HIGH PIT WILMA

The Chancel arch,inside St Cuthbert's,is the original archway to the altar,and was built by the Saxons,as was the original stone church...I say "Stone Church",cos the buildings before that would have been wood. The Norman's came a few years later,and demolished the building,and built around the Chancel Arch,for unknown reasons,but history tells us that the Normans only built majestic cathedrals and other buildings to show off their prowess,and NOT because of any religious beliefs that they held...it was a symbol of power,and might. When you look at the arch,as I have all my life since 5yrs old,you think to yourself,what great engineers they must have been! [it wud tek a big mel ti bray that one doon in a hurry!!] Aa think the Normans left it for two reasons..... [A] To humiliate the Saxons by sticking the proverbial fingers up at them..... They couldn't build one from scratch themselves,so they Zerox'd it...!!!! Being from,[i like to think!] ,Saxon stock,I prefer to think of the latter as being thi most probable! C'mon Malc!! Tell me the Normans were building masterpieces before the Saxons were born....!! Heh heh! Come ti think on't,the Normans even copied the Saxon's zig-zag pattern,on their arches,only not so fancy. John,was that the one found in the "Grassy Diamond" area in between the two streets? There was one found over the "Twenty Acres",but a canna remember the date,and that one was put in the Hancock Museum. Then there was the one I refer to in another thread,where my schoolfriend found ancient bones in the cave dooon the "Black Path",that leads from Hollymount Terrace,down to the Furnace bank bridge. Gotta lot of ancient history here in wor little toon..!

Eh...Malc!! A divvent even knaa wat thi word means!!...it was just thi big word used in thi byeuk! A aalwis thowt it meant thi common law in England as we knaa it...thi Peel reforms an aal that...mind aav got a canny memory from a was 2yrs aad ,wi me little leather reins strapping me inti me pram,and being tugged back as a started waakin,by me Mutha,but a was hopeless at History,so me memory sometimes lets me doon!! Magna Carta waas signed in 1215 A.D. wasn't it? Seriously,Malc,I think you are spot-on with your analysis of what USED to be our Constitution!!

Heh heh!,ignorance is bliss eh?!...and there's me aal cocky,thinking,aal put this bugger reet....!! No,aa was just trying ti keep things reet,but a shudda buttoned me lip till a knew thi facts!!! Sorry guys!! Noo.....where's that pint...[of milk,cos aam a teetotaller!]

Great [and very interesting !] timeline Malcolm. The same book I refer to,said King John slept overnight ,as he fled up north,to escape the land Barons,when King Richard [John's Brother] was away at the Crusades. He slept in the Old Hall Pele tower,and escaped through tunnels underground,which led first,to the original old post office building,[or the site of the building],down in the neuk,in thi Market Place,and then down to the river Blyth,[which would have been deeper at high tide,in those days..],and finally onto a waiting boat,which took him to France. He was hauled back to face the consequences of his evil deeds,by Richard,on his return from the Crusades,and beheaded....so the book said. I learned as a child,[son of a pitman..],to "believe nowt wat yi read,and ownly haaf wat yi heor....youngin..."! So many things have been written,about our history,and I have seen many contradictions,like Maggie says,if only we had a time machine..... What the book didn't say was....who mined out the tunnels!! and why?...was it all planned for John's escape?... ..With a box of millisecond delay detonators,and a few thousand pounds of "Polar Ajax",it would have taken me and my marra's a few months ti drive tunnels that distance!!...[oh..!..,I forgot,we wud have needed a windy driller as weel!!] Anyway,aal that is irrelevant,thi main thing is that John DID stay in wor toon! When aa was relating this bit of history ti me Marra's at bait-time,one day,[doon thi Three-Quarter drift,at Bates],me big Marra Bill,who was a joker, sarcastically shouted ti aal the lads who were sitting listening ti me story...."Howw hae yi hord Alli,[ that was me!],he said King John slept doon at Bacchi's and had a game o snooker,and an ice cream,afore he buggaad off in a boat...."..!! Tha's aalwis one..isn't thaa?..! A forgot ti say that John was forced ti sign the Magna-Carta, which formed the basis of our Constitution..,before he was killed. Can you confirm any of this,Malcolm,or is it a bit of Author's licence to romanticise....?

Bates pit was down the road behind you,on the Blyth side of the river,on the left,in the top photo. It was on the right going down the road ti thi "Station",and over to Blyth,on thi bottom pic. Maybe your pint is stronger than Adam's,Foxy!! Thi old Coffin chapel is just ti thi right of thi pic as ye see it. Mind,aad forgotten exactly hoo big the pit heap was! A used ti play owa the ponds and up thi heaps when a was aboot ten years aad,wi thi "big"lads...aboot 13 years aad! Me bedroom windae faced owa ti thi heap,and in thi dark neets,it was a blazing,smouldering , smoky sight,especially on really windy neets! On a last note...cos it's 1-30 am,and aam buggaad!..... .....Democracy is thi key word on here!!

It was the United red single-decker No 42!

Commonly refferred to as "The Ash Boat!" ....that was the Sir Fon!...mind he did a few thoosand miles oot at sea....! The old-fashioned bucket-dredger was a welcome sight an aal!,until the modern one came alang wi a modified coal-cutting disc-head,and a slurry suction pipe....THAT buggered up aal the fish-feeding beds in the river,ti put thi Alcan unloading berth there.

In the 1970's,we ,[myself and neighbouring allotment-holders,in Stakeford]used to go down to the sewage treatment plant, where Aldi/Jolley's/Homebase etc,is now,at Cowpen,and the guy in there used ti tip all the treated human waste out of the vats,and onto the open land nearby,to drain the fluid off. There used to be pretty big heaps of the grey stuff,almost odourless, except for the Formaldehyde [?] odour,and the guy would say help yasell's ti as much as ye want,it saves me having ti gaan ti thi tip wi' it!! We spread it across the allotment,and dug it in,in the autumn,and it was a really gud,natural fertilizer. Can anybody else mind o' this free stuff? I moved to West Terrace ,Stakeford,colliery hooses,in 1970,and we had the ootside netty,[although it was a flush toilet by then!],right up until 1984,when I modernised the property after buying it from the Coal Board. My next door neighbour,still had the original old toilet pan,and high-up old cast-iron cistern,when I moved away,in 2001,and it is probably still there!

Er..! .....just for the record,Malcolm,and everybody else, I wasn't inferring the date of 611AD as the date St Cuthbert's bones were rested there,mind, but as the date that that ground was consecrated. If that is correct,then it wud be logical for the monks to come back to that place to rest,probably in a mud hut,or similar abode. What do you think?

Aye Maggie,the Gospels spring to mind...... Owt we hev is aalwis tekkin' awa' from us.......! Queer hoo tha was nea records of the find....wat museum wudn't have a records dept?!

Hi ozz! Does the nickname of a teacher called "Chip" mean anything ti ye? If it does , tell me how he got the nickname,and I will confirm a very close link with you and your family,if I have got it wrong,then I apologise! Did the factory make jeans for M-N S in around 1991 ?

So sorry,my dear Margaret....[?].....my lips will be forever sealed from this second on,never to slarver on ever again,whilst in your presence,to avoid any unnecessary annoyance to oneself,ever again....I will try to be the perfect gentleman from now on.......!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOO,YI BUGGER,WAT WAAS AA ON ABOOT AFORE AAL THIS YAKKIN' ON ABOOT SLAAVARIN........!!!!!!!!HEH HEH!! OH....! HI MAGGIE ....! Hevn't wi got a grate way o' taakin?.....them buggers doon sooth,thi aal taak funny,when yi gaan doon theor,neabugga taaks ti yi on thi trains a owt! When me Wife an me used ti gaa doon ti wor Daz's place,and gaa on thi tube trains,ivry bugga stared at yi for yi chatterin on...as if yi wa stupid a summik...! John,aav just re-capped ya dictionary again,an mind,yi desarve,alang wi ya secrortarry,a pat a two on thi back,cos mind,aam telling yi summick an aal,fo' nowt,mind,yiv puttin a helluva lot a graft in theor,for thi benefit of them that are forenna's ....an deain't knaa wat wa slavverin on aboot,haaf thi time! An Maggie,ya a star an aal,fo' being a very wise diplomatic and undastandin lassie!! Wat a great site this is!

New one on me,and a knew lots of Choppington people,but if it was in thi sixties,then a wud've been oot o' touch by then,and living at Hollymount Square, in Bedlington. Where was the Nurse's hoose then,please?..was it still in aad Dr Hickey's hoose and surgery..maybe? Crowe....very unusual name,my eldest Son's Partner,in London,is a Crowe,and her family is extensive,but they originate from Shropshire. Aal have her asked if she has any distant relatives up here,could be...in the same way my Son has...!! Slightly off-topic,again!,but twenty years ago,when my Son moved to London,working in the recording studios as an engineer,he went up Finchley road where he lives,to go to the local printer's to get a print job done for the studio. When he went into the printer's shop,in thi high street,thi first person he set eyes on was Tommy Liddell's Grandson,Peter!! [Tommy who had Liddel's garage alang here at Stakeford for aboot two hundred years!!!!]what a co-incidence ti meet up after being at school together years before!

If anybody here went ti Lucy's in the latter years,up until it closed down,ye's wud hev knaan me big aad Marra Bill,who was on thi door for a canny few years,even when he was still workin' at Ellington pit. He was owa 60 years aad,and hoying drunk youngins oot,who were battling on,sumtimes one in each hand,cos he was, and still is,strong as an ox!! That's him on me pit photo's on Flickr,sitting at thi handles of thi coalcutter,for those of you who might have visited the site,and checked oot High Pit Wilma's photostream,of Bates's Pit.[Adam's Dad's up on thi cage wheels heedgear!]

Apologies for drifting off-topic,like I always do,that's hoo a taak...! A can mind being in the Gaff when a was aboot three years aad!Me aadaa Sister used ti tek me and me other Sister and Aada Brother,on the Sediti eftanoon Matinee.."Fatty and Skinny" flics,Charlie Chaplin,and cartoons.....a used ti faal asleep and get carried yem,whey,it wasn't far back ti Storey's Buildings,doon the Willow Bridge Bank. Bliddy hard planks an aal! A was aalwis fascinated by the projection light beams flickering,and wondered what it was...inquisitive little mind a had even at that age.... ...that's hoo aam a genius.....and that's hoo a ended up doon a black hole!

Aaah..sorry to hear that,Keith.No doubt the inquest laid blame on him saying lack of timber in,or something like that. When you go to the Durham mining museum's archives and records of fatalities,whatever the job the poor fella,or in some cases,very young boys,did,it was always some "infringement of the Manager's rules",that was the blame for the accident. I was a coalcutterman,Keith,and cutters hadn't changed from them being invented,to the ones we used right until the pits all closed under thatcher-the-hatcheter...they only got more powerful,and more vicious. I have told everybody I ever spoke to,about coalcutters,especially young trainees who came under my wing to learn how to cut coal,that the coalcutter was the most VICIOUS machine,ever invented,grossly over-powered,and under-weighted,with the ability to throw itself around like a "Jumpy-jack" firecracker. Three and a half tons,with a long jib full of picks similar to a giant chainsaw. When the picks were in gear and you were cutting the face,it only took a really hard piece of stone [maybe from the roof breaking up,to be carried into the cut,and the back of the jib,to throw the cutter out of the cut,and start it dancing around like a toy,drawing timbers out,closing the face,etc. Frightening to see for the first time,but you got used to the dangers,and expected the unexpected,when you were cutting. My heart goes out to your family Keith,and every other miner,whatever part of the world they live and work in,we all faced the same dangers....with very little,if any,thanks,for doing a dangerous job.[we faced mostly unjustified critisicm from most people,due to ignorance...]

It's on thi "Sierra-hire Nissen Hut",thread,but a divvent knaa hoo ti move it ti here!!

Eh!...just thi otha neet,a posted a greet lang story aboot me next door retired-miner neighbour,who,in the mid-sixties, took a part-time job,doon at the Nissen huts at Cambois.[He had ti sign thi official secrets act!as a store-keeper!!] They used ti hev the words"British Sugar Corporation"written in huge letters,on the sides of the huts,easily seen from the air,and which,I suspect,was a code-word during the war. Aal find where a posted the story aboot the huts,and re-post it here.[a think it was in the thread aboot the Nuclear bunkers...]

I worked with a lad at Bates,who was a really powerful,strong,and also strong-willed person.Great to work with,and the most hilarious sense of humour you could imagine,with a character that was well-known wherever he went. After the strike was declared over,and on the first day of our return back to work,all our Marra's were unanimously voicing our opinions on what we would do with thatcher-the hatcheter.......!!! Keith,[aye..another Keith!..]spoke out in his very powerful voice,above all the chatter of the lads..... ...."Whey aa think she's a wonderful woman....."..!!!!..."a wadn't mind xxxxxxx her"!!!!!!!!! There was an uproar,and if it wasn't for Keith's character,and his build,I think somebody might have been incensed enough to have a go at him,bearing in mind all the tensions that were still present,what with those that had returned earlier,having to work with the "loyal" ones. He kept this winding -up going for a day or two,till everybody finally realised.... He would say.."Luk wat she's done for ye...better pay...better conditions".....[we were working in the wettest part of the whole pit,in the Three-Quarter seam]...etc! Badger,was certainly a queer bugga,but a smashing marra![er....queer as in "funny"...just for correctness!!].

WINDEY-WINDEY....!!!!!!!!!!!HEH HEH!!!!!!!!!!

I think,in those days,the nickname of "Pop" was given to any lad with the Robson surname,because of association with that of the soft drinks manufacturers in Morpeth,bearing the same name.

Spot on Keith! The Clouson family lived around the corner from my Family ,in Hollymount Square,from Hollymount being built,in approx 1948-ish... Pop Clouson had the travelling shop,canna remember if he started with horse and cart,like everybody else,mind. Then later on,he had the shop at Allgood Terrace.[from the mid-1950's-on]. If "young" Pop is still with us,and he comes on here,he might confirm the age-old story that was passed on to successive generations attending the Whitley Memorial School. That story related how old Mrs Molden was reprimanding Pop,[who was a very big lad,aged nearly fifteen years..],and he got out of his school desk,lifted Mrs Molden up in the air,[shouting and bawling going on between them],and dumped her into the large waste-paper basket in the corner of the classroom.! The baskets used,in those days, stood about three or four feet tall and were narrow at the base,and wider at the top,like a giant flower vase. Pop had to go to see aad Nicky,the Headmaster tyrant,to have both hands thrashed with the cane ..."which is really going to hurt..."

Luks like Joe Caine to me Malcolm...he' double if not him! K.L, ye should be on stage!!

I was at Choppington High Pit for six years,1959-1965...and was transferred ti Bedlington A pit,a few months afore thi high pit closed. Just ti re-cap,John Arkle was always in night-shift..[5-0pm]..["Mastershifter"],Chris Arkle,[John's Brother],kept the 12-0 midnight shift..[" Fore-Overman"...or.........."Fore-Owaman"],and Joe Barratt kept the "Back-shift"..[which was 8-30am start.]...and he was thi "Back-Overman"...[or ... .."Back-Owaman"] Noo,when yi luk at these three Senior officials,ya lukking at the best of british miners,that could ivvor have come oot o' mining. An awkward sod of an elder miner,at Bates Pit,once said ti me,[when aa was a young Deputy],"Ye fella's ownly gaan onti Deputy-wark,cos ye canna manage piecewark..".......!! Whey,as it happened,after seven years, a chucked Deputy-work in,and was accepted back inti the N.U.M.,at Bates,summik which had nivvor been done before,cos ya regarded as "Poacher-turned-Gamekeeper". And as it also happened,the awkward sods who made these remarks ti me,pulling me doon,had ti come up the coalface,and work with me,and it turned oot,they couldn't tie tha own shoe-laces next ti me!! See,they were taken from their push handles -on-the-mechanised-coalface,back to old-fashioned coalcutting,drilling and firing the coal,and hand-filling 24 tons of coal,a shift,onto a rubber conveyor belt,which was a few yards away from ye,so ye had ti really hoy ivry shuul-full hard,ti reach the conveyor belt. After one hour,some of these so-called.."miners",were literally buggaad!! Nae mair sarcastic remarks made ti Wilma after these episodes!! Ivry dog has he's day,they say,and mind,it's a grand feeling!! Right!,...hoo a got on aboot aal that,was,these blokes would have said the same thing ti these three Officials,and wat a big mistake they would hae made!! Oh,a forgot,another Deputy,who a knew,at Bedlington A pit,came under thi syem category as these three.....a fella caaled Joe Craddock. Noo,John,research this one,if ye can,please! During,or just after the War,[ww2],there was a big drive on for coal,so inter-pit contests were held,ti find the best and fastest coal-fillers. In Northumberland,as I understand it,the final two were Joe Barratt,from Choppington High Pit,against Joe Craddock,from Bedlington A Pit. Both big fellas,and both strong as an Ox. It was widely known that Joe Craddock won the contest,after filling 72 pit-tubs of coal,in a single shift,with Joe Barratt very,very,close behind. ....beaten by half a tub,or summick daft like that. In fairness ti Joe Barratt,he was in stinking bad conditions,as was usual,at thi High Pit,and Joe Craddock had gud conditions,as was usual at Bedlington A pit. So they were probably equal in their amazing ability,and,in later life,as officials of the mine,MORE than qualified,ti tell a man hoo ti dae any job in thi pit! If Lone Ranger is knocking around,he will maybe confirm these facts,or maybe John will help out.

Heh heh! Thanks Malcolm,aam a bit late o' catching up!...better late than never,as aad Nicky,[Headmaster at Whitley School in my childhood]..used ti say.... before he terrorised you,then thrashed you over both hands!!