HIGH PIT WILMA

Bob McGregor was my good friend and Neighbour for a lot of years at West Terrace at Stakeford..lovely family!

This one brings back a lot of memories of my childhood! If you zoom in,you will notice people all aroond. Thi pic on thi left shows a lot of light-coloured stuff lying on thi ground at the base of the chimney. For those who might not knaa owt aboot felling this chimney,aal explain hoo they did it. The light-coloured stuff in the left pic is piles of old lime mortar,and broken bricks taken from the base of the chimney,as the demolition men carved a huge hole out of the base,and supported the area where bricks were removed with Telegraph Pole-sized wood props,just as we would support the roof underground. The men created an absoloute cavern,in the side of the chimney,and calculated exactly where to remove the brickwork. Once they had removed a considerable and sufficient amount of brickwork,and had a whole whack of huge props supporting the chimney,they poured either Deisel,or Petrol,all over the props. On the day of demolition,they cleared the immediate area of personell,and the public,then they set fire to the props that supported the chimney. It didn't take long,and as soon as enough wood had burned away,the weight of the now insufficient support of the chimney,made it lean exactly in the intended direction,then,in a suspense-filled few minutes,she crashed down..exactly on time,and neatly between the Pit buildings and the Rail Line...NO EXPLOSIVES!!..that's why people are standing all around so close to watch! The smoke at the base is from the burning wood props. If I hadn't witnessed the men taking out the brickwork,as a kid,and asked what they were doing,[to other Mineworkers standing there also,] I would have found it hard to believe such a basic primitive method was used to bring down a tall chimney like this one,I think it was 180 feet high,but stand to be corrected on that one. But I have a vivid memory of the days when all this happened,standing watching the men creating this huge hole,and propping it up...seems incredible when they could have gotten Fred Dibnah up ti sort it oot in his fashion!!..cud he hae done it any mair precise?! I hope I have enlightened at least one person,and hopefully more!

Very interesting piece of history.

Those were thi days! Owa 100,000 people visited Bedlington for the Picnic Day!

THE CUNDY!!! THAT'S a blast from thi past.James! Ye can just see the Concrete entrance ,lower left of the pic,and yes,when thi lights were oot in the Cundy,and there was a lot of rainwaata collected in the swalley inside there,we used to dare new kids ti gaan through by thasell's! James,wud ya initials be JH,by any chance?,a hae thi feeling a knaa ye ,or knew ye,very well!!

In some seams,thi coal was like diamond,hard as hell! At Bates,there was a lot of Iron Pyrites,["Brass"..Fools Gold..!],and if you hit some of this,it used to take the Tungsten Carbide Tips off the Drill Bits!...Noo THAT is HARD!.

Noo wat's gaanin on,A posted the first one earlier,then when a came back ti see the rest of the set,me post had gone,and a was thinking that a hadn't actually posted it,and it was deleted.SO, a sat for a quarter of an hoor and typed the same comments again,only ti find when a posted THIS one,the first one has appeared!! Nivvor mind,they are great pics!

Shud be a Bracket after "Bank"..!!

Andy would have been a "Putter".Here he is "Putting" [or Taking],a "Fullun" [Full Tub of Coal],outbye to a Landing area,where he would leave it coupled to a set of other Fulluns,usually making up a set of six,whereby another Miner,[called a "Driver"] and Horse would take the set of six tubs right outbye to the shaft bottom,to be taken in the Pit Cages to the surface..["Bank". This was the procedure with Putters and Drivers,before Conveyor Belts were installed,which then carried all the coal from the faces directly to the Loader -end near the Shaft Bottom. This Pony has the wrong size Yem-Sticks on his Collar! Andy has a wooden "Dreg" [piece of wood],inserted in the rear wheels to control the speed of the tub,indicating they are going down a slight gradient. Notice,no fat on the Miners like Andy!..all blood sweat and...sometimes....tears,but naebugga wud ivvor knaa!

James,not nitpicking,but only for correctness ,when I was transferred from Choppington B pit,to Bedlington A Pit,in 1965,the pit was already 140 years old,and that's when dumping the stone waste started. I was three in 1947,when my Parents moved into the newly built Hollymount Square,and I remember my older Brother [Three years older,born on the same date], telling me to look out of our bedroom window,to see the flames roaring up on a really strong wind blowing. The whole of the top of the mountain was ablaze,but that was normal,they just kept fire hoses running hopelessly in vain,to try and control the fires. For years it was always burning,but one night there was a Hurricane force wind,and she lit up more than ever in the past,and the heat was so intense it melted and twisted the heavy rails that the Bogie ran on which carried the stones up to the top of the heap,by means of a rope hauler. We played up on that as kids 10 years old,but knew where to go,and where not to go,by the colour of the slag we were walking across.In places where it was cold on the ground,the colour would change from Slaty Grey/Black,to Orange/Red/White. If we threw a big stone into those areas,it would sink like quicksand,and it would throw a plume of red hot fumes [Sulphrous],and dust and smoke. You were ok if you played along the Rabbit tracks and Burrows,of which there hundreds!! But my ain point was,in 1947-on,that heap was a mountain,and yes,that's what the Washery was built for,to clean the oal,but all the stones from the screens went straight into Railway trucks underneath the screens and unloaded into the Bogie Hopper,and away she would go!!

...and when the wind got up and she was truly alight...the Sulphrous fumes and smoke were overpowering,it was an accepted part of life..no mass demonstrations to have dumping banned....in the 1960's it cost dearly in Aberfan...

In the confines of a coalface,sometimes you couldn't start with a 6-0' drill straight off,so you had to start with a 3-0' drill,then change to the 6-0' one when you had drilled right in with the shorter one.That's why he has one lying beside him.

Noo THAT!..was one hell of a job,doon the pit,the Bulls'sHead..["BULL'SHEED"],Driller was a canny weight,so with a Nine foot drill in,and drilling into solid stone...ye needed arms like Garth,[a pit saying!],that's hoo Dinper has arms like this in the pic!![He is drilling into the Coal Seam on this Pic.]A "fast" [Stuck!] drill has caused many a broken arm or shoulder,when reverse torque spun the machine out of your hands and twisted your arms etc!

Andy is "Putting" or taking the tub outbye to a landing,where several full tubs would be coupled up,usually a set of six,where a "Driver" with a bigger horse would pull the set outbye from the landing to the shaft bottom,to be sent to Bank in the cages.Andy is going downhill when the pic was taken,as he has a wooden "Dreg" in the rear wheels to help slow the tub from over running the horse,even though the Limbers,["Limma's"] used to control the tub ,also the "Backstrap" on the Horse's Gears,around his rear end and fastened to his Bellyband...that pushed up against the Horse's rear flanks,and when he felt the pressure,he automatically pushed back against it and set his legs ..another great pic!

One of my Neighbours at Hollymount Square,in the early 1950's was a fella called "Aad Singer Dixon" ,and he was one of the Horsekeeper's from the year Dot,they used to say..and this guy looks like him to my mind..I was only three years old when we moved there,but I grew up with the Dixons,until I got Married in 1967,but Singer had sadly Passed away by then. I remember his Grandson Brian visiting every other night,with his Parents,and through the windows at night we used to hear Old Singer shouting ,as he waved his family off for the night ..."Gudneet,see ye thi morn!"..I can hear his voice noo as a type!! The horse's Collar and Yemsicks can just be seen at the right side hanging on the hook. Great Pic! Cheers Bill.

Note their pants!!.."Fustons"...indestructible thick warm material,most Miners wore Fustons,it was like ...what else wud ye wear doon a black hole?...not ya Wedding Suit! See the Steel corrugated Straps,[or "Planks"] holding the roof up? They were 6' long and canny heavy! Aboot three or four years ago,me and LBJ [me wee Lab x Dog],were waaking back from owa the Bomar fields ahent wor hoose,and a got me eye on summick familiar,sticking oot the thick bushes,next ti the Farmer's fence.A howked on and pulled it oot,it was one of these steel straps,bent at right angles,wi the weight of the roof underground,and it came from the Bomar pit heaps when they levelled it oot..noo hoo it ended up where it was owa the field a divvent knaa,but a fetched it yem on me shoulder,and mind,a was knackered when a got back yem!A hae it at the bottom of me garden as a feature,next ti me fence!! Just a little reminder of when a was strong enough ti lift them with one hand up ti the roof,and put a Lazy-Man prop in ti haad it there,so ye cud knock a prop in at each end to support the roof.[When a was in me Twenties - Forties...!] The Dr Pit was a "Naked Lamp Mine",under the M n Q Act 1954, so Willie Ward was ok using a Flashgun doon the pit,but wadn't hae been allowed doon any other "Flame Safety Regs " Pit.

Aye,James,the metal canister held 5 lbs of Explosive Cartridges,what we ,[the miners] referred to as "Sticks o' Pooda"..[Powder]. That was the Legal limit that a miner was allowed to carry,under the "Mines and Quarries Act 1954"..of course,like any other Industry,rules were made to be broken! Down the Three-Quarter seam,at Bates,in the early 1970's,I used to be hurrying inbye to fire the Solid Drivage Maingate or Tailgate,or Back Drift,[1-in-4 gradient!],carrying a 50 lb Box of Polar Ajax,[33% Nitro-Glycerine..],under one arm,another 50lb Box on the other shoulder,and TWO - 10LB Packs ,one each side inside of my Overalls!! So I was carrying 120 lbs of High Explosives,with my Glennie on my belt,my Self-rescuer,also on my belt,my Caplamp and Battery,which weighed 9lbs...Heh heh...I was only in my Thirties,and strong as an Ox!! Noo,aam nearly 77 yrs aad,and a canna lift me aan shadow! Four feet of lovely clean coal here,maybe 4' -6" ,and great dry conditions,gud hard laminated Sandy Post Stone..with a wee bit of Blue on top of the Seam. A great pic of times gone by! Thanks for posting it! Bill.

Hi Alan, thanks for sending this excellent, very rare, piece of historical Mining Memorabilia! I learned how to use the Vicious Sylvester from my first weeks down Seaton Burn Colliery, at the training gallery, underground, in 1959.It was designated specifically, as a pulling device, and lifting anthing with it was strictly forbidden.. well!.. theoretically! Although it was against the law to use it for lifting machinery, etc, what else could you use, if there was nothing else but the Sylvester! So! It was used for lifting, and over the years many lads lost fingers and thumbs at the very least, and at worst, some were knocked unconcious, and suffered fractured Skulls and Jaws, due to the "Butterfly" catch slipping and either taking fingers into the Sword, or the handle being viciously lashed forward by the weight of whatever was being lifted, usually a Coal cutter Stator, or a Conveyor belt Drive Head.. One lad at Bates, called Peter Brock, was using it correctly, pulling a conveyor belt return boxend, to tighten up the belt, to get it to run. Somehow, bizzarely, the Butterfly catch slipped, as it often did, and took Peter's thumb clean off. The Deputy dressed his hand, which was bleeding through the dressings, and as the Deputy went to phone the surface control centre, to organise an Ambulance, Peter said, seriously, to the Deputy, Eddie, aal just gaan and pull the boxend back, and get the belt gaanin.... The Deputy said a knaa wheor ye are gaaning, and its THIS way.. (pointing in the outbye direction!). Peter was back at work within a few weeks! If you ever saw a flicknife blade fly out, well, the Sylvester handle flew faster than that, it really was a vicious device, and by the later years, they were banned from use altogether.. but we still them had till the pits closed!