HIGH PIT WILMA

My Marra,lived in the end hoose of Doctor Terrace,in the latter years afore they were pulled doon. First time I went up ti visit him,he said "Wilma,dae yi notice owt aboot that back door?" "Whaat?" I replied. "The pitmen must aal hae been a smaal race of men,when these hooses were built,cos luk at thi height of that door.." A cud see wat he wus gettin' at,the battened "coal-hoose" back door was only aboot 5ft 10inches high!! Aa had ti bend me head doon ti get in,and aa was aboot that height,but me marra was aboot 6ft 2inches,so he had ti bend head and shoulders ti pass through! The generations have grown taller through better feeding,methinks,and not so much back-breaking hard work,as wat the pitmen had in them days..[1800's] Taaking aboot smoky hooses,at Bomarsund,West Terrace,[and East Terrace..],they had FOUR fireplaces,[2 doonstairs,and two upstairs!!] Adams fireplaces upstairs were smashed up and skipped ti modernise the rooms......Adams's!! [ignorance was bliss in 1970!]

I think I posted a long story about the old saying,[amang pit-folks!]...."ye tell mair lees than a colliery polis..."!....somewhere else on the site. I can distinctly remember sitting ootside the lamp-cabin,a few of us kids aboot ten years aad,quite often,watching Richard,[a lovely well-kept shunting loco] taking empty sets of coal trucks up the sidings,and full sets away from the screens,to be shunted doon ti the Aad pit.[bedlington A pit] The small pit tubs and flat trams were taken up the timber yard by a pit pony,aboot six at a time,to be filled with props,planks,wood chocks,etc,to be sent back doon the pit. The men would aal be sitting having a smoke,waiting for the buzzer ti gaan,signalling the start of their shift,and away they would trot,still smoking,up the steps to the Heapstead,complete wi Carbine [Acetylene] lamps mounted on soft cloth "Putter's caps".[before the hard hats came aroond]. It was a "naked-light" mine,where it was considered methane-gas-free,so the men could smoke underground.....as if that wasn't the most ludicrous law ever thought up![didn't matter if they smoked or not,with a minaiture Acetylene burner on their heads for a lamp to see with!!] It was a relatively dry pit,and when the water ran out,in the lamps,it was common knowledge that when the pit lads ran out of spit to wet their carbine,[inside the lamp],they had to have a wee into the lamp,to get the carbine gassing off again!!.....primitive or what? This was around the same time that the Russians were launching rockets into space in the Sputnik/Laika thi dog era!! Great pics Vic!

The timber yard and machinery stockyard was where the grassy area is,when I was a kid,[moved to Bedlington from Choppington around 1947-8..ish.] The railway sidings went up that grassy area,and the pit props and planks for the coal fillers were stacked up there. There were pit - tub wheels and axles,coal-cutters,cutter cables,[150 yds long and nearly three inches thick!],haulers, electrical switchgear and odd and ends,and everything else the pit would need as spares. No fences,just the colliery polis,and not often yi saw him,cos we played aal owa the pit timma yard!! When a was aboot thirteen years old,me mates and me took a pair of tub wheels and axle,from the yard,and carried them owa ti wa "camp",ti use them for weight-lifting excercises! One of me mates was Jimmy Bower,of the hauliers family,whose Granda lived in the old street behind Baatchie's shop,along with he's Uncle Raafie,who ran the red coal wagon,and used to do the marquees for events also. Jimmy's Dad ran the green coal wagon. The Bower's were all a lovely family. Ye might just remember the family name,Jayson,Jimmy married a Welsh lass and moved down there to live permanently.[in the 1960's]

Sorry to hear about Tommy,[as we kids all knew him by at school],Christine. My oldest Son,went to school with Lynne,[my Wife has reminded me],he was ginger Daz who played drums in the School and Wandsbeck youth orchestra's. She might remember him. Our condolences to you and your family,Christine. R.I.P. Tommy. Bill.

Sorry to hear about Tommy,[as we kids all knew him by at school],Christine. My oldest Son,went to school with Lynne,[my Wife has reminded me],he was ginger Daz who played drums in the School and Wandsbeck youth orchestra's. She might remember him. Our condolences to you and your family,Christine. R.I.P. Tommy. Bill.

I am seriously anti-prejudiced,but it annoys the hell out of me that I have,by law,to wear a crash helmet,while riding my bike,but a Turkish person does not, on religious grounds. I then have to remove my helmet,with frozen fingers,sometimes,at a petrol station forecourt,before I can fill up my tank,and then have to re-fit my helmet,again with fiddly fasteners,[double-d],and with frozen fingers,whilst a Turkish person,can ride in,fill up,pay,and be 10 miles away while I am still struggling with my helmet. Some places are o.k. and you CAN keep your helmet on,but it is becoming increasingly common,for the removal demands before filling up,for security purposes. My philosophy is...When in Rome....etc..!![and everybody should observe and comply with the laws of the land,wherever they are!] Vic,you are spot-on with your earlier comment.

Aye, Maggie,me Wife tells me to just ignore these idiots on the road,when they cut in and nearly run you off the road....and all the other daft things we have to put up with,but it's hard to ignore such mindless callous behaviour. I was taught to drive with care for other road users,in 1968,and have tried to keep that principle in mind constantly when I am driving. Courtesy is now a forgotten word ...methinks! Last year,on the way to Newcastle,on a fine sunny morning,I had exactly the same experience as you describe having. Only the young kid got out of his car,[a Subaru Impreza....boy-racer!],walked back to my car with a raging expression on his face. I wound my window down to see what he had to say,watching him like a hawk. He pushed a clenched fist[the size of a 12 year old schoolboy!],into my face and screamed[yes,literally screamed!],"you do that to me again,an aal [effing] knock you into thi middle of next[ effing] week wi that..[as he waved his fist up against my nose....]". I sat smiling glaakily at him,giving him the impression I was afraid of him. I was still strapped in,and thought of grabbing his arm,winding the window up,and accelerating away,with him hanging there,like I did once before when a drug-crazed kid punched my window out with his bare fist. But I thought he could have a knife,or even a gun,so I did nothing. As he walked away,I quickly jumped out of my car,and yelled at him to put his money where his mouth was,that I wasn't strapped in now. I said come on,you are all mouth,little boy,I am twice your age ,maybe three times,but I will take you on any time,and now is as good a time as any,and I hurried to catch up with him. Traffic was queueing up behind my car,they saw him attack me with his fist,and waited patiently. When the kid saw that I was twice his size,[cos I was sitting hunched down in my car],he virtually ran back to his car,yelling at me to F... off,and drove off at high speed,before I could think about getting his Number-plate. Now,his car was a champagne-gold Subaru,a rare colour for that car,they seem to always be blue or black! I have his face indelibly imprinted in my mind,and can see his drug-crazed wide eyes,with enlarged pupils,staring at me. When I ever see him again,and I won't be mistaken,HE is gonna get the shock of his life..[unless Mrs Wilma is with me,in which case I say nothing!] Noo,what did I do to deserve this attack? I overtook his precious.."King-of-the-road" God-car...His Subaru Impreza,with the Signum that I had written off at Easter Sunday night. .....and HE didn't like being overtook......Strange???????? THIS is what we are up against on the roads nowadays.

Threegee,I was all set to agree with you,then,having had a break gettin my dinner,and re-reading Canny Lass's comments,I'm thinking that I would have to go out freezing in thi winter,since I was put on a high-ish dose of Warfarin,which makes you feel the cold,even now in our cool summer days. In winter,you can only see my glasses,cos I wear my motorbike neck-tube,pulled high over my nose and cheeks,and a thick furry-lined trapper hat,which covers my brow,down to my glasses.....all nice and cosy,and minus 10 degrees centigrade doesn't penetrate the face covering,and only my eyes and upper cheekbones feel the cold,which you quickly acclimatise to,when you go out at 2-0 and 3-0 am doggy-walking...as I do. I was approached by one Police Officer,one night about midnight,mid-winter,who was setting up a road-block,just along the road from my House. He said hello,nicely,and asked "what I was about"........I tried really hard not appear sarcastic when I replied..."I thought that,THAT would be a bit obvious Officer"....[as I glanced down at Little Black Jess,who was looking up to the Officer,probably waiting for a sweetie,as LBJ usually does!] "Walking the dog eh?"...he offered......"Uhum officer.." I replied,as I pulled my neck-tube down so he could see that I wasn't a young kid out "Lamping" for deer or whatever. When he saw I was an old git,with a slightly overweight labrador/cross,[too heavy and old for poaching,]he started cracking on quite differently,with respect. I said I just live about a hundred yards away in those bungalows,man,and this is LBJ's patch,and I usually keep in contact with the Station if I see any queer goings-on,and we had a gud natter,and I carried on home. It was gud that he was on his toes,for my security,and that of the community. So,after aal that waffle,I would be banned from covering my face and wud just hae ti freeze!!

Now,having finished my rant,let's consider the poor person who did this ....."Low-level crime",......[Defending Solicitor-speak...!]. He probably came from a poor background,and was feeling depressed because he couldn't afford the latest game for his X-box....... ........20 hours community service,and don't do it again..........UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

Tell you what,this makes my blood boil,and if this person dares to try and snatch my wife's bag from her mobility scooter,and I,at 71 years old this month,get hold of him,he will go away with a high sqeaky voice and hopefully two fully broken hands and crippled fingers. Which is all right,till you start to think rationally about the consequences......HE would claim legal aid,which I and the rest of our law-abiding citizens would have to pay for,and I would be the "Bad lad" and probably end up locked up as a criminal,for defending my Wife. The Police did have a person who was "suspected" of nearly killing me and my Wife,in April,but couldn't prove anything on her. She would have claimed legal aid,which didn't half rub salt into thi wounds. Maggie,you are so gentle and fair-minded,you will think..."not guilty until proven",as I do also,but when a case is blatantly obvious,such as John Lennon's murderer,no trial should be allowed,an eye for an eye,full stop,and my case is blatantly obvious....but no "proof"!! So my Wife and I are still in pain,and now have to be examined,physically,and verbally,with written statements and forms galore,to try and receive any form of recompense,when we were just minding our own business and coming home from our old caravan up the country. These scumbags do not care whatsoever about the pain they cause to other people,as long as they get their fix.

That's mighty strange! Wor oldest Son lives in London. A few fears back,he went up Finchley High Street,ti the printer's shop.[before home printers came alang]. He went in ti get a job done,and a Northumbrian voice sed ti him "Wat are yi deaing doon heor Daz!?" It was Peter Liddle's Son!! [of T.Liddle Garage Stakeford fame!]...they went ti school together,and were virtually my neighbours! Only aboot five or six years back..[maybe more...time flies!],he went ti Denmark ti record a Danish band in a big recording studio over there. He walked doon the studio corridor,passed a young lad,spoke,sed Hi,and carried on his way. Thi lad shouted back at him,"yi mad ginger geordie b.............d,wat are ye daeing owa heor?" Again,it was an aad schoolmate he hadn't seen since they left in the mid-1980's!! Like yi say,what are the odds? Life's mighty qweer hoo it brings people tigitha!

Ovalteeny,nivvor struggle,or gaan ti other sources,while deciphering,aalwis ask me aan aal oblige!! A dinna gaan on deliberately,a just write like a taak!......."[...........aye.....wi knaa Dad......non-stop....!!....[[sarky young bugga's]]..!"] Wat aa waant ti knaa is,wheor's aal thi otha aad pitmen? The Lone Ranger used ti cum on,but he canna remember me as a laddie working wi him,in 1960,at Choppington High Pit! Sadly,a load of me aad Marra's have passed away,some at an early age,and that's why Aa believe in keeping wor heritage alive if a can,cos not many pitmen left,from the early days of hand-filling and coal-cutting etc,are still able ti remember those days. Doon the Wansbeck riverside yistidi,me Wife and Me were taaking ti a lovely old fella,he will be 90years old next week,but looked aboot my age!! He started Ashington pit,many many years ago,a think before WW2,then went into the forces during thi war,then started back doon the pit after thi war ended. He told me he was "a Pan-puller" on the longwall faces,with a chain face conveyor belt. When a sed ti him he wud be using thi aad-fashioned finger-nipper....thi "Sylvester"[pulling device with a toothed sword,and a ratchet-block assembly],he looked blankly at me,didn't knaa wat a was on aboot,yet he remembered thi actual job itself! Thi mind is a strange thing..!!

Heh heh!! Many thenks folks! It's amazing hoo many o' me aad Marra's from thi pits a worked in,have said thi syem thing!....and THEY worked with me in the same conditions,at thi syem time,in thi 1960's- till thi pits aal closed. Sum of the unlikeliest of lads have said.."aal buy ya byeuk Wilma,a expect aam in it mind!..."! Ye knaa,a canna mind wat a did yistidi,or wat thi weather was like,a hae ti ask wor lass,but reminiscing is like rewinding a videotape and replaying it! Aav got one gud aad Marra,who once listened ti me recalling a story aboot a car a once had ,yeors ago,[mind this was in thi 1970's],amang aal thi lads,while we were gettin wor baits. When a finished me story,he said,"Wilma..yi divven't tell lees" A sed "hoos that like?...[indignantly...cos a DIVVENT tell lees!] He sed "yi telt me that syem story two yeors ago,word for word,and if yi telt lees,it wudda been different in places,cos yi gotta hae a gud memory ti tell lees,and ye hev an atrocious memory!!!!" We aal had a gud laff cos Bill is such a character,and HE figures a lot,in my recollections,but a havn't gettn that far in me byeuk,yit! Hopefully a will. Proplem is,naebody wud publish it,cos a wadn't have it edited,not one word,a wud want it published EXACTLY as it is written!!

I cud star as thi aad gamekeeper wi me little black Jess!!....or an old storyteller in the village school!

Hi folks,it's a real joy to have somebody appreciate my recollections,which are straight from brain to keyboard instantly, as i type, with not a second to think what to say,and not a word taken from any other source except my memories. I'm so used to my family taking the mick good-naturedly,["here we go again....pitwork!...."],cos they have heard lots of my stories repeatedly when I have been talking to old Marra's in the street,and we get on reminiscing! Only last week my Wife and me were in Blyth,shopping,and we bumped into "Six-o-clock-Geordie",one of my old Marra's from Bates Pit. It's been quite a while since we have seen him,[my Wife knows a lot of my old Marra's],and in seconds,he was relating a story to us,reminding me of the time when we first drove the roadways down to the 3/4 seam,at a 1-in-4,and a 1-in-6 gradients,[two main proving roads],with water coming through the strata in sheets,not buckets,so bad you couldn't see through the torrents any more than about twenty yards.[miserably depressing working absolutely drenched and frozen,cos underground water is colder than seawater!!] This time it was HE who had the chair,and every word he was telling my Wife,confirmed what she already knew from me.! In some strange way,it is satisfying to me that other marra's tell tales of the pit like this,cos it bears out what I have told my family over the years. It's also good for me,cos he was mentioning old marra's like "Scrapper",and "Fishy",and the "Womble",[now deceased,sadly.R.I.P. Stevie.] Marra's who had lapsed from my memory,and were brought back again,after our natter about pit-work. I started writing my life story,[for my Family only],about four years ago,and finished Book one,[from my earliest memories as a child]. Book two is in progress,and has been for the last two years or more,starting with my first days underground as a 15 year old laddie. I can only write with my pen for a little while,and have to put it to one side,for months in between sometimes. I have never had to sit and think what to write,it just flows out like water from the tap!! At least if I never get it finished,for any reason,then there's a few recollections to be had on here[don't know for how long,mind!!] Some nights I say I am gonna write a few chapters,then I switch on here,then it's domino!!....the hours fly by when you type as slow as me!! Mind,I write like I talk,or I should have said,...I TALK like I write!!...your ears would be ringing if I ever bump into you in the street! At least I like to be sociable...not a bad thing methinks! Cheers Folks!,and thanks again!

One thing I forgot to say,Canny Lass,was,if your cap-lamp went out,and you were in total blackness,and I mean totally devoid of any light at all,you would hang onto your pony's collar,irrespective of where you were,either intake or return,and tell him to "hauld-up"..[meaning 'go'],and he would take you straight outbye to the stables![.....left left...right...left ...right.......he knew it all!]

Aye,canny lass,there was one secret for survival...the air flow! O.k. in a mine with good ventilation,throw a handful of dust up,and watch it's direction of movement......[depending whether you are in a main road,or a tailgate roadway.!!] In a Mothergate,[or Main intake roadway],following the the air-flow will take you further into the mine. In a Tailgate,[or"Back-road"...or "Narrow Bord"...etc],it will take you out of the mine...not in a straight line,may I add!! You would work your way out by taking numerous left and right turns on the way...a bit like going from Central station to the Hancock Museum.....via Chinatown etc.....! Now!!,in a mine with non-existent ventilation,like Choppington High Pit,the theory collapses! Whenever the barometer fell sharply the whole pit used to be "Styphed-oot",completely filled with deadly gases,which would normally be kept in check by high barometer states.[pushed back into the "Goaf"...or waste areas where coal had been extracted.] The old-timers used ti say.."Whenever that wind comes from a certain direction...we knaa she's ganna be styphed oot.." Us new kids listened and found it to be true. Until 1971,when I went on to the Mine Deputy's course,at Ashington Technical College,[as it was then],and did lessons in mining science and physics. It's great what a little bit of education does for the brain!! I found out then,that it didn't matter a chut,which direction the wind came from!!....it was the dramatic fall in atmospheric pressure which gassed the mine out![ a fall in air pressure causes a rise in gas pressure..allowing it to percolate into the general body of the air flow] Sometimes it was only old workings which were full of styth..[a mixture of mainly CO2 ...Carbon Dioxide,Nitrogen,maybe a bit or a lot of Methane,and gases like H2S ....Hydrogen Sulphide...absolutely deadly lethal even in small quantities..!] Sometimes the whole pit was full,and gases coming up the shaft [the downcast shaft!]cos the ventilation was so feeble..and it was like that from birth to death of the pit...never changed! It was cheaper to send the whole workforce home on full day's pay,now and then,than to install a more powerfull ventilation fan! I'm talking 1965 -6 closure of the pit. Now at Bates,where the Plessey seam workings reached more than 12,000 metres inbye,under the North Sea,they installed huge booster fans halfway inbye,[about 6 miles in],in the main roadway. As you approached them,the noise became so loud,and of a particular frequency,it made you feel like vomiting,and it wasn't only me that felt this way,lots of other lads told me the same story about themselves,as they passed through the air-lock doors at the side of the fan enclosure. Those workings had direction signs put up at every directional change of the roadways,whether they were intake or return airways,for visitors,but mainly for Emergency Rescue workers if ever needed. To be fair to the old N.C.B.,they were the best employers in the country,they kept jobs for those who were regarded as having mental health problems. ,such as conveyor belt transfer points,with simple but very important responsibilities,the odd ones who fell foul of the law and did prison sentences for theft,etc,they came back to their jobs,with a lot of ribbing and serious warnings from marra's to keep their nose clean or else!!....ye knaa wat a mean, lots of other employers wouldn't give these people half a chance in life even back in those days! You are right,Canny Lass,about it being a colourless world,it was a black and grey,and rusty world!!

Heh heh..thanks Canny Lass! We live and learn every day don't we. It's funny ye knaa,but underground,ye had ti learn the geography of a pit,noo it was hard enough when ye were just a laddie of 15,and new to aal the mining terminology,and you would think it would get easier as you went from pit to pit,over the years,but it got harder,cos pits got bigger and bigger,all with different terms,and different methods of working. When I started Bedlington A pit,in 1965,after the Choppington High Pit closed,I was sent to the High Main Seam,which was worked Bord and Pillar. I was lost![not just me,but all my Marra's who were transferred there at the same time] It was like a rabbit warren!...if you went to the Harvey Seam for a week,[longwall faces-total extraction],then you went back up to the High Main..... it was like starting all over again! Bord and Pillar involved driving two main roads,60 yards apart,with intersecting roads being driven every 60 yards,["Bords"]. This meant leaving 60 yard square "Pillars" of solid coal in place,to preserve the integrity of the strata and prevent[ ha ha!!] mining subsidence at the surface,when mining underneath property.[there were dozens of such roadways over a vast area] I digress,all I meant to say was how geography plays it's part underground,as well as up-aheight!! You had to learn where places were and how to get there....and more important.....how to get out!![especially in an emergency!]

Foxy, Iv'e just found oot noo,whey,five minutes ago,the relevance of your comment aboot the I.O.M. TT! It didn't sink in the part where you said you've just been! I didn't know it was on,until just noo,a went ti wat we still caal "WALTER WILSON'S",at thi Station,and the two lads in there were telling me aboot the TT winner being a 14 times'er,and fastest lap on record?[or was it 14 times winner a record?] Anywheh,noo a knaa wat yi mean by mekkin thi others look like part-timers! Am a reet in hearing Bill say it was a Newcastle rider who won?[aam haaf-deef in one lug,an canna heor oot thi otha yin!] Aal check it oot on u-tube,tha's boond ti be sum footage on theor. Cheers Foxy,an a canna mind yi working for G. Bell in thi sixties!![me Bro.-in- Law ....."Palance"was telling me!]

Haven't been doon for a month or two,heard aboot it from me next door neighbour,hoo far does it go? It used ti tek yi reet ti the steppy-styens,and my Wife could manage it in her mobility scooter,a few years ago,but of late,it is a total impossibility. Hope the plan is to renew the whole path eventually,mind there's a certain fraternity intent on destruction,and look what they did to the nice picnic tables doon at Cambois,and other places. Aal be up ti me owld childhood haunt in a few days time ,hopefully,and aal check the path oot,for suitability for the scooter. The river Wansbeck path is also restricting to sufferer's of spinal pain,when using scooter's,as the vibration on the rough areas make travelling very difficult,otherwise most of the path is a lovely walk/ride. The Bedlington "Free" woods is,and always was my favorite place to be as a child!

Chinkaplonka Fourgee!! I thought certain words could be taken for key words,with violent connotations,if you know what I mean! I'll let you off this time...Marra! Foxy,I ain't been to I.O.M. TT but would love ti gaan. Excellent U-Tube videos next best thing taken from helmet cams. Haza,hope you get settled wherever you choose,just jokin aboot Morpeth,it's a luvly place an aal,as is the whole Coonty of Northumbria!

Maggie,and Canny Lass,Aav led a sheltered life,undergrund,a divvent even knaa where Bilbao is!!

er.....note to Mods....."Axes",are rock'n'roll for Guitars....!! My last post is awaiting Mod approval....methinks "Axes" struck a bad chord.........[chord......ugh!]

It's different to Morpeth,much better...not so snobby...unless that's what yi waant like!! I lived there for 31 years,moved 8oo yards,put myself over the border,inti Bedlington! I was born and raised in Guidepost,Chopppington,then Bedlington,till I got married,then most of my married life in Stakeford,and it's a great place ti live.The whole area is great,there are plenty good walking areas for doggy-walking,got the welfare football and cricket fields,bowling,snooker hall,the Social club is next door to the welfare.... ...and anyway,us muso's gotta stick tigitha! Strat,Burns,and various other axes!

Chris and Peter together were my childhood hero's in the days when you pulled your jacket collar up and raised youreslf up a bit to look bigger...... ......when you were 14 years old.....to get in at the Top-end flicks...."Nea bother man".....[was the braggy crack to ya mates!] Ron and Chris will sadly be missed. R.I.P. Chris and Ron.