HIGH PIT WILMA

Maggie,I never thought of that! You are probably spot-on about what families throw out after a bereavement has subsided. When Ashington pit closed in 1987,I became a re-trained furniture/cabinet/maker. As workshops closed I didn't sit on the dole,long,[days...never mind weeks!!] I got on at the Wansbeck Council Depot,for a few weeks here and there,relief work. One time I was on one of the litter-picking teams for a few weeks,and this day we were at the tip,over at Ashington,just past the old Workshops,to tip our wagon. While we were waiting our turn to tip,I was standing not far from the bulldozer,watching it flatten out all the refuse from the other lorries. It was a breezy day,and out of one of the lorries,came a load of old photographs and newspapers. Well,they were blowing about,and this great big dozer was practically running my toes over as I tried to rescue some of the pics. I only managed to get one pic,and it was an old black-and-white one,of a Lorry,with the occupants barely in view,it was so old.On the side of the lorry was the company name.......? and? DODDS,BEDLINGTON! They were in Bedlington for donkey's years,and I remember the lorries as a child. Wonder if any of the family are still with us? This pic might have been taken in the late 1940's early '50's

Hi Big Geordie!...saw yor aad chep t'otha day!...canny crack!! Canny Lass,thanks for your kind remarks,as to everyone else also!!

Maggie,back on topic!!,believe me,museums do a good job,and we hope they never close,but without a coalface working,and you experiencing the conditions which my photographs show,and without crawling,and working,in a low seam when the roof is starting to " Lay-on",seeing wood pit-props being pushed into the ground before your eyes,seeing the roof lowering above you,bit by bit,hearing the grinding,crunching,thunderous noise,of the strata breaking up,and thinking the place is going to close any minute,crawling frantically off a coalface,which may be a hundred yards ,or more,and which is mighty hard work in a very low seam,down to eighteen inches high........or even in a three-feet high seam,where there are falls of stone every few yards,....................you cannot envisage it!! We were used to all of this,cos it was our job,day after day,year after year,...you get de-sensitised to all this,but are always aware of the dangers,and your senses become tuned to the limit. My photos are showing the conditions of the Main roadways,I was working in the development of a new district,and too far away to get onto a working coalface properly,[it was a long travel-and the Deputy would have wondered where I was!],but I am pleased I got these pics,for posterity. The pic labelled.."20's Tailgate " ,was showing the conditions which prevailed right down the whole of the face. It was totally unsafe,dangerous beyond description,using inferior ancient basic six-legged small face chocks,hydraulically-operated. These chocks just could not withstand the tremendous pressure put upon them,and the hydraulic legs used to burst open in front of your face,constantly,spraying you all over,and soaking you with the hydraulic fluid mixture of "Aquacent",and water. The Aquacent was a soluble oil,which,when mixed with water in the "Gullick"tank,[Gullick was the manufacturer],provided protection against corrosion inside the whole system,which comprised a reservoir,[the "Tank"],a high pressure pump,[ 2200psi],and flow-and-return flexible armoured hoses, which carried the fluid down the 200-yard coalface,feeding 200 hydraulic face supports,each with six legs,holding up a re-inforced steel "canopy". The Chock-fitter used to be changing the damaged chock legs all of his shift,not an easy task,in rough wet conditions,and might have changed more than thirty in any one shift....absoloutely ludicrous. These same legs would last maybe six months or more,in pits which had good dry stable roof conditions...they lasted a few days on R 20's face. The seam was about three feet-six inches high,severely undulating,interrupted with several slip-faults,pouring in with water through-out the face, and constantly suffering from massive roof falls of sometimes 70 or 80 yards long all at once,taking the roof height up to fifteen feet high. We had to STAND on the tops of the very canopies of the chocks which were supposed to be protecting us from roof falls,build up small "steps" with wood 6" x 6" x 24" chocks,to be able to timber up to the roof,using 12 feet long x 9" x 3" hardwood "baulks" ["baaks"],as vertical prop supports, and criss-cross built up "butts" on the top of the face chock canopies. Now,seeing as the Manager's Support Rules,[the law!],states that no man shall work in an area which is not adequately supported,HOW did Government Mines Inspectors think that all the forests of timber he had difficulty crawling,walking at full stretch,and squeezing past,got there,fifteen feet above his head,in a previously un-supported area......????????????? They turned a blind eye,and said nowt! Many a time,when the "thunder" started,and the roof started to literally crush hydraulic legs,capable of withstanding 100 tons on each leg,[six legs to each support=600 tons per face support],and the whole face started moving around like an earthquake,it was a miracle that we were able to abandone ship and get off the face as fast as we could. These face supports were adjacent to each other with approximately 36"centres,or..."a yard apart..",so you can imagine how much roof pressure was there to completely flatten these armoured face chocks. In terms of economy,it took an hour for a shearer to shear a strip of coal along the 200 yard long coalface. After the face collapsed for half of it's length,flattening the chock-legs through-out,i.e 6 legs x 80 chocks,for instance=480 legs to replace,plus all the Hydraulic valve-packs,[£1200 each in 1975-ish],plus all the labour,and lost coaling time,plus all the weekend shifts,it used to take more than three months before the next shear could be taken off again,then all of this was repeated. The men kept demanding that Management abandone the face,win out new roads ,and win out a new face altogether.... after a year or two,the Management,[from area TeemsValley...Mr Archbold..Area Director...],succumbed,and agreed to the plan. Over a period of the next few years,this pattern emerged on about six different coal faces,losing the Coal Board millions of pounds,totally unecessary. The one simple answer to prevent all the loss,and risk to men's lives,lay in a new design of face chock,called.."Rev-Lems". These chocks had cantilever "grass-hopper-leg" shields at each side of the chock,and fastened between the chock base,and the chock canopy. They were extremely stable,well-armoured,with extra heavy-duty legs capable of withstanding much more pressure than the "toy" ones on R 20's" The first installation was on a face which me and my Marra's had won out,called "R50B's",which was the second attempt at running the face,after abandoning the first attempt,due to the reasons previously described. From the start,this face broke all records for coal-getting,the chocks held the roof,and controlled the yield better,i.e. allowing the legs to yield down in very small amounts ,well-controlled,thus protecting the men and the face installation..by reducing the roof pressure gradually. When thatcher-the hatcheter closed Bates Pit,this one face was keeping the pit in profit,in denial of statements made by her cronies,and Archbold,the area director included. I personally asked Mr Hindmarsh,our General Manager,why we couldn't get Rev-Lems on all the other faces,as they proved their worth,for the pit,and his reply was....and I quote...word for word...no lies or disrespect..."I know that Billy,and you know that,Billy,but Mr Archbold is my Paymaster,and if he says no,it's no....we can't get Rev-Lems....." He also made a statement which,if I was in court on a slander charge[!]I wouldn't hesitate to repeat,but in respect for Mr Hindmarsh,I will refrain at the moment !! Mr Hindmarsh was a gentleman,knew how to talk to a man,could reprimand a man,without shouting like other's used to,and was still well-liked. Eeeeeehhh!! ..theor a gaan again!! P.S.I forgot to mention that a normal coalface,with good dry conditions,should average about five shears a shift x 2 + maybe one in the night shift!= 11! R20's was getting one every few weeks!....does that make sense?!!

Eh,yi bugga man! Many thanks for your support,all of you! Sym,I'm not short of recording gear,I have my on home recording studio,complete with a choice of vintage 4-track multi-tracker analogue open-reel tape,Computer digital Logic Audio,Audacity audio,as well as the simplest and best,Minidisc Walkman,with lapel mike!! It's time that is beating me,apart from looking after my Wife,my little black Jess,comes next....[Labrador/cross],and lastly comes Percy,my disabled Herring Gull,who has lived with me and my family for nearly three years!! He has been on the Jonathan Miles Show,on Radio Newcastle in the morning,a couple of years ago,squawking for he's bait....on air!! He has a wing that cannot open fully,[not broken...deformed joint],and cannot fly,other than a couple of yards,about two feet from the ground. So he comes knocking on the glass door of the conservatory,or if the doors are open,just wanders in and out of the kitchen,telling you he wants he's bait! He came as a fledgling,big brown speckled ball of feathers,from John [of Blyth Wildlife Rescue],and is now going through his third year's moult,looking a fine young adult noo,aal grey and white,smart as a carrot. He chased the Sparrow-Hawk oot wor garden three times within a few weeks,when he first came,and the Neighbour's cat....and neither of them have been in our garden since..to my knowledge!! So I have to clean his bath out ,and his nest in his cage,which he only goes in after I have shut my laptop down each night,usually about 2-0am,just in case Mr Foxy decides to come in when he is asleep. He has the run of the garden all day from early morning,till early morning again! I have read that they have no predators at all,although their nests and eggs,and young,are predated,but I don't trust what I have read on that score!!! He goes into his large dog crate willingly every night/morning! You would all laugh if you saw him come running and half-flying to me,when I shout "Porcy,howway get ya bait..!" If I am not quick enough at getting lumps of dogmeat out of the tin for him,he goes behind me and yanks my jeans,and pecks at my ankles! Last week,I had thin shorts on,and was kneeling on a pad,just doing a bit of light weeding,around the borders,and cos I chased him away from my trowel,in case he got hurt,gettin in the way,he went behind me and started pecking my backside,and trying to pull my old worn gardening shoes off my foot! Him and Jess lie in the garden not far apart,and don't bother about each other,and sometimes I feed both of them together two feet apart! They are better entertainment than watching any telly programmes!![daft statement really,cos I don't watch telly,so aren't really qualified to criticise programmes!!]

Maggie,where the strata has lain undisturbed by folding,or volcanic action,the coal seams are generally,but not always,pretty level,or at least rising slightly to the west,and accordingly,dipping slightly to the east. This was the case in Bedlington A pit,and most of the seams at Bates,and Ashington ,that I knew of. So you usually have a good solid unbroken roof strata,which is [to an experienced miner!],relatively easy to timber up and support. Choppington High Pit,being near to the River Wansbeck valley,and being further Westerly,than the other pits,was sunk through soft broken shale,sandbanks,and porous sandstone. Water poured in from the roof,continually,and formed long "swalleys ",up to a hundred yards long,and sometimes up to your waist. Water also seeped in to the roadways from breaks in the floor stone. The seam,gradually rose to the west,so the water was allowed to just lie in these swalleys,until it reached a point where it would overflow and run outbye,downhill,till it reached the next swalley,[which was caused by undulations in the seam due to geological folding of the strata.]. There wasn't a half dozen pumps in the whole pit,so we used to be working soaked to the skin all day,from going inbye,to coming out,at the end of the shift. Now the coldest place in any pit,is the shaft-bottom area,bad enough when you are dry....torturous when you are soaking wet,in the winter,waiting for the cage to take you to bank..[bank= the surface]. The water used to reach past the pony's waist,and they had an awful habit of stopping in the middle of a deep swalley,as ponies did,to have a diddle and whatever else........[have you ever seen a horse getting a diddle?!]......gallons of ammonia....it seems.....in a small arched roadway,with very poor ventilation,and the air movement going in one direction,slowly,about the same speed you are travelling...so you are stuck with these obnoxious fumes and can't escape them!! Aye,they were happy times...[says he...!],and we still managed to have strong sense of humour!

Many thanks Maggie and Sym,I sometimes think I drag on a bit,so it's nice to know my experiences being shared with you are appreciated! I already finished book one of my life story,in hand-written form,which starts from about age three,with everything about my childhood that I can remember,where I was born,lived,played,schools,etc,right up to starting the pits at 15 years of age ,straight from my school desk. The intention was to record my life,for posterity,for my family only,so I started book two,which leads the reader all through my experiences in the mines, but seeing as time is a limiting factor in my life,[i am a full-time carer for my Wife,who is disabled],it is very difficult for me to write for any length of time, [myself having disabling conditions in my hands also]. That is why all my postings are,if you notice,usually about midnight up to about 2-0am,after my commitments have been met. I really enjoy this site,and some nights when I intend to lay a few paragraphs down in my book,I come here and forget to stop!! The trauma of sitting behind a school desk one minute,then going down on the end of a cage rope,into the conditions I was thrown into,lives as fresh in my mind,as it was then,in 1959. So that is how my recollections on this site are so vividly..[i hope!..] ,portrayed. Sym,I am 72 this year,and in my book,I am only up to my age 17yrs,at Choppington High Pit,...I have all the other pits I worked at,to recall!! The trouble with publishing my book is,I wouldn't want one single word changed,or edited out,and I don't think any publisher would touch it as it is,cos I have named names of people in high up positions in Government,and the N.C.B.,not slanderous,only truthfully,which could be taken to be slander!! What do I do?!

Ovalteeny,many thanks for your enthusiastic and very kind comment. I canna help it...I write like I taak,and when a start, me fingers divvent knaa went ti stop!![A divvent have ti sit thinking what ti say...it just flows oot o' me memory like a river.!!] Every word I write is a faithfully accurate statement,in every sense,and I only write of my experiences. Lots of miners,in conversation underground,at bait-times usually,would make it clear that once they got out of the pit cage at bank..[the surface],they wouldn't mention their work at all to their Wives or Bairns,or anybody else for that matter. So none of our heritage was being passed on,by them! I was the opposite,and taught my two young Sons,lots of things about mining,and what the conditions were like. Living in a colliery row for 32 years,ensured all the miner's Wives had an idea of what their men did,what shift their neighbour's Husbands were in, and which ones were on "Sick"[due to illness or accident injuries etc]! Community spirit was second-to-none,and it was nothing out of the ordinary,for somebody to take in your washing off the line,if you were out,and it started to rain,iron it,and bring it over,when they saw you come back in! Or spend a half-hour extra around the allotment,watering your next-door Marra's plants,after you did your own,and vice-versa! Aye,those were the days,my friend,we thought they'd never end.......... I had the foresight to ask a very good friend to take me and my young 14 year-old Son,up to the top of the pit headgear..[the cage wheels],at Bates,in 1986,to take photo's of the surrounding lanscape,all 360 degrees...!! Now,in 2015,lot's of the landscape has vastly changed! Type in Google....."High Pit Wilma's Photostream"....it will take you to "Flickr"....and there,you will have some exciting bed-time reading,and pretty pics of underground Wilma!!

Maggie,I wouldn't be surprised one little bit!....can you remember the brand new "TopClub" that was built and demolished within a few short years,where Morrison's now stands? That building was state of the art,at the time,they were putting cinema matinees for the kids,etc......but subsidence took it's toll....whether or not mining was the cause,I do not know. Eggy,thanks for your comment,but just a thought,while the Durham Mining Mueum is a fabulous site,do not place too much faith in the facts and figures presented there,as there are several gliches in the information contained therein! How do I know?..... Because there are misleading facts regarding seams worked ,and fatalities,at Choppington High Pit. Some of the Fatalities have dates which,if true,would mean that I started the pit when I was 13-or 14 years old! One in particular,a lovely old fella,was killed at the coal face,about ten minutes after him and me were having our usual daily cross/shift natter,on his way inbye.[in the early 1960's] Old Walter used to keep the 2-0pm shift,and the nature of both our jobs meant that we would usually cross paths just down the roadway from the coal-face,where he worked...I would be going outbye,as he was going inbye. I always asked him what the weather was like at bank,[the surface],and that day his last words were.."Wilma,it's a luvly day,ye want ti get your bonny lass oot for a nice waak alang thi river..[meaning the river Blyth]. He knew I was courting,and always affectionately referred to my lass as..."Your Bonny Lass..." As we parted company that day,I was deeply shocked just minutes later when the Overman came running up the Mothergate. [A]..the roadway was pretty steep,and very difficult to even walk up,and ....it was against the Law,[and common sense and unsafe to run...] So,I knew something was terribly wrong. Joe Barrat,the Overman,passed me,sweating like the proverbial......and when I asked him what was wrong,he shouted back at me,"old Walter's been killed,the coal's lapped owa on him." Well,the coal was 10 feet high,and varying in height,as the face advanced,due to undulations in the strata,Walter had just started to prepare the area of the face where he worked,to begin advancing the Stageloader conveyor tail-end,when the full height of the seam broke away and .."lapped owa"[fell away],and buried him fatally.I just couldn't take it in...he was there one minute...and gone the next.[i was only 17 or 18 yrs old.] The Durham Museum states he was killed by a fall of stone,[incorrect,and other misleading figures]. No doubt,to their credit,they DO stand to be corrected ,where possible,but they are not going to change their facts based upon what I say,even though I went into that same coalface every day,several times a day sometimes,and knew it,as well as all the rest of the pit,due to the nature of my job. Mining was a cruel industry...I went down that roadway and all the way out of the other adjoining roads,to where my Marra's and me used to get our baits...["the Bait-hole"],on my own,[with my pony],almost in tears,and trying hard to hold them back,as I broke the news to the rest of my Marra's. They all said the daft thing which we all say..."He canna be man,wiv just been taakin' ti him......." Walter was sadly missed,cos he was really well-liked,by everybody at the pit. The one thing I can be proud of is,being part of a team of men,and I mean the whole workforce,and Management,who would show respect for a fatally injured Marra,by closing the pit,the following day. No other pit that I worked at,showed this mark of respect,the only mark being shown,was the black drape over the Union Banner on Miner's Picnic Day following the accident. R.I.P. Walter Grey.

The depth of the mine shaft is irrelevant to subsidence in a way,it's the workings where the coal was extracted,that causes the problems! [unless we consider sink-holes forming from ancient Monks' bell-pits etc!] Just thought I would try and clarify that one !

Merc,wat a strange co-incidence!..a wud be pleased ti meet yi one day! NOO!,aboot this Bower Grange debate!! Let's the facts straight,Eggy![.....says Wilma ...in his Mr Know-all voice...!!!heh heh ] Bedlington "A" Pit, closed in 1971,[not 1962..!!]...I was transferred there in 1965,from Choppington High Pit,[when it was about to close in 1966]. I was then transferred to Bates Pit in 1971,shortly before the "A" pit closed [ in 1971]..having qualified as a mine Deputy. I came back into the N.U.M.,disillusioned with Deputy-work,in 1978. One day,in around the 1980's,I was attending a safety course,on the surface,at Bates,when the course tutor,who was our Safety Officer,was called away to Bower Grange development ground-works. He had gotten a phone call to say a J.C.B. digging machine,with the back-actor,and it's operator,had fallen into old mineworkings,on the site where the foundations for the houses were. The machine went down about 20 feet,and the operator was obviously injured. The next day,I asked him what had happened,and that is what he told me,saying that the workings were uncharted,and were the remains of mining done by the Monks,hundreds of years ago. The coal seam workings had been dug out with a pick only,and the sides were as "straight as a die".....[meaningless to the uninitiated...but to those who have had to use a pick on solid coal,without explosives,will understand!!...coal is hard like diamond in some seams,admittedly softer in others....but still HARD!!] There was no mention of this in the press that I recall,and when I have spoken to residents,[strangers to me sometimes],when out dog-walking,they have been surprised to hear that the Gallagher Park Hill,was the biggest Pit-heap in the country,and was 140 years old when I started there in 1965!! Now the place where the machine went down,wasn't the first time old workings had been found,previous to that,a lot of years ago,they found old picks and shovels,with small baskets that the monks would have filled ,[having picked on for hours at the coal face,for a pailfull of coal],and then dragged out to the surface. In "modern" times,like.....after the war,the A pit used the Bord-and-Pillar method of extraction of the coal,and the High Main seam,which was ten feet high,was like the proverbial rabbit warren,with a lattice-work of criss-cross roadways...[or "Bords"] Pillars of coal 60 yards by 60 yards were left in to support the roof,and supposedly prevent subsidence......in a seam which wasn't 40 yards down underground! The seam was worked under the whole of Bedlington,along with the contribution made by the Bedlington "Doctor" Pit also. Just like Choppington,when the pit was about to close,and it was a case of fighting for survival,boundaries became meaningless,and officials gave orders to carry on working the seam,contrary to the mine regulations,and the plans laid down by the surveyors and planning department. But you see,it's all gone,and when Mr Budge,took over from British Coal,it was a well-known fact,that he destroyed most of the offices files at Team Valley,including personal files appertaining to me personally,which makes me wonder now,what was the reasoning behind all this,and why didn't British Coal ensure all files were protected and transferred to be archived? Also makes me wonder if his very good friend,thatcher-the-hatcheter,ordered him to do this....for some odd reason.....hmmmm! Seams which were deeper,such as the Harvey,the Denton low Main,etc,were worked using Longwall coal faces,otherwise known as "Total Extraction" Now if you add up all the seams ever worked at all the pits,[and at one time there were more than 76 pits in Northumberland alone..!!],you will see that a considerable amount of vertical support has been removed,so it's no wonder door-frames twist,and windows crack,due to subsidence!! The "experts",who know the bookwork,used to preach the idea of "Consolidation"...meaning when you extract ten feet of coal-height,it's only the immediate few feet above the seam,what will collapse into the void left by the coal extraction....the strata will eventually be strengthened by the "Pressure-arch" theory. ....and Consolidation will take place.[no risk of the collapsing strata reaching to the next seam,or to the surface. Try telling that to any miner who worked the Beaumont seam at Choppington B pit! The strata was what the "experts" referred to as "very friable"....meaning when a roof fall occurred,you couldn't stop it...the strata was blue shale,and full of "slippy-backs",which meant as fast as you filled the rubble away...more kept pouring in like water out of a barrel. I could go on for ages with these truths.......well...I just DID!!

Check out your introductory post,Liisa. Hope somebody else can help you as well. The Lone Ranger,also worked at the High Pit,and knew your Dad,but he is like the Scarlet Pimpernel......[heh heh,just joking Brian!!]

Thanks Merc!!...ye knaa me.....ye just need ti ask me thi time,and aal start giving ye thi low-doon hoo Big Ben works,and wat time a went ti the toilet...etc!! A think it's only right that thi truths about mining should be told.....too many times ye read in some books....the miners were well-paid....the ponies were well looked after....etc..!! The ponies WERE well looked after...by the horse-keeper,after some of them had just worked 15 hour shifts,cos they were known to be "good workers". It's a well known phrase..."the willing horse gets the most work".....when applied to men,this is true also. So "lazy" horses were left in the stables and willing ones were kept inbye doing double-shifts sometimes.[without food or clean drinking water...they used to get a sammidge off some men,and had to drink filthy black water out of long deep swalley's where ground water seeped in and no pumps were installed to control it,at Choppington High Pit.] Should I start a new thread..."Wilma's Mining Stories...?!!

Back to you,Sym,sorry I digressed a little,this was in the beginning ,Liisa's thread,and I haven't forgotten! The camera I used was my trusty old Halina 35X [35mm film..].[...yes!....film!],with everything manual,including a steam-driven shutter,and crash-gears on the focus-ring.........! The camera was a Xmas gift from my Wife..[then my new Girl-friend...in around 1962-or there-abouts!!],when I was about 18 years old. I still use it yet sometimes,cos it takes pics where digital fails![in poor light for example] My photos down Bates were taken on 1 x 25th of a second with the camera on a solid surface and anchored by girder-plates using a shutter-cable..... ....[anyone know what that is/was?!] Lighting provided on some by the Machine headlights,on others by using Brief-time exposure setting....[anyone know what that is/was?!] Shutter open and closed after a few seconds,manually,experimentally at first,then down to experience finally,where no decent lighting existed other than our caplamps,and using light-painting techniques.....[anyone know what that is/still is..!!] Nothing on my old Halina breached any laws,Sym,no use of Aluminium,nothing that could be classed as a lighting contrivance,contrary to the Naked flame regulations contained within the Mines and Quarries Act 1954...not required to be classified as flameproof and no different to carrying a metal,[as they used to be]...Thermos Flask full of hot tea!! Now,Sym,I was a miner for nearly thirty years,skilled in every aspect of mining ,with a list of Authorisations,[look them up!],I was a mine Deputy for seven years,with over a hundred men in my charge sometimes,contravening the Mines and Quarries act 1954,and having to travel more than the officially laid down times,by law,to visit and examine three coal faces,and take charge of three coalface teams of men..totally against every law in the M&Q Act 1954. ....all due to a severe shortage of Deputies at the time,in a newly developed coal seam,in around 1973-on,at Bates pit. It was o.k. for Management to break the laws,but not for the miners! Anyway,all I mentioned all that for was,to let you know that I wouldn't be so daft,as to risk the lives of my Marra's,never mind my own life,by doing anything that would jeapordise the safety of everyone. As for the "tidyness" aspect...this was real mining,not like the promo shots you see in some magazines,or on Flickr,even!! Did you like the one down "R20's Tailgate"?,where the roof has fallen away,and it's fifteen feet high,instead of three feet high!! Now Government Inspectors crawled down that face regularly,and turned a blind eye to every law that was broken,to keep that,and other faces like it,in the same seam,working,risking men's lives totally un-necessary,instead of giving orders to close the face,until satisfactory roof supports were sent down the mine.......which didn't happen. As the pit were closing,some of these Inspectors changed their jobs,and became clerical staff,for the NCB,and some became..."Strata-Control" Engineers.......coming into our work-place,and trying to tell us miners how to control the roof..as it was breaking up due to bad geological problems....... ....sucking eggs comes to my mind....!

Vic, Every night,at around nine o' clock,we used to hear,and feel, a solid thump,go through the floor of our house,at Hollymount Square,and my Father used to say,"That's the caunch fired doon again"!! The Doctor-pit Drift wasn't far away,if you remember,and they were working the High - Main seam,probably,due to it's close proximity to "Bank"...[the surface...] The nature of coal-getting,meant you worked shifts,around a cyclical pattern.one shift cut the coal face with a coalcutter,the next shift advanced the face conveyor belt into the new track,and the stonemen,[the "Caunch-Men"],advanced the roadways by drilling and firing the ripping-lip,[the "Caunch"... ....pronounced ..."Cansh"],and putting arched girders in to support the roadway. The last shift,were the coalfiller's,who with the aid of the shotfirer,fired and filled off the coal face,to start the cycle again,after timbering the entire length of the face to support the roof. The thump we used to hear,were the Caunchmen,firing the Caunch down.[probably old Billy,...your Dot's Dad,and his Marra's,Vic!!]

Heh heh Sym! Didn't ye read AAL thi comments on ivry pic on me photostream?! Thi same subject was raised by young Westdrie,on one of them. But firstly,thanks for telling the story of your Granda,it was very interesting, and re-iterates what I just said about the skilled miner bewareing of a relapse when the roof "Lays-on",then settles....you think thats it,she's sleeping,then the timbers talk to you,first,creaking and groaning,[weird at first!],then the small bits of stone like dried peas,fall from cracks in the roof above your head,and that makes you jump first then check out later,after the roof made crunching noises,due to the movement between the strata layers,a split second before the roof falls and you would have been buried if you hadn't sprung like a cat on hot bricks..happened so many times,,it tuned your senses to the limit. There were no doctor's or ambulances down there!,in fact there wasn't anything except coal,stone,water,mice and midges,[the latter made worse by the abscence of toilets and wash-basins!]...[we won't go down that road will we?]. "Two Shillings and Sixpence"...= 12 1/2 Pence in modern money! Don't start me off about the Coal-owner days , Sym,i'll go off on a rant!!! On a better note,the NCB provided training and authorisation of Mine Deputies,[due to the Mines and Quarries act 1954],to allow them to administer Morphia [if requested by an injured miner]. The Deputy was the only person in any employment,other than a qualified Doctor,who,by the nature of his working conditions and responsibilties,was authorised to do this.[The colliery Manager wasn't even authorised to this extent...no-one.....except the Deputy.] He had to show an examining Doctor,that he was trained,and understood the procedure,and physical and legal implications of administering a controlled drug,and when qualified,carried a "Morphia safe" key. The Morphia Safes were placed at strategic points in the mine,and were small steel boxes,with a lockable lid,and containing the Phial of Morphia,as well as a record book,which the Deputy had to sign. If a Deputy administered Morphia to an injured miner,he had,by law,to accompany that injured person to the surface,and hand him over to the medical profession.as well as tagging the person's wrist with the drug details,time administered,date,name,etc. The safes were bricked in to a solid strata site,with no possibility of strata movement affecting the safe. Your Granda would have had the benefit of this drug to ease his suffering,had it been available then,but men were dispensible to a greedy set of employers who would have had a man jailed if his pit Pony was killed,cos ponies costed money ....Miners came free.....no Wilma....don't.....

Sym,thanks for your kind comments,this was the way it was right up to the closure of the industry in the 1980-90's as we knew it. Even in the big, modern, fully mechanised pits like Bates, and Ellington,in Northumberland,the dangers we faced were just the same as in the old Coal-owner days before the war. There was a lot of strata above your head,and in Bates and Ellington's case,a LOT of seawater above your head also!! Bates was 12 miles out under the North Sea!...a long way to run home if you were easily scared when the roof started to "Lay-on"! "Laying-on" was a term used in mining,to describe the effect that the movement of the strata had,as it broke away during the extraction of the coal. I have been in 14feet wide -by- ten feet high arched girdered roadways,and watched as the roof pressure "Laying -on",made the whole roadway sway from side to side crazily,as the girders bent and twisted under tremendous un-calculable weight and stresses,with roof stones falling between the girders,all along the length of the road. This would go on for maybe a half an hour,or a few hours even,with the sound of thunderous evil crunching and creaking noises which would be better heard in some horror movie. When the roadway settled,it was eerily calm and quiet,and this was when the skilled miner had to be fully aware of any relapse...and not fall into a false sense of security. You never trusted "good stone"! The coal faces where Liisa's Dad,and myself,[as time went by,and I became a face-worker],really were inhuman places for a man to work,in the old days,but just like our lads out fighting in the desert heat,you got used to it,and accepted that no-one else was going to pay your rent for you,or put bread on your table,so you got on with it. In 1987 I was re-trained as a Cabinet-maker,and made very expensive hand-made furniture,[hand-cut dovetailed drawers etc..],working with exotic timbers. For the first time in my life,I was given thanks personally from satisfied customers who were delighted with their new furniture!! ........No-one ever came and thanked me for risking my life every day,so they could have nice warm fires in their houses....!! If you go to Google ,and type in.."High Pit Wima's Photostream" it will take you to "Flickr",where my photo's of Bates Colliery,underground,and on the surface,will help to give you an idea of what the roadways were like,and the conditions. Liisa,I hope you have toured the Bedlington Community site,and enjoyed all the interesting subjects and comments,by people like myself and Sym,"the wise old Owl!"!

When I knew him,he was a coal-filler,in the days before mechanisation. The coalface was usually about 150 yards long,some coal seams were only two feet and two inches high,[occasionally down to eighteen inches high.] Roof-water came in everywhere,and there was also a lot of ground-water which seeped into the seam from the strata below,which we referred to as "Bottom-waata"!! The roof used to break up continually,and accidents were an everyday occurrence,most of which meant rubbing coal dust over an open wound to stop the bleeding,cos you couldn't squeal for an elastoplast when you are 70 yards up a low coalface working in atrocious conditions,you got cut and scraped to ribbons some days,and just carried working,sometimes after nearly being buried in falls of roof stone. You never told your Wife or Family of the dangers you faced,so as not to worry them,even though they knew of other miner's families who had suffered tragic losses. None of this is romantic reminiscing....it's ingrained into every miner's brains from starting down the mines from school at 15 years of age,in my case..straight from my school desk. There were usually 12-14 coalfillers in a team,and they arranged the splitting-up of the length of the face to suit themselves,with the end stretches referred to as "The Neuks"..["Nooks"],which had a dead-end,with no conveyor belt in the furthest reaches,and which meant the coal had to be double-casted back,before it could be filled onto the rubber conveyor belt. [these "neuk" areas were there to allow the coal-cutter to be turned around,to start cutting the face in the opposite direction to which it had just been.] I sometimes meet ex-miners who say they would go back down the pit tomorrow if they could....and I smile......thinking......"you wouldn't if you had to go down the High Pit ....mate"!![....I always say...any daft bugga can talk!!!] Your Dad worked in these conditions,and wouldn't mention owt about it to your Mam....methinks!! Sorry you lost your Dad Liisa,hope I have given you a bit of an idea what he did...what we all did,in terrible conditions. Regards, Bill. P.S. Please feel free to ask me anything you want regarding mineworking and how we all got on in a hostile environment.

Hi Liisa! The only person I knew,down the coalmines,where I worked,with a description and nickname anywhere near that which you have described ,was a big STRONG! Polish [i always thought] fella with the nickname of "Limpet" ....and everybody he worked with pronounced his surname as "Llondundra" ....probably through lack of ability to pronounce his name correctly! He was so strong and a massive build,that he could do some jobs which involved a lot of pure muscle,which otherwise would take two or three men to do the same work. I once asked the Overman in charge,why they called him "Limpet",when I was just a young 17 year old transport lad , handling heavy machinery all day as my job. Joe Barrat,the Overman replied to me,"'cos when he gets a hold of you,he doesn't let go...so don't cross him!!" He was a very quiet fella,and kept himself to himself,but a hell of a good worker. It seems a massive co-incidence for this fella to fit your Dad's description,and not BE him. I worked with a canny few Polish,or Eukranian miner's,all who were really lovely natured blokes,and respected for their hardworking qualities,and the miners all had nicknames for them!! They never took any offence with this,as everybody had a daft[sometimes!]nickname.....look at mine...."Wilma"..!! One Polish fella was called "Gillawhisky" ["Gill of whisky"!],for "Gillazensky"! It was at Choppington B colliery where "Limpet " worked,when I knew him,but he would have moved around the pits,as I did, due to pit closures in the mid 1960's-70's. Now I am nearly 71,so that makes the age difference between us just about right,as he would have been probably in his thirties at the time,around 1961-66,when Choppington B Pit ["The High Pit"...] closed.[although everybody over 17 yrs of age, were old men....at the time!!,,life's funny like that isn't it!! I never met another fella with his build,strength,quiet nature,and Name,remotely similar to your Dad's so I hope I have been of Some help to you! A fellow contributor to this site,called "The Lone Ranger",also worked at the High Pit,and knew Limpet,so I hope he comes across this thread,as he knew him long before me.

Hi Diana and Bill! I may be a bit late of welcoming you to this site,just came across your kind comments to the Country club organisers. Alan was old mate and neighbour of mine,we were brought up together from very very young......about 6yrs old in my case,Alan is about two years older than me. He was one of our Councillors for many years,and always tried to fight for more leisure and sports facilities for Bedlington,which,over the decades.....escaped Bedlington,and went to Ashington instead. Alan has been very ill over the last few years,and had to retire due to to ill-health. Although I have never seen him for lots of years,His Wife has kept me up to date with his progress. I am a bit sorry that no-one has seen your kind remarks,and responded from the Country and Western club on this forum. If you have been back over here since,then I hope you enjoyed your stay very much!! We're a canny lot over here! Cheers, Bill.

Merc,if ye cross thi road and come owa the fields doon from Eastgreen,yi might bump inti me and my Little Black Jess! We waak owa them fields towards your place from Bomarsund,just aboot ivry mornin! Yi wud knaa us by hor being a little Labrador /cross,and me an aad silly bugga waakin alang singin me heart oot,[cos aam an aad Muso-guitar player who canna sing, but tries anyway....!] When thi pits were gaanin,Choppington was like every other close-knit mining community,everybody knew everybody else...whole families worked doon the pit together...Fathers,Sons,Brothers,Uncles....Friends...Neighbours....etc. Pleased yi have settled in,and enjoy living here!

We were learnt ti write letters in block capitals. Noo a find oot it's bad manners using capitals on computers....whose the boss here...us or them!!

Nae gud me sayin owt.....aa naa nowt![ Whey a dae.....a little bit.......Pitwark and gud cyavils!!]

Smudge,it was great sitting in thi middle of the shaft rails,and hoying stones doon thi shaft and hearing the deep booming soonds as ya styens boonced off the waals on tha way doon! Little things pleased little minds eh!

Set'di aftanyuun matinee,if ye were lucky enuff ti get a treat,Roy Rogers,and ivry bugga slapped tha arses aal thi way doon the street from thi top-end pitcha's!! Mind,even at a very young age,it was H.G.Wells for me preferably...aa was aalwis fascinated by space after Sputnik was laanched. Robbie the Robot!!...a used ti fantisize wat it wud it be like hevin a robot runnin aroond the hoose,and nae bugga wud pick on yi ootside! Jim Bowie and Tarzan,kept the Sheffield Steel industry inundated wi orders for Bowie knives.....musta dun man!! Us kids used ti gaan reet doon inti thi oppencast cut,and play on the Draglines feet and aal aroond the other machines...nae security then.....didn't need it....naebody damaged owt.......if a set of ten-eleven year olds were gaana damage Bucyrus Erie's bucket,or any of the Euclids,a divvent think they wud be much gud for howkin oot thi biggest Man-made hole in Europe in 1954! They were lang happy days !!