HIGH PIT WILMA

Keith L.,did you work at the aad pit in thi 1960's?,or aam a being insulting??...like,maybe you were too young!! Aam sure your name rings bells wi me.........

"Toby Twirl on Manchesterbeat" [the group music scene in Manchester] is the site I mentioned in my last post. Check it out!

I saw lots of GROUPS!....not BANDS!...GROUPS...at the Domino. In those days we were groups![iplayed lead guitar in a group,round the Northumberland/Durham club/dance hall circuit,in the mid 1960's,for three and a half years.] The Ivy League,Troggs,Los Zafiros,[Mexican flamenco style singing and playing..walking around the tables with their guitars and Sombrero's on] Anybody remember Johnny Citrone..?....He made his name on Hughie Green's Opportunity knocks show,by blowing up hot water bottles,like balloons,till they exploded!...lifting an anvil with his teeth...etc? Whey,a previous owner of the Buccaneer..[?],and the Howard Arms..[?],in Bedlington market place,was just a very young ,daft, drunk, lad,in aboot1968-ish,and when Johnny,as part of his act,invited members of the audience up on stage,to verify that there was no fakery,and this WAS a real 1 cwt anvil, [approx. 25 kilos],solid steel blacksmiths full-size anvil....This lad got up to try and lift the anvil with he's hands,not he's teeth!!!,and couldn't get it up to he's knee-caps!...[but a bet HE canna remember daeing that noo!!....but aa can...cos aam tee-total and was sober as hell that neet!] Other folks got up,ti try and blow the hot waata bottles up,thinking they were fake as weel,but they aal backed a losser an aal,cos they couldn't even start ti fill the bottles wi air!! These were folks that aa knew,local folks,not staged as part of his act,so it was proof of his enormous strength,that he did what he did! A friend of mine,from Blyth,who played in a group caaled "Shades of Blue",locally,like us,in 1963-on........went ti London and changed his group's name ti "Toby Twirl",made a record,and went into the charts. Noo they came ti the Domino,at the height of their fame,and it was gud ti see me friend again,after not seeing him for a few years. The lads name was Dave "Holly" Holland..,and he noo runs a pub in Blyth,with his Wife. A came across an excellent site last neet,which is chasing up aal thi aad groups,memorabilia,chat forums,etc,and Davy has some nice comments on,reminiscing aboot them days. Aal get the site name and post it on here if a can. Aye,many happy memories aboot thi aad Wallaw,and Jack Tait,a real canny fella,was Jack.

Anybody from coalmining stock,will remember the bait-bags we pitmen carried,wi wa flasks,or waata-bottles,and wa bait,[lunch....samwidges...ti thi uninitiated!!],and they were originally gas-mask satchels during the war. They were ideal,cos they had a big compartment ,for putting ya bait in,wrapped in newspaper,[nae fancy foodbags or lunchboxes!],and a narrow one,just thi reet size for ya bottle,or flasks when they came in. We got wa pit belts from thi army and navy stores at Blyth,that is,unless yi got the horse-keeper doon thi pit,ti get yi a leather belt from thi saddler at thi pit. We also got the black-handled jack-knives,for cutting wa rubber conveyor belts on the coal-face,wa blue pit-sharts,and vests,etc,wa Fustons,[thick moleskin type material troosa's,tuff as hell....ye cudn't wear thi sods oot....!].....oh.....,and a forgot.......wa blue pit-socks! The stores are a big miss!!

My next door neighbour had one for a garden hut,[the size of a garage!,],in the 1950-60's,at Grange Park. If you go down to Marshe's Crossings,at Sleekburn,turn into Church Avenue,and,without being nosey,just glance at the first hooses,on the way roond,ye'll see wee ones,musta been air raid shelters,aa think,but turned into little coal bunkers,bike sheds ,whatever!![only aboot four feet high!] Me neighbour,[above],took a part-time job in the M.O.D. big nissen huts,doon sleekburn,[wat used ti be the sugar stores,during and after the war], after he retired from a lifetime of coalmining.[this was in the mid-1960's]. He had ti sign thi official secrets act,and couldn't tell me wat went on there. Years later,at Bates Pit,a was gud friends wi a lad,[not working marra's...just gud friends..],and HE had been in the army,and he telt me that there was huge bunkers underground,beneath the huts,with hundreds of military vehicles,and despatch motorbikes,aalwis ready for thi road ti be caaled on at a minutes notice,in case of emergency...war,disaster,...etc. Noo,on that subject,he also told me that there was even bigger bunkers,beneath Tranwell airfield,with approx 500 vehicles,"Green Goddesses",[wat was brought oot during the firemen's strike in 1972,and other times.],trucks,jeeps,motorbikes,etc...aal fully serviced and ready ti gaan. Did anybody ever wonder where the Goddesses came from so quick,during that strike,and then disappear from sight the minute the lads went back to work?..... Maybe sounds incredible? Take a trip to "Scotland's Best-Kept Secret", near East Fortune air museum,not far away from Edinburgh!! A lone farmhoose stands on a lonely moor.........gaan in,pay ya dosh,then gaan doon 200 feet underground,through a massive thick blast-door,to an incredible sight! Aam saying nowt mair....Google it folks,but better still,gaan and experience it for a day oot.......!!!!! Noo wat's aal this slaava got ti dae wi Sierra Nissen hut? Think aboot it!!

Hi Maubel,welcome to the site! Aye,Mrs Molden ["aad moldy cheese",was the kids nickname for her!...nae disrespect noo,seeing as we are adults....!],dragged me oot ti the front of thi class when a was aboot 8 years aad,for "taakin in class"..! When a said a wasn't taakin in class,she mocked me,and raised her croaky voice ti the whole class,sayin...."Oh,so we weren't talking were we?.....then what,may I ask,were we doing?,if we weren't talking?" Aa said "Please Miss,a was singing to myself". She again mocked me,and said"Singing,boy,then come on,sing us a solo...." [A] I didn't knaa wat a "Solo" was...! If a had knaan,a wudda been too terrified ti try! So a just stood in silence. She wasn't content ti drop it,seeing as hoo a was shakin wi fear,at her booming voice,and continued on,"So what were you singing then?" "Will the angels play their harps for me?"...[it was a shellac record from my granda's collection,in the aad windy-up gramaphone,from aboot 1920] She mocked me again,saying,"And do you think the Angels WILL play their harps for you?" "No Miss"...I replied. At that she finally sent me back to my chair. My lasting impression of her wasn't a "Canny Lass"..!! Nor was aad Nicky ,the headmaster!!

Very interesting article ,there,aboot the history of the breed...fascinating!!

Aad "Gunter" Metcalfe,who ran the "Gardner's Arms" ,doon Bedlington Main Street,tucked in beside Beadle's paper shop,used to breed the Bedlington terrier,did so aal he's life,and HE was ancient when aa was ownly ten years aad,in 1954. Anybody remember him?..[aalwis wore riding breeches and boots,and carried his horse whip......it was odd-looking to us kids who were terrified of him,just seeing him used ti mek us run away...he had a permanent scowl,as if he hated kids...full stop!] Probably was a canny bloke,but wor perception didn't convey that to us!!

Hi Eggy! There was a Stone Row at Barrington pit village,which isn't mentioned,a divvent knaa where it was,in relation ti thi rest,and thi ownly reason that a knaa,is cos me big marra lived in No 3 [?],born there,and is noo 72 years aad! Alan Dixon will put me right on that one,hopefully.

Hi Reedy! Just noticed a sentence in your post,there,about the cutter coming down onto your Dad's ankles....he'd have known aboot that one,aa bet! The bit that puzzles me is why did they have the cutter on supports? Do you know what sort of cutter it was,?,cos I'm an old ex-coalcutterman/machineman/composite worker,and every cutter I worked with,had the same procedure,to re-fit the friction clutch. Cutter lying on thi bottom,lid off,both arms inside ,up ti thi eyes of oil and grease!! Maybe they were using a prototype in those days,which would be a common thing,trying oot aal sorts of machines. I'm just interested in machines,that's hoo aam puzzled!

Hi Micky,was she the Wife of Mr Platt,who was one of the school governers in 1958-9..? She wasn't teaching there when I left in 1959,unless my memory is slipping a clutch!! Cheers!

Hi Reedy,was Fred Reed ,[the cobbler opposite thi Black Bull pub doon Bedltn street],any relation? When I was born,in 1944,My Mother was very ill,and was taken to thi Tommy [or Mona?] Taylor,hospital,up at Stannington.She had a nervous breakdown due to having no money to keep her family surviving during the war. My Father worked at Choppington High Pit,and took very ill also,being taken to thi old Ashington Hospital. With Mother having a nervous breakdown,the nurses took me,newly-born,away from my Mother,and put me into a different part of the hospital. Mother's condition was worsened,naturally with losing sight and holding,of her new baby. Choppington coal company didn't care two hoots about anybody's circumstances,and they sent in the big boys,who literally threw all my Mothers little bits of furniture and possessions........into the street,in thi middle of the night,naturally,when they knew they would meet the least resistance from anybody. My oldest Sister stayed with my Aunt,[Mother's Sister],and my second oldest Sister,along with my elder Brother,were put into a victorian regime home,in North Shields.[aged about 6yrs, 4 1/2 yrs,and 3 yrs respectively.] So the whole of my family were split up for a period of time,till Mother and Father recovered. All because of ruthless coal-owner's rules about tied houses...there was no-one else in thi property working down their pit,so out you all go....into a dark gas-lamplit street,with a clarty road outside....in war-time! As you rightly said ,Reedy,without any notice to move whatsoever....ruthless isn't thi word for those people. They have a lot to answer for..and I have a bitter feeling toward these rich land owners,who never did a day's work to earn what they have. Favours of grace?

THAT'S the same dragline that me and me Brother and Friends used ti play on,on Sunday afternoons![nae security guys,or H & S spys either!!] Aa was 10 years aad when they started working Acorn Bank,and we aal used ti just waak doon thi cut,have a bit play aroond on the feet of thi dragline, inti thi big bucket,just like last of the summer wine codgers...only we were real kids! Aav got a very short video of the site,which was rescued from a skip,in V.H.S form,and transferred to dvd by the six townships media company,and it's a real nostalgia trip for me...Thanks John!!

John Million on the left,Leighton Bush bottom centre,a think it's Bart Dawson on the right,a recognise them all,John,they seemed like old men,when aa was just 16 yrs aad,but noo they look like younger blokes!!...cos aam an aad git noo![70-just turned...] I worked with Billy Bush,Leighton's Son,he was a real nice lad to work with,as were 99.9999 per cent of the men at the pit,cos there were whole families inter-married and related in one way or another.Billy was a timber-leader when aa was on transport work,and Leighton was on coal-filling. Old Ned Cushing,the Training officer,said to me,on the way inbye,on me first day doon high pit,"Aye ,Wilma,it's a canny little family pit this,a think ye'll enjoy working with aal thi lads"..! Whey a DID!! ...it wasn't the lads that aa hated...it was THI PIT!! ...it was just a wet stinking rough tetty pit...dangerous in every way. When a went ti Bedlington A pit,me and me marra's couldn't believe hoo different it was!!....still a dangerous hole in thi grund,but a DRY one,wi bits o' damp patches here and there! John Million's Sister-in-law,and Nephew,are very good friends of My Wife and mesell' There was some queer nick-names at thi High Pit,John,amaong them was "Aad Salt",[a relative of yours..John..and canny and quiet as hell!],his Son "Harper","Daa-Daa,".."Fingers"..[so-named because of missing fingers due to a mining accident years ago!],"Big Toss","Blonco","Limpet"[ a big strong Polish fella..like an Ox!],"Maverick",.."Fly-by-night"..[a pidgeon fancier who aal thi lads used ti tek thi mick by saying his pidgeons were thi only ones in aal the duckets,who had tar on their feet...!],"Thi Newt"[a little canny fella who had the wettest stretch of coal on thi face for thi whole quaata!]... ...."Boo-Boo"..[one of thi pit Managers who came from Durham..].."Wilma"...[Me!].."Baggy"[screens charge-hand],"Split-pin"..[a very thin Government inspector who was a regular visitor to thi pit due to thi high accident rate!].."Aad Sol"..[button-man at thi 4th North buttons],a cud gaan on and on,but it's aalriddy reached thi point of monotony,for some folks.....maybe....[a hope not,cos this is aal historical noo!] Great ti see a photo of thi High Pit Lads on here John,thanks for posting it!

Keith,did you have any older relations who worked at Bedlington aad Pit,in mid 1960's? A remember a canny young'un on timber-leading,caaled Stevie...but it might have been Locker,not Lockey.......

Heh heh! mebbe my 65 year old.22 BSA Airsporter [underlever action],might just shave his whiskers a bit cleaner than the Webley,Eggy!! Who would have thought all them years ago,that the Webley/Beeza war would still be raging!! Lets join forces,we gotta find our other marra to mek up that threesome! Hope the Giant Steps aren't owagraan , Keefy!!

Symptoms,hindsight is a wonderful thing,and aam just thinking noo...... ..seeing as we are still trying ti find oot the origin of the universe,and our own solar system,who's ti say what exactly Magma is composed of! The molten rock from within the centre of the earth,whatever it is,will be vastly different,i would imagine,to that which reaches the outflow of a volcano in action. On it's way to the surface of the earth's mantle,it will be picking up all sorts of rubbish as it forces the strata apart on it's journey. If the Earth WAS composed of dust from an exploding dying star then that original dust might have been sandstone,with a lot of Silica content. The heat build-up in the Earth's central cavity,would cook the silica and the stone to form a glass-like material...but that doesn't explain how all the minerals such as Gold, Silver,all the other precious metals etc,came to be in the boiling pot! Mining was,in some respects,for those interested in geology,like myself,a real education,and eye-opener,especially when you blasted 250 pounds of Polar Ajax explosives in 100 drill-holes,9 feet deep,in a Whin dyke,and smelt rotten eggs,[a deadly fatal gas known as Hydrogen Sulphide..."H2S"], for a short while. Then,when the reek from the shots has thinned out enough to go into the workings to examine your "shots"[the results of what you had just blasted out], it was a real exciting sight to see a cavity,lined out with beautiful crystals,shining like diamonds!![knowing you were the the first person in the history of the universe to see this amazing sight!] Of course,some of my marra's,whose only thoughts were what time the club opened,["club"=working men 's club],and what the top "Hoosey" prize was, [Hoosey="Housey"...a lotto game where 100 numbers were randomly called out,and the winner would be the first have a full house of 15 numbers on a card],thought I was stupid,when I used to tell them this was a historical occasion! I have driven roadways through soft sandbanks,blue shale packed with fossilised mussels,iron balls,which knocked tungsten-carbide drilling bits tips off,as if they were toffee,Caterinarses,[fossilised tree trunks which have actually petrified in situ...i.e.still vertical.and deadly to the unsuspecting miner... ..whin dykes,slip-faults..where the coal seam is actually displaced by several feet due to earthquake activity millions of years ago.... ...washouts,where the coal seam disappears altogether,due to rivers forming valleys after the ice -age and taking out vast measures of the strata with them......eh!..yi bugga,theor a gaan agyen,fo'gettin ti stop.....!

Great document ,Symptoms,but what puzzles me is where they describe blue Whin,as "Hard Sandstone"!! Blue Whin,is NOT any kind of sandstone at all! [Obviously,education supposedly improves over time,and this is what they thought was correct at the time!] Blue Whin is an igneous rock,forced up through the strata as molten rock during volcanic activity.Sandstone is a sedimentary rock,laid down as silt from the sea bed,all of this happened over 200 million years ago! Reading documents is very interesting,but actually driving roadways,and winning out coalfaces 200 yards long,through fossilised mussel-beds,600 feet underground,and miles inland,away from the sea,and hitting a solid blue-Whin "dyke"...is another thing!! You have solid proof of the igneous origin of the Whinstone Dyke,by the Cinder-Coal on either side of the Dyke,which usually,but not always,equalled the thickness of the Dyke itself. If a Dyke was 3 feet wide,then the Cinder-coal would usually be 3 feet wide,on either side of the Dyke.....a 6 feet wide Dyke had 6 feet Cinder-coal either side,and so on. The Cinder-coal was a measure of how the fierce heat from the molten lava rock,forcing it's way up through the strata,actually burnt the adjacent coal seam,turning it to Cinders,but still under tremendous pressure,thereby retaining it's original form,in the strata. I'm thinking the mistake would have been a clerking error,rather than ignorance,seeing as blue Whin,used on our roads,doesn't bear any resemblance to sandstone at all!!...and anybody seeing cinder -coal,in situ,would guess that something very hot has been going on here! Go to FLICKR,[or Google] and type in.."High Pit Wilma's Photostream"..Bates Colliery,and my pics have a very good shot of a 36-feet thick Whin Dyke,in the 3/4 seam,where,had we been given the chance,[after 1984!] we would have reached a 5- foot -high coal seam,at the other side of the Dyke,where reserves of over 60 million tons of virgin clean low-sulpher coal still lies,untouched![thanks to wor maggie!][under the North Sea] Lots of these documents have mistakes in them,such as the Durham mining museum's records of seams worked at Choppington High Pit,and dates when they were worked,fatalities,and dates when they occurred,etc. Again,to read them,knowing that you were there at the time,working in these seams,and some of these fatalities taking place where you were working, prompts you to read with reservation! Besides me nit-picking for correctness only,these ancient documents are still fascinating,so what the hell! An old neighbour of mine,about 20 years ago,showed me a small ledger book,that he had found,lying in the street,at West Terrace Stakeford. I was amazed when I read it! It was the clerk to Crofton Mill Colliery's accounts,for the costs of building all the pit's surface buildings! "Pit Cage winding wheels-2 off- £2-13shillings and sixpence......" .....just an example out of my head,but pretty near the real thing,cos every item was costed,down to the handrails around the headgear,the boilers,the bricks for all the buildings...etc etc!! John,or anybody else who might know Keith Corbett,son of the canny fella who showed me this book,[Jimmy Corbett..deceased..R.I.P Jimmy..]]if you ever see Keith,it might be a gud thing to ask whatever happened to it. I had told Jimmy to take it to Woodhorn Museum,to have it scanned in,but he sadly passed away,and by then,I had moved away from that Terrace. I haven't seen Keith for a few years now,but this book is always in my mind,it was so precious,that if I see him,I will be asking him myself,what happened to it.[it was dated on the days when the pit was being actually built,in the 1800's]

Watcheor Lone Ranger,ye knaa nae body better than me! A telt yi on a previous thread,a was a transport lad working wi John Dickinson,and John Wardlow,at High Pit,in 1960's,when yi were a belt lad!! A can mind ya waistcoat yi wore doon thi pit,and ya pocket watch and chain!! Then a was a Deputy in charge of ye and Bob Keeley,[deceased r.i.p. Bob...smashing marra and nybor...],doon the 3/4 at Bates,driving thi back-drift,and thi 1-in-2 drift up ti thi Beaumont seam . As time went by, a came back inti thi NUM,and Ye went onto be a Deputy,in charge of me and me marra's!![role-reversal!] Bill Allison...do you not remember me...a gud taaka!!...[no...not a gud taaka.... a gud conversationalist....is a better term!]

That's why they call a Fox..a Fox...cos they are Foxy!....and very intelligent creatures. When we as kids played,nay.....spent wor lives doon them woods,as Keith says,the Seven Sisters,trees, still stood beside the toll-house.[on the Ha-apenny wood side..] The cliffs were fully exposed,and the plaque was there for all to plainly see. Noo it's aal covered wi trees,a cudn't see it thi otha day when a went doon. The Free woods stretch,from Attlee Park,[the Picnic field..],was on the Blyth side of the river,starting from the Bedlington bridge,aal thi way ti thi Humford swimming baths,and steppy-stones. The picnic field was a lovely grazing meadow,full of pink clover,[which we used to suck the juice from the flower heads..],and a herd of cattle wi greet nasty horns,in 1950-ish,[when kids 6 yrs old CUD gaan doon the river wi tha aada brother's and friends!!] Noo,at the far end of the field,where the tarmac path starts,through thi woods,THAT used ti hae a greet high wood fence aal thi way up from the waataside,ti the fields reet at thi top,and was clearly marked "Private-No Tresspassing." That land was Dinsmoors land,[probably leased from Lord Blagdon],and there used to be a lot of deer roaming,unless they fell foul of thi poacher's...that is....and it wasn't thi first time me and my friends came across a shot deer lying ,dead. Dinsmoor must have had CCTV, on every tree,[my little joke....!],cos thi minute we climbed the fence,and went inti thi "Plantation"[as it was caaled],he used ti come after us wi his dogs,never caught any of us cos we would splash straight across thi river,fully-clothed!,and climb up the biggest beech tree we cud find,and he cudn't touch us!! Eh....wat happy times we had!! Only fault was noo,we had ti wesh wa clarty claas in the river,mek a fire ti dry wasell's oot,afore gaanin yem,or else wa Mutha's wud kill wi for gaan yem clarty.......[money was scarce,new clothes even scarcer,and Mutha med sure yi knew aboot it! This was on thi Bedlington side,remember! If ye gaan doon thi Furnace Bank noo,thi Plaque says .."Welcome to Bedlington Free Woods"..[a bit different noo,ti 1950!] Somehoo,and a divvent knaa HOO,but them free woods on thi Blyth side are noo marked "Private land-no tresspassing! Ivrythin's torned topsy,since aa was a bairn! There wasn't any paths like tarmac,yi knaa,in them days,just thi paths that thi kids med through thi weeds and trees....and thi woods were a lot denser as weel. There was a lot of clearance work done,to create the tarmac path ti Humford from thi Picnic field.

Would Bob Hutton,[now 70 yrs old,if he is still with us...]be any relation?..he was in my class at West Ridge school in 1956-on. Mind, a kinda think he was a Netherton colliery village lad. We knocked aroond tigitha afta schyuul hoors,he was really gud company,a proppa joker.!

Hi Willowbear7..! My oldest Son has lived and worked in London for over 25 years now,and speaks true english,[only to make himself understood to others,as he sometimes works abroad also.] The minute he starts talking to My Wife and Myself,over the phone,he's back to being a true Northumbrian! It soonded queeor hearing him taakin' ti folks doon theor,like he's nybors,[when we used ti visit him-afore me Wife became disabled,and cannot travel doon noo..] We used ti think,"lissen wor Daz,taakin' aal queer-like....snotty-nosed"..! Looking back,it wud be pitiful watchin' them,if wor Daz taaked like me ti thim!! John,at Choppington High Pit,in the 1950's-60's,the term.."Chinka-plonka",meant you,or something else,was great,like.."top-of-thi-pops-man.....!

Aye Maggie,there was aalwis thi "Bogie Man",and "Gillie the Ghost",[who,I was told years and years ago,that there was someone [human!],used ti gaan oot ti frighten folks,wi a white bed sheet owa he's heed! When I was five years old,and just started thi Infants School at Bedlington Market-place,we were terrified of a character called "Saaasa-eyes"..[saucer-eyes..],and this character was supposed to have eyes as big as saucers,and chased little children on thier way home from the school!! Looking back,I wouldn't mind betting it was a crazy way of ensuring all the kids ran home as fast as possible!! [Mother's didn't wait outside of the school gates in thier big monster jeeps,in those days!!!...circa 1949-50-ish!..]

Kieth,my friends and me used ti gaan ti Beadnell's,for wa .22 air rifle slugs,and 1/4" square black catapult elastic,in the 1950's. You were a proper hunter,gaan doon thi woods wi ya catty in ya back pocket,a pocketful o' whin chippings off the road for ammo,ya pea-shooter made from the big "rhubarb" weeds that grew alang thi river,ya other pocket full of Hawthorn pips for pea shutta ammo...,and ya greet big bowie knife in it's leather sheath,hangin' on ya belt...!...at ten or eleven years aad![The air-rifles came a bit later on,aboot 14 years aad...[using big Brother's gun!] If ye fell off ya bone-shaker,[med oot o' aad pram wheels from Barn'ton tip,and an aad wood plank...],and hurt yasell badly,yi went doon ti see Dr Ivory,and Dr Robertson at "thi Grunds" surgery!] Kids wadn't naa waat a pea-shutta was,nivvor mind mek one from a weed! ..........and wat aboot thi H&S man....!!!!!!!![He wud freak oot if he saa hoo many kids went doon them woods,fully armed ti the teeth,in...."gangs",[but friendly street gangs]....[groups of friends would be a better description of us scruffy lot!!]

If my memory serves me correctly,I think Bill Hunter was the bookie.....am I right or wrong?..[i'm looking at 1962-ish,when I met my Wife,She was friendly with Him and His Wife,they might be in thier Eighties noo!] Hi Penny Lane!..first time I have seen any of your posts..! Are you a fellow[?] Musician also?....we can start a thread aboot C# 's and B-flat-minor-seventh's...with a sustained fourth......and a diminished ninth.....!!!