HIGH PIT WILMA

The only time we got any money,was by picking blackberries,and selling them around the doors,our regular neighbours were always pleased,cos most housewives baked and made jams and chutneys in those days. Then we sold bullrushes,cos they were fashionable ornaments after the war,some painted them with distemper,others ,like us kids,dipped them in paraffin, lit them,and threw them in the night air,like the Indians in the cerbouy pitcha's![canna seem ti find the reet spellin ti convey hoo we sed that one!!] Rose hips was another gud seller........! Me Mutha was Victorian,in her ways,and made us go back and return any little bit of money,[usually a silver thruppeny-bit],for gaan a message for any of our neighbours,sayin"If ye canna dae a gud turn for nowt,then ye canna dae it at aal"! But it was different selling stuff we had worked for!!

Heh heh! Merc,we used ti have a dozen of these badges each,every kid had them,every time anybody got a thruppeny bag o' chips,they got a badge. Me and my Brother never got pocket money,so we either got the badges off Jeannie,[fish shop opposite the black bull],or given by gud friends,or swaps for bullrushes,or other laddie-stuff like that. The slogan doesn't have THE in it!!......disregarding the top line on the badge....THAT isn't the slogan!! I lived through all these first-time campaigns,and this was one of the dopiest ones going!! "Why Ask Me Ask Whispering Fish"....= "W.A.M.A.W.F."........NOT "W.A.M.A.T.W.F.".....doesn't have the same effect does it?[it's musical....if you have a sense of rhythm!!]......rap.....rap.....rap! At the time,in the very beginning,it was a trivia question from kids who hadn't yet got as far as getting a badge...me included,so it must have been a successful advertising campaign for it's time,not as successful as Pepsi,though!! ...........and I'm still waiting..........for the Pepsi slogan.......!!

Noo,why has me post needed approval.....aam a a spy or summick? Mighty queor ti me! tellyiwataamgaantibednoocosaamabootbuggaadaanamnotgaanasitheorinwaitfosumbuggasyenitsaareetwilmaaakaynitenite!!

One day,I was sitting in my small conservatory,enjoying a cuppa tea,in the warm sunshine,when a loud booming made the flimsy old-fashioned conservatory shake. My Wife and I thought it was a mini Earth-tremor. Later on we found out that it was the first of a series of demolition stages,down at the power station. I phoned the police,and asked if they could inform me before each successive stage would be demolished,as I was a bit of a historian,and would like to be there ready with my camera,for posterity. Sure enough,I was put on the list that they reserve for the press,etc. So,I was there in readiness,and captured all the explosions,thereafter. Prior to that,I went down and captured all the buildings,best as I could,from different angles. I used my trusty Halina 35x ,[35mm film],which my Wife,[girlfriend at the time!],bought me for a Xmas present,in around 1963-ish..!! Consequently,I have packs of decent quality pics of all the demolition,plus 8mm videotape,footage of the chimneys coming down. I went and asked the security guard if I could have a quick run over and get a piece of the chimney for a keepsake,which he agreed to,so that is on my little collection of stones from various interesting places,over the years,and it lies on my wee stream and pond wall in the back garden!! This was a day or two after the chimneys came down...not the same day!! They sure are a miss as a landmark to bring you home![better than a sat nav,if you were just travelling around Northumberland!]

Abram Lyle has had the answer for a hundred years or more.....just read the small print on his tin,and tell me what you find! Everything on this planet is a killer.......even Oxygen!..............[in the wrong proportions]....... "A little bit of what you fancy does you good"! ........in other words,a variety of foods in moderation,is the key to a healthy lifestyle.... ...it's the same with opinions.....every one on here has a bit of a valid point in their argument..not totally correct in their thinking,but looking at the whole picture,we all agree in some small proportion......just like tetties and torpins[!]........and greazy yorksha puddin's...! Sym,it intrigues me hoo yi picked up aal the sooth foreigners twang,for being a Bedltntonian[!!!!! meant affectionately mind!!nae disrespect!] Off-topic,but just that wor Daz has been doon theor for 25 yeors,and a knaa he taaks aal queer ti them lot doon theor,like clients etc,but the minute he's on Northumbrian soil,[or on the phone],he taaks like he shows he's browtin's -up!!!![he hesn't forgettin' the ootside nettie, and ice layers in the bath,arly in thi mornin,cos o' nae heatin.....just an observation,Sym,ya still a crackerjack!!!

........as the wheels went ro-oond.........!!!da da da da da da daa..... daaaaaa![sorry,a canna put the dots in....!]

Maggie's meks mair sense!! AND it has a localised theme! Weel done Maggie!

Heh heh! Sym,hoo did ye get it,not googlin' a hope.....![cos any daft bugga can find owt by daeing that!!] A wud buy ye a pint, but aam tee-total sacrosanct! Eggy,hae yi got thi badge,or did ye search for it? My Son in London tuk a shoebox wi aal thi badges in,both his and my aad ones,[like the lovely enamelled Esso etc badges],when he moved doon theor. This one was on every kids jacket lapel,sumtimes in plural,in the mid-1950's! It was a big marketing campaign,ti get the public ti eat mair fish [and chips!].Posters up on aal the fish-shop walls etc. Neabody's telt me waat thi Pepsi rhyme was ![and thi story attached......]....aam still waitin'......[whistle whistle........] By thi way,there was no "THE" in the slogan,even if a cartoonist has dropped it in.......otherwise the badge wud have had a "T" in it!! It was simply......"Why Ask Me Ask Whispering Fish" Bliddy daft a thowt,but theor yi gan,it stimulated a bit o' interest!!

Heh heh! Thanks Maggie,I enjoy telling me stories,but me family have heard them 92 million times owa,so it gets a bit tiring,especially for me Wife,every time a meet up with an ex-miner,whether I know him or not,there is a common bond between miners all over,so when the coal starts being flung aal owa the path we are waaking on...me Wife's eyes start rolling stryght away!! It's taking me ages,years,to try and get my life story book finished,before I turn senile!!

Sorry,Canny Lass,very good attempts but nowhere near,although one word is close,but the theme is what you will never, in a month of Sunday's,...guess! Why am I so sure?.....cos the bugga's absurd!![but it was a national phrase designed to boost an already well-founded institution...if that is the correct word to use!!] The whisper is,that Vic seems to be the only contender here!!.....[clue in there!]

Hi Christine,and welcome to the forum! I went to school with Tommy all my school life,starting at the little Village Infants which is in a very sad dilapidated state,opposite St Cuthberts Church. Tommy was always a very quiet laddie,and a canny lad. I hadn't seen him for years,after leaving school,getting married,and moving to West Terrace Stakeford. Then one day he was walking up our street,and I got on talking to him,and he said he had moved into the street,on the East Terrace. As time went by,he had a bad experience in his domestic life,and his health started to deteriorate. I moved in 2000,and hadn't seen Tom for a year or two,then saw him at Bedlington Station,waiting at the bus stop. I gave him a lift home,and tried to cheer him up a bit,reminiscing about the old days at the Whitley School,but was saddened to realise how much worse his health was. I haven't seen him Since. I didn't know his Brother,or any other family members. I would have known you,when you were a kid,but even though I have a vivid memory of my childhood,some events and people in more recent years are starting to slip from my memory. If I'm not mistaken,and I apologise if I am,I'm thinking you were named after your Mam.[a red-headed lass-I think...] I am also 70,Tom was in my class at the Whitley School also. When we were all kids,we weren't stuck for friends to go out and play with....there were the "Parkies"..[who lived beside the park..],the Haig,and Beattie, roaders,the Lily Avenue lads,the Millfielders,the Hollymount lot,[where I lived]....quite a lot of friends to choose from,and we all went to school together, and played out,down the woods usually,or over at the park,...no X-boxes in those days!! I hope somebody else can add to my memories of Tom,in a more enlighting way. Cheers Christine! Bill

Wimps! Get them doon thi black hole wi me for ten minutes,in an eighteen inch high coal seam,wi a big George Rock shuul and a six- foot cutter jib,amang waata and clarts,and bad stone roof,and they wud be crying for thier mammy's!! ....divven't knaa tha born man! Seriously,we can manage physical stress,by hevvin a blaa noo and again,but mental stress is a real killer. When a was a young lad,strong as a horse,and deaing aal that wat a said,nowt wud stand in me way. Noo aam older,and hopefully ,wiser,a realise wat mental stress can dae ti a person,and have a Son in London,and a Son at home,both have mentally stressful jobs. Me lad in London lives for his work,has his own recording studio,is a respected[in the industry] record producer,but always says,"Dad,aam not filling twelve yards of coal off ,like ye used ti dae,but it's mentally draining,seeing a project through,even though a enjoy daeing it......" Me youngest lad comes home mentally exhausted,after 8 hours in a recording booth also....no fun in his industry. So we should sympathise wi anybody who suffers like this lad has...not ti mention wor lads owa thi otha side of thi world,fighting a losing battle against evil.

So many sixteen year olds were flying aroond on big bikes and meeting tragedy,the government had to change the laws,only now the bike test laws are completely absurd! Having said that,as a born-again biker,riding a HONDA CBR 125 R-D,2014 model,these bikes are just as fast,and sometimes faster,than some of the "big" bikes in the '60s![my marra's BSA Gold Flash could only dae 80 mph!] I am content pottering around at the 50 mph mark,enjoying the freedom,and the fresh air,....between being poisoned by traffic exhaust fumes which you don't experience sitting in the car!!

Heh heh ! A bet Dot gie ye that one Vic!! C'mon everybody! Vic,let's keep it a while,then tell me what it stood for,and where you would find it!! No answer on the Pepsi one then!! Dot should know that one an aal !! Maggie,when I was 17 yrs old,my marra offered me his BSA C15,250 single,for 20 pounds. That was a months wages,as we only got 4 quid a week at the pit in those days. My Father said "Nae bliddy noisy bikes coming in this hoose...ye'll kill ya bliddy 'sell....."

Aye Maggie,a great old pic,a real rarity!

.................er.........and nae googly business eetha mind,!!!!!!!!!...this is general knowledge trivia!

A gold star for anybody who can tell me what this badge logo meant!![around 1955-ish] Also,for the poem that the Pepsi-cola Rep. had every school kid in Bedlington chanting for what seemed like ages....at the Market-place....wouldn't have been allowed nooadays! I am away oot wi Little Black Jess ,noo,and a expect a response by thi time we get back in!! If Foxy hasn't got a pic....aal eat grass!!

When we were kids,in the mid/early 1950's,we were terrified of "aad Gunter" Metcalfe!! He always wore riding breeches and boots,and carried a whip doon thi street! I have a photographic picture of him in my head,grousing at us kids for nothing at all...and in those days,we were learnt to respect older folks and not be cheeky,but I think it was just cos a few of us probably got in his way as he walked down the street...maybe he had a pint or two on board as weel!

Heh heh pil!! my turn to laugh!!.....CYANIDE!! ....for a wasp's nest!! Reminds me of a tale I was told by the shotfiring instructor,at Darnley Road Mining school,in 1971,when I was doing the Mine Deputy's course,....... the bomb disposal squad,police ,C.I.D. etc,were all called to an old house in Ashington,years before the tale was told,to a garden shed... The new tenant of the old property had been clearing the shed out,and found sticks of powder with " Nobel Explosives" written on the waxy paper wrapping. He panicked,and got the experts out. When the police made enquiries around the old-timers they wondered what all the fuss was about......"ivry bugga knaas the pooda's gud for killin' thi slugs on ya garden man!" They used to unwrap the explosive,and sprinkle the powder around the cabbages etc!![mind,it was ultra-safe,but if it had been black powder.......different tale!!]

The miners had to get their pit-claas on at Seaton Burn pit baths,collect their caplamps and glennies,and pooda,[explosives!],and waak haaf a mile doon the main road,then across the fields ti get TO thi drift,then waak aal thi way doon,and inbye ti thi face,before even filling a nugget of coal!! They were soaking wet at loose,["Lowse"-end of shift..],up ti thi eyes of clarts,and had ti trek aal thi way back owa ti thi pit at Seaton Burn again....they were caad in thi winter![but they were used ti it!] Younger miners dinna knaa thi haaf of it!!

I would love to find and be able to explore the High pit one over the Choppington fields!! Pity it was concreted in,I would have seen all the girders,conveyor belts,coalcutter,etc that I took into the coalface when I was a young lad of 17yrs-on!! Over in the Whitewood,near Seaton Burn,the remains of the entrance to the Whitewood Drift is caved in and exposed,revealing the arched girdered roadway for a few feet. My Son,who often goes mine exploring,mainly over Weardale,[Fluorspar,Fluorite,1700's mines..etc,],went over to see the Whitewood drift,after I told him that I went down the drift to the coalface,in 1959,as part of the preliminary training course,for young recruits. After a bit of exploring through the woods,he and his marra came across the cave-in,and climbed down into the roadway to photograph it,a couple of years ago maybe. I was chuffed to see the girders that I walked under,as a 15 yr old trainee!!

Noo! Sym,and Maggie,if ye study thi cross-section of Choppington pit,[not the Anne pit-cos that was the "Low" pit,doon at Scotland Gate],but the shaft on the left. Zoom in on it,and ye will see that the Beaumont was,at that time,2ft-9inches high,of which 6 inches was foul [or bandy] coal, leaving 2ft-3inches of clean coal.[it was also approx 600 feet down,as I said before]. Many years later,due to the seam rising steadily,it was 10 feet high at the Mothergate end of the face,going down ti 5feet high at the Tailgate-end of the face.[in 1960,when I was a 16 yr old transport lad,taking all the heavy machinery ,and pipes and cables,conveyor belt installation structure..etc...really heavy manual labour!] Within the next year or two,the coal was 10 feet high at the Tailgate end also,and one day,it fell away,[or,as we used to say...it "lapped owa"],killing a dear old canny fella just 10 minutes after I was talking to him,on his way inbye. Can you imagine the shock to a young kid,[i should have said a young MAN!],when the word came out that this had happened,I couldn't believe it. R.I.P. Old Walter Grey.

Hi Maggie! Did ye hear aboot thi bloke at Nedderton Village,who had driven up his drive,and put he's car away in the garage for years....and one day he had just done that when he heard a roar and rumble,and when he looked back....he's drive had just caved in! Aal the specialists came,and found it had been an old shaft,covered by wood boards and concreted owa! Moral is........divvent use plywood ti cover ya shaft owa when yi've finished wi it! That was a canny few years ago,but it made telly news and the press also. Just as ye gaan through the village,where the ground starts ti dip,[heading for Stannington],there were more than 40 coal mineshafts,very shallow bell pits,scattered around on either side of the road. At one time,in latter years,like in the 1940's,there were 76 proper deep-mines,in Northumberland alone! Due to folding of the land many many years ago,the result was that the strata rises to the west,and dips to the east. The 2nd West coalface,in the Beaumont seam at Choppington High pit,stopped well past the official boundary laid down by the surveyor's,and was less than 25 feet from the surface.[among the woodland area over Choppington fields] The seam was 600 feet down,when the shaft was sunk in the 1800's! A fella who worked at Choppington high pit,had found the place where the ground had caved in,and could see the arched girders forming the roadway!! He planned on going down the hole to salvage the girders for scrap metal,but next time he went,it was all concreted over...someone else had reported it to the council.

Maggie,I'm chuffed ti hear yi like proper music and impressive talent like John Renbourne. I was introduced to his music many years ago by my youngest Son,who was a fan of Pentangle. When John toured with Stefan Grossman around 1987-ish,my Son was about 14 years old,and learning John's style of finger-picking. Made me look like a beginner......! We went to see them [canna mind where,] but they were both great. My favourite track was "The Hermit",by John,which I haven't heard for a while. When you tune through the stations,and pass by radio 1 as quick as is possible,you still catch a sound-byte of the worst music which has ever polluted the air-waves! Mind,that's what the old-timers used to say when they heard my group playing Stones,and Animals tracks!![around 1963-on,when I was a handsome young kid wi a Presley quiff!!....noo aam a 4-eyed baaldy aad sod grumping aboot thi same thing!] I was sad to hear of John's passing,when my Son came in and told me. R.I.P.John Renbourne,one of Britain's most talented musicians.

Er......! Noo that luks aaful!....aam not meaning ye and Maggie,Pil........emoto's in wrang place intended for other fowlkies!