HIGH PIT WILMA

Jimmy Milne's aad hoose ..isn't it...wasn't it!...and was it not the top club for a while...next i thi Post Office?

Somebody was weel off who built that hoose!

For aal a lived in Bedltn till a got married,a nivvor knew the history of that place,tha was a luvly orchard behind there,us kids cudn't wait for this time of year ti gaan raiding aal thi apple orchards!...[slap me hand ....Sir...!]..a hevn't been doon thi street for a waak for a lang lang time..oot o touch noo Alan!

Heh heh!... boots!.. they used to dry oot and curl up at the toes... and covered in the white salt deposits... ye cudn't get them on.. we used ti either wet them under the shower.. or if ye were late for clocking in ye had ti painfully squeeze ya feet in, waak aal hobbly.. and gaan ootside and get a diddle on them... owt ti just get them comfortable! Vic, noo a knaa wat ye mean, doon the pit, whe n discussing conveyors, we just used a "Colloquial" term like either a "Rubber" or a "Chyne" (Chain) belt... we knew it wasn't Rubber, and we knew somebody might mean a 61W,rather than a Crawley afc, sometimes it wasn't important, just general conversation... so aye, a flight belt meks sense! The Dalek. (Flyght), pumps were the best thing since sliced bread, for shifting waata quickly, for us lads, but were they a sod ti repair, Vic? 

Thanks a lot Alan!.. noo aam wondering whoo aal us buggaas wud manage here.. if ye fluke the coop..!!! Cheers, Al. (lukking forward ti a reply from Wor Vic noo!.. just ti settle my mind on the differences in pit terminology!) 

Thanks Alan!

As an afterthought,studying this luvly scene...notice the cloud of moisture condensing as it escapes from the Ventilation Fan Duct Funnel!

90% of that would be coming from the Three-Quarter Seam..where the water from the seabed teemed in constantly,and where everything just seized up over a weekend,on the coalfaces,all of Vic's electrical switchgear,panels,Shearer handles,etc,if there were no Electricians working over the weekend,on maintenance duties,...it was so humid,you could see the moisture droplets in the air like fine dust,in the beam of your caplamp.

OH!..and the other 10% would be from me...sweating..after cutting the coal with the trusty old-fashioned coal-cutter,drilling it with the trusty old "Huwood" driller..firing it down,and then filling 24 tons of coal,and wet stones,onto an old ,old,old-fashioned "rubber"[!]conveyor face belt,using even older-fashioned big "Pan" "Filler's" shovels..["Shuul's"]....in a pit ,[right up to the day that thatcher--the-hatcheter,gave the order to pull out],that left two £30 million-pound Dosco Road-header driving machines of the latest Technlogy,in the "Plessey" Seam!

Two vastly contrasting methods of winning out new roadways and coalfaces at the same pit,in different seams!!

Cheers again! Bill.

WOW!! THAT is a stunner!...yi wadn't cud imagine the scene aa tuk on a summer's neet,[ interesting but pretty dull to the uninitiated eye!],ti turn into a beautiful scene like this...wad ye noo?...but this pic should be on a mining calendar...if it isn't aalriddy![It's a lovely January month pic!]

Me youngest Son used ti gaan extreme exploring,and a lot of it was doon the aad Lead,Fluorspar,Flourite,etc,mines from the 1700's..owa Weardale and places like that.

Noo the Mine Explorer Society,had calendars printed,composed of pictures each month,and chosen from the Members' pics.

Me Son had one of his pics published,and they were aal stunners,so aam wondering if any Coalmining calendars are printed from pics of wor pits.

Alan,please pass my comments of appreciation to Trevor,for posting this gorgeous shot of a bygone age!

Vic,thanks for your comments aboot the flat conveyor belts.Mind ,aam puzzled as ti wat ye mean by "Unplugging"..regarding a conveyor belt?

Also,a think ye might have got me wrong wi me poor description of the screen belts at Choppington high pit.

AFC belts were "Armoured,Flexible, Conveyor", belts,and the abreviated description applied ti all steel flexible conveyors.

My very first encounter with an Armoured Steel Conveyor belt,were the ones that I described up on the screens at the High Pit,unlike any other screen belts at aal thi other its I worked at,and visited.

When I say "Flat",I mean exactly that...flat steel plates,on a four feet wide belt,with each 4'long by 12" wide plate,overlapping it's neighbouring plate by a couple of inches,like the plates on a slatey beetle's back...or an armadillo.....!

No "Flight" bars as in AFC belts in the years of mechanisation..[the term AFC came to be accepted as "ARMOURED FACE CONVEYOR",in later years]....just a completely flat moving conveyor belt..[like the moving pavements in the new Asda superstores to take trolleys and Customers to the upper level].

Now when one of those pates got a smaal stone trapped in the guides,it buckled the plate,which screamed like a  wailing banshee..and when it went around the head-end,the sparks flew like hell and slivers of sharpsteel like thin knives used ti come aroond on the next revolution of the belt..deadly as hell.

My next encounter with an AFC,was when I started underground,on heavy transport,with a pony,tekking everything steel inbye,or bringing gear outbye that had ti gaan ti bank.

The Overman sent me in to a coal face,ti seek two "Panzer pans"....a sed Whaat?!...The pan sections were from the face conveyor,and were made by a German Company called "Panzer"...mebbe the same company that made the Tanks and guns during the War.

Noo they were a minaiture version of the big Crawley AFC's,which we got in later years at other pits,but not High Pit!

The Panzer belts were aboot 16-18 inches wide,with trapped "Flight" bars,spaced aboot two feet apart,and which were snaked into the new face track by the "Pullers",using the deadly old "Sylvester" pulling device.

At Bedlington aad pit,in the High Main seam,they used 61AM flexible "PAN" section belts,which had high spill plates,and no guides to trap the "Flight" bars..completely open pans,and which had to be laid as flat on the ground as possible,the slightest rise at the head-end which wasn't graded properly...and the chain and bars just flew up out of the pans,and lashed around wildly,due to the tension put upon the chain,by the motor head.

At Bates,we used the same type of belt,but it was a heavier duty version,called the 61W,and the term "Flight" bars,was a misnomer,cos the correct term was "Flyght" bars,made by the same company who made the "Flyght" pumps,["DALEKS"...ti thi pitmen!],which can be seen in my Bates pics in the gallery.

So when "Flyght" belts came into thi pits,in the early years,the "Flyght" bar system came to be universally accepted and referred to,on every flexible belt that had bars!...the 61W and 61AM,belts ran with a single centre chain,with the bars mounted like wings,on the chain.

The small Panzer,AND the larger "Crawley",belts,had two chains,one each side,with the bars connected to each side chain with a "Kidney" link.

SO!!..Vic,ti clear up in my mind,which system were you referring to,when ye say "Flight " conveyors,cos the screens at the High Pit,didn't have "Flight/Flyght"..bars at all...completely flat!...and they weren't referred to as anything but the "Screen belts"...["the belts with no name"...!]

As I said earlier,[a think!],the only other place aav seen these belts,is at Beamish Museum,up on the screens there,cos the guide was fascinated when aa started telling him aboot the dangers of them,cos HE hadn't actually seen them working...he just got the job,and with a bit of training,he was gud at he's job,but didn't have hands on experience !

Aa wondered if they came from Choppington,and a wud luv ti knaa if there was any other pits,even in Durham,that used them.

Maybe in the old days aal pits had them,and maybe it was just that the High Pit hadn't been modernised,wi being a little tetty pit!

A speak from me aan experiences,wi nae references from books or owt else,so a stand ti be corrected if aav had a severe memory lapse and aid thi wrang things!!

Cheers to ye Vic,and Alan,and Trevor,and aam wondering what's happened to Canny Lass,and Maggie...been off the Radar a while?

Bill.

Whey,me comment posted by itsell afore a was finished,and when a tried ti edit by adding more text,it wadn't save,so me detailed description of the screens and heapstead was wiped..!

The last sentence above should read as: " ....before the Government inspectors and Area Director and Safety in Mines People aal came ti the pit"

The next night's Evening Chronicle read ..." a safety guard rail has since been erected aound the machinery..."

Just came to me,they have the same steel-plated four foot wide flat conveyor  belts on the screens at Beamish museum,the only other place where I have seen these deadly peices of machinery,deadly, cos the plates used to get bent up with hard bits of stone becoming trapped in the guides,and sharp, long bits of swarf edge spikes used to rip your hands and arms,as they were concealed under the load of wet coal and stone slurry on the belt.

Malcom Mckenna,the washery tower looks like a giant ice cream cornet..whey, a bit like one..!

Thanks again Vic for helping me oot!

Cheers Alan!

Bill.

Well,that was a fine example of pooled education!...We are aal wiser and richer  noo!.....thanks Vic for rescueing me here,a remember noo,aboot the drum,thanks to your prompting my grey matter,but aal the rest of the fascinating information aboot thi other processes are completely new to me.

A nivvor saw another improvised Washery like the one aa described that was at the High pit..when a say "Improvised" ..it's not be taken lightly!..A lot of engineering,went into thi making of that mechanical monster!

The single-throw crankshaft  was forged from steel maybe a foot thick,maybe more or a wee bit less,as was the connecting rod.

The bearing saddles had to be massive also,to withstand the forward/reverse motion,and inertia which was sufficient to move the whole of the screens and upper heapstead,where all the tipplers and creepers were..and which were all built on heavy girder stilts.

The platform weighed a canny few tons,and danced back and forward as if it were a kids toy.

Noo! We stood wi wor backs to this moving and rackety deafening monster,with a gangway separating the sreening belts,only aboot

four feet wide,so if yi fell backwards,which ye med sure yi didn't,ye wud hae ya arms tekking off by the carriage wheels which ran on rolleyway rails,and which went completely unguarded from installation,until Old Jimmy,the oiler and greaser,got trapped in the moving machinery,sustaining fatal injuries...then within hours of Jimmy's death,the Blacksmiths,engineers,and senior management,were all up there installing guard handrails aal aroond the washer,before

Alan,in the Pegswood pic,you can see the railway 21-tonner,underneath the washer,being loaded with stones.

I stand to be corrected if I have given any misinformation,through ignorance of the actual process..not being experienced in the process..only what I learned in training and asking questions of those who did know and worked up there!

Hi Alan!  It was the coal washery plant tower.

All the pit's coal output went through this process,cos no coal was ever just perfectly clean coal!

When the coal was brought to "BANK"..[..The surface!],it went first to the screens,which were flat conveyor belts,where, usually,older disabled men,and young boy trainees,stood at each side of the belt,and hand-picked what stones they could,and threw them down a chute which took the stones,plus any other rubbish like pieces of damaged conveyor belt,old steel stranded haulage rope ,etc,into a waiting railway truck underneath the screens,or onto another short conveyor belt which took the waste into the big hopper which you might have seen travelling up the pit heap to be emptied at the top of the heap.

The coal was then taken by conveyor belt up and into that big round washery tower,which was full of water,being swirled around to create a vortex,like a big whirlpool,into which was added a product called "Magnatite",the purpose of this being to cause the coal to float like bits of wood,and allowing the heavier material and waste products to sink to the bottom.

In a nutshell,it was a separation plant.

Noo! ..that's the bit aa knaa,but how they retrieved the coal,and the washed out waste stones etc,without leaking water oot...is still a puzzle to me,and it's something aav nivvor thowt aboot,Alan,since the pits closed doon.

A dae remember being curious aboot the process,and asking Russel,the Shaftman/Joiner,who took me and me Son up the heedgear,ti get them excellent shots from the pit wheels,but aav forgotten noo.

A think we might find oot on Google,surely somebody has posted info of the process online!..not often HPW is stumped on mining,but I was never up there in the washery,only the plant Attendants,and maintenance men were allowed in there,due to the chemicals being used..probably.

This process was used at most "Modern"-ish pits,with the exception of the old Choppington High Pit!

Did you notice how,on your posting of the old O.S. maps of Choppington,that the "A" pit,[or "LowPit"],was drawn out with all the buildings around it,whilst the High Pit is shown as just a "dot" saying the word..."Colliery"..of little importance...!

All pits in the sight of the public main roads,were fancy girder-framed and brick-built buildings...a sign of modern industry and investment..methinks!

On the contrary,the High Pit,was sunk over the fields,out of sight to most passers-by,and was all corrugated sheet-clad,like the old shanty towns you see in the old west in the States of the early days...[ a virtual hillbilly shack type of vibe!].

Now when I started in 1959,the weather had taken it's toll on the wrinkly tin sheets,and they banged and rattled,with loose sheets flapping in the wind...and freezing in the winter,inside!

Noo,the washery there,WOULD have been modern,in it's day,and consisted of a massive flat platform,aboot 30 feet long,by aboot 8 feet wide,and which was mounted on a rolling carriage,which in turn,ran on rails.

The platform was called a "Shaker",cos it moved back and forth ,driven by a huge connecting rod and crankshaft,which was driven by a webbing belt running on a motor,like the farmers use to drive implements from the tractor auxiliary pulley.

The crankshaft throw was only aboot 3-4 feet,at the most,but when it was running,the sheer end-of-stroke,shock,as it changed the direction of the huge platform,was enough to make the whole Heapstead building move in sympathy,so if you were getting your bait,you had to hold your cup of tea in an outstretched hand, at arms-length,or you would be spilling tea over yourself...worse than the old steam tankeys![ the shaker frequency was aboot once per second..and was a violent thump..each time]

Noo wat a missed oot was,this platform had rows of various sized holes along its length,the smallest ones being nearest to where the coal was tipped onto from the tipplers above which turned the pit tubs upside doon,and tippped the load down a chute and onto the "Washer"..[which this platform was.]

At different places along the washer,the rows of holes got bigger,and bigger,and high pressure water sprays were mounted aboot  two feet above the platform,on a separate frame.

If you can visualise this,Alan,here you had this huge machine shaking violently,back and forth,aboot three feet each way,and the machine was built with a slight gradient  up-over,with a series of steel thin strips welded on the flat platform,running crossways,and aboot a foot apart,aal the way alang it's length,so as the coal was tipped on,it was shaken up the gradient on the bed,washed clean by the sprays,[pure water-no chemicals at all!],the coal "crept" up the washer,with the smaller "Nuts" falling through the smaller holes,into the railway trucks underneath,the "Singles"..[house-hold sized coal],fell through the next rows of larger holes,the "Doubles",.."Trebles",..and "Cobbles",all fell through respective holes,which was an effective way of grading the coal out..and a lot cheaper than the later washery,and environmentally friendly also!!

Finally,any larger stones which escaped the grading holes,were shaken over the edge,tipped straight onto a steel flat sheet,hand-loaded into a wheelbarrow,and wheeled around the floor past the screening belts,and tipped down a chute into the "stone " truck below.

That was a hard,thankless task for an old miner,and which had been done since the washer was installed in the early 1900's![it was like that in 1929,when my Father started up on the screens as a 14 year old miner..]

It all changed as soon as HPW had  short spells on the screens as a 15 year old trainee!

I watched this little old man every day I was up there,[cos my main job was in the timber yard],and one day,I plucked up the courage to tell the "Keeker",[Chargeman]..Jimmy Framm,a suggestion,which aa thowt he wud tell me ti....yi knaa wat!

Whey Jimmy knew,and remembered my Father well,and had taken a liking to me,cos a was a quiet hard worker,so he listened to what a had ti say.

Next thing aa knew was ,within a few days,the Blacksmiths were burning a hole in the floor where the all the stones tipped from the washer,constructing a steel chute,with the purpose of directing the tipped stones directly into the stone truck below,saving a man's wasted labour!!

Only one of my claims to being an unrecognised inventor at the pits,in my pit life!

Somebody else would always get the credit for my inventions,usually a Deputy,or or Overman,cos they were the ones that took my suggestions to the Management,to get things done and put in place...same in the furniture trade...I was robbed of credit there as well!

Not that I was going ti be paid anything,just nice to be recognised and appreciation shown!

Well Alan,I hope you are a bit wiser now,and you might have found my recollections interesting..if not tiring to read!

Cheers Alan!

Bill.

Late of catching up as usual,but a BIG thanks Alan!

Caring duties at home becoming more intense Alan,so will be checking in whenever I can.

Cheers Bill.

Eh Alan!..thanks a lot for notifying me of this great pic of my old home village!

Please convey my special thanks to the person who made the reference to me on Facebook.

Brings back a lot of memories..climbing on the wall behind the chapel,which was a helluva height....for a three year old laddie..in truth it was probably about the same height as the one shown here..maybe four or five feet high!...playing in the back lane..up the field where the ponds were...in the days when they were lovely green meadows stretching aal thi way up the Barn'ton Born!

Imagine,we just used to walk over that road ti play in the "Front"  field,in the bomb crater,which grassed over by then..

Cheers and thanks again!

Pete,a just realised!....The Olympics..!!!

Aad forgot aboot them till ye jogged me memory...they called themselves that name,after the budget "Olympic" drum kit that most of the young groups like us had to start out with..they were a cheap but canny sounding kit,better than old oil drums for sure!

A canna mind of any of the lads noo,there were so many groups,in them days,ye cud gaan ti a different place and see a different group any neet of the week!

Hi Pete,would it have been Billy McGregor..AKA known as "The Elvis Experience",in his earlier days?

He lost his lovely old Dad ,"Old Billy",who moved into my Mother-in-Law's house when she had to move into a Bungalow..years ago.

It was exciting times being a lead guitarist in the sixties,Pete,there were so many instrumentals in the charts at any one time,from so varied a mix of musical genre[..is that the correct word? ...Canny Lass?!!]

In between playing all the lead roles in the instrumentals,almost every song had either dazzling guitar riffs for intro's and little tinkly bits and pieces all the way through the song,and usually a "Middle Eight" guitar solo...and sometimes a guitar outro as well,so I would be busy all night...take the Beatles and Stones for example....just great times!

Cheers Pete,and Alan,and BritBob..!

Bill.

Heh heh!..apologies to all,for digressing..this forum and aal ye  folks are like a was sitting at yem,and a just get carried away!

Pete,we first  started  to practice at the Wharton Arms,as we had all just gotten togitha,ti form a group.

We were aal young,no group experience,no proper gear,as aa just explained,and we had to learn as we went alang.

One of the other lads knew a lass who was a canny singer,[Sandy Shaw/Cilla Black style],and we agreed to give her a try.She played three or four "bookings"...as we caaled them in them days....not "Gigs"...[which a think came from yankeeland and soonds poncy as hell ti me....!],but wor Bass player and her got together,and were married within a few months...at short notice.

The poor lass died a few years ago,much too early in life,as did wor Singer,who a mentioned in the above posts,but this was in later life,and still much too young to die.

Once we got a bit experience,and a bit better..[proper!] gear,we changed practice venue to a place which no longer exists...

...the place was pulled doon ti put a new road through...but aa digress.....!

....just ti keep ye in touch wi Geordieland/Northumbrian/Bedltn dialect,Pete ,ye spell nivvor,like "nivvor"

Hoo did ye knaa we practiced there Pete,aam ashamed ti say aav forgotten ya sornyem,after we met doon thon Fornace Bank woods orlier in thi yeor...

Can ye mind the big fella who ran the Wharton,Pete,he was a giant of a man caaled Derek,it was kind of him ti let a bunch o yung kids mek a racket and chase customers oot!..whey, a say "Kids",we were aal working men,two of us were pitmen,aa was just eyteen ya- -raad-ish..!..[ ye grew up quick doon thon deep black hole...ye had ti stand on ya aan two feet...!]

Noo aam just torned 75 last month,and a still plonk on wi arthritic fingers and hands,and wrists...but it's as much fun noo,as it was 60 yrs ago when a forst larn't thi guitar mesel.

Cheers Bill.

ps..aam still puzzled as ti hoo Pete remembered wor nyem!

Hi Pete! ..."Dynacords"..no "h" in the name...it was the name of a German -made and imported guitar amplifier,that our Bass-player's Brother,who was in the R.A.F,stationed at Dusseldorf,in the 1960's,brought over here,at a time when only VOX,SELMER,and WATKINS,were the only Amplifier manufacturer's of any real worthiness.

We couldn't afford any of those amps at thi time,in the early 1960's,and ,like loads of other groups...GROUPS!!....not BANDS!...,we started out with little 8-Watt amps,as small as a wee speaker cabinet,about 12 inches high,and 10 inches wide,or thereabouts...and the old-timer pitmen in the clubs used ti shout...."Ya aal reet ,but ya owa lood,man,torn thi buggaas doon..!"

8 watts!!....then Jimi Hendrix came along with 200-watt Marshall Stacks,with two 4x 12" cabinets which stood six feet tall!![the "4x12"..denotes that each cabinet held four 12-inch diameter loudspeakers!

Now THAT used to  lift the roof off the City Hall at the Toon!

Well..!! He we are again!

Two years have just flown past,and I,along with another mature student,have just completed the CBT course succesfully,with the guidance,and re-assuring manner of Paul,the Owner of the training school.

Embarrassingly,both of us students went to the training centre,with a shortage of fuel,and had to stop to re-fuel,whilst out on the road.I can only speak very highly of Paul,who must have been gifted with the patience of Job...[to quote an old-fashioned saying!]

We both enjoyed the course,and came away feeling more relaxed and confident than ever...back down the road to home,was for me,more enjoyable than when I set out early in the morning,as Paul's guidance and advice whilst out on the road,kept going through my head...and I am just turned 75yrs old...[but 17 yrs old inside my old head!!]

I hope my comments will encourage young,or older,students who might be nervous ,or lacking in confidence,to give Paul a ring,and arrange the CBT at Paul's training school.

No!..I don't work for Paul!,I am just one very satisfied Born-Again Biker!!

Cheers,Bill.

Hi Pete,if ya in theor!...Hoo di ye remember the Dynacords?....were they that bad!....

Alan,can ye tell Jean that we ARE aal Dinosaurs noo!...sadly except for wor  lead vocalist,who passed away many years ago,aged only 46 yrs,after a long illness,due to a very rare disease called "Poitsieager's Syndrome", which causes Polyps to form on the Intestines,and which required frequent operations to remove them.

Geordie was one of only 40 people in the UK,who was known to suffer from this awful disease..R.I.P. Geordie.

Canny Lass,a just remembered,when Ashington Pit closed,in 1987,a year or two went by,then they started to reclaim coal which had been tipped along with all the stones from the screening plant...which all pits had,ancient methods..young laddies from school started on the screens usually,before going underground to work.It toughened up even the smallest and weakest of kids,cos you stood there from clocking on,till you clocked off,legs ,arms,and back feeling like they were breaking.It really was slave labour for a 14 year old,like my Father,and 15 yrs old for my generation.

So, they used modern technology to sift through the pit heap,[or "Spoil" heap..if ya posh!],using big machines,bulldozers,etc,and if my memory serves me correctly,they reclaimed over 20,000 tons of coal ,which had lain there for over one hundred years!

So  it shows you what was lost at all the other pit heaps around the country!!...well,not exactly LOST,cos the heaps are still there..only they made country parks out of them,forested and nice grassy places for picnics etc.

Let's say,when all the available power generators run out of fuel..theres a hell of an asset above ground in those heaps,as well as what millions of tons was left underground...but that's been covered by me in the past!!

Aye Tony,  we were the same..a mean,Hollymoont Square is a mile and a haaf from the Station,and me and me owlda Brother,[by three years..born on the same day ...three yeors apart!..gud shooting!],used to luv watching the flames and acres of red and white hot cinders flying off the heap in a gale force wind,on a winter's dark neet..for aal we were so far away,it was so high that it loomed owa the toon!!

It was the oldest and biggest pit heap in the country,in the sixties,afore they lowered it by nearly 200 feet,a think that figure was aboot reet.

Wor Liz is still gorgeous..a great personality,we are at the ages where we only meet at family funerals noo..did ye knaa her younger Brother Ray,he passed away last year aged 56.

Next time we meet aal pass on your regards Tony.

Cheers

HPW .

Heh heh!....it's a small world aint it....?

I never thowt anybody wud have ivvor have remembered!!....a played Lead Guitar..it was a great time ti be a lead guitarist,wi aal the instrumentals in the charts in the Sixties!

Thanks for the references Alan!

Hi Folks! Tony,welcome back,Noo!..as a bairn,growing up at Hollymount Square,from 1947-ish,it depended which way the wind blew!

If ye had a North-easterly,ye had aal thi Sulphur and other combinations of chemical smells from the Aad pit heap,which burned ferociously in a strong wind,also the same from the Doctor pit heaps.

If it was Westerly, ye had the stink from the Slaughterhouse across the road from us,Pigs being shot with a humane .23 Cal. bullet,by the dozen,on a peaceful Sunday Morning...it's just dawned on me this minute......THAT'S why the Salvation army used to stand reet ootside my bedroom windae,between us and the Slaughterhouse,and blast oot wi tha brass band!![ reminds me of the Clint Eastwood movie scene where the band and choir sing ti drooned oot the soond of the guys getting beaten ti hell in a shed!]

In the beginning of the spring gardening season,ye were poisoned by a multitude of aal the nybors borning aal tha garden rubbish...and mind....tha used ti be fires in ivry garden practically!...tha was aalwis aal the hoose rubbish if the bin was full,Domestos bottles being the most toxic..even ti this day!

When we moved ti Stakeford ,in 1970,[Me Wife,Me and wa young 2 yr aad  Son],it was like Tony sed,Glaxo being the most obnoxious reek,24hrs a day.[..it was bad enough for me breathing Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulphrous fumes aal shift ,working undergrund..ti be subjected ti Glaxo wen a came yem at lowse!!]

Alan,when one was a wee bairn,sharing a bed wi a Brother three years aader,and very devilish...who used ti frighten oneself by saying there's a burglar at the windae trying ti get in...blankets owa heeds,stop breathing till ya lungs were bursting,cos the man wud heor us,then when one had ti suck a desperate breath in...foul smells emanated from ones Brother....!!..[mind the three year' s made a difference in intelligence and wit,when one was aanly fowa yeors aad ,and he was sivin yeors aad!]

Canny lass,the pit heaps contained thousands of tons of coal,which was thrown off the screens,by the screen belt pickers,which was the method of cleaning the coal,by throwing all the stones off the conveyor screen belts,into a chute which sent it into the hopper,that you would have seen being pulled up the heap on a railed buggy,by a hauler rope.

The coal thrown off would have been full of stone "Bands",where the lump might have been mostly stone with a few thin bands of coal which wud be inseperable from the stone.

NOO,at Choppington High pit,the Beaumont seam went from less than two feet high to ten feet high on the same coalface,and was full of stone bands the whole height,atrociously bad quality coal,and which also contained a lot of what the miners termed "Brass",and which used to spit and spark out of the fire and burn wee holes in the Clippy mat in front of the fire..!

It wasn't Brass,it was Iron Pyrites,which,when tipped up on the pit heaps,and which was subjected to Acid rain,over the hundred -odd years,produced H2S [Hydrogen Sulphide]...rotten egg smell...highly lethal in confined spaces underground,cos it quickly kills the sense of smell,giving a false sense of security..but can poison one to death in minutes,if gud fresh air supply cannot be gotten quickly. In the case of the heaps,it wasn't so deadly because it was quickly dispersed in the wind,not before we all got a gud whiff or two.....for years ...and yeors!!!

Added to this was the sulphur content of the coal,which appeared as a yellowish soft substance in the cleat of the coal,so when the heaps had lain for a few decades,the middle of the heap is like a giant compost heap,it heats up to the point where spontaneous combustion occurs,and all them nice tasy odours are released! ....mind aal the pits,not just Choppington,and Netherton,or Bedlington,wud have worked these inferior quality seams,during the Industrial revolution,and during the two world wars,the need for coal was so great,aal thi pits  wud have had to extract as much as possible,being less selective,like last few decades where clean coal was required for Power sations...which was the reason for coal blending plants such as was at Lynemouth/Ellington complex,and Bates pit,to blend low Sulphur,sweet coal with the higher Sulphur,sour coal,to make it just right,cos Bates,for instance,coal was so high in Sulphur,that it was burning the Power Station boiler grids out too fast.So blending with Ellington coal solved the problem,to a certain extent.

Noo in this day and age,the smells we are subjected to are mainly from foul-smelling fertiliser being spread by the farmers,Cow slurry usually,bad enough,but a few yeors back,my Wife and me had been ti Blyth on a luvly sunny day,and when we got yem,and aa oppened the car door ti get oot,and inti thi hoose,aa wuz neaorly owacum by the most obnoxious toxic odour,so strong it was catching me throat,mekkin breathin difficult..actually choking us.

Thi wind had got up strong Easterly,and it started to rain torrentially.

Aa phoned the police,telling them a suspected a chemical leak from the factories at Cambois...a polis came stryght doon,and as he got oot he's car HE was choking,and he hurried inti wor hoose.

After a short natter,he said he was away ti Cammis ti investigate...he was back in a haaf hoor,and telt us it was coming from the farm at the Havelock.

The farmer had gotten loads of HUMAN waste from the sewage plant,which was entirely legal..[whey aal thi Bates lads used ti get it from the plant where Aldi is noo..in the 1970's],and he had just sprayed all he's land,when the rain came,which prevented him from ploughing it into the land.

The polis said that the condition of spraying human waste was that it had to be ploughed in within 24 hours of being applied,or the farmer could be prosecuted..but in this case it was an impossibilty for the farmer,due to the atrocious weather....so we had to endure the reek for weeks until the land dried oot for him ti plough it in..mebbe sumbody else can mind that incident?

Cheers folks!

HPW.

Great pieces of footage,many a blast from the past for me there! When My Parents moved to Hollymount Square,in 1947,I was three years old. After a couple of years,aged 5 years old my Friend [same age],and his older Sister,[nearly 8 years old,and a big lass to look after us two!],we used to go down Bedlington Bank,to play in the river stretch that runs past at the bottom of the Picnic Field..catching "Tommies" [small catfish],with our bare hands..and having a picnic which my friend's Sister used to carry down.

The field was full of big-horned cows,grazing among the long grass in the field.We never came to any harm as that became a way of life for all our young lives until we were in our early teens! 

The thing is,I canna remember exactly when they first mowed the field to have the Miner's Picnic there,cos it used to be held at Ashington.

Picnic day was the only day that I ever saw some of my Aunts and Uncles from Ashington and North Seaton,and Cramlington,even my Mother's Uncle and Aunt once came from Massachussetts USA, to see the family one picnic day,and why was that the only time I saw them?...cos we lived not 50 yards from the front street,and my Mother's place was handy for a cup of tea and a sammidge,...AND we had a modern flush toilet....AND hot and cold running water!![in a brand new post-war cooncil hoose!]...when they were still living in colliery hooses wi a stand pipe up the end of the street...pails of waata etc!!So a remember every year,when they mowed aal the grassy areas up the front street,and the year we lay on the grass watching a STEAM ROLLER..YEP!..NOT DIESEL!..laying modern "Tarmac" up the main street past the Old Hall ti the top-end,in readiness for the picnic,mebbe it was for the first picnic,and the council wanted ,naturally,to make Bedlington a lovely place for future visits by strangers to the town...it was magical for us little kids seeing all the buntings,[what we called.."the flags"],being strung criss-cross all the way from the top-end down the street,and all the lamp-posts with lovely flower baskets hanging from them.

Three-gee,The highlights what drew crowds of people back up the street,who might have been about to leave ,was the wail of the "Kilties"..Scottish Pipe Band...[who from Whitley Bay..I learned in later years!],and the Children's Jazz Bands.

There were sometimes over 100,000 people from all over the County and beyond,and the day was regarded as a "Picnic",for the hundreds of young kids and families,with the "Shows" starting at 2-0pm,till 11-0pm.

The pubs spilt out into thi streets,at closing time,having had exemptions for extended opening times as earlier rather than later,and the only time I ever personally witnessed drunkedness causing bother was when a fella tried  to molest womenfolk walking down Church lane on a sunny afternoon,on their way to the "Showfield"..[20 acres],at Millfield. He came across to my Family,and got in the way of us,shouting and swearing,and picked on my Father ,who had told him to cut the swearing out.

He wnt for my Father,who was stone cold sober ,and to keep the entertainment light....let's just say he "backed a losser!"

The police came and took him away..and that was it,but it spoiled a lovely day out for us,cos us kids were shaking with fear,seeing our father being set upon.

Usually on the following Monday,the Journal,and Evening Chronicle,would carry the story,with pics,and always remarked that there were one or two arrests..for drunkedness....out of over 100-000 people!  The black drapes over the banners was a mark of deep respect and sorrow for those who had been fatally injured in the respective mines,in the year leading up to the day of the picnic, and not for historical fatalities,as suggested..if that was the case,every banner in the parade would have been draped so far down you wouldn't see the banner in it's beauty! 

On picnic day,everybody went down[,well not everybody!..most miners and families!],to the picnic field to hear the speeches,by political party and union members,but you never,EVER,saw any flag-waving politically obsessed people...it was a case of listen to the speeches,come back up the bank,home for a quick tea,and take the kids to the Shows,or for those who put the pubs before their families...away for a few pints..nowt more,nowt like what you seem to suggest in your strong comments threegee!..I didn't read or research anything..I lived through it in a mining community where everyone in my families on both my parents sides,my friends in the whole of Hollymount,Millfield,Haig,and Beatty roads,and 90% of those I knewall worked in the mines,myself included,which I know that you know already,just for the benefit of newbies coming onto the site!

We know it was basically a political rally,and Lord Attlee could be heard from the rostrum,all the way up to the top-end,by virtue of what we kids used to call"Picnic-day speakers"..mounted high up on the lamp-posts,[loud-hailers],and all connected by cables strung from the field all the way from lampost to lampost....wat a job for the sparky's!!,but in the years following Nationalisation,wages and conditions underground were atrocious,well they were at the High and Low pits at Choppington...and the speeches were to rally the miners ambitions and hopes for the future...it still didn't stop banners being draped black ,sometimes on more than one colliery banner,in the same year...

Our  next door neighbour at Hollymount used to film the Picnic every year with his Cine Camera,and he used to have his snapshot camera also..he is sadly deceased,I believe,and last I saw him,a few years ago,he said he had filmed my wedding day..service and reception,but the bulb had failed in his projector,and was obsolete,so if we could trace where his boxfuls of films and photos went..it would be a historical goldmine for us bedlington-tonians.

Eh,it's weel seen aam back!

Thanks cympil for the memories being re-lived for me!

Noo! Carr's Buildings ring a bell,but a just canna bring it fully ti mind..thi only buildings doon aside Hollymount Square were Front street east,Vicarage Terrace,Bell's Place,and Hollymount Terrace,and Avenue,which are back to back terraces,and where my Sister,and her Daughter still live.

Surely they can be found on the old Ordnance survey maps..or even on more modern [1950's..?]maps of the area?

Best of luck Alan,if aa find owt oot aal post it!

Hi Alan! If aa can get my bent aad neck aroond it then aal thi young cheds'll hae nae botha !

Enywheh!..Aa went ti schyuul wi a lad caaled John Henderson,from Haig Road,[a think..definitely owa that way..],and a few years later as the High pit closed,[6 years ti be exact],aa was transferred ti Bedltn Aad pit,as yi knaa.

Noo a worked wi a canny quiet aader fella caaled Tony Henderson,sumtimes,cos a was wat was caaled a "Spare Man",through being transferred from anotha pit.

So through a process of conversation,it turned oot that Tony was the Father of the aforementioned John,who was my young classmate from aged 5 yrs,in 1949! ..smaal world,and a wonder if Tony was a relative of those entered in your Granny's Bible.

My Wife's Uncle John Oliver,from Puddler's Row,entered the dates of death of all his family and friends in his diary...nothing else of local interest...just deaths..."...Joe Broon died today"...in that manner!

In them days,wi pit disasters,and diseases locally,such as Diptheria,Polio,Typhoid,etc,people died young and it would seem like every other day somebody would lose a family member or friend.

Mind,having said that,Mary Ann Hall,was born in 1899,and died in 1991,according to the entry in your posting,so she reached a grand old age...102!!