HIGH PIT WILMA

A dinna knaa hoo me previous lang post has got "quote" marks in it......summiks gone wrang there!!

I just lost a story that I spent a half hour typing in,about a bad accident on a face at Choppington B pit,in around 1963,where a cutterman called Jimmy Prime was badly injured after being crushed by his coalcutter which danced oot from the cut and squeezed the life oot of him after it pushed him up against a hydraulic face chock. He miraculously survived and recovered after a hospital stay. A real canny fella was Jimmy. Any relation to you James neil?..if he is still with us,he might remember young Wilma wi thi lang hair and played the geeuuu-gaa!!

My Father started Choppington B pit [the High Pit],in 1929,aged 14 years,as a coal putter. I started there in 1959,and was transferred away just a few months before it closed in 1966. My Father went daft when he saw my letter informing me to start the High Pit,saying he would block me from going,as it was "Aal rough and ready,and there was lads hurt and killed every other week" Well,I did start,and I wasn't there but a few weeks,when I experienced the horror of a fatal accident occurring on the screens,which Lone Ranger should be able to remember. As time went by,and I was working underground,on heavy transport,my Father's words to me became more and more true,cos it was every other week that I had to go inbye with a "Three-barred-tram",[just a small vehicle designed to transport pit props and planks in to the hand-filling coalfaces],to seek an injured miner,and bring him out to where the mainset landed. The rolleyway was in the tailgates only,[no rails at all in the Mothergates],so an injured miner on the coalface had to be transported along the face to the tailgate,unless he could walk all right,in which case he would just go outbye down the Mothergate. Due to the wet conditions,the sleepers rotted,and became dislodged from the rails due to the ponies' hooves pushing against them while pulling trams inbye,uphill all the way,in really rough conditions. This caused the rails to either collapse from the sleepers altogether,["become parted"],or "catches" to occur at every other joint in the rails.When the tram wheels hit a "catch", the wheels jumped the rails and became "Laanched"..slang for "launched",and meaning that the tram or tubs were de-railed..or.."off the way"! So! it was,one day Joe Barrat,[the Overman],told me to take a tram into the first North tailgate,to bring a man out who had a broken leg.[not forgetting that it was illegal to ride on trams or in tubs...technically,but on the job,you gotta use common sense and act quickly in an emergency!] I went inbye and got the injured fella onto the tram,and set off outbye. [I was about 17 years old at this time] We didn't get a hundred yards when the tram jumped the rails and bounced all over the place,due to the wheels riding over the sleepers,throwing me and the injured man off the tram. Because we were going down a varying gradient on the way outbye,we used to put a dreg in the back wheels of the tram,to slow it's speed,and "brake" the front wheels with the sole of our welly's, bearing on the wheel flange,having pushed our lower leg through the tram's bars....[no H &S in them days!!] The more weight you pressed down on the wheel flange the more you would slow the tram,with the assistance of the rear dreg. This meant that the pony could steadily pull the dregged tram,but if the tendency was for the tram to speed up on a steeper part of the roadway,then you could control the tram from running onto the ponies' back legs [which happened very frequently.] Whey!,this day proved to be an absoloute nightmare for this lad with a splinted broken leg!! We got off the way about a dozen times coming outbye,and he was screaming and swearing like hell at me,as if it was my fault that the rolleyway was in the mess it was in.[The rolleyway-men used to concentrate on keeping the main roadways' rolleyway in decent condition,to bring the mainset in and out.]It was left to us young timber and transport lads to fix the way ourselves..which we tried to do,but nature was more of a force against us!![wet conditions!] When we got outbye to the main road,he got off the tram,cursing..."A wished aad just f..........g waaked oot....a wadn't hae had sae much pain!!" That wasn't the only time that that happened like that,but it was the worst,and it stuck in my mind all these years!! It was a happy little pit,wasn't it? Lone Ranger?!!!

Heh heh!! Creasing me up ye aad bugga!!.........."Get Maggs and H.P.W." .....Opening soon at selected venues!![er....!!........div a need ti explain it...or hev a spoilt it by sa'in' "div a need ti explain it?!!]...a passing thought..Gud job Sym got it in thi reet order or we wud aal be in thi nick in nae time..heh heh!! Noo wi knaa why aad Sym defected!! [Mind,hoo aam aa ti taak....tha's a dark side ti me an aal!.....a once got caught by the forst copper-car-cops in Bedlington,wi a baigie under me jumper for me Mutha ti mek thi Sundi dinna wi..as laddies did in 1954....at ten ya aad!!![Hard-up laddies that is!]

Heh heh! Nice one marra,thanks a lot Bedders!Aav been doon aal thi Ashington streets owa thi years,but nivvor knew where Pont Street was,musta aalwis escaped me! It's great seeing the street plan wi thi tubway in ivry raa! Me Mutha used ti tell us kids hoo she used ti dreg the set up,Lowse the powny off thi set by tekking thi sheckle pin oot,waak thi powny aroond ti thi other end of the set,hing thi powny back on by putting thi sheckle pin inti the sheckle on thi limma's ,once the sheckle was lined up owa the middle cock-hole on thi tub.Tek thi dregs oot,and away the Set-lad wud gaan,wi he's chum-set,and back ti thi pit for anutha full set,ti dae thi next raa! Noo,as a 14 year owld Lassie,wi a gud memory till she passed on at 95,she cudn't mek a story like that, up, as colourfull as she used ti tell us,when we were bairns!! She used ti help the set-lad ti hoy thi coal oot thi tubs once they were cowwped owa onto the roadside! But then,as she was the youngest in a mining family wi her Dad and brothers aal pitmen,[not forgettin the lads were in thi pit at fowteen years aad],her tasks were ti clean oot and refill,then polish,aal the carbine lamps,sharpen the drills wi a rasp,[nae Tungsten Carbide tips in them days!],put baits up,and clean and polish the pit byeuts for thi next shift!!...[a knaa..!..."carbine"....just a pitmatic slang word for the stuff!!] Her Mother left her family when she was only six years old,and buggad off.They later traced her in Doncaster bigamously married again doon there.Nowt sed aboot that,they were only happy to be re-united again.....by then aa was aboot 12 years owld,and loved me new Grandma ti bits,cos even though a knew the story from me Mutha telling us,a was still too young ti understand much aboot the carry-on. The owlda generations had that much ti say aboot the 1960's generation....sex....drugs....rock and roll....free love...aal that.......!!....thi buggas were worse in the generations before us!!!!

Wow,Sym! Ye bugga,this is mair interesting than bliddy pitwark! Tellis mair!

Hi all! Although I never knew Joe personally, [A] 'Cos I was a teetotaller and never drank or went into pubs or clubs..except to entertain. In the 50's I was too young to know,and in thi 60's I was courting seriously and entertaining,still. Joe was always either in the Ashington Post or Blyth News,or Chronicle,with his feats,and I was always under thi impression that his record crisp-eating was 53 packets in under an hour without a drink. His Son,young Joe,lived next door to my Marra,who was to become my Best Man at my wedding,this was in 1967.That was at the bottom of the Beattie and Haig roads,on Millbank Road. As time went by,in the 1980's a young lad came down Bates Pit,called Jimmy Steele,a strong,powerful young'un,and a gud hard worker underground in bad conditions. He is a "distant"relation to old Joe,and is now living and working in Perth,Australia. He got into contact with me after nearly thirty years [since Bates closed],through visiting the Flickr site and seeing my Bates pit pics! He is the only Steele of that family I knew. The amount of pies that old Joe went through in a session was incredible,according to what we used to hear and read of in those days!

Hi Newbedders! Many thanks for your mail,and for posting these interesting maps,it proves my Mutha did still "have all her marbles" [quote: her last remarks before she passed away,at 95 yrs old!] She was born and brought up in Pont Street,which I cannot see on these maps,so I think there must be other sections available in the archives,showing the rest of the colliery village...VILLAGE!!!!.....Ashington was the biggest mining town in the world in the early days...5 pits in one,with over 5000 miners employed there! Hi Haffy! Just ti clear up any unintended confusion,when I moved into West Terrace,Stakeford,in 1970,it had ootside aad-fashioned flush toilets,across the yard,wi a high wall aal aroond,but the floor of the building was the original old Netty ,and shaped with a curved sill at the entrance doorway,the purpose of which was to prevent the contents of the netty being pushed into the yard,when the midnight shuveller used to push he's shuvell into the little ground-level access hole which was in the main ootside terraced wall! One little hole ootside every hoose in the street of 100 hooses![mind,when ye luk at these maps,it must hae been a neetmare for the coal-leaders,and the netty-cleaners!!] So a divven't knaa when thi aad netties were done away wi,at Bomarsund,Stakeford....[cos wor hooses were built for thi Bomar pit lads originally.] Thi mind boggles if ye start thinking aboot hoo they managed aal this,and where the tubloads of netty slag went and wat they did wi it! We'll leave it at that eh?!

A forgot ti taak aboot the blacklocks and their eggs which a found in different places when a pulled aad door frames oot,and especially the triplex range,coal oven......it was a breeding haven for the little buggers! Too late noo,aam jiggered,need ti gaa ti kip...leave it for anotha neet,unless anybody can also relate stories aboot them! Bob Bethwaite Jr comes ti mind at thi Bedltn Aad pit,in the mid -1960's] [That's me reminder for next time!]

Lone Ranger,are ye still gaanin' strang yit?...been a lang time hearing from ye! A think one of the pics at thi top reminds me of Norman Smeaton,but mind........1971 was a lang time ago!!![a cud be reet or wrang!] Canny Lass,a divvent knaa if a telt thi story elsewhere on thi site,but aal tell it anywheh! When a was alang wi Dougie Moore,at Netherton,in 1971,daeing me Deputy's three weeks training,[which was part of a 16 week course,],we were sitting at the Deputy's Kist,getting wa baits. Dougie proceeded ti tell me aboot another old-timer Deputy,who worked in this district where we were,and sat at the same kist,getting he's bait,many years before us were. One night,in the night shift,[5-0pm start-not to be confused with "Fore-shift"....which was a 12-0 midnight start..],this aad Deputy was getting he's bait,on he's own,in a long black dark roadway,as they are underground! Something caught he's eye in the distant darkness,and he could make out a pinprick of light,[Carbide lamps in those days!],which steadily got nearer,as the minutes passed. He carried on writing his Mines and Quarries Act 1954 "General Inspection" report on the state of his district,as to safety,production progress etc,when a movement caught his eye again. Looking up from his report book,he saw a figure of a very old Miner walk past,unseeing,and unmoved,just sauntering slowly outbye,with an unlit clay pipe in his mouth,and an old-fashioned cloth cap and muffler on,typical dress of the real old miners...1800's style. When he related to others what he had seen ,later on,he found out that a few other men had seen him frequently,and even had an affectionate nickname for the old fella!...but each one hadn't said owt in case others thought they were nuts![so to speak!] Have you or Maggie ever heard that story before? Be interesting to find out who the old fella was,and if it was on record,maybe he suffered a fatal accident,or died in the pit while working during his shift.

Templars....?!........maybe....eh Sym?!!.......

Sym,ya probably sitting on a Scottish Mansion somewhere.....Laird Sym!! My Mother told me before she passed on,that my 5x Grandfather was a Scottish Laird.no more details to be found on that one. Maybe that's why I have been pulled to Scotland all my adult life,firstly for my Honeymoon in 1967,then forever more,every year,three times a year,until my Wife's ill-health meant we could no longer travel so far. Even Wooler,every weekend up the Cheviots with our tourer,for over 20 years,walking them thar hills from sometimes 5-am [sun-up],till 11-0pm..[sun down]!! Ye canna imagine a scene of so much blood and death in so small an area,I've been there many many times,and often wondered what could be found with a good metal detector! We used ti love watching the old bus towing GGG's marra's up owa the top of the Yeavering Bell,and breaking away wi a characteristic drop in revs,and a roll to Port!!! Did I get that yin reet or hev a med an A.....e o' mesen? It wudna hae been ye,GGG ....wud it?....spoiling the tranquility of a Sunday afternoon..!! We went from 1977-ish on,then withoot the van,just for a day noo and then,up ti thi present time.

Whey a nivvor knew that James! Live and larn. A lived in Bedlington from aboot 1947 till a got married in 1967,and nivvor twigged aboot thi cooncil motto. Mebbe cos aal a was interested in was larning the guitar,tuk nea interest in nowt else but aal things connected wi thi space race......oh!...and the Clangers and Metal Mickey....mind a was still a kid! Queer motto ti hae an iron cross on it eh?[ ner.....it's not the George cross...it's a bliddy Jarmin one!]

Hi Haffy! Ashington was a different kettle of fish! Whereas Bedlington hooses were little hovels med nice by proud miner's wives,in thi aad days,the raas and raas of hooses in Ashington were better built,and still stand yit as the high end of Ashington bears testament. Portia,Katherine ,and aal thi rest of thi lasses nyems in one part,aal thi nyems of trees in another part,hundreds of hooses,still as gud as ever,cos they were built wi better bricks etc.Mostly aal private noo,and sum luvly hooses amang them,when yi gaan doon them streets. Me Mutha was born in Pont street,[thi Ferguson family,Billy thi buck,George,John,Matt,Lily,Nancy,and Jean,who was me Mutha,a think Granda Ferguson was also John senior,but not too sure aboot that.] There was also a young Alfie who died aboot 18 months old,and he wud have been the last in this large family,in the old days....me Mutha was 95 when she died a few years ago.Matt was also 95 when he passed on,so aam wondering if yi knew any of the family. A knaa at one time,there were 5000 miners in Ashington village,cos thi pit was five pits in one. Me Grandma McDonald,passed on many years ago,was working in one of the shafts when the shaft was being sunk. Coal-owner-days when bairns,including lassies were employed in inhuman conditions for up to 18-hour shifts...as young as six years old..underground. Me Grandma told me that after the sinkers had drilled and fired the sinking shots,the lassies used ti hae ti load the "Kibble" [ a basket],wi aal the loosened stones,and clean the ground for the next drilling operations. The men would have ti rest,cos tha was nae powered drillers in them days,it was aal brute force hand drilling...very slow hard work,but they did it. Me Mutha used ti tell me stories aboot hoo there were tub rails doon every street,and the miner wud lead he's pony doon the street fetching pit tubs wi thi miners' hoose coal.he used ti tip thi tubs oot on their side ti empty thi tub next ti each hoose,and me Mutha had ti use a big pan shuul ti hoy thi coal oot thi tubs,and help the guy ti put thi tubs back on thi way..[thi rails],ready ti gaan back ti be loaded up for the next run. She was only 14 years aad,then she went into"Service",looking after rich peoples hooses and mekking meals and deaing hoosewark.and god knaas wat else,when yi trace history back aboot wat happened in them days ti young lassies![mostly Jewish folks in them days,at tynemooth,Then doon ti London.] Can ye add ti any of this history,Haffy,a mean on a porsinal level,or even substantiate any of me comments,cos it's mostly wat a was telt by the aad folk when a was a bairn.[ me Grandma was aroond in thi late 1800's,so nowt unusual aboot her daeing pitwark.] Me Mutha,as well as loads of aad miners,used ti tell in detail,who the midnight shuveller used ti cum doon thi streets wi his horse and cart,ti clean oot aal thi aad netties,["ashpits" they caaled thim!!]....wat a job! Eeh,a cud gaan on and on![heh heh!.... a dae!]

Nae disrespect,Threegee,but for the dumb pitmen amangst us,or,those like me who are musically orientated,and ignorant of modern art......wat thi hell is it aal aboot?!!!! Explanations wud be seriously welcomed,aa dinna mind showing me ignorance,as lang that definition is in the context of the Oxford English Dictionary![NOT the common "Geordie" meaning!]

Reminds me of the Northern Rock scandal!!

Belated Birthday wishes Pete! Not lang oot o' hospital,and trying ti catch up on everything,but struggling!! Anywheh,hope ye had a gud'un!

Great footage! When Choppington High Pit was scheduled to close in 1966,I was transferred away in late -1965 to Bedlington A pit. I was marra'd up with a canny lad from the nearby Bomarsund Pit which also closed at the same time. As we got to be very close marra's oot the pit as well as in the pit,he told me one day how his Dad died when he was a very young kid,I don't think he even knew his Dad,he was so young. His Dad had worked at Bolckow's ship-breaker's yard,and was fatally injured when he was hit directly by the iron ball which they dropped from the height of the crane jib,to pound the upper structures of the ship they were breaking up. This footage shows exactly how complacent everyone was...standing next to all the action nonchalantly,cranes throwing massive sections around , the ball sending shrapnel and asbestos and other materials everywhere!! Fatalities just waiting to happen! We miners were aware of the dangers,and did our best to respect them,and take actions to help reduce injuries etc. ......Well,most of us did,except for the odd one or two...and you always get at least one....in any employment! It was a pity the footage was pixellating very badly,but at least I got the jist. I was thinking how strange it might have been if one of those men standing watching the iron ball crashing down,happened to be my Marra's Dad.

Whey yi bugga!! Canny Lass,sorry aam a bit late in catching up,been helping ti keep the N.H.S.staff employed,while fighting off the devil's bloody crew!! Hope ye had a really nice one,and hope aam aroond on time next year!! Cheers!

Hi Eggy! Thanks for yor advice on the Three Wheats,it's a lovely little place. Seems like ye have had experience of that footpath,which was great when they laid it for Princess Sophie's visit, a year or two back,it was as smooth as a babby's bum! But it seems like they hoyed a pailfull of tar here and there and rolled it oot ti a quarter of an inch before gritting it!![the frost soon discovered that aan aal!] AA got me Wife a new Scooter for her Birthday,last year,with sprung suspension aal aroond,[still a car boot scooter..not a big road one..],and even wi thi springs...it shudders through her spine,resulting in severe pain in her back,and more drugs to try and relieve it. But ye hae ti get oot and aboot,regardless!! A canna thank ye enough for wat ye achieved wi me pics!! Cheers Eggy!

Hi James! Great pic of old Bates..."Before Modernisation"! I know what you mean!,but I canna help but think how modern this was,compared to other pits where investment was virtually nil,other than a wagon load of wood pit props and planks,a tramload of relatively small section arched girders,and a roll or two of rubber conveyor belting noo and again! At Choppington High Pit,the men on the screens had to lift all the props off the belt that came out with the coal,[they were only 2'-3" or less in length!....very low seam] They were sent down to the timber yard to dry out,cos they were water-logged and clarty,and heavy!,then they were sent back down to be re-used![re-cycling before the term was coined!] Even severely twisted and bent arched girders were straightened as best as the 'Smithy cud! One day,as a 15 year-old timberyard laddie,new to the pit from the training gallery,my supervisory timber yard man took me over to the Blacksmith's Shops,with a handfull of arched girder plates each..[about a dozen in total.] We watched the 'Smithy put the plates one at a time,into the jaws of a steam press,without heating them...stone cold steel. As he piled the pressure on,up to 75 tons,the plates bent like tin,a fraction of an inch each time,till he restored the slight curvature,which would allow the plates to be re-used in an arched girder,to hold two legs together.. All went well the first half dozen times,then the next one seemed to require a bit more steam! Nearly 100 tons,then with no warning,there was a crack like a cannon shot,and the plate broke in two,sending the remains flying at the speed of a gun bullet,bouncing and ricocheting all over the huge workshops. Sparks were flying for a second or two as the bits struck the girder-framed structure of the building,and men dived for cover,while I was mesmerised by this activity! Miraculously,no -one was hit at all,but only by the Grace of God,so to speak. Noo,looking at this manset,it reminds me of the lack of health and safety of the early days!![inspectors in latter years would have a fit seeing this!!] It looks like this was the carriage for the deputies,obviously a posed pic,going off the abundance of walking,and shotfiring stemming sticks. Great to have this added to the site! Cheers James! [nice one about the B.u.d.c also!]

In 1971, as part of my Pit Deputy training course,I had to spend three weeks down Netherton Pit. I was under the charge of Dougie Moore,a great friendly character,and Norman Smeaton,an older fella,serious natured,but also very friendly,and easy to get on with. Bob Cowell was the Safety Officer,and was also a canny lad,he did me one big gud turn,at the time,which I never forgot,so Bob,if ye ever come on here tek note,a kept me promise!! Peter Laird was the Undermanager,who a never cared for much,because of his dogmatic condescending attitude...dizzy wi power....we used ti say!! Sorry Pete!! Matty Smith,another Deputy at Netherton pit,for donkey's years,eventually became my Brother's Father-in-law! I'd played wi Matty's Son and Daughter from 5 years old,when they moved to Hollymount Square,in the very early 1950's,never dreaming that many years later,My Brother would marry his Daughter,and I would be walking around underground,at Netherton pit also a young Deputy,chatting to Matty,my next door neighbour! Life is strange sometimes!

Heh heh!A bit late.....again!, but a pitmatic phrase came into me heed the otha day........."Aye,ye'll bump thi set if ye keep gannin wi ya buck"!!.....or...."Aye,thi poor bugga bumped thi set when he met hor,aa reet"...! It's another way of saying..." Aye, ye backed a losser there hinny"!....or.."Gaan on a bit mair wi ya cheek,and aal thrash ye Son"! A keep racking me aad brains for mair of them.....it's hard work!

Hi folks!,am a bit late of catching up,but it seems we are from a slight generation gap,as most of these names are new to me! The Chivers family a refer to,lived aside the Beattie road cut from Hollymount Square,didn't live there very lang and shifted. As a said before,my family knew every single family that lived in the 66 houses,and when aa was young,could name them starting at no 1,with Sid Newman,and so on. But as time goes by,folk move on,and nothing stays the same! Strangely enough,aa knew a Jimmy Chivers when a worked at Choppington High Pit,in the early '60s,never saw him for aboot 40 years,and just before a moved ti where a aam noo,he became my new next door neighbour!! It was strange seeing him as an adult,from a lang-haired kid in the sixties...dinna knaa if he is any relation ti Les Chivers. I worked with the Mullarkey's from Millfield,and Hollymount Square,[around opposite Hollymount Terrace...that side of the square],two Brothers,older than me by a long way,canny fellas ti work with.[remember aa was only in me early twenties in them days!...at Bedlington A pit in the mid-1960's ]

Hi Eggy,would "Unsung Heroes of the Industrial Revolution" ,be out of place? These guys were "Hewing" solid coal,down,from the seam,using only a pick,sheer brute strength,and stamina,and a shovel to load the pit tubs....no drills or explosives,or coal-cutting machines!...it was a soul-destroying job which they faced with no other option,to enable warships,aeroplanes,tanks etc to be built,and to provide power,gas,and not least,warm fires at home,which everybody took for granted. They should be remembered nationally,as thier efforts shaped our world and society. A canna think of owt mair fitting,Eggy,that's from the bottom of me heart,hoo a feel aboot me ancestors and the early coal industry,we had it bad,they had it as legal slavery. Many thanks again!