Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

@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 :-

@Symptoms - posted this in relation to a previous question about the 'A' pit :- The banner was commissioned in 1949 by the Bedlington 'A' Colliery Combined Levy Fund Committee; the pit was also known as Sleekburn 'A' and originally the 'Auld Pit' when the first shaft was sunk in back in1838. So, it's the same pit ... perhaps, some of the old boys just continued to call it Sleekburn Pit after Nationalisation.

@Bradford - there is a web site - http://www.dmm.org.uk/mindex.htm that has gathered information on all the coal mines within Northumberland and Durham. The above link will take you to the cover page and there is an index for the site down the left hand side. Selecting 'Mines' will give you the alphabetic index list A to Z . The Bedlington 'A' pit is under Bedlington Colliery - opened 1838.When you are searching for info on the 'A' pit you may encounter the name Sleekburn. The area where the 'A' pit was opened was known as Sleekburn before a railway line, that serviced all the local coal mines, came into use in 1850. I don't know when the area name changed to Bedlington Station. This is a link to the railway station named Bedlington on the 'Disused Stations site :- http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/b/bedlington/index.shtml

@HIGH PIT WILMA - I posted your query on the Friends Of Bates Colliery group and Andy Tredwell erplied :- '...... Yeah Charlie Treadwell is my uncle ( my dad's brother!) Very nice to read cut again! I don't know if the use of the word 'cut' is a mistake or just something I don't understand