HIGH PIT WILMA

Hi Brian,aye,a got me Deputies tickets,I was on Deputy-work for seven years at Bates pit,[they sent me there cos Bedlington A pit was closing-so it was nae gud me gaan back there after the course was finished]. A chucked it in,and the NUM accepted me back into the union,and I spent the rest of my time there,on composite work,in the Three-quarter seam,amang aal the waata and clarts,and bad roof conditions![ a man-made hell!] A musta gotten on weel wi aal thi lads,cos it had nivvor been knaan before,cos once you are a Deputy,there was never any way you could go back into the NUM! But there were loads of lads in all the face teams said they would have ne working with them. I ended up back with my old Marra from 1962 [at Choppington high pit],who I got split from way back then,when all the little pits closed in the 1960's. Bill,[my old long-time Marra],can be seen on my photostream,on Flickr,taken doon the three-quarter at Bates pit ,in 1986. Where did you work Brian,and also,you wouldn't happen to be actor Bobby's Brother....would you? Old Bobby Cross,[actor Bobby's Dad],worked at Choppington high pit,in the 1950-60's a canny aad soul.

Hi Canny Lass! You reminded me that I did three weeks training down Netherton pit,in 1971,as part of my Deputy training course.I was only 27 years old,then!! I was under the charge of Norman Smeaton,and Dougie Moore,in alternating shifts. Dougie told me the local story of the district we were working in. One night,in night-shift,a few years before my time there,the deputy was sitting at his "Kist",writing out his official reports for that shift, .He happened to look up from his report book,and a dim light caught his eye,a long way inbye. Naturally,he thought it was just one of his men coming outbye,at the end of the shift. As the light came nearer,he glanced up again,and was frozen with fear,when the figure of an old miner from a byegone year,dressed with his soft cloth "stottie-cake" cap and "Midge" oil-lamp in his hand,[from generations before the Deputy..] slowly,and silently,walked past the Kist,without showing any sign of being aware that the Deputy was even watching him....he had an old clay pipe in his mouth,which wasn't lit. Then the figure just faded into the darkness. After that,several men saw the same old figure,and each one described him exactly the same,passing the kist at the same time each night ,until the men no longer were afraid,and used to remark about seeing .."old Freddie"...[or whatever name they had given the figure.] Noo,can anybody from Netherton confirm the origin of this story please? Once you heard a story like this,underground,it forever left you being wary,and wondering if you would encounter the same figure,and how you would react! Ask around for me will you ..please? Cheers!

Another famous-to -be-in -Bedlington name on there John,that of James Bower of Market Place. The Bower family ran the coal wagons,and Rafffi Bower ran the Marqee hire business also with his Daughter,who spent her days with one-hundredwieght sacks of coal on her shoulders running up flights of stairs with them sometimes! James grew up and moved to number 6 Hollymount Square,when the houses were first built,at the same time my family moved into number 13. ME and his Son,young Jimmy Bower,became inseparable mates so much,people took us for brothers! Russel is in there ,A lass who later bore family who lived in Milllfield,and I am assuming it would be her son,Jimmy, who sat behind me all the way through our entire school life[cos in those day,you could sit next to your friend as you went through the school years till you left!] Interesting document! would love to see more!

They used cobs at Bedlington A pit in the High Main seam,cos it was nearly ten feet high coal. Shetlands,in the Harvey seam when I worked there in 1965-71,wwhen the pit closed. At Choppington High Pit,conditions were very bad,with extreme roof pressure,twisting and lowering a 12foot wide,by eight foot high roadway,down to less than four foot high in places....scary when you see it for the first time. Consequently all the pony's were small Shetlands,not all of which were broken in and trained!!....we often had to take fresh unbroken ponies inbye and train them with a long rein to the bit.[not forgetting,it WAS a "tetty-pit"....!] When they drifted down to the Top Busty seam,conditions were wet,and really bad on the coalfaces,but the roadways stood for longer than they did up in the Beaumont seam....so it made it a bit better for the ponies,even though it was still cruelty them being there.

The "Wheatsheaf" pub adjacent to Smails shop,with "Hunter's" shop built on,as you were heading down the bank,in that order. Between Smails and the pub,ran the back lane for Hollymount Avenue,and about 50 yards down the lane,was the Co-op dairy warehouse,where all the milk supplies were stored,plus the dairy vans were kept there also. The lite shop used to be Smails,or,"Smaily's" as we called it when we were kids. I lived in Hollymount Square,from 3 years old,till I got married. When I was about 11 years old,I used to go over to the dairy,and wait sometimes 2 hours ,for the delivery truck,coming from Stocksfield,Ryton,Crawcrook,Greenside,and over to our dairy. At first,I couldn't lift a full wooden heavy 20-pint crate,["helping the milkman!"],so old Bob Reed,the Bedlington dairyman,with only one arm used to stack the crates off the lorry,three-high,and I used to pull the stack across the bare concrete floor,which Bob had dampened to help with slideability........! I had to pull each stack about 15 yards,clear of the doors,and put the stacks in neat lines,so Bob could get at them to load his little Morris Minor van up in the morning,to start HIS deliveries around Bedlington. At that age,my arms and legs ached,by the time I had pulled 30-odd full crates over the floor,and the same number of crates of empty bottles. Those were the days of big heavy glass bottles with the wide necks,with cardboard tops,where you pressed out the centre to pull the top of the bottle off. We kids collected the tops,dried them out,and played "Skimmers"with them! As time went by,and I got stronger,I was literally throwing the crates up and onto the lorry deck,as I took turns with the lorry driver,and old Bob,to load up the lorry with all the empties. Best part was having a ride over to Seaton Delaval dairy,to unload all their crates,and take on the empties,then from there,back over to Choppington,Scotland Gate dairy,...same again,then back home. It was bloody hard work,a lot of fun and gud crack,cos the old'uns treated me like a young man,not a kid! My reward was a couple of "buckshee"pints of milk,for my Mother,and sometimes a bottle of orange juice,you know....the third-pint ones...they were a luxury item,cos rations were just about ending,so my "pay",in milk,saved my Mother a bit of money each day,it all mounted up,in those hard times! Bob drove his van all over Bedlington,with only the one arm,his right one,and he changed gear by pushing his arm through the steering wheel,changing gear,then resuming his hold on the wheel as normal. I never ever heard of old Bob having an accident of any kind! A bit off-topic,but you set me on a bender,Eileen,with your query!!

John,this is intriguing the hell oot o' me here! The top name on the register is that of my Granda on me Faatha's side.[not me Granda,mind...cos me Faatha was born in 1915.....6 years after this lad was born. Summik fishy was gaan on in thi aad days,when they were so prim and proppa.....like hell were they!! Aad love ti see the register for 1948/9,for the village infants school,when aa started,a think a was aboot 4-and a -haaf,coos the way me birthday fell,between terms. A need ti dae sum research aboot me granda's aad chep! Thanks for posting this gem,John.!

Pleased ti hear that ,Canny Lass,lasting mementoes nobody else will ever have,unless they buy them in a gift shop!...not quite the same fondness for them!

Bed-time again,already,and I have just gotten sat down,been walking Jess,me little darlin'!! Adam,thanks for your kind comment also,we have to be forever grateful to your Pa for me gettin the excellent pics of Bates,which everybody can see if they go to "Flickr.com.",or just type "Bates Pit Photos..Wilma's photostream",into Google. It's nearly 28 years since we went up the pit headgear,to get them shots, man....frightening how fast time slips away,the older you get!!

As an afterthought,we weren't dumb pitmen,like society used to portray us,....striking greedy miners...! Miners never had a strike from the 1926 general strike,until 1972....not a bad record for the most dangerous industry in the country,bar none! Compared to Dagenham Ford,and other industries,where they had lightning strikes every other week,sometimes over things like the coffe pot wasn't working,or the place was cold and draughty......COLD AND DRAUGHTY!![ They should have spent ONE shift at the shaft bottom,at any pit,but especially the wet pits like Choppington High PIT....they would be pleased to settle down in front of their work and not complain! Like my Personell Manager said to me once,at Ashington pit,"The Coal Board don't put a £30million machine into any daft bugga's hands ye naa,Bill.." Skilled men!

EEEH!Thanks Maggie,these are stories you couldn't make up,if you tried!! But you know,when my two lads were very young,they asked questions about what i did,when I went out to go down the pit. Most other men I worked with,used to say that once they chucked their tally [safety token],into the tally office,they forgot about the pit,and didn't want to hear about it till the next shift! They said they wouldn't talk to their wives or kids about it. But they would talk all night about what happened at the club the night before,what beer was best,and who had died.....funerals etc.... I explained in detail,with drawings,and mining books from the library,exactly how coal was mined,coalcutters,shearers,hand-filling,low seams,water,bad roof conditions,methods of timbering up the roof for your own,and your marra's safety......etc This was from the ages when they could start to talk almost!! My wife could tell you all about ridding a caunch,or ploughing back to the mothergate with a uni-directional shearer! See?....I always thought the day would come,when there were no more coalmines to be seen...and it happened! Mining could sometimes have an interesting side to it..... Like when you were driving a new roadway,and you hit a Whinstone dyke,[igneous intrusion],after you blasted your way into the dyke,with explosives,you would sometimes smell rotten eggs,this was a gas called "stinkdamp",and was very dangerous,as it quickly killed your sense of smell,though the danger was still present,you had a false sense of security.With good ventilation,you quickly dispersed the gas,and made your way back into your place of work.Sometimes the gas was released from cavities in the whinstone,and these cavities were usually lined with beautiful crystals of differing types,mostly quartz,with a pentagon facet. One such cavity we encountered was about four feet high and about three feet wide,by about three feet deep. When we shone our caplamps into the cavity,it was like aladdin's cave!! The inside of the cavity was glittering like diamonds,and my marra's thought I was stupid when I remarked that this cavity was more than 200 million years old,and we were the first persons in the history of mankind,to see it! it would have been full of acidic water,and the action of the water on Iron Pyrites in the cavity would have produced the gas H2S ...Hydrogen Sulphide, otherwise known as "Stinkdamp".["Damp has no connection with water...it is a derivative of the German word.."Dampfe"..."Gas". So,Firedamp, [Methane],afterdamp..[Carbon Monoxide...after an explosion..],stinkdamp..[H2S],Blackdamp..[Carbon Dioxide..."Stythe"..caused by total depletion of Oxygen in the atmosphere,due to oxidation with materials such as the timber,the actual strata,and everything oxygen comes into contact with....causes death by suffocation..not actually poison.] Anyway,I had the foresight to collect some large specimens of crystals,still attached to the rock,and brought them home for my wife,to put on the hearth as unusual,and unique ornaments.I also brought loads of specimens for my kids to take to school for teacher,and also for other men,for their kids to take to school. Now that the pitis under water,and lost,these rocks and crystals are a fine reminder how bad it was working down the mines!

When I was young,after the first few weeks at Westy,I had bad dreams that I was late for school and couldn't find the classroom where the lesson was being held! In my dreams I was frantically running up and down the stairs and going from room to room....of which there were millions!!...opening doors where lessons were in progress,and being reprimanded by each teacher for interrupting the lesson! See?....at the gud old Whitley memorial,you usually sat in the same desk,in the same room,and the different teachers came to you,with the odd exception to the rule,such as having to go for woodwork,obviously,or going into old Mouldy cheese's classroom for music lesson,where she thumped the life out of the piano keys till it was grossly out of tune!! So we from the Whitley,were totally bemused at seeing all these classrooms,and having to walk a quarter of a mile to go from maths,with Mr Freeman,to the other side of the school,to have history with Mr Abrahart!..[carrying a haversack on your back,equal to your own body weight with books!] At the Whitley you went in,empty-handed,did your lessons,and came yem,empty-handed!....tea,and away doon the woods ti play,or gaan fishing,or stuff like that....nae homework!! Westy,didn't haaf shake us up for adulthood...did it not?!!

Aye Norman,MY Mother did exactly the same thing.Quizzes and questions,why are you home,you just went away......! A think most Mothers would have reacted the same way! A can picture Geordie Hemming standing on stage,saying.."Now i bet you all wish you had another day's holiday....well...thaat is exactly what is going to happen!" He said that the stationer's hadn't completed their contract on time,that we had no books,pens,or paper,etc,so we would be sent home,with a veiw to starting the next day. As he was talking,a pleasant ginger-haired kid from another school,therefore a complete stranger to me,spoke to me in whispers...."Halloww killer".. were his exact words,which struck me as a really good way to strike up a friendship! We became good mates from that day,me going up to West Lea,to his house,then over the Netherton fields and pit-heaps! That friendship was struck within ten minutes of going into the hall with 488 other pupils,all from different schools in the area! Aye,sum canny memories of that lovely building!

Hi Norman! Many many thanks for saving my sanity! I have tossed this subject of Westridge's first day in my head for months now,even though I KNEW I was right,like,HOW can you forget your first day at a brand new school,mixing with pupils from all the other schools in the area,making new friends,bullied by new bullies,etc.......? Last night, I accessed the County Council's archives,for 1957,and it does say that Westridge was erected that year,which threw me into a turmoil,then I thought,yes,theoretically,for their purposes,being on budget etc,THAT date would be the finalising of all the handover paperwork,etc.... Still,my mind said this was wrong! I started the first day in 1956,just after my twelfth birthday,when the school holidays ended in August of that year. Like you,Norman,I left in 1959,and went down the pits,and stayed in the industry till thatcher-the-hatcheter destroyed our jobs and communities. I have vivid memories of my years at Westridge,mostly good,some bad. I would dearly love to see your class photo,although you were a year ahead of me at leaving. I would also love to go back for a visit to see what remains of our old abode,cos looking from the outside,driving past,it's almost unrecognisable now!! Maybe James will be convinced that WE were right! Thanks again Norman,I am trying to place you,but having difficulty,both the Normans who were in my class sadly passed away years ago,at a very young age.

When our queen was crowned,back in 1953....was it...?,correct me...i know i shud know,we under-12's got a lovely Coronation mug to keep, to commemorate the occasion. So my older Brother and me each got one,at the old Whitley Memorial. Now,the older pupils,of which i have two Sisters who fell into that category,each got a lovely gilt embossed book,entitled....."The History of Northumberland". An entry in that book stated that the old keep dated back to the reign of King John,who stayed at the keep,overnight,as he fled from the Barons,upon the return of His Brother King Richard,from the Crusades. When Richard found out about his evil Brother's nasty deeds,he went after him like a dog at broth...so ti speak. John fled from the old keep,down underground tunnels,which led from there to the site of the old original Post Office,beside Bache's ice-cream shop,in the market-place,then farther down to the river blyth,at the bottom left-hand side of Bedlington bank,where the cliffs overhang that part of the now riverside walk. ....onto a boat and away ti France.......but they catched him didn't they. Now,when I worked doon Bates pit, I related this story,to my marra's,just taaking aboot Bedlington's history,and of course you always get ONE ...don't you?!! Big Bill,the comedian,said..."Haddaway ti hell,a bet he had a game o snooker and an ice-cream,off aad Bache...did he?!...lads,hae yi hord wat Alli says here.........[Alli was my other nickname then...]..and so the pittle-tekkin' went on so much,a wished a hadn't tried to provide a cultured conversation,away from the usual "club-taak"....like who was gaan wi hoo's wife,and who had de'ed...and so on..!!! But seriously,this historical event has never seemed to be publicised in any other history book I have ever come across,in fact,on this very site,the date of the Keeps existence,seems to conflict with this story,so who is right? My philosophy is "believe nowt wat yi read,and ownly haaf wat yi hear!!" When we were kids ,we played down where the tunnel entrances were,but never got past the first few feet,due to deep stinking water. The tunnel entrance on the opposite side of the river can still be seen. John,hae yi any info on this subject? Me and my mates,one of whom lived in the Old Hall,adjacent to the Keep,used to try and dig our way into the little tunnel which was around the south facing wall of the Keep,and which was slightly below ground level,I have a vivid image of it in my head even now,it was only about three feet high,typical cathedral-arched and about two feet wide,just big enough for a body to squeeze through.....not forgetting that the generations were smaller in those days than they are now. When Bill,[the comedian marra of mine],got a colliery house at Doctor Terrace,in Bedlington top-end,many years ago,he drew my attention to his front door,when I asked what aboot ya front door,wat's a metta wi' it?,he said luk at the size o' it!....they musta been little blokes in them days,when these hooses were built! Ye knaa wat?....he was reet!..aam ownly five foot ten...an a bit,an' aa had ti stoop ti get in the doorway!....HE is six foot two,so yi get thi jist aboot this little tunnel?!! GONE NOO! Nae proof of existence is there? Shame! Nuff sed,HPW!

Howw,a thowt it was just us lot from the aad Whitley who were masters of the hockle! Cum ti think of it,there was a lad caaled Bob Hutton,at Westridge,from Netherton,a lad who became one of me first new mates at Westridge,on first meeting him. Noo HE had mastered the art of projecting clean hockles,[not coughed up ones...just spit!....],from the end of his toungue! This was the most intriguing and unusual way of throwing a hockle...he could hit you from aboot 6 feet away....just by flicking his tongue oot in a peculiar manner. He was a great mate to be wandering owa the fields and pit heaps,as we kids did in them days,[mid-50's]. I often wonder if some of these characters are on this site and not sayin...! In the 1960's,I played in a pop group,and our singer was the funniest guy ever![sadly deceased at 46 yrs old,about 24 years ago..R.I.P. GEORDIE.] Noo HE used ti caal them.."bone jokes",referring to a hockle as a "bone",cos when they are fired they spin in the air and take on the shape of a dog's bone.......[this is a revolting conversation,by the way,hoo did aa get draaan inti this?....!!!!!!] One day,he related the story of a mate of his who came doon thi stairs from the club concert room,at Blyth,[Thi big club,which Blyth cooncil allowed ti be knocked doon ti mek a haaf-duzzen car park spaces.....for Morrison's....and AAM caalin Bedlington cooncil in an earlier post for the syem thing.....!] Anywheh!,he's marra came doon the forst few steps,threw a bone up ti thi ceiling,and it stuck,then slowly started ti hang,like a proppa bone...just waiting for sum poor unsuspecting bugga ti cum doon thi staors and be baptised again! Noo,as a responsible,sensible,supposedly respectable citizen,of average intelligence,this doesn't seem at all funny.................BUT IT SURE WAS HILARIOUS THI WAY POOR GEORDIE RELATED THE STORY TI US AT THE TIME![We were only aboot 18 yrs aad then..young and daft!]

Symptoms,gaanin' off ya brilliant crack,a wud be careful in case yi get ......hemmed.......in....by legalities........ahem.....hemmed in......!...[poor joke!!... ...just fishin'..!!] Tek nae notice o' me ramblin' on,a write like a taak!! More stories please!...it's bed-time again!

Er....Symptoms,I seem to have got you a bit confused by my bad phrasing....it wasn't the school hall being demolished ,I was refferring to a council who,in earlier years,didn't have the foresight to apply for listed building status,for "The Old Hall and Keep",where the bedlington council offices now stand. What did they do back then?.......demolished a centuries old building,a major part of Bedlington's history and heritage,and which should have been turned into a visitor's attraction.

Sad to hear that both Hancock,and Woodhorn, have been dumbed down,also the Science museum,THAT was the place to go with your kids on a rainy day before PS2 was invented! It was a proper scientific place,and i can remember the long plumb bob hanging from the dome,which demonstrated the rotation of the earth over the time the bob was swinging back and forth in an elliptical trajectory...can anybody else mind of this experiment?

Many thanks for your kind comments and support,folks,a hevn't been ti hancocks for years,last time a was there was ti tek an exibit which a found in a strange place!.....naa,aav been since then,wi another exibit from a different strange place!! The first exibit story... Place? Bedlington A pit...High Main Seam...time: approx. 9-0pm one night in night shift,starting at 5-0pm....date: mid 1960's. We were sitting having our baits,my marra's and me,and as i finished my bait,i rested my arms over bent knees,and put my head down on my arms,closing my tired eyes for a few minutes.[not sleeping..against the law..sackable offence...just resting tired eyes.] I felt an irritating urge to scratch at my leg over my pit pants.... This happened a few times,and cursing to myself,i looked to see what was making me itch......... The biggest black cockroach you ever saw was crawling up my leg! I said to the old-timer sitting next to me to look here....he nearly jumped out of his skin,and thumped my leg,trying to kill it. I cursed at him,as miners did in them days,and picked the roach up,and put him in my pocket-watch tin,[smiths pocket watch was standard pit watch in those days] My intention was to take it to the Hancock Museum,cos you didn't get cockroaches doon the pit,mice...yes...but not roaches. Well,i totally forgot about him and it was three days later that I actually went to the Hancock. The curator took one look,and said it was a middle-eastern species,as the "feathers" [stunted wings]on his rear-end were shorter than our native species. He asked where I found it,and when I told him it was about three miles inbye in a high coal seam,dusty dry,he wasn't surprised,and explained as the roach was most likely transported,in lava form,in the pit props,that came from abroad,usually from Norway and Scandinavia,but from other places in times of problems with shipping,rough seas etc. It probably hatched from lava stage in the warmth of the district where I was working,cos mind,it WAS warm![unlike the Three-Quarter seam at Bates Pit!] So I asked how was it still alive,after being kept in a small airtight tin,in my pit clothes pocket,for three days? He told me that if I had left it in the tin for a fortnight,it would still have survived ,such was the resilience of these creatures,which survived the ice-age! He said he would mount it and put it on display,with the story of where it was found,and he did just that,cos I checked it out a week or two later. A year or two later,same thing exactly,co-incidentally,bait-time,but now it was in the Beaumont seam at Bates pit,around 1971-ish. In the Tail-gate,[return airway...and very humid and warm],the timber laddies had just brought a set of trams and tubs,with timber and other supplies for the coalface. They no sooner cast the set [unloaded] when the lads off the coalface,and me,were being dive-bombed by huge flying insects. When one lad killed one,we saw it was a giant wood-wasp,but I knew that this wasn't a native tree wasp,by it's sheer size! I told the lads to "scone" their lights,[switch off],and wait till the insects landed,as they navigate using light rays to guide their flight path. They did this,waiting five minutes till the buzzing stopped,and switched back on their headlamps. This time they were ready for the onslaught,with swatters in hand,and as the bees lifted they were all killed,which me,being a nature boy,was very sad about,but couldn't do much about it. The rest of the story is a carbon copy of the first one.....Hancocks...related story to Curator....got mounted,nice letters on both exibits,from the tech team at the museum,explaining all about them,their origin,etc. The bee was a far-eastern species,again in timber in lava stage,and twice the size of our native tree wasp...very intimidating to be attacked by a dozen of these little beasties,but fascinating to find out how they drill a hole an inch deep,into hard wood,lay their eggs,and fill the hole with beeswax! Last part was at Ashington pit,in 1986,My Marra and Me were sent into a VERY old roadway,to see if we could recover a small hauler winch. Problem?.....NO rails laid,and NOmeans of transporting anything in or out of this mile-long road. Nobody had set foot in this old roadway for years,we were told,and as soon as we entered into it....we knew this to true! Again,it was a return airway,VERY,VERY,hot,and humid. Every girder in the roadway had huge balls of fungus,of all colours,hanging...ghostily from them,gently moving in the very slight air movement. We had only walked inbye a few yards,when every step we took,something dropped from the roof above our heads,hitting our helmets with a light thud. Naturally thinking it was small bits of stone,which was usual,we looked up together,and were stunned by the sight that greeted us both! HUGE,and mind,I mean HUUUGGGE......red centipedes,five times bigger than the garden ones,were crawling all over the whole of the roadway,up the girders ,across the roof area and all over the floor.....just like hoards of ants do....obviously disturbed by our caplamps. These creatures had been living and breeding in this black hole for years without interference from man. It was a hell of a task just getting inbye to where we wanted to be!They occupied the whole of that road,throughout its length! We knew that the rest of the pit was infested by millions of woodlice,another unusual creature underground,and they were in droves,under every bit uf stone or timber you shifted!...in every district,but these centipedes took the biscuit! Mind,they were gorgeous to see,great big wide bodies,huge legs,and massive antennae,but it never struck me to bring one out for the museum... maybe cos thatcher the hatcheter was at the forefront of all the miner's minds,after the strike,and we knew this pit was next...and it was...a few months later. Sorry to go on a bit....again!!

Aye, Symptoms,thanks for your advice,a wudn't mind seeing yours,gaan off wat you've telt us!!!

Maggie,it's a gud job we aal see things wor way,it wud be a queer world if we aal thought the same!!

Heh heh! Vic,i was sat in church behind you on your big day,Doreen was lovely,tell her from me!! Mind, a cud nivvor remember what year it was,me being a glaaky aad sod!! Happy new year to you all over there! Hope your weather gets a bit better soon. Oh,and yor lass was reet!

Hmm.....Merlin....21 aug 2010,.......Me,....14th Nov. 2013,.....methinks interest on History Hollow is waning faster than the moon...... Seems to be that no-one is interested in our mining heritage,Merlin!

St Cuthberts church was originally built in the year 611 AD by the Monks who carried his body to that resting place.It would have been a wooden structure then. The Saxons came and built the stone church,which was later destroyed and rebuilt by the Normans. The original Saxon Chancel arch still stands as strong as the day it was built! A stone plaque inset on the north wall reads "Watson's wake". The story goes that the caretaker ,Mr Watson, was a known sleep-walker,and one night he was awakened by a passer-by,as he was climbing the face of the building, and ultimately fell to his death. I was told this story when I was about seven years old,by my class teacher,who was taking the whole class around the church,she told us about the origins of the church,the Saxons,Normans,and the gothic east wing,etc. The vicar was Mr Osgathorpe,and he always terrified the lives out of us kids,as I remember....he wasn't a particularly nice-natured person towards kids,and the fat cigar he always chewed when he was outside his duties,plus his massive Humber hawk car,didn't endear him to many of the old-time hard-up low-paid miner's that I knew,as I went through the growing-up stages in life.[none of whom could barely afford a push-bike..let alone a massive car like a Humber Hawk![in 1950's] The only other person that I knew,in those horse-and -cart-days,who ran a Humber Hawk car,was the local business man called Cyril Nealan,and he used to come around Hollymount Square,once a week,to sell his clothing wares,and collect his "ticky-money". The point is,it was often the talking point,whenever the Vicar was visiting anyone,why did he have to have such a big expensive car,when no-one except business folk had cars at all,and why not run a smaller car anyway..... In a mining community,where lots of families didn't have an inside toilet,or hot running water,it must have been seen as an un-necessary luxury,nay,a lavish breach of the use of church funds,in the eyes of the hard-working miner! ...and they named the gates after him...!

Symtoms,I would love to se that file if it still exists in the archives,just to see how much the reports were twisted in favour of the police for their inadequacies! How would I find out?