HIGH PIT WILMA

When i was just 15 years old with no money,cos my 5 bob pocket money from my pit pay,used to be spent on a Rossetti Lucky Seven,which i couldn't take out of the shop till it was paid for,i used to stand and drool at the guitars and Selmer Truvoice Amplifiers inside the shop,at Kitchens.

Bert Weedon used the Truvoice amp,[blood and custard model]and it always sounded gorgeous on records and on radio,and telly.

They were 15 watts at first,and were about 50 guineas.

I later bought a Selmer Thunderbird 30watt twin 12inch speakers absolutely gorgeous looking,and sounding, amp.

That was in about 1963-ish,at Jeavons,where i also got my Watkins Dominator mki 17 watt twin..amp,and my red Futurama 3 guitar.

No distortion in those days,we endeavoured to produce as clean and perfect a sound as was possible!

Happy days!

Eeee,a cud tell yi an aaful story [aaful for me...that is!]aboot P.C.Mann.......!!

Noo let's think...hoo can a put it nicely...!

The year?-1954-ish...[i was ten years old]

The place?-Whitley Memorial School

The story starts...

I asks teacher if i could go to the toilet,and gets permission to leave the class.

In the cloakroom area i see a letter and envelope lying on the floor..important-looking.

I pick it up,intending to give it to my teacher,but forget all about it and take it home..my Mother puts it on the sideboard under the old huge pre-war radio cabinet,which has never worked ever..that i knew of...just a bit of furniture.

Next Morning,Mr Nicholson,Headmaster,announces a theft from the cloakroom,[during his morning assembly speeches],that had taken place the day before.

Being a well-brought -up laddie,i told my Mother about it and she freaked out with me,for not handing the letter in straight away.

So i took the letter after dinner-break to Mr Nicholson's office personally,and got a pat[!!!] on the head from the one who usually terrorised us with his caning behavior.

Later that afternoon,Mr Nicholson sought me from my class and took me to his office,where two men were sitting smoking.

They were dressed in detectives typical caped-back macs,and their trilby hats were on the table by their side.

They said who they were,C.I.D.officers,and they informed me that i was under suspicion of stealing a pound note from the envelope,before handing it in...[ 10-years-old...nobody with me like my parents to be with me...][and a pound was a hell of a lot of money in 1954.]

The letter was an invoice for Orange's Garage's,for payment for car repairs to a lad called Morgan Dawson's Dad.[any relation John?]

Well,i was cross-examined for the rest of that afternoon,accused of lying,told by these two men to admit i stole the money,and spent it on sweets...i was literally shaking all over,in tears at the finish,I had to stand outside the office in the cold corridor,in winter,freezing,shaking,to"think it all over very carefully,then come back and tell us the strory again"

I did this about a dozen times,then was sent home..no letter,no escort home cos everyone had already gone home and i was late.

I told my Mother about it and she went beserk with me,threw my jacket and shoes back on,and physically dragged me off my feet to the police station,all the way to the top-end from Hollymount Square...a canny hike for little legs.

She barged into the police station like the proverbial bull..demanding to know what was going on,and what proof,or rights,did they have to accuse her Son of this crime.

The C.I.D. men were there,and they did a repeat of the performance earlier,in the Headmaster's office.

At last,to my relief,one said,[and i rember this event traumatically],"i think the boy's telling the truth,he's certainly sticking to his story.."

To which the other one stood up,ten feet tall to me..it seemed...and said.."Well it's obvious that the Boy is telling lies,...."to which he got no further...!!!!

My Mother,and i can picture this clearly,flipped her lid,and clasped her hands around the detectives throat screaming.."Aal bliddy kill ye,if ye caal my son a liar,....the bairn's terrified,he's telling ye the truth........"

The C.I.D.man was totally unprepared for the attack,and went back off his feet.......

P.C.Jimmy Mann,and Sargent Lucas knew my Mother to be a good God-fearing Mother with four kids to bring up,all with good characters,never in any trouble,till now.

Jimmy Mann grabbed my Mother,and did his best to pacify her,saying.."Jean,come on now,we don't want you to get into trouble do we.."

The rest went back inside and Jimmy stayed with my Mother,cos she was in a state of shock,and crying,and so was i,with all this commotion going on,and i thought they would take my Mother away.

After a while we went home.

Next night she howked me back up to the police station again,screaming,"aam bliddy sick of aal this carry on..next time yi see owt lying..leave the bugga where it is for sumbody else ti get wrang for"

Apparently,the C.I.D. men had been to see my Mother at home,and wanted to see me again.

By now,i was just a jellified wreck,terrified at the mention of the police.

I have always been very strong-willed,and an individual,who wouldn't copy others to keep in with them...

I had it in my mind that these two big terrifying men in trilby hats like i saw in gangster movies at the Saturday Matinees at the top-end picture hall,weren't going to make me say i had done something i hadn't done.

So we went through another two hours of questioning,i think this time it was a bit more gentle after my Mother's outrage the day before!

No derogatory comments today!!...."Well, Mrs Allison,we will keep in touch with you......that's all"

We went home,me shaking like jelly,and Mother giving me an earful all the way home.

A few days later my Mother heard from Matty Hall,my Teacher,that the real culprit had owned up to the crime.

Mother got no official apology from the school,from AAD NICKY the headmaster,from the Police,C.I.D....NOBODY!!!

I think P.C. Jimmy Mann quietly smoothed out the attack on the Detective,nothing said about it..case closed..

Except for one little matter..........

For years after if i walked up Bedlington main street,and saw a Policeman coming,i would start to shake like jelly all over,and i mean a physical wreck!

I finally got to realise my rights as a citizen by the time i was eighteen,and shed my fears.

I related this story word for word,to a new marra at Bates pit,when i went there ,in 1971,as a new Deputy,and after listening to me,he got up from his Bait seat,and arrogantly declared that he didn't believe one word of it,who did i think i was trying to kid........the C.I.D. wouldn't have sent two men,for two days,to investigate one-pound theft............

THIS MAN ...was a "Special Constable",which i hadn't known,and he was as hard as hell,he used to talk about shopping his own Mother for motoring offences!!

Anyway,little Bedlington created some terror in my little brain for years to come!

Before i went out to play,my Mother used to wave the big bread "gully" [like a sword!!]in front of my face,and say.."if aa hear yi swearing,or hear aboot ye being impitent ti anybody ootside,or daeing owt yi shudn't be daeing.......aal cut the skin off yi strip by strip mind ye little bugga's...[ti me older Brother also..],and aal cut ya bliddy tongue oot dae yi hear....?"....."Aye Mother...we'll not dae owt rang..promise."

"Gaan on then,get yasel away doon the river,and divvent cum back droonded,or else aal morda ye's...."

With that terrifying statement,she would give us a kiss and a big cuddle,telling us she really loved us and would kill anybody who harmed us....and away we wud gaan..oot ti play!!

She aalway's said these things,it was almost like saying prayers!...but we took notice of her and never got into trouble.

We had the best Mother in the world in those hard post-war rationed times.

Aye,me story seems a bit funny noo,but believe me,it certainly wasn't funny then...it was so traumatic,that's how i remember every single word spoken,and by whom!!

Thanks for letting me relate this story about Good old Bedlington in the old days!!

Heh Heh! Thanks John,things seem to have settled doon,aam deaing aalreet noo!

By hell,ye brought me sum gud aad memories there noo,Ted Candlish,a used to trail aal the gearboxes,motors,coalcutter parts,conveyor belt installation,everything heavy,wi me powny.

Me and me marra used ti work wi Ted,and he's marra Geordie Carr,building up the conveyor drive-heads,etc

as weel as aal the other fitter and electricians,like Eddie Hagerty,["Uncle Ed..!!]

Smashing blokes ti work with,aal the Nicholsons filled coal in stretches next to each other,they took the whole face up between them!Raffi Nicholson,was [still is!]a big lad,he was timber-leading before filling coal.

So did the Dryer family,aal luvly blokes,especially young Dor,who,even though he was a few years older than me,was still more like my age than the old-timers.We got on really great,but then,i got on well with most every man at the pit,considering i was a kid growing up fast,among older men.

I knew every man at the pit,when the workforce was only about 300.Bart,John,Harry [Harper],Stewpot,Big Toss,[although some were at other pits where i worked.]

My Father worked with Toss and Bart,and Old Salt,Les,["Fingers"],and all the rest,cos He started High pit in 1929

aged 14 years old.

I learned that St Cuthbert's Church was originally laid,probably a wood building,and consecrated,in the year 611 ad.[yes...not 1611....but 611ad.!]

The Saxon's built the stone church,and the original Chancel Arch still stands with typical Saxon zig-zag pattern.

The Norman's came and destroyed most of the Church,rebuilding it with their own designs.

Apparently,with the Norman's,religion didn't play a part in their building work,it was more to be of a grand scale to show enemies and people of the lands they concquered,how superior they were with their building skills.Symbols of power,so to speak...if it's true what you read!!

..Then what about the recent vicar who had the ridulously horrific idea,of burying the historic font in the Church grounds....so future Archeologists

could make a sensational find in their day.......[he happened to be an Archeologist!]

Symptoms,i'm the same with distant recall..i can mind right back to the time i played in willow bridge front and back fields,just about two-and a bit..but i seriously canna mind what i did yesterday,or what the weather was like etc.

I blame "life-saver"pills i have to take,having had a heart attack a few years ago.

Like i said earlier,i can recall practically everyone in my class,and also the positions they sat,relative to each other..and we had up to 43 pupils in our class at any one time!

I think that's how i find myself hogging the forum,unintentionally,it's just that i get carried away with my reminiscing!

Right!...aam gaana say nowt mair!!.....................

One of my good schoolmate's was Micky Lucas,Son of Sargent Lucas,a massive bloke,and much feared in small Bedlington,in the old days![this was at the old Police Station,at the top-end]

Micky was over 6' tall at 14 years old,and the most gentlest,quiet-spoken,good-humoured lad you would want for a school-mate.

I often wonder how he got on after leaving school,i can name all of my mates right through school from thi infants..up to leaving....well,almost all,give or take one or two!![that includes girls as well!..including some

who came and didn't stay long,to go to another school]

Bobby Cross started the village infants school when i did,and is on the class photo i would like to post here.

As a ten year-old,he wanted to be a journalist.At fourteen he played Mark Antony in the School Dramatic Society's

production of Julius Caesar..[shakespeare],and so much impressed the whole School,[us pupils also-we were thrown over by his performance],that the school Governor went to his dressing-room to shake his hand personally,and congratulate him.

Well,he ended up playing a Shotfirer,in the '60s tv series,"The Stars Look Down",about the mines,in the days of the Coal-owners..[late 1800's]

I ended up working as a heavy transport lad,down Choppington B pit[High Pit],with,funnily-enough....Bobby's Dad

..[a real live overman-deputy-shotfirer!]....in charge of me,and my marra's!!!

Well,the last episode with Bobby starring in it,the men had told the colliery manager,that they were going to "hole through "into old workings,and faced being either flooded out,or gassed ,or both....The manager ignored the men's pleas to abandon the working place and seal it off for the pit's safety.

Bobby fired the shots,to blast out the coal to be got,and there was an almighty explosion,and flood,killing Bobby,and all the miners in that district.[based on a true story].

The next day,i was talking to old Bobby,[his Dad],underground,and remarked how good young Bobby still was,as an actor.

His reply stitched me up!!!

"Whey aa divvent knaa aboot being gud,cos thi bugga ownly fired one shot....and closed thi bliddy place..!!!!"

Eh,They were both really nice lads,the two Bobby's,aad Bobby was well-respected as an overman,and very well-liked.

A bet yi canna gaan roond most factories,nooadays,and find gaffa's with the same respect and with affectionate remarks passed aboot them from the workforce!!

Hi James,i don't know who Paul Mann is...maybe Jimmy Mann's [the policeman in Bedlington at the time]Son?...no?

Maybe the official opening of the school was in 1957,as they do with these thing,all the dignitaries etc,and of course the builder's were in the classrooms in 1956,didn't i tell you that we all got sent home on the first day,by Mr Hemming,because the stationary,and pens and pencils hadn't been delivered?Things were cocked up in a few places,such as the outside landscaping,etc.

Now we started on the morning of the next day,but didn't commence lessons for a week or more.

Don't forget,everybody was new to this school,the Staff and Pupils alike,had to learn where every classroom and facility was,all the fire escape routes,drill,assembly points,fire points,Headmaster's rules,this daft "House system",then there was the whole School curriculum,the selection of those that were considered bright enough to be put up into the "Upper Remove"[and Middle,and lower remove also]....all this organisation had to be put into place,and i can tell you,that,coming from a smaller school like the Whitley Memorial,the organising of 500 pupils,in one block,as opposed to the normal school intake,was a helluva project!!

I can distinctly remember just wandering all around the school and grounds with groups of my friends,like it was a holiday camp,just familiarising ourselves with the general layout,marvelling at the Science labs,the Metalwork shop......Metalwork...???????...what was that?!!!

Biology lab,.....again...what was that?!!!

.....a stage with full theatrical lighting system and control panel....wow!!

By contrast,the old Whitley was a run-down shanty school with archaic teaching curriculum..

When we left the Whitley,Maths was long-division,and History was all about the Dinosaur age.

Suddenly,at Westridge,we were thrust into simple and compound interest,and pretty soon,Logarithms,and Algebra.

Kids from the other Schools were fully up to date,but to me and my friends,log tables were tables made of logs!!We had never heard of Mr Abrahart's Crimean war in 1854!![a bit of a jump from the Dinosaur age....!]

Well,here i go again...just can't help myself from rabbiting can i?!!

Now when i can get to my school classwork folder,and my reports and leaving certificate,which i have safely filed away,but very difficult to access,i will see if i can scan them and post them,along with my school badge from my blazer,which is still as good as new![quality wear in those days!!]

1956 was a long year,for the builders to do the snagging,till August/September when the big day came for us....no doubt about it!!

As for books,no disrespect intended,but to show how mis-prints go through proof-reading,the Durham Mining Museum

Archives clearly state official N.C.B.figures,as Choppington B colliery working the "Upper Busty" ,in 1959.......

Well,i know it's nowt to do wi Westridge,but by way of good example,Choppington B pit only worked the Beaumont seam,in 1959, and didn't start to drift down to the Top Busty,until about 1961-ish,with a workforce of about 300

men,in 1959 [not 600 as stated] ,but rising to 600 by closure in 1966.[how do i know?..cos i started the pit

IN 1959.....!]So am i to dispute these good author's?

Let's just rest at knowing what we know,without having to really accept all we read,due to mis-prints and other typo's!!

Symptoms.....iv'e just gotten oot o' bed,after suffering a stomach bug..[diaorhh...and sickness....],,,,,,and now you haven't half cheered me up with this tale!!!...how the hell did you think them up?

Keep em coming...!

Noo,back ti Symptoms' wicked tales of a cad ,and a bounder,maybe even a Montgomery....to boot!!

A canna wait ti hear aboot the Great Grand Piano Scandal!![me being a musician.....]

Sym,aam in the process of writing my life story,[been at it for over two or three years...a bit at a time...],

noo hae yi ever thowt aboot daeing thi syem thing,but only recalling your wicked deeds!...aam sure it would make very interesting reading!!!

Get started!!

Hi James!

Westridge opened in August/September 1956,[not 1957],I started there the first day it opened.

The farm was just about opposite and to the right,cos me being a nature-boy all my life,i distinctly

remember standing at the Schoolgates,at break-times,[we were big lads ,noo,nae "play-times"for us!],

with my friends,Martin,Dennis,Derek,Pete,and others,watching the coos waaking in a lang line,up the field,

at the same time ivry day,to be milked.[aye!!,we DID used to produce summik wasell's,in them days!]

One day,we aal rushed owa ti the gates cos tha was a helluva lot of moo-in' gannin on.

Just across from us in the field opposite the gates,aal the coos were in a circle,mooin'like hell!

We aal just stood,wonderin wat thi hell was gaan on,when,after a quarta of an 'oor,or sae,sum of the coos moved aroond,and here we saw wat the commotion was.....

A mother was giving birth to a babby coo..!

Within anotha ten minutes the babby was struggling ti get up onto it's legs,ti waak.

Then wa break was owa,it must hae been wa dinner break,for the length of time we stood there watching this miracle of nature.

For weeks after we watched that little coo grow,even though the rest of the herd aal calved,but none of them so close to the road that we could watch.

A never forgot that.

A sad memory about Westridge was,one cold February snowy morning,a was hurrying up to the School entrance,when a heard me name

being caaled oot,from behind.

Me mate,Pete,was hurrying ti catch me up,"Bill,hae yi hord thi news on the wireless?"...."No Pete,wat news?"...[we had nae telly in them days]

"Buddy Holly's been killed in a plane crash".....

A didn't believe him at first,then when he said "Honest Bill,Mother's Death..."...then a knew it was true,and a nearly burst into tears,even though i was 14 yrs old at the time,and in another 12 months time,a would be working underground in the coalmines..like a said before...growing up

fast.!!

But this news brought a lot older people than me,to tears,it was a day i will take to my grave,i couldn't concentrate on my lessons,i kept thinking about my older Brother,3years older,both born on the same day,three years apart,and he was already a miner of two years experience.

He was down the pit and wouldn't have heard this tragic news,and he was the biggest Buddy Holly fan i ever knew,along with myself.

To this day,and I am approaching 70 years,next year,i can still play Buddy's songs,like "Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Peggy Sue got married" etc!

Only thing is,noo,Buddy had that much energy,he didn't knaa that aad bugga's like me,wi knackered hands [pit injuries],and a knackered pair o' lungs [pit dust][,short o' breath,wadn't be able ti belt his songs oot like he did,more like a feeble attempt ti try and dae thim,purely for nostalgia

and self-enjoyment.!!

Naa...!...Mrs Gates,bottom end,aside the Black Bull,couldn't be beaten...Maggie's reet except for a missing "h"....it's "scramshuns"!!!Everybody ti tha aan,a say!

Me luvly aad Mother-in-law,Jinny,lived at Puddler's raa,afore the war,[she might even have been born there,in 1909,cos she lived next door to her Parents....!!],and she used ti say "waatch yi divvent trip owa them "LORKS" in the carpet......!

I never heard of that one in my part of Bedlington[East-end] .

Also she would often say.."Wa gaana hae sumbody knocking on thi door,tha's a stranger on thi bar.."[referring to biggish pieces of

sooty flakes on the coal fire grate bars moving back and forth with the updraft in the chimney!].

Noo,after aal that trivia,aam dying ti hear aboot "Symptoms-the great travelling shop robbery...."

A bet it started wi an apple......!!

See? Aam not just glorifying Danny cos He's not with us noo,the lads in my class thought the world of him,at the time,cos he took an interest wi thim,mind,aal be honest,a hated the times when it rained,and he would ask the lads what they wanted ti dae......ASKED THEM!!.

Other teachers would have told them,not asked them.....anyway,what a hated was when the sporty lads in the class wanted to have a sports quiz,cos the sporty lads also happened to be a group of verbal bullies,and i was their prime target for two years.[for no reason...cos they came from Guide post school,and i came from the Whitley.]

Noo,they took delight in making a fool of me,by asking me,[in the quiz..] who won the F.A.cup in 1922...[or stupid questions like that!]

Well,if i had said i don't know,but can you tell what Ohm's law states,and how does a cathode-follower circuit work,in a radio......they would have just said i was more stupid!!

So i used to look like i was racking my brains...when i really hadn't a clue!!

Man,i detested those days!..it was the only part of my time at Westridge,that i hated,these bullies

constantly on my back,and you know,i never said a word to anyone about it,not my Parents,Teachers,no-one!!

Now a couple of years after i left School,i was working really hard,on heavy transport of machinery etc,at Choppington High Pit,and had grown up a bit from a wee skinny thing,too a lad wi a body,not huge,still slim,but hard muscles everywhere.

I was waiting at the Bedlington Station railway crossing,waiting for a coal set to pass,when a car pulled up,and guess who the driver was!!...spot on!......the ring-leader of the set of school bullies!

Noo,aa was twice the size of him,cos aa had shot up,a cud see his head trying to peer over the dash on the car,and it was evident that he was one of these lads who were "big",when you were small,but as time went by...he hadn't shot up at all,he had skinny little arms holding the wheel!

EEEE...yi naa wat,a felt like saying,howweh,oot thi car,yi had as much ti say when yi had ya gang,noo it's just yi an me!!

But as iv'e said many a time,yi had ti grow up mighty quick,when yi worked doon the pit,among older miners,just ti survive!!

So a said,"halloww Trev,hoo yi gettn on mate?""Ain't seen yi since we were at school"

A think he was relieved that a was civil,and friendly with him!!

Mind,a wud luv ti see aal them lads noo,for a gud crack!!

You done a gud job there John.

I've been fascinated by that story from the moment i was old enough to understand it,i just lived down the road at Hollymount Square.

There was a time,about 40-odd years ago[i think],that i went up to the Sun Inn,and asked the [then]owner/proprieter,for any information that he had,and he told me lots of the story,which i just listened to,but didn't record in any way or form.

But what i did do was to take photo's of the original door which was still hung in the frame,in the passageway,and still with the bullet holes in it,if i take this fella's word to be the truth,which,at the time, i saw no other reason,not to.

I have those photo's packed away somewhere,along with photo's i took,at the time,of the monument in the cemetery at the head of the Policemen's graves.

I haven't been to that monument since,so i wonder,40-odd years later,if it has been ravaged by time,or has it been kept in a state of good repair.

If the pics would be of use to the project, i would gladly copy them and provide them for your use.

As i am new to the site,and not meaning to go off-topic,i wonder,have you covered the story of "Watson's Wake",on St Cuthbert's Church?

That is a fascinating one!

John,aboot 40yeors ago,an aad deputy wus tellin me n thi lads a story aboot a "do" he had been ti,

[buffs..or Freemasons ...a think].

He got on aboot the way sum o' the blokes were dressed..."yi naa the way they cum in....two flat sheets,n a brekkin-off plank!"....[as he drew he's hand aroond he's chest,and then med a motion across he's adam's apple wi' he's forefinger.....referring ti a bib n dickie-bow tie....whey,he had me an' aal the lads in tears wi laughin',he had the expressions n actions...

A must say,that one was a new one ti me!

Aye John,in the pit communities,it was in the streets and pubs etc,where pitmatic was spoken,it was always funny hearing the older pitmen's wives gassing in the street...using pit terms when referring to whatever the subject was...."ye knaa wat,aav nivvor been owa thi plate-ends aal day..."!!

Seeing your point of view,John,it is a mix,and a gud aad mix at that heh heh!

A think this site,and aal hoo tek part are great,and really fascinating.

Aalwis gud ti be able ti put a point owa,withoot anybody getting abusive,like sum sites aav visited,

Flickr is a gud community site also.

The kids team went yem dejected..............one Noel down..........!

Noel used ti ride his moped from Bedlington,doon ti Guide Post, up the Morpeth Road,and into the pit road,ti start his shift.

At lowse,[end of shift],he rode up Morpeth Road,through Hepscott,alang ti Netherton Road-ends,up through NeddertonVillage,West Lea,

Ridge Terrace,and back home......Clever!!

He never had to cross over the road in front of oncoming traffic at all on both journey's.

Mind,a never heard of him coming a cropper yet,on that little moped!

Er,just to clarify things here,Pitmatic isn't what's being spoken here,it's Northumbrian dialect.

Two different things,but maybe Northumbrian is classed as Pitmatic,through slang usage.

"EE,LUK AT THE TIME,IT'S TEN O' CLOCK AN' AAM NOT REDD AROOND YIT..."

"NOT REDD AROOND YIT"....THAT is Pitmatic..it refers to "redding a caunch"..or ya stretch of coal on the fyess....or generally cleaning up underground.

"HOWW,HOWWEH MAN,YA STANNIN' THEOR LIKE A BROKKEN PAOR O'LIMMA'S"

"COME ON THEN,YOU ARE STANDING THERE LIKE A BROKEN PAIR OF LIMBERS" [sHAFTS ON THE PONY'S GEARS]This refers to anyone slouching against a wall,or even just standing idly doing nothing.Useless really!

"YE TELL MAIR LEES THEN A COLLRY POLIS"[YOU TELL MORE LIES THAN A COLLIERY EMPLOYED POLICEMAN-NOTED FOR MAKING FALSE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST MINER'S OR ANYONE ELSE TO SECURE THEIR OWN EMPLOYMENT WITH THE OLD COAL-OWNER'S]

"KEEP YA TIMMA IN MARRA"[sO LONG MY FRIEND]

These are examples of true Pitmatic,apologies for long passages of capitals,didn''t realise caps lock was still on,i have to look at the keyboard!!

Anyone disagree with me about this subject?

The trouble with our teaching at the Whitley School was,it was archaic.

History was,for me,great,cos we were learning about the Dinasoars,and fossils etc,and i used to go over to the Acorn Bank opencast site,Bedlington,[where the golf course is now],and collect fossils from the overburden heaps,mostly bracken leaves,but a lot of pineapple bark trees preserved in stone,

to take to school for the teacher.

Noo,when we went Westridge,suddenly,we were learning about the Crimean War,1854,and the Treaty of Paris 1856,[courtesy of Mr Abrahart!]....a bit of a jump from the Cretaceaous [?]period,to the Crimean War!!!

Consequently,i had no interest whatsoever,and considered History lessons to be an absolute waste of time...were it not for our brilliant teacher making it seem interesting by his dramatic displays!

Now,of course,in later life,i wish i had taken the time to learn more,cos i find History fascinating!

We all learn by our mistakes in life,don't we?

John,you got me puzzled noo!!

First you quote my posting aboot Puddler's Raa,saying it was called Pisspot Raa,now you posted this pic of Phoenix Raa,and are saying THIS was Pisspot Raa....come on,which one?,cos this is the first time i have ever heard this nickname used..and i was at Bedlington A pit for six years,working with really old timers who were born in the early 1900's,and knew the area's history very well,and also married a lass that was born in Puddler's Raa...and SHE,and Her Family,including Her Mother [born 1909],hadn't heard of it either.

The guy with the thick-set glasses on,in the bottom pic of the first set,smiling,was a fella called Noel Howe,he was working down Choppington High Pit,when I started there in 1959,and was there when I left,in 1965,a few months before the High Pit closed.

The pit closed in 1966,so if Noel went to Netherton pit,then it had to be at LEAST late 1965,when the Coal Board transferred a lot of men in

different directions,i was sent to Bedlington A pit,my marra's went to Longhirst Drift,Netherton,Whittle,etc.

I can mind when Noel bought a N.S.U. "Quickly" 50cc moped,to travel to High Pit,and home.

Bet he wished he had kept it now....they are a rarity!!

Aye yi skittering young ched!!

Symptoms,ye reminded me aboot me friend Norman,[Deceased R.I.P.],who was in trouble every other day,at the Whitley School,in the early 1950's.

Banger time was his favourite time of the year!

One morning,just before Guy Fawkes day,we were walking through the Dr Pit Park,on the way to school,adjacent to the Whitley,when Norman lit a Ha'apenny banger,and put into another lad's jacket pocket..it blew the pocket off the coat,and started burning the coat lining.

For the younger ones,if you had a shilling,[five pence in today's money],you could get 12 penny bangers,or 24 ha'apenny[halfpenny]

bangers....Norman always had bunches of either ones in his pockets,along with several "Jumpy-Jacks".

Come on,you started the ball rolling,what else did you get wacked for?....i got Danny Douglas's sandshoe across the back of me legs

quite often,for "forgetting" me P.T.kit,cos i hated sport.

I always loved being in the gym,doing the circuit training,or especially all-in hand/football,cos Danny always went on one of the sides,alternating each time,for fairness,and when he was on the other team,our team would chase him down the gym,and pull him down,even if he didn't have the ball,and we/i wouldn't half give him a few digs in the ribs to get our own back on him!!...he would curl up in a big ball,and laugh his heart out!

I talked about this to him just before he died,and we had a good laugh about it,he said he always liked to do that,wherever he taught,cos it

gave the lads a legitimate chance to vent off....[we couldn't hurt him...we weren't big enough!!],but it helped us to grow to like and respect him.

He said one night he went down to get fish and chips,for his Wife,and Himself,for supper,about 8-30pm,when he bumped into some of his old pupils ,who were heading for the Cherry tree pub,they asked him to join them for a pint....he never bought a drink,and went home legless,about 11-0pm!.....that's how much he was thought of.

He said it nearly caused a divorce in his house!This is nothing confidential,Danny had me laughing,he was surely the greatest P.T.

Teacher there ever was!!!

Much,much better than the big heap it was before they lowered and planted it!

It was the biggest pit heap in the country,burning fiercely constantly,in one night of Hurricane force winds,the flames were whipped up so hot that they melted the bogie rails what took the stones up to thi top the heap!

We kids climbed up to the top after the storm died down,and the heavy rails were melted and distorted like bent pins!!

One day when the contractors were preparing the site to build Bower Grange housing Estate,the Safety Officer from Bates Colliery,was called out to the site.

A huge JCB machine and its driver,plunged 20 feet into a hole which turned out to be old mineworkings from the days when the monks used to mine coal primitavely.

The coal seam was very low,and roadways had been "natched"out from the solid coal,without any explosives,with walls and sides straight as a dye!!

I am just waiting to hear of a house disappearing down a hole,like the one in Florida!