HIGH PIT WILMA

Ye can see the edge of the next tippler at the reet side of the pic,the youngun wud hae ti stand in that wee triangle of space atween the two sets of way.[rails]Dangerous or wat?!

CL,see the handle next ti thi tippler?..whey ye had ti pull that handle back towards ye ti tip the tub ,by setting the rotating tippler in motion. Noo,ye see where the youngin wud hae ti stand?..next ti the rails what set the next tub ti thi tippler behind ti youngin stannin theor!![cos tha wud be three or four tipplers aal gaaning at thi syem time at a big pit..Choppington High Pit ownly had one tippler cos we had single decker cages wat ownly tuk two tubs at a time..as opposed ti big pits wat had double,triple or even quadruple decks..thus winding more tubs aal at once.] If Health and Safety had been aroond in the aad days ..aal thi pits wudda been shut doon as soon as the Inspectors went through the Heapstead doors!!...that reet James?! At thi High Pit,that Handle was across at the other side of the rolleyway,[thi rails],and it had a 6" square plate welded onti it,and wat ye did was even mair scary..ti the uninitiated! After ye pushed thi full'n inti the tippler,ye had ti larn thi knack of actually KICKING.. the plate on the handle ti set thi tippler away..![why thi hell thi handle was across thi otha side of the way beats me!] Many a time us young kids from scyuul wud literally loss wa balance and faal backwards wi the reverse thrust of not being strong enough,or heavy enough,ti set thi tippler away..[mind it didn't tek lang ti larn thi knack!!] It was certainly an aad Tetty pit!..the coal washer was ancient..and primitive,but it worked!.it was a 40-ish feet lang heavy,a mean massive..Shaker..which had water sprays overhead washing the coal,and was driven by a wheel and belt system,with a massive crankshaft and conrod..which pushed and pulled this lang heavy shaker. The coal was graded into different sized pieces after falling through varying sized mats of holes on the shaker,and aal the stones fell owa the front end onti steel flat sheets. They had a bloke ["light wark"!!!]...wheeling the stones away ,in a wheelbarrow,and tipping them doon a chute and into waiting coal trucks below the screens. It was like that in 1929,when me Faatha started there as a 14 yrs aad laddie,and it was STILL like that when aa started in 1959.!! A wasn't there five minutes,when a asked the aad timers why it was like that..a bit hillbilly-like!! They said ,whey Son,it's aalwis been like that..! Me Faatha telt me the same ,when a telt him..[He was now working at Linton Pit..] So one day,a said ti the Engineer,"Why dinna yi burn a hole through the steel flatsheets,rig up a chute,and feed the styens stryght inti thi trucks doon under thi screens..tha theor ti start wi..meks sense ti me!!! A day or two later,they were up wi the burning gear,and did wat a suggested..and the stones went inti the trucks directly till thi pit closed!![a was a fifteen year aad kid!!]

Heh heh!CL,ye would hae ti hae a canny gob ti swalley one of these!! James,a hate ti soond like a nitpicker,but ivrybody on here knaas aam a stickler for correctness,where humanly possible!,[like...aa nivvor mek a mistake ...like!!!hmmm...!],but ye contradicted ya description,even though ye described the process better than aa cud o dun! The FULL'NS are pushed oot the cage by Chummins gaan in,wi the help of the Banksman/Men. They run stryght ti the tipplers,ti be tipped doon onti the Shakers,[Grids with several different sized sets of holes,which separate out the different sized pieces of coal and "shake" them onto different conveyor belts..called Screening belts..or "The Screens"],then the empty tubs..["Chummins"..or ."Chumtubs"],are pulled back up to the cage level by the Creepers.The difference in levels has to be like that or the tubs would have to be pushed aroond the whole circuit by hand!![caaled "The Heapstead Circuit"]. So the circuit is...Oot thi cage...run gently doon a slight gradient ti the tipplers..tipped...doon a slight gradient,after being pushed oot thi tippler by anither full'n...doon ti the creepers...up the creeper ..slight gradient and run aroond a curve and doon ti the cage..and away back doon the pit ti be filled at the Loader End..and start the circuit again. ...And aam gett'n aad a think...James...is it J.H. or aam a mixed up wi K.J...?..[BOTH aad Friends enywheh!!] Hope ye dinna mind me interfering James!! Cheers! Bill.[Great pics by thi way!..brings back memories of being a 15 yrs aad laddie stryght from me school desk..and daeing monotous,soul-destroying jobs like this..and tekking Jockey's oot on the kip aal day at the shaft bottom area..!afore gettin onto thi Fyess!!]

Thanks Alan! I know Dave Shepherd and all his family very well,his Brother Lawrence..["Lol Shep"..now sadly deceased R.I.P. Lol],lived opposite me for nearly thirty years at West/East Terraces in Stakeford.His other Brother Mick,[also sadly deceased..R.I.P.Mick],was my close Marra for over 25 years also.I trust Dave's word and opinion on this one,and aam thinking twice aboot ordering the DVD,bearing in mind I received a DVD as a Xmas present,years ago,from Mick and his Wife,about Bedlington remembered and it was mostly photos and a voiceover,so it might even be the same DVD that Dave talks aboot!! ..Aal get it oot and check it ti see..if a can find it that is! Cheers Alan. Bill.[Hope ye aren't too bad!..rough at this end wi Cath..]

Many thanks Alan,much appreciated,aam tekking the chance to check things out,mail etc,while Cath is in bed![resting between hoosewark!]Cheers Bill.[hope ye are not too bad yasel Alan!!]

HI Alan,aa wud like a couple of copies of that DVD as weel ,if ye can find out how and where to buy it..Aa wud imagine Al's Videos at Ashington,[if he is still there like!],wud have it,he used ti have aal the Local Magazines like Creeful O Coals etc. Cheers Bill.

Hi folks,aam still alive!,just fully taken up time-wise..noo,aa luk oot me sitting room and kitchen Windaes ivry day of me life,at the remains of the Choppington Low Pit heap!..it's still big enough not ti be missed,but luks a lot nicer than it did many yrs ago!! On the great photo of the mountain,ye can see where the Bogies have been re-sited ti start tipping onto another part of the land adjacent ti the Mother heap! If the pit had still been ganning,tha wudda been Twin Heaps by noo!! My Uncle Tommy Cadwallender and his family lived in them hooses,and when my Parents lived doon on the Willow Bridge,in Storey's Buildings,me Mutha used ti tek us bairns through the pit yard ti see them. A distinctly remember,in aboot 1947,aged three yrs,seeing this massive pipe gushing filthy stinking black watta inti a greet big pond..[the pit ponds!!],and me Mutha frightening me by warning me not ti gaan and play near them ponds cos tha was a laddie droonded in them..a just canna remember the laddie's name. Aa nivvor forgot the noise and smell of the waata gushing..it was terrifying ti a wee bairn like me..then we went through the yard,passed the screens and the rail sidings..loads o knocking and bangin from the tubs up in the Heapstead,the tipplers,the creepers,the cages rattling up and doon..steam blaan off wi the steam winders,black smoke from the boilers,AND the tankies shuntin' the trucks under the screens and being teemed inti ...Noise,Smells,loads of locomotion constantly..wat a dangerous environment it was!!..but that was pitwark..and we aal knew nowt else!! The heap was on the right of the rail line wat went up ti Choppington High Pit,which was used ti bring the High Pit Coal doon ti join the main line. It is noo knaan as Choppington Community Wood Walk..and a lovely walk it is..well done to the friends of Choppington Woods Project!! Cheers,Bill.

Hi Lynne,welcome to the forum,they are a very helpful bunch of luvly sensible folk..nae muppets like on other forums!! It's interesting to learn your roots,I never knew much about your Parents family history! Ye might be a Longridge for aal ye knaa!!

...shud read.."if he was here with us now.."

Hi Canny Lass,a think aal the facts about Dusty Miller ,which are as vivid in my memory as if it was yesterday,lead ye ti think it was the Accident Steve is wondering about. Take my account against some unknown,uneducated [in mining that is!],reporter,who throws his notepad in to a similarly uneducated editor,with absoloutely no disrespect intended... Unless we throw a different light on the matter,I would go for poor Dusty..he suffered agonising injuries and pain,on a day which started quite happy with a bunch of gud Marra's. The one fact I left out was hearsay to me,and I don't know how true it was except for the fact it was told to me by my own very trustworthy Marra's.. The Coalface Overman,[in overall charge of the face],left the scene of the accident,and crawled off the face and sat in the High Roadway which was the Tailgate..[return airway road]. He had taken his pit helmet off,and sat with his head in his hands,breaking down,and said to the tailgate Stonemen.."A canna gaan back doon there...a canna.."..in those exact words...which,at the time,he was heavily criticised for,but as we get older, a bet some of those who criticised,including myself,think back and understand that Man's feelings..he was in charge,and should have been organising a stretcher,informing the Surface to have an Ambulance,organising getting Dusty off the face on the stretcher..organising who should be stretcher bearers,and relief bearers,8 men in all..4 men on carrying the stretcher one man at each handle,and the other four to take over at every ten minutes or so..[it's not like smooth pavement down there you know...]..a one- mile carrying of a 16 stone fella on a stretcher,over rough,wet,stony uneven ground,then a climb of a quarter of a mile up a 1- in 6 gradient "Drift" roadway,then 200 yards to the shaft bottom,to be put in a cage to be wound 1000 feet to the surface...all the time Dusty would have been passing out,through being joggled around during the journey outbye and to Bank..[the surface]..I have been a stretcher bearer a lot of times from aged 19 yrs old down the High Pit at Choppington,and at other pits,and have carried 18 stone fellas,believe me..itwas arduous very heavy work,but when it happens,urgency of the situation,and care for your Marra on the stretcher,overrides the pain you feel. I didn't intend to go into so much detail,but feel it is necessary to try and tell the facts as best as I can,what it was like down there. This Overman was close friends with Dusty and the whole team,it was like watching a family member suffering..so now,in my old age,and I speak only for myself,I feel guilty for even just thinking about any criticism on this fella..he died a long time ago,but if he was her with us now,I would be apologising for my thoughts..I was only about 23-24-ish yrs old at the time.[young and hotheaded..as they used to say!]

Anne,just another thought,out of interest,if you haven't already,you may be interested to see the photo's which I took underground down Bates' Pit in 1986,just before the pit was shut down for good. They are in the gallery under the heading Bates Pit Photographs. Cheers, Bill.

Anne,I was so engrossed in my thoughts ,trying to help Steven,and didn't think to say how sorry a was to read about your Dad's accident. Life down the mines was really rough,and in an accident scenario,miles inbye,in roadways roughly blasted out from solid stone strata,and swalleys..[dips],in the roadways sometimes flooded up to the waist..with oily black stinking water which was freezing..it was really stressful,sheer physically demanding hard work,to carry wor Marra's outbye on a stretcher.[we often used to wonder who would be the next one we would be carrying out..maybe it would be one of us..and it often was...] Conditions like that never existed in any other industry,no Doctor's,no Ambulances..no nothing..not even toilets or washbasins..I mean really barbaric.. We fought in 1984 to keep the pits open,but in my old age,and looking back,we knew nowt else..it was wor heritage..with a hefty legacy of injuries and suffering ill-health,maybe it was a blessing that they were closed. Anne,you should always be proud to tell anyone that your Dad was a Coalminer,Salt of the earth,and the Industrial Revolution would never have got us to where we are now ,without the sacrifices made by the Coalminers of the past..a rare breed! Kindest regards,Bill.

Hi Anne,and Steven,welcome to the forum! Steven,I worked at the A pit at Bedlington,[the "Auld Pit"],from being transferred there from Choppington B pit..[the "HighPit"],in 1965. I worked at the auld pit from 1965 until it closed in 1971,and knew LOTS of the workforce,in all the different shifts..and obviously,through time,I have forgotten some. However,as my friends on this forum all know,my memory overall of my mining years is still pretty vivid,and I remember well,the fella who trained me on the coalcutters [the old AB15 Cutters!],as well as my other face training operations. His name was Billy Miller,and he lived at Grange Park in Bedlington,in his later years. AAHH!..a thought just came to me as a was thinking Billy was the only Miller at the Aad Pit,then it suddenly came to me,it cud have been aroond 1966-7-8-ish,when a Shearer Operator,[the Shearer-Man],called Dusty Miller,was buried under a roof fall when he was at the face side of the shearer machine. The stone was aboot 10 feet lang and two feet thick..and was partly lying on the machine,and partly crushing the life out of poor Dusty.[a never knew his first name..we all had nicknames like my silly nickname on here.] His Marras were standing in the roof cavity where the stone had fallen from,using big Mel's ["Mallets"!],swinging the lang shafted mel's above their heads to hit the stone to break it so they could free Dusty. I wasn't in that shift,but came in onto the face in the following shift,and we were still breaking up the stones and timbering the roof to make it safe lang after Dusty was carried outbye on the stretcher..half dead. Well,we met the rest of the marra's of Dusty's shift,as they were travelling outbye,and we were coming inbye to start our shift,and they told us that Dusty was screaming for the lads to "Get them dogs off me back"..he was obviously delirious with pain and shock. As time had gone by,with the lads constantly pounding away at this massive stone frantically ,Dusty had started screaming at them to leave him alone,which,of course they couldn't..and no way could Dusty move a stone weighing a few tons which completely covered him as he was pinned down on his chest. Now we all know about false and misleading reports by Journalists who havent the faintest idea what they are reporting about,and it is quite possible that Dusty was your Relative,Steven,cos in those years I quoted,I was about 22-3-4 yrs old,and Dusty was one of the "Old- timers"..although he may only have been in his fifties,BUT!..to a lad in his twenties...fifty yrs old....was old!! [now,at 78 yrs old in July,fifty is just a skittering young ched!..as we used to say! As Dusty was recovering at home,his close Marras brought reports back to us lads in the team,about his progress,and said he was healing champion,but his Back was so bad,he had to go down the stairs on his backside..he couldn't walk up or down normally. Now I was transferred to Bates Pit in 1971,just a few weeks before the Aad pit closed for good,so lost touch with a lot of me aad Marras. Now the first person I worked with at Bates Pit,was a Seam Overman underground called Jack Miller,he had served in the second world war,and was a real canny likeable fella,a Bricklayer by trade originally,before joining the pits. His Brother was Seargant Miller at Bedlington Police Station in the 1950's. Another fella I worked with at Bates Pit was a well-known local gardener and nurseryman,called....Stevie Clark..!! Then there was Ernie Clark,wor Pit Electrician,another smashing fella ..me cog wheels are running dry noo,and starting ti slaa doon,if a can mind of any mair Millers,aal let ye knaa Steven. Gud luck wi ya search,Steven,hope aav been a wee bit o' help,if only ti eliminate the fellas from ya search. Cheers folks! Bill.

Hi Folks!,Alan,when my Parents moved into Hollymount..[herinafter referred to by me as "Hollymoont"!] Square,around the 1947/8 period in time,only half of the square was built..oddly enough,they weren't built in numerical order! We lived in No 13,and out of the total of 66 houses,we knew every single family in the square. Even noo in me mind's eye,aam naming them,but can a hell remember the Graham family. In those first years of living there,a lot of people moved house ,for some reason or other..can't think why,cos those were the days of either gas or candle lighting,and the gas came from the Doctor pit Gasworks,and when Hollymoont was built,they were like luxury hotels![to those of us who had to stand up at the end of the street with Mother,while waiting her turn to fill her bucket of water at the communal water standpipe..!..in Storey's Buildings,at Choppington Station..!] We had full electric lighting,and cooker,kettle,wash-house with electric boiler,hot and cold running water,and three bedrooms!! But try as a may,a canna think of Geordie Graham,and if you say he lived there,my family would have knaan him. ...Aaahh!..the question is..WHEN did he live there?..cos when a started courting my Lass..[noo WOR Lass!],in 1962,a stayed down with her family a lot over wor five yr courtship,and when we got married in 1967,a knew mair folks doon at Grange Park,than a did at Hollymoont Square!. A used ti remark ti me Mutha,when a visited owa the years,aav just seen a strange Wife/Bloke gaan inti number 12.or whatever,and she wud say ,Aah,they just moved in last week..or wativvor... SO!,at thi end of that [usual!] rammelin' on,aam still nae fartha forward wi Geordie Graham!! Funnily enough,when a moved wi me aan family,ti West Terrace Stakeford,in 1970,me eventual next door nybor was Joe Graham n his Wife,Margorie. Joe was in the Buffs Club,a wonder if he was any relation ti Geordie? Sorry aam aal reet at yakkin,but not much help this time! Cheers ti aal ye canny folks! Bill.