HIGH PIT WILMA

Hi Jack Henderson! I was also at Westridge the day it opened,and can you mind what happened?...we all got sent home for an extra day's holiday,cos the stationery hadn't been delivered due to a contract being renaged upon. Mr Hemming introduced all the staff on the stage.... a stage!!!!!!...there wasn't any stage at the old Whitley School! Mr Marley,Freeman,Douglas,Johnson,Epsley,Abrahart,MISS Short,Thew,Nicholson,Mclean[i worked under her Dad at Bedlington A pit later on,he was a Deputy,nice bloke and all,] I was in the upper remove class,1956-9,but left in1959,at 15 years old cos my exam results were poor,well,my maths were,but the rest were o.k. By the time i was 14 years old,i was trusted with the keys to the whole school,cos i used to stay until 11-0pm most nights with Mr Johnson,working on building electronic circuits....shortwave radios etc....valves in those days,no transistors...high voltages etc...Mr Johnson was a great guy,an old RAF radio operator during the war...he learnt me a lot about electronics.

Heh heh! That's jogged a memory or two for me...the top club! In the mid-sixties, i played every other weekend at the old top club,what used to be a few properties down the street,not the ones that were burnt down,or pulled down,i'm talking about a little dive 20yards down the street tucked among the shops..anybody remember that one? I have some of the entertainment posters what i used to take out of the glass case after the night was over,cos i was always the historian in the group....[we weren't called "bands"in those days....we were "pop groups,or rhythm groups.."]

Welcome aboard Keith! I am also new to here...gonna have fun!

Hi Susie! My Wife's best friend is a Muter by marriage,and her Husband's family came from Newbiggin,but when he started tracing his family tree,it turned out that the Muter's stretch far and wide!! I will ask her if i can provide any info which may help you,can't promise owt,but will try. g'nite love , High pit Wilma.

Er,before i switch off,may i say a big thank you for all your kind welcoming comments! I have enjoyed browsing the forums the last few nights,and find it very educational,with the odd misplaced facts,but never mind,we are here to help each other out.... Goodnight this time...er...Hoggy,you,or someone close to you,were'nt a fitter at Bates Pit ,were you/they...down the Threequarter drift hell-hole?...if you were...you certainly know me!!

Heh heh!Bet Adam is reet n aal! A used ti work doon Choppington B pit [thi high pit],from 15 yrs aad,and a played guitar when naebody played guitar at the pit,except a smashing natured fella caaled Jimmy Aitcheson.......and he played Haawian steel guitar...so that was different.A was the only one in a 300 man workforce,who played guitar. SO!A tv cartoon series came alang caaled "The Flintstones",wi a straggly-haired skinny wifie caaled Wilma..........! Noo!One of me marra's doon thi pit was a sarcastic sod,and me and him didn't get alang sae weel at forst reet? So.....he thowt he wud start and caal me Wilma,cos a had lang hair,wat got aal straggly-lukking by the end of the shift,wi aal the droppers from the roof,cos the high pit was soaking wet aal owa....and he telt aal the lads that a lukked like Wilma off the Flintstones. Whey,it duzzn't tek lang forra nickname ti tek ahaad doon a pit....So 54 years later......me marra's still caal me Wilma! And that,dear friends,is the honest truth!Chris Arkle,who is the subject of another thread,used ti tek the mick oot me lang hair summik rotten!![cos in those days it was always basin cut,short back and sides...but this was rock 'n roll,and a was playing lead guitar in a pop group,so every pitman in the North-east and Durham knew Wilma!!!!!! [it was written on the front of me amplifier cover!] Well?Anybody twigged? It's obvious i'm a Fred,cos a wudn't be on coal-filling and composite work etc,if i was a Susy.......! The year was 1959 when i started High pit,me marra was a lad called Keith Cooney,from Barrington pit village,it was he [who else?!]who christened me Wilma....and in a way,did me one hell of a gud turn,as the years went by. Every week when the overtime shifts were being organised by the overman,Joe Barrat,and the Undermanager,Cyril Bird,it was Wilma's name who stuck in Joe Barrat's head,above all the other men who were screaming for weekend shifts!!! Mind,i was a hell of gud worker,no bragging,i just was...so that was a key thing also. NOW,anybody any wiser?....shall i leave this going till somebody tells me my name?..would it be bad manners...just a bit of fun?..i think not! It's now after 1-0am,and i am shattered,so i will say gudneet to all you kind folks,and see you tomorrow night! Cheers,from High pit Wilma!! p.s. Check out "Bates pit photo's" on Flickr,or just type it into google,you'll see my ugly mug,...when i had hair.....!!!!

Now there was a family of different Arkles,at Hollymount Square,in the 60's,they worked at Bedlington A pit,and had a Daughter who was a beauty queen. The census should show all these people to helpyou with your quest!

Why not visit Flickr and type in "HIGH PIT WILMA'S PHOTOSTREAM"...or Google "BATES PIT PHOTOS"...my pics are on Flickr.and i reserve all copyrights.There's some interesting shots on there ,taken before the pit closed in 1986.

For what it matters,and only for correctness,John Arkle wasn't the backoverman,he was mastershifter,that is,the overman in the nightshift. He kept this shift permanently,starting at 5-0pm till 12-15 am. He was a lovely bloke,as was Chris,but Chris took some getting used to,with his dry sense of humour,which could be slightly sarcastic,with no ill-intent whatsoever...they were both very fair,well-liked blokes,and that's a well-known fact among anybody who really knew them. Chris once caught me dozing off at bait-time,at 3-0am,in foreshift,when i was only about 18 years old,and staying up during the day,with the novelty of shift work,dog tired,having had no sleep,and he knocked me on the top of my pit hat with a prop-end,[ a "heed-tree"],shouting .."Wilma..wake up...yi sleepy-heeded c....!!!!!!!! He should have had me to the managers office to be fined,possibly sacked,as sleeping was a serious offence....but he laughed at my weak excuses and warned me....next time....yi young bugger.......!! Mind,i was always under the impression,from hearsay at the pit,that it was John who was left halfway up the shaft in the cage,not trapped,just "rapped clear" by the onsetter....unless he rapped himself away,and he's two raps of three ["men riding"],to the brakesman,and the banksmen,could have been mistaken by the brakesman as a "six"...which meant .."shaft clear"..in which case the procedure was always to take both cages to the middle of the shaft to equalise the strain on the ropes. It was common knowledge at the pit that he was given the officials job to keep him quiet,but as it was hearsay,i always doubted the validity of the rumour....cause he was in the shaft for fourteen hours,and that shaft had a bend in it when it was sunk. Consequently,all the water that teemed constantly down the shaft,poured into the cages,as they were made out of perforated steel sheet,with inch-diameter holes throughout,for lightness.....four feet square,only room for four men to squeeze in...pretty claustrophobic,cold and soaking wet...he should never have needed to work again..he should have been financially rewarded. It really was a TETTY-PIT...! The other brother was called Ernie,and he was one of the "Fivers men"...a team led by Eddie Halliday,with marra's Harry Undeldorf,[Polish], and Ernie Clough. These lads drove all the new roads,and won all the new coalfaces out,plus any other specialist work such as re-modelling roads,etc.....this is what i did but it was called composite work at other pits. The reason they were called "fivers" was cos they got paid £5 a shift,when the coalfillers only got £4-and five shillings a shift.[ or 85 bob a shift] At one time , i knew every man at the pit,when there was only 300 men worked there. I worked with Pat Purcell in the timber yard,from school,then Ned Cushing,the training officer,took me down once i was 16 yrs,to work with John Wardlow,and John Dickinson..great lads to train under..hard work,on heavy transport. I worked with Dor Dryer,and he's Father,old Dor,and he's uncles Freddie,and Jackie...it was a proper little family pit..with canny blokes,and stinking conditions!

There was a deputy at Choppington B pit,in 1959,called Ronnie twist,probably the same lad. Sad tragedy...kids will always be kids.....

Keith,about the bottles and jars...considering we used to go around the doors asking folk if they had any pop bottles,in the mid 1950's,so we return them to the shops for a small return fee,i think we got threepence a bottle,it would seem logical for hard-up people to use them as an entrance fee,cos the cinema owner would take them in bulk and get a canny penny,so to speak...they were hard times!

Just remembered,the Manager's clerk at Choppington B colliery in the late '50s/early 60's was called Jimmy Marley,and my Wife has a lady friend with the Marley name,whose Husband passed away a few years ago,lives on Wansbeck estate. Hope this is of some help somehow.

Mr [bill?]Marley was my class teacher at West ridge County Secondary School from 1956-1959 when i left at 15 years of age. He wasn't very tall,but was stocky as hell,and i don't mean fat,i mean muscly-stocky! He could quieten the "big lads" in the class,who made all the noise in his abscence,by just opening the door to the classroom,and walking in.....it went deathly quiet....nothing said,no need to shout...just stare at them!! Last time i saw him was at a funeral in Saint Cuthbert's church in Bedlington,a few years ago,and he hadn't changed one little bit..just white-haired! Wonder if he is related to you? The school is now St Bennet Biscop catholic school.

Thanks Keith!I don't know anything about word docs,as i'm not fully i.t. lit.! However my main point was that Storey's Buildngs wasn't where every one thinks....cos i lived there...! Hope it clarifies the subject!!

This is ridiculous! I've just been on an hour AGAIN , and a message tells me i am not allowed to edit my post,and so i've lost it all again....don't think i will bother anymore!! Now the other posts don't make sense...please delete all of my posts thank you. There i was telling a big story of my experiences living in Storey's Buildings from 1944-1948...and its now floating around in cyber-space....!!

I forgot to mention about the street across the road,i don't know what the name of that street was,any body else know?

Please go to next page to follow the rest of the above post,which i somehow cocked up and lost half of it.... Thanks!

Thanks Threegee,for your help,as you can see,i am a newbie! I will try what you say, and edit my post to continue it as i had done before it was lost....i did click on "save changes",when i edited it originally...maybe i should change my username to "glaaky billy"....!

Now, after typing for over an hour,about this topic,i find only half of it has posted....where is the rest?

Hi all! On the subject of Storey's Buildings,i'm afraid you are wrong,Mr Dawson....no disrepect intended! The street ran down the bank,and ended at the Willow bridge,where the the old "Barn'ton burn" flows beneath..this street was on the right side of the road as you head for Ashington. The street was demolished in the late 60's to create the new junction that takes you along Barrington road. The top of Storeys buildings was dominated by the pub called "The Railway Tavern",which,in the early 60's,was run by my best mate's brother,Bob Walker. A good old pit Marra of mine,who Mr Dawson will know,with the initals A.Dix.,lived in the street until the Council served a compulsory purchase order upon him,,to allow the demolishon. Going down the street,there was a shop that sold sweets among other things,a Chapel witha walled rear garden,outside netties across a clarty back street. There were no trees in the fields to the left originally,and you could see right up the burn,to the Black railway bridge. The pit ponies used to be kept in the fields to the rear of the street,on the right side,going down the bank. Now,