HIGH PIT WILMA

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!

COAL EXPENSIVE?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Didn't wor luvly Maggie close down WOR coal industry,ti ship coal from China,owa ti Cammis,cos it was CHEAPA????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [sorry-off topic again....a bit......but a cudn't let that one gaan withoot mentioning the three thousand miners [boys among them] who are killed every year in Chinese mines.......] O.K.! Back ti wa squabble!

Wat a wimp!...Mick and Keefy nivvor got stressed oot....they just got stoned!! ........Wat thi aad-timers musta thowt o' thim....nae bugga knaas!

Hi Merc! You just related to ME there,in a very big way! From age of aboot 11 years,in 1955-ish,I stood in the queue for an ice cream,in the Top-end pictures,in Bedltn. ...[not often mind,a treat!] I was intrigued as to how the ice-cream lady's tray was lit,cos I couldn't see any batteries beside the little bulb. Naturally,as a laddie,we all played with torches,and knew the batteries had to touch the bulb,to light up. My interest in Electricity fired up! Many library books on electricity,and radio electronics later,and much experimenting,with old pre-war radios from Barn'ton tip,I was,at age 14 yrs,building small 2-valve radios from circuit diagrams with my science teacher's help. SO,MY interest in computers,when they first came along,was more to do with how they worked,NOT WHAT they did. People,including my two Sons,tried in vain to convince me that I would get hooked,once I started! I have followed the Space race since Sputnik was launched,and everybody kept telling me how I could register with the NASA channel,and see Shuttle launchpads,live,on countdown....etc. SO!!..I agreed,and my Son gave my Wife and I his old one,and went away home. I didn't know how to switch the thing on!! Now,nobody can get rid of me!!! I fully understand the guy you tell us about,as that was me!! Now just a couple of weeks ago,my Wife's Mobility scooter transaxle rear bearing collapsed...about 100 yards from the car. I had to lift the siezed wheel off the ground,and push it,with my Wife still sitting on it,back to the car.[nackered!] Home....internet....prices and availability..anywhere from £80-£140-ish! Found a used...[ahem....."Pre-loved"...!]one,for £25 + £10 p&p..!..on E-bay,bought it,had it 2 days later,fitted it,had my Wife back on the road again...highly delighted,cos she canna stand being grounded and housebound. People say the net is a bad thing,only for those who seek the bad things that the world has to offer!! Whey, that's my story,off a gaan again......!!

Magnificent Maggie! Brings back loads of memories of us walking all over that land you see on the U-Tube video! We used to be up early on a sunny morning,and out by 5-0 am,sammidges and soft drinks and water,and walk and laze by a stream,walk again,etc,and not return to the Van till 11-0pm after watching the Sun go down over the valley's. We've seen some stunning sunsets up there!! Thanks for posting that one Maggie!

Cheers Maggie,I'll check it oot on U-Tube,cos nowt's happening here! My Son is a Recording Engineer/Record Producer with his own small but great studio,wi loads of vintage gear.[google Triangle Studio] Twenty six years ago,before computers killed the recording studios off on a massive scale[worldwide,]London was the place to be. Now,it's a struggle to find work coming in for my Son,and all the studios which are left.[in America also]. He has had more success lately with Danish,Polish,Portugese,and Spanish artists. When he comes up north,the first thing he wants to do,is take a trip to Wooler,or Hadston country Park. We went away every weekend to Wooler,right up the hills,with a 12foot Sprite Alpine touring caravan,and walked miles over the Cheviots! As kids my Sons played in the stream,fishing,building dams with stones,as laddies did....bows and arrows,and even target shooting with air weapons,[when very young],my youngest Son had an air rifle when he was nine years old,couldn't carry it,too big and heavy,but I used to have it on a mount so he could lie down to use it.[on targets] They grew up with a very healthy respect for the countryside,wildlife,and the environment generally.[country code etc..] We went to Hadston,in Druridge Bay,when it was an opencast coal mine,after the closure of Chevington colliery drift mine,quite often,and used to park our little caravan on the Dunes,as did a few other people.[in the 1970's] One day,it was very cold and cloudy,and Tuffy our Tortoise,was very lethargic,and just lying motionless,on the grass in front of the 'Van. We watched him like a hawk,but as we went in to have a cup of tea,a break in the clouds appeared. We were chatting,all four of us,[the kids and my Wife and me],when we suddenly realised it was sunny,and we all dashed outside to make sure Tuffy hadn't started to wander......too late! Tortoise's close down under the cool cloudy skies,and come to life very quickly as soon as the sun shines!!....VERY quickly! We searched the whole area all weekend...and never saw Tuffy again. Every time we went there,for weeks afterwards,we widened our searched,with no success.Maybe somebody picked him up,and now has a 40 year old veteran in their garden![his name was painted on his back with Flowmark paint from the pit,and was very durable,so it wouldn't wash off with rain or owt.]

I started giving blood as a doner,in 1962,right after my 18th birthday,and a cup of fresh nice tea and a choice of biscuits was the order of the day! ....definitly no guiness..and the Ferrous-Sulphate [iron] tablets as well..........!!.....and then away straight doon the big black hole ti work a hard shift!! They used ti advise yi not ti dae any strenuous work for a day or so.....a used ti tell the Doctor ti gaan and see me Owaman at Choppingtin High Pit,and tell HIM not ti gie me any hard wark ti dae!!!

My eldest Son has lived in North Finchley,in an upstairs Victorian,[Tudor-styled],flat,for the last twenty-six years...only cos he had to move down there with it being the hub of the music business....[or it USED to be...before computers and Simon Cowell killed it off!] He has leafy green avenues,with apple trees,laburnums,willows ,etc brushing your face as you walk down in the summer time,a nice view of green meadows in the distance,from his rear balcony,a 10-mile long walk along a tree-lined little brook,which takes you through urban areas,and out into open countryside,Green Parakeets,loads of other birds,Foxes ,etc,a tube station 200 yards away,what more could you want?........ ....Ask Him,and you'll get your answer immediately!!!!! Northumbria.....!! ....THAT'S what you want!,cos for all the lovely things he has,it is countered by the fact that it takes you a half-hour to go up the road,about half a mile!! Congestion is getting worse,nowhere to park sometimes,even in his own avenue,permits required.....ughhhh!! It's a quiet mixed race neighbourhood,with some lovely people,but gie me ..[AND him!].....our homeland!!!!

Ye forgot ti mention picket fencing,and cast iron doonpipes maggie! Gorgeous little doggie!..and clivvor as weel!

Pete,for all this discussion,and my differing views to the norm,I cringe,and I mean really cringe....when I hear people take the name of the Lord in vain. This O.M.G.channel [whatever it is!] really irritates the hell out of me,and has become the in-thing for kids as young as being able to start talking,to say. You hear young mother's with thier kids in pushchairs,in the street,and if they are not cursing and using "pit-language"[as old-timers referred to it by..],they use oh God as every other phrase. I was brought up NEVER to take the name of our Lord in vain,and despite my opinions on the Bible,and religion generally,I am indoctrinated on this point. I have faced up to bully-boys twice my size,underground,and checked them when they have uttered Christ's name in an oath,cos they might have injured themselves or whatever... I've been ridiculed thousands of times,even in factories,when I checked my marra's,usually younger lads,and told them God's done them no harm,so cut it oot...I'd rather they cursed and swore like Men used to do...before the priviledge was taken over from them by young,[and not so young!]....ladies...nowadays...disgusting!! So I am a queer one in that sense!![er....bad choice of terminology.....I forget I am in a modern,poisoned age....!] Just thought I would put that point across,for what it's worth,Pete!

Aye Smudgie,in the mid '60s a huge beetle crawled up my leg as I was sitting on a wood chock getting me bait,about 9-0pm,in night-shift,at Bedlington A pit. I put it in my pocket-watch tin,and then put the tin in my bait-bag..sealed practically air-tight. I forgot about it,and a few days later,found it,and when I opened the tin,the beetle was still crawling around it lively as hell. I took it to the Hancock Museum,and the Curator examined it with his magnifying glass. He told me it was a Cockroach,of far-eastern origin,which probably came down the mine as a larvae,inside a pitprop,[which was imported]and then hatched out due to the warmth of the mine. When I said it had been without air for days,in the tin,he told me that these creatures were one of a very few species to have survived the ice-age,and could have lived in the tin for months,by shutting down all systems...suspended animation. They can extract nutrients from stone..wood...almost anything they come in contact with...if necessary,for survival. Truly amazing!! The beetle was mounted in the display case,with a brief story of where and how,it was found. I have since taken Giant Wood-Wasps and other insects to the museum...from underground. God created some wonderful things,even if he wasn't the God we were taught to believe in!

Smudge,it's not very far off reality what you suggest!! When I started Ashington Pit,after Bates closed,in 1986,the first thing I discovered upon getting inbye,on the first shift I did,was....Slatey beetles....not just one or two......MILLIONS! Every stone,or piece of wood you turned over,there were hundreds of them,scattering in all directions to hide from your caplamp. That was in every yard of every roadway all over the seam! The old-timers told me that they had always been down there![no other pit that I worked at had any at all!..just mice and midges!] BUT,in one very old abandoned roadway,not been entered for many years since it was closed,my Marra and Me went in to do a job. We were both startled by things dropping from the roof,and the girders,onto our helmets,and our shoulders. Thinking it was small bits of stone or whatever,we both looked up,[total darkness...just our caplamps..],and we couldn't believe what we were seeing! Again..thousands of absoloutely HUGE red gorgeous-looking Centipedes!! About four inches long,and nearly an inch across,from toe to toe![That's BIG for a Centipede!] We walked in for about three/quarters of a mile,and every yard of that roadway was crawling,roof to floor with these overgrown creatures. It would have made a great scene for a horror movie!! There were also big football-sized fronds of fungi in all colours,swinging in the gentle movement of the air,along the roadway,and we can only suppose that that was where the creatures would get there moisture for survival. My only regret was,that I didn't bring a specimen out to take to the museum..as I have in the past.

Thanks for your kind comments,merc,really appreciated,and I also love this forum,and aal it's contributers!! It's thi only forum aav found where nobody swears,or gets abusive,etc. It's also responsible for me re-kindling a long lost friendship with Vic and Doreen,[my old neighbour and school friend from aboot 5 yrs aad!! The trouble wi me is,aav [reluctantly!] acquired a trait from me tyrannical Father,that is,just coming oot and being blunt,and speaking me mind,sometimes at thi wrang times,so aav had ti really work hard at being a bit more diplomatic. The queer thing is,aav [pleasingly!]acquired me Mother's very docile and tolerant manner,but me worst fault is.....a write like a taak...oh,did a nivvor tell yi....?!!!!!!!!!!!

However much you bend light rays,you are always gonna see light somehow,so you are never gonna be blind! Noo,aboot God,Pete! After aal this taak,aav just realised,the only book prize a ever won at school,was when a was eleven years aad,and I won it for an essay I had written,with the title..."I Believe". A wrote it entirely from me heart,and beliefs,at the time,cos we were taught the Bible,from 5 yrs old starting school,and my Mother used to teach her kids as much as she could,to put us on the right road in life. It's only as the years have gone by,and,being an individual natured sort of lad,have grown to think about it and seriously question the whole aspect of the Bible story. As for Daniken Pete,He stands about third down the list of People who have become VERY well off,financially,through investing in the God story. I would say Billy Graham heads the list,for becoming a self-made "Authority",and leader of the most fraudulent religion there is.[..and I have personal proof of what my statement implies,only it IS personal,I only wish it was possible to share with you what I know.] Maybe the Vatican should be top of the charts.....hmmmmm![and not second,as I was thinking!]

This reminds me of Stephen Wright,a zany comedian from a few years back. One of his gags were..... "You're in a spaceship..travelling at a thousand times the speed of light......you put you're headlights on cos it's dark out there......WHAT HAPPENS"....!!!!

Aah! Pete,clever way of refracting a point!! Of course we are blind without light...don't forget I worked underground for nearly 30 years,and when your caplamp went oot....you WERE blind!! We don't need a college education to know that one!...just as we are deaf if there is no air to move our ear diapghrams...[or nodes of ranvier...or whatever!!] There is no light in Space,without an object to reflect it from,[that we can perceive!] nor is there any sound,but light photons are still present! But deep underground,there are no Photons present for the eye to detect,when none are being emitted. It is an old-fashioned belief that mice that live in the mines are blind,because they have never been in daylight,NOT true!! So "Black as the night"doesn't ring true....but"Black is Black"....does!! My road "pools" example,is a good one,because,you can't still see thi road,it appears as I said...like a pool of water,and what does water reflect?...the sky! Noo Bob Lazar states in his interview,above,that we can see stars which are at the opposite side of the sun,due to massive refraction of light rays. I've never heard that before,but,like owt on thi internet,it's checkable!!

Ti retorn bak ti thi thread title,yi CAN find owt on't internet....!!!! AAA fund a brand new burner assembly for a Carver caravan heater,which is aboot thirty years aad!! A company tuk aal the tooling from Carver,and the license to carry on producing the exact same product! A also found me long lost friends in Canada,which pleased the hell oot o' me!! Lang live thi net!!

Hi Vic! Very good way of thinking,and that's the way I think. How can God let the world collapse,yet all that we have,the way planets and stars are positioned,our environment,couldn't have just happened by accident. It had to be created,now we could have called our creator Rover,it wouldn't have a happ'ence a difference in our teaching, from being able to talk...would it? We would accept it. Anybody see why I chose Rover as an example?!!! Vic,when we reach adulthood,and we have a bit of a brain,the word "offended"[i think!]shouldn't exist in our vocabulary!! As a hardened aad pitman,nowt offends me,mebbe aggravates me,or whatever,but no offence!! It annoys me when I read of people,mostly over the other side of the world,who get "Offended"if you say the wrang thing,look thi wrang way,.....!!yi wadn't think they were grown-up folks!! Aam wi yi on ya points of view,Vic,hope aaa hevn't offended anybody by rabbiting on aboot nowt!...[as usual]

I also believe parts of the Bible Pete,I am not denouncing it,I just interpret it differently to others!