HIGH PIT WILMA

Has anybody got any Westridge class photo's from 1956-1959,[including Upper Remove]? The Evening Chronicle posted one of Mr Epsley,[Metalwork teacher],wi Trevor Hale,[school champion athlete,and fastest runner in the county,at the time], A think Eddie Hedley,and Ian Cambell,[champion cricketer],were also on the pic,which was promoting the school,and showed these folks,huddled under the bonnet of an old "project" car,[summik like an aad 1948 morris 8 or similar,which had been donated,for the lads to learn how to do motor engineering.] The article was full of P.R. bumf,and that car never moved up to the day that aa left school,and nae bugga did owt wi it,that aa remember!! But a would still love ti see the pic for aad times sake,if ownly ti see Mr Epsley,cos he was a really gud teacher,and aav used the skills which he taught us,hundreds of times over,during my lifetime ,and also passed a lot on ti me two Sons..!

Hi Lone Ranger,been a while since you asked this one,which I replied at the time,but forgot to add that a didn't ask ti gaan ti thi High Pit,a was SENT! When a left sckyuul,in 1959,a did me training at Seaton Burn pit,and they gave aal the trainees two choices of pit that they would want ti gaan ti. Aa asked ti gaan ti thi Aad pit at Bedlington,[thi A pit],for me first choice,cos me older brother worked there,and the Doctor pit was me second choice. When me training was finished,a got a letter from the Coal Board,saying a had ti start at thi Choppington B pit...............and me Faather went daft wi me,as if it was my fault!! "Ye'll get bliddy killed at yon pit,it's aal rough and ready....it waas when a worrked theor....."[from 1929-till aboot 1944..when aa was born..] "Aal bliddy put a stop ti it,ya not gaan theor......" But he cooled doon,and syed," Whey,ye med ya bliddy bed hard,ye'll hae ti lie in thi bugga....a nivvor waanted yi ti gaan doon thi pit ti start wi....!!" Mind,he was reet an' aal!! It WAAS aal rough and ready....! Anywheh,Westridge schyuul just tuk on aal the senior pupils owa 12 years aad,and gave them aal the chance ti study for the G.C.E. exams..... ["General Certicate of Education"],which,if yi didn't gaan ti thi Grammar Schyuul,yi wadn't o' had thi chance ti dae,ti further ya education. Yi didn't gaan ti that schyuul cos yi were brainy,o' owt like that,it was just that us Bedlington bugga's were a bit clivverer than them other bugga's from other places.................................!! [tongue-in -cheek.....like....!] Gud job a DID gaan ti thi High Pit,Ranger,cos a waadn't o' gettn' ti knaa ye,noo,wud aa?!..[ye canna remember me,but we got on great,both at High PIT, AND at Bates pit,and a can still picture ye on thi 1-in 2 drift from the back drift,up ti 8's district,wi ya little spirit level hanging on the string,and ya tape measure,setting the arched gorda legs ti thi correct gradient.....skills that the layman wadn't knaa owt aboot,Ranger!!]

Adam,when you look at what the council spent on painting the Rostrum,in the Picnic field,and refurbishing it,[and it's lovely!!],you would have thought a memorial to the Miners,[upon which all of our towns were built],would have been no problem at all! Look at the giant rail sculpture down the Furnace bank,the Queen Mary couldn't pull that one down,so the yobbo's don't stand a chance! Look at the keep-fit equipment along Cambois beach,and the 18,000 quid shelter,that has to have glass replaced every other month..... It's almost as if the Council were ashamed of their heritage,not proud of it,as we all should be. Let's see if a letter to the free press Editor ,["The Leader"],can shame a councillor into helping out! Thanks for your kind comment also,Adam. I'm starting to pile Z's over the keys here,Adam, Gudneet marra!

Ranger,democracy rules,and we all have our opinions,and you are right to voice yours. Myself,[having known you very well all my pit working life],I tend to have the opposite view,and,like our war heroes,I think all of our marra's who lost theirlives for the benefit of the nation,as a whole,should,like Vic says,have a National Memorial day,in rememberance of those who died. I was only 15 years old,and working up on the screens,temporarily,[my job was working in the timber yard as a laddie],when a smashing old fella,called Jimmy,who was the "Oiler",went on his rounds,oiling,and greasing all the moving machinery,[tipplers,conveyors,creepers,shakers,etc],which were all driven by one big electric motor,and which drove a steel shaft,about 20 feet long,with loads of pulley wheels along it's length. Each pulley drove a separate piece of machinery,via a flat "webbing"drive-belt. Imagine it,around the rear of the screen belts,there were these flat drive belts flapping up and down and rotating at speed,all over the place. Ranger,you should remember this!! Well,old Jimmy went in this day,and after not coming into the cabin for his bait,one of the lads,[who John will/might have known],went in search ,and found him trapped in the moving drive belt and pulleys. Poor Jimmy died that day,and it was a helluva shock to be told the news,especially knowing that we were picking stones off the belts,and Jimmy was trapped unknown to us. 15 years old,and i had to tell my Mother and Father,why I had come home early. My Father went mad at me,telling me how he knew that the High Pit was all "rough and ready,and men were killed or injured every other week",when he worked there as a laddie.[ he worked at Linton pit by this time] Now that was even before I went down the pit...I soon got my eyes opened when I did go down...it WAS all rough and ready. Should we forget fella's like old Jimmy?,[who always gave me the impression,that he would be a great Granda,going off his nature and appearance!] I certainly haven't,and never will.

Well said, Adam! When I left the pits,and re-trained in furniture-making,I made very good friends wherever I worked. One lad,[lives in Germany,now,born at Middleton,in Wooler],still tries to wind me up,after nearly 25 years of friendship,by calling the miners "cowards"and says we only went down the mines to escape fighting Hitler,in the armed forces.! His Father was in the R.A.F.,AFTER the war......and,while I have the utmost respect and appreciation,for ALL our forces,I always reply to him that ,if it hadn't been for coalminers,[women and very young children,included],the Industrial Revolution wouldn't have happened,and his father wouldn't have been in the AIR force,he would still have probably been going to sea in wooden sailing ships with bows and arrows!! Not a fair comment really,but only said in good-natured banter,with a slight ring of truth!! Now,Miners are Miners,the world over,with Wives,and families,and my heart goes out,still,today,when I hear about Russian,Chinese,or wherever,miners being killed or injured in big explosions,as has happened a few days ago,with news coverage which was secondary to Rolf Harris,or One Direction smoking a joint,in a private car,minding his own business...... By comparison,I don't think a boy band smoking a joint is anywhere near as serious as 500 miners being killed underground....the Media reporting in this country should be well-shaken up,as it was supposed to have been after the "News of the World" scandal......but it hasn't been! Rant over.........sorry,but Vic and Adam set me away,like a red rag to a bull!!!!!!

Hi Vic, I'm trying hard not to get wound up here! When we talk of kids as young as six years,[no mistakes!...six years old!],and Women,some pregnant,dragging sledges on on their hands and knees,laden with coal,working up to eighteen hour shifts,underground,in the mines,to keep the so-called "gentry" [coal-owners],in a life of luxury,with servants...and massive houses.....etc........i'm starting to boil up.........!! Those people were slave-masters,in ........."great britain",at a time when slavery in other lands was being criticised by democratic countries. My Grandfather was 11 years old,my Father was 14 years old [in 1929],when he started down Choppington High Pit,and I was 15 years old when I started working at the High Pit. Point is,not much progress made from 1929,to 1959.....was there?...[raising the age limit by one year,over a 30 year period!] Mind,when I started telling my Father what I was doing,each day,and which district I was working in,and with whom.....he told me stories about the same men,and the same places,....etc.....not much had changed at the pit from him working there! It was STILL a Tetty-pit!

WAHEY!,Vic,ye aad bugga!,ye just gave me a blast from thi past,AND a buzz! My first big project,was a "transformer-board",whaat we caal a power supply nooadays. It had two huge mains tranny's [ wi 300-0-300 v ac for HT valve anode supply],with multi-voltage outputs on flying leads,taken oot of pre-war wireless sets,humped from Barn't'n tip,reet owa aal the fields ti yor lass's place!,and ye knaa hoo far that was,aa was buggaa'd by thi time a got yem,but was it worth it!! On me board,a wired them up,and switched aal the ootputs so a cud get loads more variation of voltage,and current draw,for experimenting. It was a huge thing to be humping,but a tuk it on me bike ti school,ti show Mr Johnson,me science teacher,and electronics mentor[after school hours]. A used to feed 300 volts into the secondary [ootput],of a speaker tranny,and tek that ootput [a few thoosand volts ht] ti two carbon rods taken oot of ever-ready torch batteries..,and mounted on brackets almost touching,to set up a green arc. A used ti see hoo far apart the arc would draw oot,usually over an inch,and fizzing like hell. A knaa noo,it was cruel,but a used to put big black massive slugs oot thi garden,in between the electrodes,aal skip thi rest,for decency-sakes,but it was aal in the name of discovery and education....... The buzz ye gave me is,that wor oldest Son,who lives in London,[he is a record sound engineer and producer],has a 19 set,in his own recording studio! It sure as hell is noisy,when the motor- generator is running,but he has a de-noiser device,which looks at thi waveform and cleans it up a bit. He has used it on records only this last few months,but not for listening to!!!! [canna give too many secrets away...!] He got it from an old C.B-er,in Wooler,when he was 14 years old,and noo he is 46 years old next week! Wait till a tell him about you,Vic,19 set user's are hard to come by for info about them!!![his is the mark 2A ..if a remember correctly.] Sorry folks for all this off-topic chat,but it's hugely important to me,and interesting to Vic...a hope! Dissimar metals Vic? ..[diode..?]...Gillette blade?gud idea,but first time i have heard of that one,although I have heard of other types of improvisation.

Hi Maggie,that one beats me! I will do a bit of research and see what I can find out. John.....!,Alan....!where are ye's,ye bugga's,we need help here!! Billy the barbers,in Bedlington,[when aa was a bairn],had a marra,[or it might have been his Brother],called Olwen,and He was noted for being thi local historian,unless my memory fails me this time..... Noo,my barber,Harry,at the Top-end,aside Forrester's,helps oot at John,and Alan's barber shop. SO?!....HE served he's time wi Allsop's barber's doon thi street,so He might have a bit of knaa-hoo,aboot this Fountain Hall....through general conversation wi customers over time.

"Shovel" [looks like one!] appears to be a big shopping bag,made of same material as coat,Alan. Photo taken in spring time,as blossoms are on everywhere,but must have been a cold day,from lady's hood being pulled up over her head! Very few chimney pots,suggesting unused fireplaces bricked up,like we did at West terrace,Stakeford,in the early 1970's! Pavement on right,overgrown by the hedgerows,suggests property ran down that side,[which it did in 1947,that I remember],wouldn't have been laid otherwise...I played as a three year old where those big bushes are next to the bridge,but they weren't there then! Fella leaning on bridge parapet wall has more "modern" suit on,narrow straight legs,not baggy like they used to be in the old days! Road is a bit of a mess,suggestive of an earlier period in time,but better than what we have got now! "Modern-ish" haulage truck parked at top right behind the building,can't read the logo on the side. Too early yet for telly aerials! All this is still up for discussion,but just my observations,using not the zoom on my laptop, ..but a high-powered magnifying glass![shows the ladies coat material pattern up clearly.] My last point is,the photo is of much better quality,taken with modernish film,very little graininess,even though it was a bright sunny day,and the photographer would have had the benefit of a high shutter speed and narrow aperture[for that time....that is!] The bikes have been frozen,and also the ladies' swinging shopping bag,which does make it look like a square-mouthed shovel! A 1910 cameraman would have had everyone posing for a minute or two,not smiling,but standing perfectly still,as we all know,to prevent blurring. This pic was take around 4-30pm...how do I know?...position of the shadows caused by a setting sun in the west,mainly cos the pit lads shift [back-shift],was 8-30 am to 4-0pm,they are riding home with "clean"! pit-clothes on,not clarty wet raggy ones,like we were at the end of a normal shift at Choppington! Al,dae ye think a shud keep me day job....heh heh! Saw your old undermanager doon the Wanny river waak,thi day Alan,[not thi Silver Fox..but silver-haired,and reet canny.....initials Bill K.].mainly at the Plessey,at Bates,had a gud lang crack aboot thi pit.

Cheers Vic!,pleased wor card reached you o.k.,and also pleased for Dot! Aye,Smailey's was like an institution,part of growing up,aalwis gaana be there,like when ye are a young kid,this is hoo ye think,a wud love ti knaa where aal the stuff went oot that shop when it was tekkin owa! A bet sumbody made an utter fortune,for the antiques. But it's where them tins came from,and hoo browt them owa here from India,or wherever,wat fascinates me!....cos they weren't little tins ye knaa,they wud have been aboot two feet high,mebbe more,and aboot eighteen inches wide mebbe more,like smaal milk churns. They also had an apple orchard at the rear garden,which was high stone-walled,great for us kids at pinchy-apple time!

In thi early 1980's,I was on one of the development teams,driving new roadways and coalfaces,down the Three-quarter Drift,at Bates pit. The conditions were atrocious,wet,cold,bad roof conditions,etc.....[Lone Ranger knows wat I mean,he was a pioneer driving this new drift down to the 3/4 seam from the start.] At bait-times,you had to make the best of a bad job,and try to find a dry spot,to sit and eat your bait,cos seawater droppers from the roof made life miserable enough,without having your bait spoiled also. One day,I parked myself in a little space between the arched steel girders,supporting the roadway. I no sooner took a bite oot me jam sammidge,when I felt small bits of stone from the roof hit my hard safety hat. Miners had a term for this,when the roof was settling,and gave way to very small bits of loose stone,almost like gravel,would fall away,and hit your hat.[when you felt this happening,you instinctively sprang away first,then checked the roof after,in that order!][the term used was a swear word,not really bad,but not suitable for this forum..!] Well,the second that I felt the small bits hit my hat,[in mid-conversation with my marra's],I leapt like a cat on hot bricks,out of my bait-place,and right over to the other side of the 14feet wide roadway..in one leap!! My marras were a few feet away from me,and big Bill,laughed at me,and asked what the hell was wrong with me...!! As he was speaking,a huge stone weighing about a ton,and about three feet long by two feet wide and nearly three feet thick,dropped clean out between the girders,breaking the supporting timber baulks which had held it in place for months,just waiting for me to sit there,only I was quicker than it,so I can laugh as I relate the story,but that was just one of hundreds of occasions that this sort of thing happened. The big stone dropped exactly onto my improvised seat,[a piece of flat stone..!],and if I hadn't been so quick,L.R.might have had me on a stretcher with my coat over my eyes and bait-bag on my chest!

Heh heh,Malcolm,even me and Lone Ranger are scumfished by some of these terms!! "Snap" is Yorkshire twang for "Bait"..[lunch]. A "carvinace"[in John's list],was,at the High Pit in Choppington,and other pits also,referred to as "A Caterinarse" To enlighten this one a bit further we need to learn a wee bit aboot Geology heor,ti understand wat this was,and hoo dangerous they were for miners to contend with. 200 million years ago,Britain was covered in sub-tropical forests,and swamp conditions,like the Amazon. The trees had bark with patterns similar ti a Pineapple,and other weird-looking variations of this. As time went by,trees kept dying and falling,some stayed upright,then the sea came flooding in,for a million or two years,then desert conditions,for another million or two...and there we went,laying down vast areas of dead and decaying vegetation,covered by thick layers of sand,more vegetation,more sand.......until,due to intense pressure and heat,the vegetation turned into coal,and the sand and mud deposits turned into various types of stone,such as sandstone,and shale etc.[Metamorphic rocks!..i.e.formed due to a change of state..] Noo,"Caterinarse" !! Remember I said some trees stayed upright?,well,as they became covered in flood water and silt was laid down all around them,they were fossilised,and became what Geologists refer to as "Petrified",because the interior part of the tree turned to stone,still in it's previous shape and form,but the Bark,[the outer layer]turned into coal. Right! Now we have a forest of stone trees in the solid stone strata,where the roots would have been in what is now the coal seam,and the weakest part of this set-up,is that layer of "coaley" bark. Visualise driving a roadway through a coal seam,with a stone roof above your head,you have just blasted out the caunch, and you start "ploating" thi loose stones down,ready to put some supports in,for safety. You notice a black,roughly circular ring of thin coal straight above your head,[maybe a half-inch thick coal]. These rings could be anything from a few inches diameter,to six feet or more,but usually aboot three feet wud be the norm. What you are gazing up at,is the base of the tree,as if you were under the roots,looking up the trunk,now if you don't get cracking,and get sum timber in under that ring,["the Caterinarse"],it's gonna drop clean out and flatten you,cos sumtimes these things had a good length of fossilised stone "trunk" above them,and weighed several tons. Lots of miners were injured or killed by these things over the years,and I have worked in roadways where they were all over the roof along miles of roadways,and every one had to be timbered securely,to save accidents happening. Now you all know what a Caterinarse is!!

A used ti listen in on a huge pre-war wireless set,in me bedroom,ti thi short-wave bands,and mind,in 1956-on [for me i.e.],there was sum queer stuff on there,like the German and Russian numbers stations...cold-war clandestine activity,where naebody,and a mean NAEBODY!...,not the Yanks,nor us,nor naebugga else,cud find oot where they were being transmitted from..! Just a week or two ago they were on aboot these stations,on a radio programme,and it was interesting ti hear that they STILL divvent knaa where they originated from,although one codebreaker gave his thoughts on the possibilities! Aa was 12 years aad,[in 1956], when a forst hord.."Acht Noil Noil Seiben Seiben"....."Seiben Acht Noil Funf Seiben..",usually groups of five numbers,then a German female making a short announcement in between,then on it went,sumtimes for an hour or more. My two Sons are also Shortwave listeners,and after aal thi years gone by,it was strange for me ti be still tuning in ti these stations,with me Sons also listening in! Anybody else ever hear them..?...what about you...Threegee?

Aye,Keith,aav been a Shadows,[Hank Marvin] fan since the very first single they released,and well before that,when they were with Cliff Richard,as The Drifters,and a used ti want ti throttle the DJ's when they played a disc,and taaked aal owa it,then faded it oot before it ended....like they still dae noo,only it's different noo,cos a divvent need ti listen ti the radio ti hear me favourite music....aav got every track that the Shads ever played,and a also just play thi bugga's mesel,on me aan guitar,if a waant ti!! ...same wi aal otha music...DJ yakkin for ten minutes,loud and clear....then a gud track....then ...fade oot!!! "H.Samuel watches presents Michael Miles on .......[dramatic build-up of music..]..."Take your pick..."...!! Aye,them wor thi days of gud entertainment on wireless!

Thanks Tonyg! As a keep sayin'..ignorance is bliss!! Can anybody mind wat thi Rediffusion was originally? It was the original form of "piped music",and of course,other light radio [..NOT WIRELESS MIND!..]..where your radio programmes comprised the "Light,Home,and Third" BBC radio programmes....oh!,AND!, if you were lucky,you got Radio Luxembourg,when propagation conditions allowed it!![or else,you had to put up with it fading,and coming on strong,then fading,all the time!!]. The radio programmes were brought into your house via actual cables through your window frame,usually,where a small box with a rotary switch was fixed onto your windowsill,usually but not always. The switch allowed you to choose your desired radio programme,and you had freedom of choice,as long as it was the Light,Home,or Third![similar to cable tv?] The reason I said,not wireless,was because it wasn't "Wireless"....it was cabled in! When the "Wireless" radio sets came into fashion,they were the bees knees!...you could tune into "Hilversum",and "Oslo" ...heh heh!!

Great bit o' work,John,must a tuk a canny bit o' ya time daeing it aal,it teks me a week ti waak a fortneet,once aa start typing!! Howw,John,yi reminded me o' me aad [deceased] Mother-in -law,who was an utter Angel on earth,to me,and sorely missed noo. She used ti hae wa family in stitches regularly wi hor aad-fashinned sayin's! "Mind yi divvent trip owa them lurks in the carpet theor noo..."...["Lurks"..?...nivvor hord that one afore!] [This one in conversation with a beach seller of spades and pails ,etc,at Skegness,in approx 1970-ish....]............ "Ee yi bugger,tha's croods doon heor,dae yi like stor?..."....["Stor"..?....thi poor bugger just lukked blankly back at her and sed ....."I beg your pardon madam?".......!!]Heh heh! "Cummeor yi little bugga ,orraal boil yi in oil"...was anotha saying she had.....oh!...and tha was...."Haddaway,yi big stuffa...!"["Go on,you big.......?..what word wud ye use in this situation,in place of "stuffa"?....!!!!] Malcolm,aam sorry I leave you bemused,it's really not intentional,aa just write like a taak,and a get carried away sumtimes,but wi John's help,yi'll be a proppa Northumbrian taaka yase'll afore lang!

Heh heh! Thanks a lot Eileen! A write like a taak,so when a pick me pen up every other month or two,as a hev been,for the last three years,[or more!],to continue on wi me life story,me pen just gaans away on it's aan,in top gear,withoot me hevvin' ti think wat ti say! Alan wud say that's wat becomes of a gud taaker....[and Alan knaas me very well!] Aa like ti correct folk who caal me "a gud taaker",and tell them aam a gud "conversationalist" ! From being very young,aav tuk an interest in things aroond me,for instance,a was ten years aad when "Sputnik" [thi Russian satellite],was launched.O.K.? Right!,a can mind playing ootside on dark neets,in thi winter,as we did,and on lovely frosty clear neets,aa wud be staring up into thi stars,lukking ti see if a cud see thi satellite gaan owa!![and also watching shooting stars] A used ti read aal H.G.Wells's books,and even though they were science fiction,a learned a lot from the factual content included in thi stories.[H.G.Wells was a respected scientist,and already had worked out a lot of the formulae for rocket propulsion etc.] Aal the years gone by,and aam still the syem!!...tha's nowt a canna taak aboot...oh!...politics!!...that's aboot thi ownly subject aam dumb aboot..! Noo pitwark!....divvent set me away......! Anyway Eileen,a appreciate your kind comments very much,and aal try not ti ramble on owa much afta this one!

I think one of the pit lads on bikes was me,coming yem from High pit,Choppington!!.....no,mistaken,AGAIN!....my bike had a dynamo on!!Heh heh!

This pic looks circa late 1950's to very early 1960's,disregarding the appearance of the horse and cart![ My Wife and I moved house on a horse and cart in 1970!] Note the two modern-ish water hydrants' concrete info posts,on the right,the furry cagoul that the lady with the shopping bag is wearing,the new section of bridge parapet on the right,which was re-built after a bus went through the old wall,after skidding on ice,[can't remember the exact date,but wonder if Alan has any memory of it happening...[i think it might have been 1959-ish...but stand to be corrected..] When I played in that field on the right,in 1947,there were houses all the way down the bank,on the right,and no bushes in the field,not having recovered from being bombed,there were only small dead tree stumps here and there,one of which was our "motorbike"!!!! [to us little kids..!] If I can find a very rare photo of Myself and little Ronnie Andrews,my friend,aged three and a half years,I will try and post it,although it doesn't show anything except us kids,and a bit of the field,but nevertheless,interesting history! During and after the war,there was no un-necessary wastage of paper,like the huge adverts on the gable end,no wallpaper for decorating....more like distemper stippled with a bit of rag!! [ now called "Rag-rolling",by our more affluent and posh society!] Mind you,that guy leaning against the wall on the left,on the bridge,looks for all the world,like wor aad chep!!!...and,considering we lived only twenty yards along from where he is standing,[on the left],at number 3 Storey's buildings,it is easy for me to picture it as him,wondering if he should go to work,or not!

Big chinkaplonka on your comments,Malcolm! I tried to open the link,but a security notice popped up,saying content was blocked due to security certificate errors...etc. However,the book title suggests it isn't the book that I referred to.[not that that should matter,if history is recorded accurately!] I was taught this date in social studies class,and never forgot it,as I have always loved St Cuthberts Church,more from a nostalgic,and architectural point of view,as I am not deeply religious,but do believe in Jesus,and our creator,only a bit unorthodox,maybe strange to some people.....[certainly raise the eyebrows of visiting Jehovah's Witnesses,when they call around!] I knew a lot about the history of the Church,when I was a young lad at school,took a special interest,but whilst I have vivid memories of my childhood,some things have faded due to being a decrepit old sod! 611 AD!!!, I am certain as I know today is wednesday,about being taught this date,but if you are onto the blue Queens Coronation Presentation book,circa 1953-ish and you say there is no mention of it, in that book,then I must concede that I have made a very unusual [said conceitedly!!]..mistake! Heh heh! We have to get to the bottom of this one,Malcolm,and everyone else on the forum,for all our sakes,trouble is,everthing that we ever read,[including the Bible],about history,was written by Man,and all we can do is accept,or reject,as we think fit! I will see if my Sister still has her book that she was presented with,in the Coronation year,but I think it will be a difficult task tracing it!

Hi Maggie,there used to be a reservoir behind the Red Lion,but I don't know which source of water you refer to. Was/is there an ancient well up there? As a kid we played all over Bedlington,knew every apple orchard,all the little short cuts..etc,but I don't know of any old wells there,though there well might have been an ancient one,and you could be spot on in your theory!...keep investigating!!

Has anybody seen the small gravestone behind the church,depicting a skull and cross-bones in the middle of the headstone,with gargoyles at either side, supposedly to ward off evil spirits. I have photo's of it,which I took in the mid-1960's,when I learning myself how to use my new camera.[35mm film..manual focus-aperture-and shutter speed settings....no batteries then!!] The stone is dated around 1790 [i think]. It wud be interesting to know how the poor soul died,but I wouldn't mind betting that he died from the plague or something similar. It's the skull etc that fascinates me,take a look around and see if it's still there,cos it was when I last attended a family wedding there,a year or two back.

The youngin was Lawrence ["Lol"] Pattison,and his Sister Ann was in my class at school..[real canny lassie she was].[Lol was a canny lad an aal..] When we were kids,we used ti often see Lol reversing his Father's big haulage truck into thi narrow opening,and into the yard at the rear of their property. It was an amazing feat of driving skill,and we always watched with open mooths,cos it always seemed as if thi lorry was gonna come doon owa onto the road on it's side!! Even when a was in me teens,and a understood better,a wud stop,on me way up the street,and notice hoo little leeway Lol had for error,and when it had been raining heavy,his tyres used ti slide doon the grassy embankment,tipping the body and cab ti a very precarious level! Can anybody else mind o' this,or aam aa thi dinosaur of thi family heor nooo?! Symptoms,forgive my ignorance,but you often mention the "peelers"........er.......educate me please.......[ignorance is bliss!!!!]

Cheers,Brian,tek nae notice o' my impitence! A knaa the tune,but a didn't knaa the nyem o' it!! Like a say,ignorance is bliss! Mind,a think we were born in the best period of time,since time began,cos we had simple happy pleasures as kids,grew up wi rock'n'roll,and the space -age..technology advances.....etc....kids will never experience the advances from horse and carts to wat they've got nooadays!,like we did!!!

My Parents moved to Hollymount Square in 1947-8..ish,and I grew up wi Smaily's shop aroond the corner. Noo!,what curiosity dae yi think was aroused in a kid,of aboot four years and upwards,ti see folk waakin' aroond ti Smaily's shop,carrying a lang,square,funny-lukkin' glass "jar",wi a carrying handle,and full of black-lukkin' liquid,wi brass "terminals" on thi top?,[one in each hand!] This was ,it seemed,every time we were ootside playing,that sumbody wud waak by,on their way ti Smaily's. ACCUMULATOR'S!........the earliest form of re-chargeable batteries,wat powered the new-fangled wireless sets! Mrs Smails played the organ at Saint Cuthbert's Church,for centuries!,but the organ bellows were so inadequate,that the attack rate,being slow,meant that the congregation used to leave the organ accompaniment,struggling ti keep in time![We kids always thought Mrs Smails was playing too slowly!...ignorance is bliss!] I used to go in for me Mutha's shopping......."Two oonces o' tea,please,and two oonces o' sugar..."..[scooped oot o' tea-chests made o' plywood,and put in little strong broon paper bags.] While a was waiting,in a queue,a wud stare up on the top shelf,which ran right aroond the shop...weird-looking big tin containers,wi lids on,aal different shapes and sizes,aal bonny painted wi oriental artwork,sum were really dark colours,and creepy-lukkin,ti a little bairn! They were antiques then,aroond 1950-ish,and a often wonder wat happened ti them,they were obviously from other parts of the world,and hoo did they get there? Old Mr Smails,was aboot ninety years old,when aa was a kid,and a can remember him taking these Accumulator's off a weird lookin' bench,wi loads of wires leading to loads of these things,aal bubbling away,creating a queer smell,as ye stood near them.[they were all being charged for customers!] Butter was in the barrel,and yi had a chunk carved oot expertly,by Mrs Smails,hoo,like other places,[the store for instance..],cud guess the weight as near as a knat's whisker!! We kids used ti ask for the empty tea-chests,ti mek rabbit hutches,cos yi only had ti cut a door oot,and clag a bit o' chicken-wire owa thi front,and ye had a posh hoose for Bunty! The whole of the shop interior was fitted oot wi dark oak,panelling,counter-tops,shelves,etc,and was again,a bit daunting for kids,like way back in the hill-billy days!! Smails at Morpeth is the same stamp,and also the hardware shop at Rothbury,[modern-day Matty Robinson's!!!] [yi cud ask for a pink elephant,and if they didn't hae one,they wud get yi one!!] The nearest aav seen ti a shop like Smaily's,is the hardware shop at Beamish museum,[for the antiquity that is,not necessary aal the stock..] Mrs Smails was a lovely natured old lady,well thought of in Bedlington,and aam thinking noo,that there shud have been some sort of recognition for the service to the community,which she provided,aav got a clear picture of her in my mind,after aal the years since a last saw her. Vic,ask your Lass if she can remember these tins aam on aboot! Oh,and a hope she is keeping weel!