HIGH PIT WILMA

Hi Maggie,[early night tonight-for a change for me!!] In the early 1950's,my little friend's Dad,[who lived opposite my family,inHollymount Square],decided to up it and go........to Australia! NOO,seeing the furthest most pit folk got was Whitley Bay,or even Seahooses,on a day trip,Australia wasn't ganna be aal singin' songs from the war times........! My friend was only about 5-or 6 years old,with a younger Brother,and his Dad planned on driving across the continents,wherever it was possible,through the desert,across jungle country,you name it,it was going to be a massive adventure for them all. Davy Armstrong was my little friend's name,not sure if his Dad was Davy.......maybe so,maybe not,all I do know is that they DID do it,and with coverage by the Evening Chronicle,it will all be in their archives! One of my old neighbours kept in touch with them for all the years gone by,but I can't remember who they were now. Maybe Vic's Wife can remember. A little bit more recently,I had comments posted on my Bates Pit photo's on Flickr,[the photo-sharing community],by an old pit marra,who re-trained from pitwork,to refridgeration,and air conditioning engineering,and he was posting from Perth,in Western Australia! I haven't seen him since 1986,when Bates closed,and he has been in Perth,for over 15 years,so it was a pleasant surprise to get into contact again,through the power of Flickr! He sent me pics of how the other half live,over there![swimming pool in back yard,big lovely speed-boat,huge 4-wheel drive station wagon,water ski-ing,deep-sea fishing etc etc......! To quote one of his funny comments word for word,[please excuse terminology!]...."Not bad for a raggy-arsed pitman...eh....Bill?..!" On here we have Vic and Dot,who went to Canada,in the 1960's........

Hi Vic,Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch..[ lead and rhythm guitarists] both lived at the toon,Hank lived in Stanhope Street,and I forget the street that Bruce lived...[ashamedly,seeing as I am a Mr Know-all when it comes to the Shadows..!!] I met the Shads a few times at the City Hall,with my family,[Newcastle],and once I told Hank,that He was my hero and mentor,and that I knew more about the Shadows,than the Shadows knew about themselves!!....he just laughed,really good-natured,as they all were. Can yor lass remember hearing me playing the guitar in my bedroom,every neet,when I was only 15 years on....it wasn't like Hank exactly,in them days, cos a couldn't afford the same gear Hank had,but a hev noo,only me fingers winna gaan like a want them ti,wi pit-nackered hands!! Ivry body in Hollymoont Square used ti be taakin ti me Mutha,when she went up the street shopping,aboot hearing me guitar gannin,mind,it musta been torture in the beginning! In them days,ivry body loved the Shadows,that's hoo every record they released,went straight up the charts. They WERE happy days,for me anywheh!

Hi Maggie! Thanks for your reassuring and supportive comments! Much appreciated!

Hi Malcolm,many thanks for your understanding,sometimes we all get things wrong,and you are right,sometimes we go by what we hear,and that reminds me of an old saying that I was taught when I started the pits as a laddie..."Believe nowt what ye read,and ownly haaf,what ye hear".Heh heh! For a few minutes,while spouting off,I fell into the trap which lots of miners at all the pits I worked at fell into..... Monday mornings came....."Watcheor Wilma,whaat happened at the union meeting on Saturday morning.........?" "Did ye not gaan like?" "Ner,aa was doon at the ducket aal day..."[pidgeons] "Whey,divvent ask me what happened if ye canna be bothered ti gaan ti thi meetin' yasel.."! A wud wind them a bit,and,of course,a WUD taak aboot the agenda,cos they were my marra's,but you see my point. Anywheh..!,when a gaan on other forums ,like motorbikes, or guitars,you always get young,[sometimes older!] folks getting abusive,cos someone disagrees with thier opinions,and that's the one thing I like about this forum,everybody is the same!.......mind, a divvent knaa whaat the big words mean Malcolm!....."prelatoriumat"! [or summik like that!!!] Aye,Dr Trotter did a lot for Bedlington folks,especially bringing proper sanitation into the village,as it was then,when diseases were rampant. He must have been very well thought of,for the hard-up folks to raise the amount for his everlasting memorial. I'm not in a position to be organising a fund for a miner's memorial,due to being a full-time [24hours] carer for my disabled Wife,but I would certainly donate to the fund. You kind folks might have noticed,that,apart from this one,usually ALL my comments are posted,usually around midnight,up to 2-0 am,sometimes a bit earlier,if I have my laptop on while cooking dinner for us both,and that is because my commitments and chores are just about done,including walking my little darlin' Jess,usually around midnight also,so by the time I actually sit down to relax,I fall asleep at the keyboard!!![see my last post to Adam above!!] I got round to thinking about thatcher,when she sequestrated millions of pounds from the N.U.M,now that money was never returned,and was money which we miners had contributed to the union,and which we had already paid tax on.[1984 strike] She even stopped the child family allowance,to Wives of striking miners,literally took the bread out of our childrens mouths. What our children had to do with the strike still defeats me after all these years. The best thing the N.U.M could do,[if they haven't already tried...i.e.],would be to take legal action,to have that money returned,and ,while I am no longer a member of the N.U.M,I would support them all the way,and would suggest it could be put into charitable funds somehow,such as regenerative funds,for every Union branch area.[where degeneration took place as a result of the pit closures.][or whatever charity was more deserving!] Now,while I supported Arthur Scargill right to the end,in our fight to keep our pits open,[and failed..],I didn't know at the time that the N.U.M at national level,agreed to pay for his house in London,in an exclusive area,[from what I have read!!!!!],for as long as he wishes to reside there. He is no longer N.U.M president,but still has this perk!,and only recently the union took the matter to court to have the agreement sqashed,but I don't know the outcome of the case. Arthur's council tax for one week,would pay for a fitting memorial to all the miners,past and present. Dinner done,time to wesh me dishes,tek little Jess oot,and a might get back for a bit mair natter afore ZZZ-time!

Hi Malcolm! Many thanks for clearing those points up,and as I have always said in my posts.."Ignorance is bliss"!! Full apologies from me,if I have gotten it wrong,and I fully agree with you about the N.U.M.,but I am thinking now that the defunct National Coal Board or it's equivalent,could possibly have made a massive contribution,seeing as a lot of fatalities were due to lack of safety measures and procedures. Now,this point I know,from experience,to be fact! If you check out the list of fatalities,on the Durham Mining Museum site,and also Court cases at the old Bailey,in the late 1800s-on,you will invariably find the causes of death as "Accidental",or "misadventure",and the statements always say that the miner was doing something illegal,like working without timber in,etc....never the Coal-owner's fault!! Sorry if I got your back up,Malcolm,think I better stick to my best topic..[mining],and keep oot o' politics!! Adam,my comments apply to you also,marra,full apologies for getting it wrong this time!! Keep Ahauld,Marra's!

A was doon at Cambois beach on Friday gone,and a bumped into a couple of strangers,who stopped ti pet me little darling Jess,[me black Labrador/Collie/cross...rescue dog..]. Me Wife chatted ti his Wife,while me and Him cracked on wi smaal-taak....as yi dae.... During the conversation,he asked me where we belonged,and when a said Bedlington,his eyes lit up,and he said,"aah,I used to teach at a school in Bedlington,many years ago" Nice gentle bloke,lovely natured Wife,so a asked him what school it was. "Westridge County Secondary",was his nostalgic-sounding reply!! "What is your name,if you don't mind my cheek..",I asked him............. "Mr Stafford,Bill Stafford,and I taught French,starting the school in 1958...."[he replied] We discussed all the other teachers,some of who sadly passed on,[Danny Douglas,Frank Johnson..Science teacher....] He even described correctly three other friends of mine,Martin Nicholson..[deceased very young..R.I.P.Martin..],Derek McGregor,and Micky Lucas,[sargeant Lucas's Son..old cop shop at the top-end],and said he had thought my face was familiar,when I first spoke to him.! Of course,I'm a baldy old four-eyed git noo,but he still saw me as a kid,as ye dae.......! He is 80 years old this week,and still looks amazingly younger! If ya in theor Bill,[C.B.Radio-speak!],Happy Birthday mate! A said to him how,when we were kids,the teachers were ancient,and as time has caught up with us,here we are,the same age.......whey,nearly!...HE is 80,and I am 70 in July,we're Both four-eyed old gits noo! He laughed heartily at my joke,and said he feels MORE ancient than ever noo! That means when I was 14 years old,in 1958,HE was 24 years old,just a skittering young ched,wi a snotty nose!..... ...but he would seem like an old-timer to us kids! I posted somewhere else,about Mr Johnson,being a radio officer in the R.A.F during the 2nd world war,as I always thought he was. Bill Stafford told me that Mr Johnson was a radio officer in the Royal Navy,on the mine-sweepers. At this point,I would just like to apologise for my mis-information,[a terminological inexactitude...],and pay my respects to all our forces,especially those who gave their lives to save us from the hands of Hitler. Unknown to us kids at Westridge,only 11 years after the war ended,Mr Johnson had risked his life many times over, in Mine-laden waters,clearing a safe passage for our ships to pass through. .......IF ONLY WE HAD KNOWN!..[i for one,would,at 14 years of age,had the common-sense to thank him!...seeing as we both stayed in the science Laboratory,working on old valve-driven radios,dismantling,salvaging,repairing,building new projects with salvaged old parts,until 10-0pm,most nights,and on first-name terms,after school hours! He was a real wizard with radio,[or "Wireless"...as we called it in those days!]. I was "Bill" at nights,and A..........n[surname-as usual!]....during school class hours. Bill Stafford said he used to have a pint three nights a week,with Mr Johnson,and Danny Douglas,at the Cherry tree pub,in guide-post/Stakeford,and also remarked that Mr Johnson lived for anything to do with radio projects...he must have had the same buzz that I had,only I was learning,and he was showing me the ropes! He was a proper old radio guy,and he would stand at the workbench,cigarette in his hand,choking the life out of me,[unintentionally of course,as he pondered which part of a circuit diagram we would tackle next...!],and would be snipping resistors,condensors,coils,transformers,etc,and soldering in replacements....all the time explaining in detail,patiently,how each component did their work in the circuit. I used to wish my own Father had the patience of my teacher,and just to take an interest in anything I was doing,but he couldn't care less,that's how he was! So,with self-teaching,and the great amount of help from me mentor,Mr Johnson,I gained a vast knowledge,[for an amatuer!],of all things electrical! Digressing again...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!