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HIGH PIT WILMA

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  1. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Aroond 1971 my Wifes' Sister's neighbour had been to Newcastle for a meal after the cinema. The folks' little girl got a chicken bone stuck in her throat,and was choking.They rushed her to the RVI and the surgeons removed the bone. They knew immediately,that it wasn't a chicken bone,it was a rat's. When Police raided the restaurant,they found the fridges stocked out with cats and rats. The same procedure was gone through....fines...closure etc,checks on all the other's.. The girl was extremely lucky that she survived,as she was cynanosed by the time she reached hospital....no paramedics then,no oxygen,etc.... The Chinese got a lot of bad press,but we have moved on a bit since then!! How would a lot of folk survive if they didn' have their "Chinky's" to tek yem !! Looking back,it was probably ignorance of our culture,compared to their's,what caused the problem. If they eat rats,as some tribes still eat swallows and other small migratory birds,they probably thought it was o.k. to do it here!! Not forgetting that we used to eat sparrows,and blackbirds,and crows,at one time! ................................baked in a pie! To put things into perspective,a few years ago,I was in an English fish and chip shop,up Alexandra road,in Ashington,famished,waiting to be served. As I paid for my order,I dropped a coin,which rolled.as they do.....under the counter,right across,under the girl assistants' feet,and under the bench where the vertical spit-roast meat thing was cooking.....[donner-meat...that's it!!]. The young girl reached down with the long knife,used for cuttin the donner meat,and tried to bring the coin out,nearer to her,which she did. When I saw the muck and dust and filthy ball which came out with the coin,I was disgusted! It was worse when she reached a filthy wet rag from the chip counter,and threw the knife back onto the donner meat tray....,after giving the knife blade a quick rub up it's lengh,to "clean"it...![then putting the rag back onto the chip counter!] I never went back there again! One's each!!
  2. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Hi Tony,a knaa wa taakin aboot Bedltn here,but yi just gave me a blast from thi past!! Not Bedltn,mind,but can yi mind o' thi "Kam Tong" Chinese restaurant in Blyth,in thi mid-sixties? It was,as you would expect,immaculately presented,and thi ckicken n chips were gorgeous............till yi read in the Evening Chronicle,that they had been fined and closed doon because of....ahem....hygiene regulations breaches.........cats,rats,dogs,evrything but chicken....in thi fridges to cook!! Mind....it's aal thi syem,when yi put a bit saalt n vinegar,and tomaarti saaace aal owa it....!!!!..[except for thi smaal bones that get stuck in ya throat.......heh heh!] .........Sorry Tony,a got carried away....as yi dae...like!! A canna mind the first one in Bedltn,but a can mind one in Bedltnshire.....in the early 70's,at Guide Post,afore thi roondaboot was put there,it was caaled " King Barbecue Express"...[ gorgeous ckicken n chips,which was a rare luxury treat in them days!!]
  3. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Heh heh!,Whey lassie,ye'll not like me and my little pocket-rocket!! I've got a luvly red/black Honda cbr 125 rw-7,2008,wi just 3k -odd miles on it,and it's absolutely like as new as the day it was made! Gaans fast enyuff for me,and aa can oot strip aal ya big boys,on the twisty's nea bother! Me marra has a 'Busa,and he has even admitted the same thing,it's like big Jag vs mini hot-hatch on twisty's!....canna be done! Mind,aam 70 yrs aad noo,too aad for thinking aboot chicken strips etc,so 50 mph average,suits me fine for where a gaan,usually aal the narrow back-roads from here ti Kelso,and thi like.[and usually gettin on for midnight,in dark unlit roads,where the wildlife are more deadly than humans...!] A was nearly dead last year wi multiple blood clots on both lungs,and severe pleuritis,which left me weak as a kitten since,so if a DID hae a big bike,it wud hae ti gaan,cos me little fireblade replica,sumtimes feels heavy ti me noo,dinna laugh mind,cos the one certainty in this life is .......... Ye get NO YOUNGER!!! Biking should be aboot enjoying the freedom on the roads,and not comparing hoo has the jassiest claas,and bikes,or thi shoei hard hat.... ....aa wud wear me aad pit hard hat if it was llegal....it protected me from many a faal of roof-stone,owa thorty years undergrund in thi pits!! Noo,wheor's me putt-putt...!!! Once ye get on thi bike,ya senses get tuned ti thi limit,and ya like an 18 yr aad inside ya heed,a mean,for reaction,awareness,etc. After a 46 year lapse in riding,a did me cbt four years ago,and when thi instructor raised his hand for the emergency stop,a was stopped afore his hand got to his shoulder,and he wryly smiled and said.."Pretty gud stop, Bill !" Mind,it was queer having the levers the wrang way aroond,for a few minutes,in the car park cones!..[ trying ti change doon on thi brake lever isn't a gud idea,but a quickly got used ti it.[ shudda left things alenn,tha was nowt wrang wi thim in the sixties...]
  4. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Brillo,lights at the Welwyn Bridge only came off,recently,to allow a diversion route while a section of the A1147 was being resurfaced,under the railway bridge. The minute the works were completed,on the A1147,the lights were re-sited,again,for weeks,and weeks....still no work being done....no...not at night-time either,cos I walk my dog over at sometimes two,and three o clock in the morning! I shone my high -intensity cree-led torch all around,and underneath,and no sign even of any prep. work,no materials lying around...nothing![waiting till April Budget money maybe eh..?!!] Malcolm,any ideas wat's gaan on?
  5. HIGH PIT WILMA
    A can mind the name of Pig,but not their actual music. A can mind when the Lampglass was first conceived and opened up,it was aimed at "educated students....",or people with a leaning to the arty side of life,a revolution for Ashington,at the time,and a great asset to have in the town. A bet there was a few sugar cubes went doon wi tha pints,in them days,ti "speed " up thi vibes....so ti speak!!!!! Aa nivvor went doon,cos [A] Aa didn't drink,and wasn't "Arty"!...and A couldn't afford ti gaan doon if a wanted ti..! Lastly,a was too smart,and very self-aware,ti even think aboot sugar,blotters,or cartoons!! Plain aad-fashioned rock-n-roller,playing aal the charts of me time....in thi early 'sixties"...a great time ti be an axe lead-player!
  6. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Willy j.,here's another blast from the past!..."Hall and Cardwell's" in Ashington..owa thi bridge.... Me Son and me fell in love wi an axe in the shop window,which was there, for ages,a dinna even think it sold,probably went oot with the bailiffs or sumbody like that!...[this was in aroond 1978-ish,mebbe a bit earlier or later,but aboot that period of time..] Me Son was aboot ten years aad,and had been playing drums for owa a year,was in the Middle school Orchestra at West Sleekburn,and later in the Wansbeck Youth Orchestra,as well as learning Jazz,and rock percussion. Years later,as an assistant Engineer in Dave Stewart's [Eurythmics] Church Studio,in London,[not far from where he now lives,in North Finchley..],he came across the first axe he had seen since the one in Cardwell's window hooked him. ....It was a "Shergold Masquerader",very rare,and a gorgeous axe,though not a lot of muso's seem to have rated them.[don't know why!!] Nae accounting for taste,but maybe it was cos they have such a sweet sound,which was what Amp,and guitar maker's used to strive for in thi old days....distortion was the devil in an amplifier design!!! Selmer Truvoice was so named cos that's what it gave! Linear sound with just the right Harmonics! Anyway,he still has that axe,and it's on many a record that he's engineered,or produced,so it canna be that bad! Noo,Willy j.,or anybody else...,can ye tell me wat the name of the record shop was,in Laburnum Terrace,where Al's video shop is noo? The lad who worked in there was a blond haired lad who we nicknamed "Heinz",and he was a canny gud axe player,and he sold me my first Watkins Copicat,a bit tatty and half nackered,but it was one of the the very first ones ever made,the twin-lid beige model....worth a fortune noo! Did anyone know his name?
  7. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Hi Willyj. A notice nea response from "sunny afternoon"!!heh heh!....lazy buggaa's..... John White said/sang...."and I was too young to know..."[musta been aan aal!...Graig was aroond in 1959...!]
  8. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Hi Fizz,did Geordie Arkle live around Hollymount square in, Bedlington,in the 1960's? I worked with him at the Bedlington A pit,as well as his Brothers John and ? .[not the Arkle Brothers from Choppingon High pit,mind,who I also worked with,one of whom was also John....].
  9. HIGH PIT WILMA
    image matty halls class 1967
    Young Jim Prime,has a very unusual name. I wonder if he is the Son..[i'm trying ti work oot ages and years ,here,Tony,in me heed!]....or other relative,of Jimmy Prime.,senior,who was really badly injured at the Choppington High Pit,[being crushed up against a newly installed Desford/Gullick ?.... hydraulic face chock,roof support,by his coalcutter machine]. It was a bizzarre accident,cos we were installing a newly-won-out coalface, with these new-fangled hydraulic chocks,shaped like a giant mushroom,that pressurised the roof with about 20 tons of pressure,and they were a few yards apart at first,so there was a big gap between them,with wood timbers covering the rest of the roof on the face. Jimmy was running the cutter picks,I think to jib-in to turn the cutter,which was a very skilled manouvre,with the most vicious and dangerous machine ever invented by man...full stop,and no argument about that! The picks on the cutter jib struck something hard,and it danced the three-and-a-half-ton machine around like a toy,on the very low coalface,[just over two-feet high],swung the cutter around and crushed Jimmy up agalnst the face chock,nearly killing him..... He was apparently dying as we reached him on the face,with his lungs and all his internal organs being squashed. He was very lucky that the picks didn't take him into the machine,or he wouldn't have survived at all. We stretchered him with great difficulty,off the face,[just over two feet high-remember,]and all the way out of the pit,slipping and stumbling on the rough stony wet downward sloping roadways. Poor Jimmy got tossed about so much,it was a miracle how he survived the trauma of it all,and after we got him into the Ambulance,we thought he was already gone,his eyes and general appearance said it. Word came from the Hospital,after about two weeks,and being severely crushed....that he was playing hell with the doctor's cos he wanted to be out to go to the club for a pint with he's Marra's!!!! Were we pleased to hear that! After the Pit closed,I only used to see Jimmy up Bedlington main street,on he's way down ti the Market club!!...and you wouldn't have known how near he was,unless he told you,which,of course,he wouldn't! Sorry for the long story,Tony,I got carried away,re-living it,cos this happened aroond 1963-4..ish...maybe even 1965..not exactly clear,but no later,and no earlier,and it was a very traumatic event for us all who were there.[in really bad mine conditions] Tony,if you know Jimmy jr,on this pic,could you ask him if Jimmy sr is his Relation,please. Cheers. Bill
  10. HIGH PIT WILMA
    image westridge 1971
    My Parents were very gud friends with a Bob Lumsdon and his Wife,who lived at Scotland Gate ,long before I was born,and long after,just opposite Tait's shop,in the cottages.
  11. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Auntie Dora's wedding
    Thanks for sharing ,Tony!
  12. HIGH PIT WILMA

    My mother

    HIGH PIT WILMA commented on Tonyp's gallery image in People and Events Gallery

    My mother
    Lovely photo,Tony,hope you have this one framed and on your dresser.! Sad to read that she passed away at such a young age,Tony.
  13. HIGH PIT WILMA

    image

    HIGH PIT WILMA commented on Tonyp's gallery image in People and Events Gallery

    image
    Possibly the Market club,the land banks up behind the fellas,where they are now building a new block of flats.
  14. HIGH PIT WILMA
    Mums & dad's wedding
    Did Dad work at the High Pit or the Low Pit by any chance? I lived at Storey's Buildings,on the Willow Bridge bank,in 1947,Guide post where I was born,before that. I knew loads of people from Eastgate,in the early Sixties,used to go down to lad's hooses who worked at the High Pit,and we were all into motorbikes... The fella on the left,is the spitting image of my deceased Brother-in-law.. Raymond Bell,from Bell's Ranch,in Netherton Colliery village.!
  15. HIGH PIT WILMA
    My grandparents & great aunt & uncle in the1920's
    Hi Tony,there was a Frankie and ? Heron,lived opposite my Family,at Hollymount Square,from the house being built arouns 1948--ish. Frankie was short and stocky,pleasant,[both of them...my Mother's gud neighbours..],they had two Sons,Frankie jr and Jacky. They all worked at the Doctor Pit,in those days. I was just a bairn of three[nearly four..when we moved there] Any Relation to you?
  16. HIGH PIT WILMA
    TCC Burnhope 1
    Heh heh! A blast from the past! ...."Normal sevice will be resumed as soon as possible......"..!!!!! [Every few hours in the early days!] ....."This is.....Tyne Tees Television...Channel 8......" ! "Diddly dee dee Diddly dum.......Da DA da Da da Da da Da da .......Ping!" Can anybody put the jingle tune ti me Diddly's?!
  17. HIGH PIT WILMA
    That Vicar was right in one way,but it seems he must have just been posted there not long before the find,and didn't sound as if he knew the history of the Church! It was taught to us kids over and over by successive teacher's ,starting as a five year old,at the Infant school opposite the church,now a wreck,and then at the Whitley Memorial School.
  18. 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..!
  19. HIGH PIT WILMA
    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!!
  20. HIGH PIT WILMA
    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!]
  21. HIGH PIT WILMA
    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....?
  22. HIGH PIT WILMA
    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!!
  23. HIGH PIT WILMA
    It was the United red single-decker No 42!
  24. HIGH PIT WILMA
    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.
  25. HIGH PIT WILMA
    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!
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