arundhati Roy 12. Chequers New quiz tomorrow.

Vic, there are no words that I can say that can take away the great pain you and the family must be feeling at this time. It is sad news indeed. Dot seems to have had a rich and wonderful life and I'm sure she enjoyed all the children and grandchildren. There must have been many happy, family times which now become happy, family memories - of which she is a part - for all of you. Enjoy those memories. I know that you nursed Dot for a long while and that you did a great, if sometimes dufficult, job. Let it be a comfort to you, knowing that she was able to remain at home so long thanks to your kindness and effort. And don't forget, that Dot, despite her poor health, has helped in the documentation of Bedlington's rich history on this site thanks to her knowledge of Phillips Yard and the bakery. My thoughts are with you.

On many census returns these are registered as halves- 17, 17½, 18, 18½ etc.. It can be confusing at times.

You're forgiven!

Less of the BH, young man! Equality rules in this household so OH will do nicely thank you (that's unless you're referring to my OH's BH , of course).

...and here it is! 1. Which Prussian statesman was known as The Iron Chancellor? 2. What is the membranous sack which surrounds the heart called? 3. Which British Prime Minister said “A week is a long time in politics”? 4. Into which river did the Pied Piper of Hamlin lead the rats? 5. Which male vocalist of the 60s had number one hits with Yeh Yeh, Get Away and Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde? 6. In which London thoroughfare are the headquarters of the Horse Guards? 7. In which sport are banderillas used? 8. Which literary character’s main opponent was Von Stalhein? 9. Which nutlike seeds are produced by the tree Prunus amygdalus? 10. Where in the human body would you find the amygdala? 11. Who won the 1997 Booker prize for the novel The God of Small Things? 12. What do Americans call the game we know as draughts? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Florence Nightingale kept a small owl in her pocket, even while serving in the Crimean War. Answers on Thursday next week. Advance warning: Only five more quiz nights! Sadly - or not, as the case may be - the last Friday Night Quiz will be posted 18th June. The reason being that by then we will be fully vaccinated and intend to make some attempt to resume a more normal lifestyle. We won't be going mad but are hoping to get out and about a bit further than the local forests and lakes. Of course, should there be any change in the situation you may have to put up with me a bit longer.

Answers to last wek's quiz: 1. Erwin Rommel 2. Latvia 3. Knock, Knock who’s There 4. Boris Karloff 5. Antelope 6. Splinter 7. 3 pennies 8. Scottish National Party 9. Max Planck 10. Jimi Hendrix 11. Per Lindstrand and Steve Fossett 12. Stephen Hendry New quiz tomorrow.

There are many ways to skin a cat.

There's 'clutter' and there's 'knowledge'. Now, what i'm doing here is not looking for clutter. I'm simply retrieving stored knowledge from dingy corners of the memory, where we ourselves have stored it till the time it may come in useful. It needs a dusting off now and then to make it more accessable when the time comes for its use.

Fiday Night again! Very easy quiz this week. You should know most of the answers without the help of Google 1. Which German General was known as the Desert Fox? 2. Of which former Soviet republic is Riga the capital? 3. What was Mary Hopkins entry in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970? 4. Which actor’s real name was William Pratt? 5. What sort of creature is a gerenuk? 6. Which rat trained the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? 7. What did the American golfer Jack Nicklaus always carry in his pocket at tournaments? 8. Which British political party was founded on 1934? 9. Which German physicist formed the quantum theory? 10. Which rock guitarist was the first to be honoured with an English Heritage blue plaque? 11. Who were Richard Branson’s co-pilots on his attempt to fly around the world in a balloon in December 1998? 12. Who became a world snooker champion for a record-equalling sixth time in 1996? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. The first comb dates back to Scandinavia around 8000 BC. Answers on Thursday.

Last time I looked it was Thursday so here are the answers to last week's quiz: 1. Shropshire (or Salop) 2. 4’ 4” 3. 17 4. Matthew 5. The Automobile association 6. Australia 7. Hindi 8. Lizard 9. Jealousy 10. Isaac Newton 11. The Hobbit 12. Fair Isle New quiz tomorrow.