HIGH PIT WILMA

Hi Symptoms!We pitmen canna describe pit topics to each other without using "Pitmatic" terminology,cos if we tried to use plain English,it would turn out to be a story explaining just one small facet of any operation we did"! Imagine me trying to explain how i would put the "breaking-off timber in" [brrekkin-off-timma"],to prepare for "Firing the ripping-lip down" [Tekkin' a caunch"]....where would i start? "Dreggin'-up on thi kip","Hingin'-on chummings in thi dish"..."Pan-pullin"......"Slippin' thi fyess"..."Shuvvin' thi sumpa owa".......a could go on and on!! Glad you are so fascinated by our heritage,and thanks for recognising how dangerous mining was,even though we miners didn't think about the dangers much because we were constantly aware,and senses tuned to thi limit. Check out my pics on Flickr.."High Pit Wilma's Photostream-Bates Colliery" I've got a good head of hair on those pics...i was only 42!

It's just come ti me who thi Dutchman was,a can see his face clear noo,a was in charge o him at thi shaft landing for a short while,him and he's marra were tekkin thi stryght girders oot, and turning them upside doon,wi thi bend up-owa,ti save buying new ones!! ....a stocky bloke,strong as an ox. The Mortons,Alan and Albert and Jimmy Parr,drove 2's main road from thi start aal thi way in.until me and me marra's won the face oot,partly wi a prototype "In-seam Miner",and because management ditched it cos we made it gaan too fast..[money?...],we won the rest oot wi a coalcutter and 9-foot jib,blasting two feet oot off thi solid at each side,to give 24 feet width,ti save tekkin a side cut off...noo...30 years later,that £5million pound machine is still lying rotting doon thi three-quarter seam..alang wi hundreds of millions of pounds worth of other face machinery.

Heh heh!...noo wa gettn sumwheor!A can mind OF the Dutchman but canna place he's face or proper name. Seein as Danny and Charlie were a canny age compared ti me,in the back drift [ aa was abt 30 yrs old then], a divvent mean any disrespect ti thi lads,but a sumhoo canna see them fiddling aboot wi computers in thier later life. A think they were in their 50's then,and that was 40 yrs ago![ cos aam 70 next year]. Also,seeing as poor Bob passed away last year,that only leaves one o the canniest lads that worked at High Pit Choppington,when aa started theor in December 1959. A went doon in 1960,onti transport wi John Dick,and John Ward,and the whole crew were canny,timber lads Frankie Grea,John Halli, Bob Barb,Billy Bu,Maverick,,Set lads Dor Dr,Cockney Ernie,Girder lads,Bob Broo,Tony Shi,John Mas,[ deceased R.I.P.]...Beltmen...John Eas,and Brian Bes,[the reet canny one who learnt me a lot aboot not only pitwark but things in life generally.......]....... Dae yi still mend watches?,and dae yi still hae ya dinky little spirit level wat yi used ti suspend on the line to measure up for the gradient ti set the girder legs on the 1-in -2? Noo come on,tell me aam taakin a whole lotta b.........!!!!!!!!!! Aam 100% sure aam reet who yi are B.B.!

Hi Barchetta,welcome to the site. Funny you should say about meeting someone there by co-incidence,i posted my photos of Bates pit in Blyth,[now closed],a few years ago,on the Flickr website,guess what?...i got a comment from a lad in Perth,Australia,who emigrated there after Bates shut in 1986,and it was a lad i worked with underground at Bates!We keep in contact by e-mail now,it's a small world........ But....,even better than that,i only joined this site a few weeks ago,and the first time i logged in, i got into contact with my lifelong schoolfriend and neighbour-playmate,who i haven't seen for over 45 years since she and her husband went to Canada to live!!!Talk about fate bringing people together?....not as good as the power of the internet!! Cheers!

Right!...Ranger,i just got back in from doggy-waakin',so aal start an elimination breakdown. First,only the men,[i.e.not deputies,tradesmen,etc.] Main drift was Albert and Alan,[the brothers],and Jimmy Parr,sadly deceased..[my old next door neighbour,46 years ago.R.I.P. Jimmy] The other shift was Ernie R. ,Sid ?,and little Jimmy P. The main drift was won oot when aa went doon ti start the back drift at the top. Back drift lads were Brian B.[who was on the belts and timberleading at Choppington high pit when aa started],Bob Keeley,[sadly deceased 12 months ago and also a neighbour of mine ..R.I.P.Bob.]and Danny S.,who may,or may not be with us now...he was a good age back in 1973! [no disrespect to you Danny,if you are still here!] Other shift were Billy C.[first heart transplant in Northumberland successfully...lovely lad!],Geordie R.[brother of Ernie R.],and the Cooncillor wi thi fancy twang![canna get he's name..] At the back-drift top were Keith C.,Geordie P.,and Tommy H.,wi thi greet big mop of ginger hair. A just canna think of the other shift lads names,just noo. Tommy left thi pits afore thi '84 strike started. Yi say yi were there reet up thi 1-in-2 ti the Beaumont seam,so that only leaves a few yi can coont on one hand who are left. Aam too tired ti think noo.....G'neet all!

"Rising back drift".....a forgot it was driven from both top and bottom.

Ranger,that's who six-o-clock Geordie was! You got me thinking noo!

Hi me owld marra! Aye, right,Jimmy probably retired when the Aad pit closed. Cheers Hoggy.

Hoggy,Clanky was a canny lad,when i was a deputy,he used to be one of my fitters.

Lone Ranger,give me a clue as to what team you were in,cos if you started the Three-quarter from the start,iv'e narrowed you down to either the Morton's team,or Six-o-clock Geordie's team.[taking the Deputies into the equation also....and that's not many men to choose from. Noo....why "Lone Ranger"......hmmm!! Or do you consider the "start" to be the first Coalface that went away?[which wasR21's]...well that's a different matter! Reason i am curious is just that as the Deputy who blasted oot the very first breaking-in shots to start the back-drift,just inbye from the Sooth loader,i only had three men on that job in my shift...Tom Hindmarsh,Keith Calvert,and Geordie Palmer. I lifted the whole of the loader end cabin and console and pushed it over and along it's girder-cradle,with the blast from the shots!!![me lugs were ringing in more ways than one,that day,cos the loader lads nearly died wi fright...!] Happy days!

Noo Hoggy,aam gaana slap ya wrist when a see ye,for asking what Jimmy Foster did at the pit,cos ye mustn't hae read me story aboot him!! [Mebbe a gaan on a bit,and it got too boring ti tek in....!] Seriously,Hoggy,Jimmy did what your Dad did,he was a shaftsman at Choppington High Pit,then Bedlington aad Pit,and a canna mind if he went ti Bates Pit after that.

J.D.J.1955,did u ever manage to find any pics of Puddler's Raa please? My wife was born there and would love to see any pics at all..whatever condition they are..as long you can make out the place. The Puddler's raked the slag off the molten iron with long-handled colrakes,to enhance the purity of the iron. Wrought iron was made by rolling out sheets and and overlaying them with the grain running at 90 degrees,several layers at a time,like plywood, then re-rolling them,or sqeezing them with a steam hammer or press,to force the crossed grains of the metal to lock together. As you say Wrought iron was very malleable used to make rails etc,while Cast iron was very resilient,could stand tons of steady pressure,as in bearing housings,but would crack if subjected to a sudden shock..like a blow from a mel..["sledge-hammer"] Mr Epsley was a great metalwork teacher at Westridge School in 1956-59..[my years there...]!!!!!! Hey,aam 69 this year,and aav got vivid memories of me schooldays!

Hi Maggie,and everyone else on here! I'm an old Westridge git,one of the pioneers,seeing as Mr Davidson,our social studies teacher at the old Whitley School,took us up during the building of Westridge,to walk around the site,asking questions to the workmen,even up on the scaffolding gangways....health and safety?!!!!!....not even thought of them days. We had to write essays on what we had seen and learnt on the site,the following week. I remember vividly being up on the first lift of scaffolding,asking one fella with a funny-looking machine strapped to his chest,with a cranking handle on the side,like a hurdy-gurdy,and he was spraying the mineral ash chippings onto adhesive which was already applied to the walls,this was around the back of the building. The front had wood cladding on the upper half,is it still like that yet? Noo!!as for being a pioneer,i started the first day it opened and was sent home along with 499 other pupils,cos the stationery hadn't arrived,so we started officially the next day. That was in August 1956,after the school holidays were over...we got four weeks then,but the Grammar School got six weeks,then when Westridge started,we got six weeks also,cos the idea was to upgrade the standards of education in a Comprehensive School,to be on a par with that of the Grammar Schools,G.C.E.Exams etc...so the holidays fell in line also. Westridge was the first new Comprehensive School to be built in Northumberland since the War ended in 1945. It cost £250,000 to build!.....wor aad coalhoose at West Terrace varny cost that much later on!! Mr Hemming introduced all the Staff who were sitting in a line on the stage behind him,and he had us Whitley kids baffled with talk of the "Vestibule",and the "Gymnasium",also the "Biology laboratory",we were simple-minded Whitley School 12-year-olds who hadn't heard of these things before!

Adam,try typing this into u-tube: U-Tube over the Rotang Pass to Keylong Aug 2010 Please let me know what you think of it as far as dangerous roads go!

Hi all! Adam,check oot the biker's journey over the Rhotang Pass in India,on a Royal Enfield 500cc bike,[regarded by "bikers" as rubbish bikes!!!!] It's on U-Tube,i'll try to post it here if i can,or i'll post the exact title for you to check it oot.It's hair-raising! The bike in the video is the off-road version of the one in my avatar.

Wonder if Councillor Alan Stewart,and he's friend Alan Spowart,can remember Mrs Nicholson,asking them to bring their guitars into the next music lesson,and little Alan[?]Dixon[?]"Dicka" as he was known,they all played and Dicka sang his heart out for an hour...no mikes..just straight from his heart! "the story of my life" was in the charts,by Michael Holliday,"he's got the whole world in his hands",was another one Dicka belted oot,with the whole class singing along with him...!! That was the best music class i ever had throughout my school life!! It helped inspire me to take up guitar when i left school and could afford a cheap one,bought at Gallons shop in Morpeth, in 1959,for £7 10shillings.[paid for at 5shillings a week for six months!] Now,in 2013,at 69 yrs old,in July coming,i still plonk on with my beloved instruments..all 15 of them!!!

Anybody remember Mr Epsley,the metalwork teacher,he was very stern and strict,which in a class with a forge burning,and a £600 lathe...[in 1956!]...he would HAVE to be strict......!Taught me a lot, he did! Mr Abrahart,the History Teacher,used to crack the whole class up,we couldn't write owt for laughing,when he was giving us "dictation". He used to take on the characters of Disraeli,and Gladstone,in the wars,and stride back and forth across the classroom floor waving his arms about and shouting the characters words from the book...very dramatic,but very much like Harry Worth,the '60s sitcom comedian. Everybody,including the lads,were really sorry to see him go,when he left to take up a post at Westmoor,Newcastle. Mrs Nicholson,music teacher,was really lovely,so was Miss Thew,art teacher,but she had a temper like you've never seen!She nearly bust my eardrum with an almighty crack across the side of my face from behind,[i didn't see her coming]because i spoke to my friend for a second!...you soon learned not to talk in her class!! Mis Short and Nancy McLean were the P.T. teachers for the girls,also both lovely,i worked with Nancy's Dad at Bedlington A pit,as the years went by,he was a Deputy underground,a real nice bloke,he was. Eeeee,a could gaan on and on aboot the teachers at Westridge....

Hi Maggie! I still have my old school badge with St Cuthbert's cross,and the School Motto embroidered on it...."De Profundis"... which was latin for "From the depths",to indicate Bedlington Community's links and heritage due to CoalMining. I wouldn't part with it,it dates back to the day Westridge School opened in 1956 after the summer holidays ended,we all got sent home the first day cos the stationer's failed to keep contract on time,and we had no books,pens or pencils etc! We started the next day,but all that week we wandered around the school freely,on Mr Hemming's permission,to familiarise ourselves with the layout of the school. "Gymnasium....."???...we from the old Whitley Memorial School hadn't heard of the word,so didn't know what we looking for! It was forbidden to walk in there with shoes on,cos the floor cost over one thousand pounds,a lot of cash in 1956! So what did Wilma do?..i was with a few of my friends,Martin Nicholson,Dennis Green,[his Dad was Engineer at the A pit]... and a few others,and when we saw the gym....i couldn't resist running straight over the virgin floor..[i was probably the first ever pupil to walk on it/!]..caught one of the virgin beautiful thick white climbing ropes,and shimmied straight up to the roof in seconds,using only my hands,my feet dangling loosely.A rough sargent-major's voice boomed up to me.."get down from there...now!!!.......i had just met Danny Douglas,our new P.T. Teacher! Well, i shimmied down quickly,hand over hand,and stood to attention....expecting a few canings,like aad Nicky at the Whitley would have done....but Mr Douglas said " Very impressive boy,where did you learn to climb like that?" I replied that i learned it by climbing trees down the woods from a young age.He said "Well,unfortunately,it's the wrong way,so i'll show you the right way,and if i catch you doing it your way again,you will be in trouble,right?! He never mentioned the fact that i broke rules by being in the gym unsupervised!Danny was A great character,he clipped you,and made friends within minutes....R.I.P.Danny Douglas..the best P.t teacher ever lived.

Aye..!..Wat happens ti the sites?! A came back ti catch up on new postings and thi pics....nowt there!!!

A lad called Ernie Middleton,[i worked with him at the Aad Pit at Bedltn,in the mid-'60's],had a Bond Bug,and if a can mind reet,he smashed it up....in his words......"daeing ninety"......!!!!!!!! Canny lad Ernie,a wonder if he is still knocking aroond..... ....if ya theor Ernie,wi a nom-de plume,correct me if aam wrang wi me musings!!

The skating was on also on Wednesday nights,and it got jam-packed! My first visit was in 1962,and thats where i met my Wife...on skates,!!

Captain Pugwash was great for the little we'ens was't it?....as weel! Aye,great characters they had in them days,not like it is nooadays...wi aal this obscene stuff gaan on...aye,gud aad-fashioned characters like Master Bates,and Seaman Staines..........wor kids loved it...it was SO INNOCENT... wasn't it? Mind,it was my Son,in later life,who wisened me up,cos i was an old-fashioned "green" pitman............ Then there was the gud aad Cornflakes box,recently,giving tickets in a contest to see the new blockbuster film...starring the main character..................... .........Owan Kinobi.......

I was at the Shane Fenton and the Fentones show,at the Clayton Ballroom,i was a big fan of the Fentones on ther own,cos they did some great guitar instrumentals, i played lead guitar in a group and played on that stage on Friday and Saturday nights sometimes,it was a great place to be,cos i met my Wife there on a Wednesday rollerskating night....in 1962!!!! The Fenton show was brilliant,and i certainly don't remember him packing up quick!!...not saying it didn't happen,but i seem to think it went really well,and me,being a lead-guitarist,stood all night with my nose under their lead guitar's guitar...watching like a hawk how he did his riffs..[but they weren't riffs in those days..they were "solo's"]

Aam posting inti thi wrang place again...not my daeing...hoo has that happened?