HIGH PIT WILMA

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

Correction about the Doctor Pit dumping waste on the aad pit heap...news ti me! The Doctor Pit had it's aan pit heaps,another playgrund of us kids..in the early 1950's. It was very dangerous ground,constantly burning,and giving off Sulphrous fumes,as weel as showing light pink patches at the sides of the paths we trod. Us younger kids were taught to follow the older ones,and to take notice where weeds and grass grew.and where rabbits burrowed under..they were the safe places to walk..and we were taught NOT to venture where the ground was light pink coloured..cos they were the areas where it was still burning hot,no flames,just smouldering hot. One day,a was really curious,and just dabbed me foot lightly on a pinky spot,and the ground just sank in like a quicksand,with a red hot plume of dust and fumes spewing out from the hole what was created by my actions..the big lads played hell with me,including my older Brother,who was looking after me.. I later heard of a wee lassie who was playing along with her friends,one minute,and the next minute,when her friends looked back for her,she was gone..she had fallen into thi "quicksand furnace" and would be incinerated in seconds..tragic story.. I don't doubt that maybe in the latter years just before the pit closed,that the pit might have run oot of dumping ground,and railed the stone doon ti the Aad pit heap. Cos the Doctor Pit didn't pile the heap up like the Aad pit,they more or less spread the waste oot owa a large area.

On a more serious note,a hope everybody on this great site ,are keeping well as can be expected,things are pretty rough here just now,with my Wife's and my own Health issues,so I can't come on as much as I used to,but rest assured I haven't deserted! Sadly for us at home,tomorrow is the third Anniversary of the loss of wor LBJ,[Little Black Jess],who was a treasured member of wor family..and who kept me going for ten lovely years. No more 3-0 am walkies....! R.I.P. LBJ.

...er Anne,a true Geordie will hae nae botha reading me test text! Dinna wurry if ye hae botha,when me Neice was in the Army,a few years ago,she ranked as a corporal..and they were stationed in the Falklands..[after the war was over],and,us being very close,she was pleased to hae letters frae me noo and again. Whey,one day,a wrote a full A4 sheet of very fine font,by hand,aboot 2mm high,as a dae when a naturally write owt doon. So this sheet of text,was aal geordie slang,wi a load of Pitmatic hoyed in amangst it,wi nae spaces and nae puncshuashon watsiivvor!! Aam not kiddin ye,it lukked like a load of hyriglifficks! Whey,she read it aalreet,so she sneaked inti thi Officer's Mess one day,and pinned it up on thi Operations notice board. Next thing she knew,she was getting her bait wi aal hor Marras in the Naafi [?],[Canteen?]..,when a high ranking Officer waaked in and caaled attention everyone! He thundered oot.."and what is this,and who is the person who posted this nonsense on the OP. Board..?" HE,and aal thi otha Officers,hadn't a clue wat it was aal aboot!!..and aa sed..THEY are defending wor COUNTRY ...and they cudn't decipher Wilma's pittle-tekkin..!! A had put in phrases like .." Tha stannin theor like a brokkin paor o limmas..." ..."Ya as much gud as a Choclit Polis".."thi tell maor lees thin a Collry Polis.."!..etc.. Me Niece telt them it was just a letter from Uncle Billy in Geordielan in Englind..they warn't very amused,cos a beat thim!! Heh heh! Noo aal get barred for ...Digressin...sorry Alan and aal ye kind folks..a cudnt resist it...am back!! Cheers! Bill.

Hi Anne,welcumtithiforruum,itsgreatiseeanuthaaadbedltngeezeronthisgratesitewheorivrybuggaisfriendlyanthasnaeslaavaaswearinglikeuthasitesbutathinkmebbecannylassneedsticumootoretireminttilarnishootitaakproppabutonthiuthahandathinkitsmewhotaaksproppaaalriddyifyeknaawatameanlikemanifyifollamejistlikemanhowww....! .......as I was saying,it's wonderful to have you on the forum,and I am sure you will derive a lot of pleasure,integrating with such lovely people who are diligent in their aims and objectives,of sharing knowledge and understanding to all who participate on the forum.... .....and mind,ye soond like a reet canny lass...[er sorry,CL...!..slip of the pen...so ti speak!]...aa was born in Guipost in 1944,and lived theor,and Choppingtin,Storey's Bildins ,till1947,when me Family mooved inti thi forst of the hooses in Hollymoont Squaore,number thorteen,so aal me family,three Sisters,ind me aader Brutha aal went ti thi Whitley Schuul. Can ye mind Matty Hall? ..Luvly fella,ex-army Boxer,who knew hoo ti use a fower foot lang wood blackboard ruler owa ya hint-end as ye were bent owa a desk..for taalkin in class..whey,ye sharp larnt not ti taak in class!!...he clipped wi,but wi still liked him a lot,cos he knew hoo ti keep ye on his side,wi his lovely manner. He had a huge turnoot for his Funeral,he was known by so many folk in Bedlington..R.I.P. Matty. We had loads o happy memories of thi aad Whitley! A hope ye enjoy being a member,Anne,dinna let my glaaky taak put ye off,wi canna aal be Brain Sorgins ye knaa!! Cheers,Bonny Lass! Caal me Bill thi gud taaka!! xx [ps..Wilma was a daft nickname wat a lad caaled Keith Cooney,Deceased R.I.P. Keith..gave me when we first started the pits from school..in 1959...cos a grew me hair lang and played the guitar.Doon a wet coalmine,me hair used ti be aal straggly like the early episodes of the Flintstones,where Wilma was like a thin scraggy character..caveman's squaw!!...noo that's summik ti write yem aboot...innit?!!!]

Merry Christmas to all my gud friends on wor great channel!...Nice ti see ye back Brian..mind aav been idle an aal...but aam chinkaplonka,it's looking after Cath full on noo,that limits time for me..nivvor mind,one thing a wud like ti remind ye aal...if ye get tipsy,keep ya phones switched off!!...aam a teetotaller,so aam fully aware constantly......aav had aboot a dozen scam texts and calls owa the last few months,more so this last few weeks..from Lloyds Bank..[supposedly!],Royal Mail wanting 2 quid for a parcel ti be redelivered..[nonsense!]Hermes,[same thing],and just last week and today,a text saying "I think you are in this Video"..beware that one,my marras have fallen for it,thinking it was from old Pit Marras,but it scans all your contacts....I dont know if this has been covered already,apologies if it has,better be safe than scammed! Cheers and all the best folks! Bill and Cath xx

Wow! What an interesting article!...pleased I just caught up with it now! Thanks for posting it Kev! Cheers,Bill.

Oh,sorry I forgot,Stay safe everyone!!

Merry Christmas,and a happy new year to all,if we get that far!! Hope to be seeing you all a bit more next year,past two years have been disastrous ,healthwise,with my Wife. The NHS have been absoloutely MAGNIFICENT ,between Wansbeck,The RVI,The Freeman,and The Mount at Morpeth,all the Consultants and Staff,all the way down the ranks,deserve medals,solid gold ones the size of dustbin lids! My Wife and me hope the NHS gets the Appreciation,and funding that it deserves Nationally. ALL THE BEST! Bill.

Hi Folks, as a bairn we roamed the area, and played aroond aal thi pits in the area. If ye went UP the Netherton Lonnen from the Choppingtin road, the Francis Pit old Mine shaft and Winder tower stood on the Left side of the lonnen, a way across the land. Us kids used ti shoogle alang the rails that were laid over the open shaft, and throw stones doon the shaft, ti hear the booming sounds of the stones hitting the shaft walls as they went doin aboot a thoosand feet! My Brother in law had the Ranch, on that same land, where he reared Pigs, Geese, Hens, Turkeys, and his Mother Katie Bell lived in the Colliery raas. I was 12 yrs aad in 1956 when a used ti help him on the Ranch after school sometimes.

Hi Marra's, I played with, Ronnie Leyland, and Alan Wilkinson, from my first day at the Village Infants School, Church Lane, from 1949,I sat next to Alan in the same desk all our school lives, and played doon the woods after school. They lived next door to each other in Millbank Place. My oldest (Deceased) Sister, played with and went to school with Millie Madison.. a lovely family, they live right across the green at the back row of houses. I knew Alan Maguire well, and grew up with him but were they not Catholics, i. e not Whitley Schoolers? There was a Bob Lyall Electrician at Bates, smashing natured lad, (as was Alan Maguire!) There was over a hundred of us lads from Millbank, the Haig and Beattie roads, the Hollymoonters, the Millfielders, and we aal just got on wi each other.. it was nowt like ye hear nooadays... lassies arranging ambush on a disabled lad and inciting lads to kill him.. what hae we cum ti? Tony, ye are reet thi aad folks used ti say ti us bairns, aye, we had nowt, but we were happy... Whey, lukkin back, we cud say the syem thing! WE had nowt eetha, rations were on, not even a jam sammidge till teatime, but we played oot aal day doon the woods, owa thi opencast mine, doon Barntin Tip... THI TIP!! lukking for pram wheels ti mek a bony! They were happy days!

Dinna worry lilbil15, we 'll get there even if we hae ti gaan back ti two tins and a bit o strrring!