Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

Checking on the FreeBMD genealogy site for any registered births, between 1840 & 1870, for the name James King only returns one record. Checks for Joseph & Elizabeth King (using 1860 through to 1910 only return records for those names in 1891, 1903, 1905 & 1910. The Bedlington area registrar's office for the 19th century was Morpeth - approximately 7 miles from Bedlington so it's not unusual for the registration of births, deaths and marriages only to be done if and when the family visited the town where the registrar's was located.

@Bradford - never followed Bedlington Cricket Club team and I have no idea how long they have been in existence. They are still going but there web site does not give any historical info :- Looking at the old maps, 1858, :- the Hirst Head group appears to have been in existence since the middle of the 19th century. Although part of their land was sold off years ago for a housing development the cricket club still plays at the Hirst Head :-

@Bradford - there were two collieries in Bedlington. The one where the Brown side of your family lived, the Bedlington 'A' pit had the houses named South Row and the Doctor Pit had the houses named New South Row. This extract from Google shows approximately where the two pits were located :- Extracts from the old maps showing the Doctor Pit and rows :- Don't have a date for this image but it shows how close to the Doctor Pit the rows were :-

@HIGH PIT WILMA - unfortunately Davey Bower is no longer with us. If only I lived in Bedlington and still saw some of the lads from my teenage years. Let's try one more photo that I think one of the lads in it, Eric Theilman, worked at the 'A' pit. Eric lived in Shop Row so crosed the lines at the bottom of Shop Row to go to Barrington CP school. After leaving secondary school I think he started the pit along with Norman Hills and Davey Bower.

@HIGH PIT WILMA - in thye mining topic I answered your question about any of us , ie me, Jas or Ovalteeny, been musical by saying - no. What I should add is that I am not aware of the other two playing any musical instruments but Ovalteeny does have a love of various types of music and currently shares his tastes. Every Tuesday - Lionheart radio (Alnwick) Messin Show - Messing with the Kid - 15:00 to 17:00 Check out the 'Schedule' & 'Presenters' on this link :- https://www.lionheartradio.com/

Don't know about Djevvy - I will try and find out. Neither Jas, Ovalteeny or me worked at the pit. I remember I applied to be an electrician at the 'A' pit a few weeks before I left the Grammar school, July 1965 but what told there were no apprenticeships going at the time so I would have to wait 6 months or more. Didn't tell me parents as I would have had me ears clipped but I always enjoyed watching me dad (who eventually became an electrician at Blyth Power Station after years of labouring) strip down and repair any electrical appliance belonging to us, or the neighbours. My mam, eldest of nine, Beatty Road (friends of the Graham's that lived near you in Hollymount Square) never wanted my dad to go down the pit when he cam out of the army after WW2. My mam had to help me granny look after the miners in the family and she knew all about the dangers. My uncle Luke Henderson was at the Dr Pit until an accident prevented him from ever working again. Some kids had found some detonators from the Dr Pit and were playing with them. Luke took them off the kids but one went off and me mam always said that the scars on his chest looked like a map of Great Britain. So granda Martin Henderson, uncles Martin, Lule.,Bob and George all worked at the pit. The second youngest son, Brian, joined the navy. Jas worked for LEP transport in Newcastle and transferred down to the London Office. After a short spell at Blyth Ship yard, whilst I was waiting for an apprenticeship at the 'A' pit joined, and it was announced that it was going to close I joined the Civil Service, much to the delight of me mam. I transferred from DHSS Longbenton to a DHSS Local Office in East Ham, London. I can't remember what Ovalteeny was doing before he let Bedlington. None of us had any musical talent, just a sense of adventure.

@HIGH PIT WILMA Gan on as much as ya like marra Unfortunately, like many others we knew, Norman died of throat cancer about 20 years ago. Why I have the photo of Norman and Jas, along with a few others of Bedlington lads from the 1960's, is that that three of us had a 50 year reunion last Friday and Jas brought some old photos that he just collected from his cousin that still lives i Bedlington Station - Jas has lived abroad, a village near Malaga for 20 years. Jas came over to England, for 3 days, as he had a meeting with a company in Edinburgh. Stayed at his cousins on arrival - Edinburgh all day the next day and then came over to see me in Seghill on the Friday. As he didn't have transport Ovalteeny picked him up and they came across to my house. So what we had in our house was three lads that left Bedlington - Jas Dec 1968, Me & Ovalteeny January 1969 that headed for the London high life - sex, drugs, flower power etc. Fortunately there were already other Bedlington folk in the capital so there were a few that understood what we were saying. After many adventures - even sat around Eros (The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain surmounted by a winged statue of Anteros, located at the southeastern side of Piccadilly Circus) spreading peace to the world! We weren't really hippies but in the summer it was a good place, and a good crowd, to hang out with. After about a year we had all moved on through different employment and last Friday was the first time in almost 50 years that the three of us had been back together. The three of us sat around my Rise & Recline chair, both reminiscing and looking forward. So that brief (but for me gannin on quite a bit) ramble above leads me to another photo Jas produced of another 'mate of ours that you may remember from the 'A' pit - Davey Bower - a lad of short stature, bowed legs but was admired by what he swung around in the pit baths. Jas & Davey (on the left) c1967

@HIGH PIT WILMA - a c1969 photo of two of my old mates - on the right Michael (Jas) Jospeh and on the left Norman Hills who worked at the 'A' pit and probably started there in 1965. Norman lived in South Row and this photo is from the back lane and there appears to be two winding wheels. Where there two shafts at the Aad pit?

2018 - 7th December - He looks like he’s just got in from his Xmas night out!!

Late 1960's - Saturday afternoon and most of the lads would be in the bookies on Palace Road. Raymie Tyrie used to buy a Daily Mirror and would often follow 'Spot_Form ' as he once managed 5 (or 6) winners in a row winning about 6 weeks wages (BUDC) in one afternoon. But that only ever happened the once in the years they were betting. Me - I went home whilst they gambled and watched the Telly Goons - don't even bet on the Grand National.

The photos are easy Brad - the old ones of South Row are posted on the Bedlington Facebook groups - Bygone Bedlington & Bedlington remembered. Both are closed groups so non members are unable to view the postings etc. Can't help you with any info on the Brown family. I'm not into genealogy. There is a free web site, called FreeBMD that many use to track down relatives. Web address is https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ This is a very straight forward site that doesn't direct you to any other historical records, just the Biths , Marriages & Deaths records. The Registrars office for Bedlington in the 19th and early 20th century was Morpeth, Northumberland. A simple search on the Free BMD site :- returns the basic info :- and from that info you can request a copy of the relevant certificate from the registrars office - used to be just under £10 sterling per copy.

@HIGH PIT WILMA - this would be your era. Photo from @James

@Bradford - I can't remember ever having seen a photo of what we called the 'Top Half' of South Row. I have a vague recollection of the row but can't remember if it was demolished in the late 50's or early 60's. The Top Half was opposite Pioneer Terrace and ended at the Pit Managers house that is now the Holmside Residential Care Home. The 'Bottom Half' of South Row, where some of my mates grew up in in the 60's was No 1 to No 27. The following image is a Then (1970) & Now (2018) of the Bottom Half. I am speculating (as I can't remember) that the front of the South Row houses was refaced. This image shows the back lane of Nos 1 to 27 and it has been confirmed as South Row as we have identified the other buildings in the photo. You can see the backs of the houses are built with stone and not matching the 1970 image showing bricks.

@Bradford - I know this doesn't help with locating members of the Brown family but this is an aerial shot, 1924, of the 'A' pit with one half of South Row in the shot and a 1924 map extract showing the two terraces of South Row :-