Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

high pit wilma :- I just realised that there is one thing of interest in this pic, and that is the machine on the right of the pic,where hoses lead from the machine and actually into the coal seam. For those who might not know,the machine is a "Cementation" pump. Holes were drilled into the coal seam,and liquid cement slurry,which was quick-setting,was pumped under very high pressure,into the holes in the coal,therefore grouting and sealing any breaks in the strata which would cause inrushes of Methane,or other noxious gases,or water,which could be lethal to us,as we were very near to breaking through a 36-feet thick Blue Whinstone Dyke,[Igneous Intrusion]. By virtue of the fact that the Whinstone was molten rock,200 million years ago,when it first forced it's way through the strata,by brute force,and extreme temperatures and pressures,it figures that a lot of damage to the surrounding strata occurred,including burning of the coal seam,to cinder coal,on either side of the seam. So that was the purpose of the grouting pump.

I missed a digit off the descriptions should say - "10s TAILGATE............................"

BigLoada :- Great! Glad you uploaded this one. You should be able to rotate it if you go into EDIT, somewhere you should see that above the photo. high pit wilma :- Heh!Heh! A did that afore a saw your comments!! Aam larnin,but hoo di a put them wi me other ones?..aal chek oot the score noo..! An' by hell, yi are quick off the mark eh!! high pit wilma :- Aam glaaky, and too quick off the mark an aal,cos a just realised they are on the end of my set[a thought they had been put in a set separate to my other ones yi see...?] BigLoada :- Nah. What happens is, if yer photies are not in a set, they will show up on the front page as your latest upload but obviously you wont see them on the right side where the sets are listed, cos they aint in one. Divvent worry, ye'll get theor! high pit wilma :-Cheers! Noo a need ti naa hoo ti get me pics so billcosphoto's can see them,a twigged hoo his dad is on the pic yi sent me. BigLoada :- Ok...if you want to do that, copy the address of yer homepage, then just send him a Flickrmail and paste the address in yer message. To send a mail, move your cursor over the persons avatar, you'll see an arrow appear, then click the arrow and you'll get a list of stuff, look down the list you should see Send Flickrmail. I have copied the address of your photostream frontpage so here it is: high pit wilma :- Now, just highlight and copy that and paste it into your message. german shepherd dog woof to my friends :- this day and age they would not last 5 min down the pit - my dad was down bates pit in blyth northumberland hard and dirty work down the pit high pit wilma :- Cheers Max ! I agree with you,most people, whether kids or adults, would look at you as if you were nuts,if you asked them to get out of bed at midnight,go to the pit, get some filthy clothes on,and step in a cage on the end of a rope,in a shaft 1000 feet deep........and plunge into darkness with just a caplamp on....................!! Bill Carnaby :- Truly a great shot super reproduction of a by-gone age and REALLY hard times(no mention of a recession here !) high pit wilma :- Hi Bill! You wouldn't believe the state of the original photo! When wor aad chep died,about four years ago,my sister,who looked after my parents at home,found the photo in his jacket pocket,in small pieces,like a jigsaw in a pile! My brother took it to a photo shop,don't know where,and dropped the pile of 5pence - sized bits and said "here's one for you"...! Above is the result of their work! Where some bits were missing,they used their skill to re-create them. Only me and my brother know where they did the edits,cos we are both miners.My Mother and Sisters couldn't tell the repairs! Can you spot them? Cheers, Bill ! Erics dowta :- Wow they really did make a good job on the photo. Amazing what they can do! Someone mentioned now adays they`d never manage to work down the pit at the age of 15....how right that is too! Maybe if we still had work like that there wouldn`t be so many low lifes walking the streets! A good honest days work never hurt anyone! Cheers for the pics! high pit wilma :- Cheers Eric's Dowta! When i walk past the local high school,and watch the actions of a lot of the 15-16-17..yr old "kids",as they wait for the bus home after school,i cannot help but shake my head,and wonder.........at that age,me and big Bill were working in atrocious conditions,up to the eyes of water and clarts,trailing miles in and out of dangerous roadways,humping heavy steel girders,and machinery,etc,for £4-0..odd a WEEK's pay,before offtakes such as tax and national insurance..... If you try to talk to some kids,like i did in factories,when i left the pits,all you get is a derogatory...".....errrrrhhhhhh here wi gaan again...when aa worked doon thi pit ...snore...snore....."! A used ti say ti them,if they had to go doon for a shift,they would be crying fo' tha mammies,inside an hour...![probably as they were going down in the cage...even..!] morrisoxford61 :- its another world - an amazing picture, did the ponies ever see light of day, or did they live their entire life underground? it must be a horrible feeling going down into a cold wet dark place, were you mentally prepared for it the first time? you must miss the comradeship of your workmates, nice earthy humour as well? high pit wilma :- Hi Morris! Ponies at most pits came to the surface,only for the two weeks summer holidays,[as it used to be in those days].At Choppington high pit,[my buddy icon name...],the ponies never came to the surface,once they were down,unless they were injured,which was just about every other week,for some ponies,or to retire them altogether. My last pony at Choppington high pit,was a 35 yrs old stallion, with only one eye,he only had an empty socket which used to weep with a slimy discharge constantly,and he was too big to travel under the "air-crossings",[where roadways pass over each other,to prevent the airflow from short-circuiting,and depriving the coalfaces of a fresh supply of air],so i had to tell him to "put your head doon,French",[his name was french..],and he would stop at the low part of the roadway,bend his head right down to the floor,as if to drink,then he would bend his knees,and proceed to scrape his way under the brick and steel girder structure,while pulling a pair of arched steel girders along the rough ground,only about 4' high,with me hanging onto the other ends of the girders,like the handles on an old fashioned horse drawn farmers plough.... This was bloody hard work,by the time French got through the underpass,his hide was usually torn off down to bare flesh,and bleeding,his collar would be damaged,and i woulds be foaming at the mouth,wanting to kill the government inspectors,who had just passed through,ten minutes beforehand,on occasions,turning a blind eye to the way that these air-crossings were built,causing cruelty to the ponies,after just "fining" us young lads,5/- [5 shillings] - [25 pence now..!],for throwing our left-over bait-papers down,at the place where we would sit for our baits...in a stinking water-logged mine roadway......it wasn't exactly littering the highway........ Yes,i am writing a book about my life,and working years,underground,and i can tell you a few hair-raising stories along the way...but i reckon that nobody will publish it,unless i edit,for political correctness,and there's no bloody way i will do that...i have named names,and told no lies,it's a pity the pits have all gone now,but one thing is for sure.....Dosco Roadheader machines,and the like,costing £30-odd million pounds each,are still lying down thier,under the sea,and they will take a few hundred years to rot,if they ever do,so someone in the future years,will stumble across an Aladdins cave,of artifacts...complete longwall mechanised face installations...£100millions of pounds worth,at one pit alone...reckon up all the pits in the country,especially in Nottingham,and you will have the equivalent of the Chancellors purse..!! ...Or....just look at government archives,and read how much they invested in the Coal industry,before all the closures....it's all still lying down there...! "Cheaper to abandon it,than to salvage,Wilma...",was the answer i got,as far back as 1965,from the manager,at Choppington B pit',and at other pits,as they were closing in turn..... The stuff in my pics,are just a grain of sand on the beach,by comparison...! I never missed the bad conditions,as no other miner would, but i did miss the exceptional comradeship,and banter, it wasn't all hunky-dory all the time,you know,tempers used to be raised,arguments would break out,but never a fist thrown..everybody knew it wasn't worth risking losing your job for a disagreement,and most times,men would patch up an argument in few minutes,with a social "pinch of snuff"! The plain matter of fact was,you HAD to work together,and just get on...you were miles away from civilisation,in a very hostile environment...you would be the first man there,to help an injured marra,who you might just have had a blazing row with,minutes before he became injured.... At bait-time,the laughs would fly fast and furious,for half an hour,and there were some very witty young miners....!! morrisoxford61 :- the miners social clubs had great humour in them and quite a few of you used to play a good game of Cricket I recall - you should write about it warts and all. Allan Sutton Publishing print books like that, I would happily buy a few copies this is social history after all Some years ago I was talking to a butcher up in Ripon (grand place) and he told me he employed two big lads who started out at thugs but he used to send them out on those big heavy pushbikes all over the hills delivering meat, by the time they got back they were too tired to fight any one I reckon these youngsters need bloody hard work its good for them never did me any harm, and now I work for myself you will often see me working high up late into the night finishing a job when all the other have gone home to watch tele I am used to long hours and hard work, and you get respect for it Slippy Cundy :- I remember when I was a scruffy young oik at Ashington Colliery. A newsflash flew through the place. "We're getting a laser-steered face cutter" was the cry. It cost millions. Many many millions. I remember seeing it being assembled above ground and then tested before dismantling for taking below ground. If I remember correctly it was placed in a lovely deep seam and fired into life. Within days it had hit faults and bad gound conditions. At the same time the mine closed - that machine, in all its lovely whiteness, lies lifeless and hopelessly abandoned below those lovely fields of Northumberland... I won't go too much into the politics etc of the mines except to say that we, the people it affected, know the true reasons behind the closures. Up in this part of the country our communities lie shattered. They are a mere fraction of what they once were. If you travel to Ashington or some of the outlying villages there is still a faint "whiff" of that spirit. I fear that it won't be very long now before that is gone too... high pit wilma :- Thanks VERY much,Paul! You confirm what is my MAJOR soap-box gripe,when Government leaders talk about the financial crisis,and that is,how Maggie Thatcher virtually "cut the ropes" at all our mines,leaving literally thousands of millions of pounds-worth of machinery,cables,rails,girders etc,underground,to lie rusting away,for ever. Modern machinery contained tons of precious or semi-precious metals in their gearboxes etc. They tried a "Nucleonic eye" [ isotope-powered] "steering device" on a longwall shearer face,down the 3/4 drift,at Bates pit,in the '70s. The shearer was about 30 feet long,and it had to shear along a face ,which was won out through the most atrocious undulated conditions,with "rolls",and short hill-tops,and deep swalleys,throughout!! The roof was solid "post"[sandstone],and on the first shear,so far up the face,the shearer man shouted over the D.A.C.S,["TANNOY"] for the maingate men to watch for the shearer "top-plate",and also the "nucleonic eye",cos both had been ripped off,due to the low roof,and the shearer dancing up and down on the conveyor pans,due to the extremely hard cutting causing "reverse-torque". Nobody saw this twenty-foot long steel plate,two-feet wide,come down on the conveyor......[a bit hard to miss..i thought!] A few minutes later,the shearer man came over the speakers again...."aav found it.."..."it's on top of the face chocks!" The machine was riding up over a steep hill-top,then starting to shear down into the swally,couldn't bend itself to the task,the top plate rattled loose with all these tons of machinery dancing about like crazy,and as the machine took to the dip,the top plate kept it's course,and forced it's way straight through all the wood chocks etc,which was keeping the roof up above the six-legged hydraulic face chocks......![and it stayed there..as well!] After a few more hard-working attempts to get the shearer working,it was finally abandoned,and i personally tripped over something lying in knee-deep black water,in the main-gate,as i was walking in,one day,and,thinking it was a big stone,i bent to lift it out of the way. Guess what it was..! THE "NUCLEONIC-EYE" ![COMPLETE WITH THE "ISOTOPE PROPELLER" WARNING STICKERS STILL ON IT!] This thing was about 18"long,and about 5" thick,round,and weighed an absolute TON![with the glass lens still intact..] I put it onto a tram to go outbye,and never saw it again. As time went by there was a glut of lads,fitters,faceworkers etc,who died at an early age,some as young as thirty-odd years old,after working on that face,with luekaemia,and cancer-related diseases,but this went by un-noticed,except by people like me,who couldn't prove any link with this nuclear device. The "eye" alone,cost over 30,000 pounds,in the 1970's...and it was scrapped,just like that! Slippy Cundy :- I bet that eye lies buried below a reclaimed pit heap or a road surface like the Spine Road! I've always wondered what it would be like to get hold of a Geiger Counter and wander round the area we live in - I bet it goes daft at the most innocent looking stuff. I know that some minerals and composites have a higher than normal level of radiation but I bet there are tons of metallic everyday items with dangerously high radiation in them. We can only guess how much radioactive material has been smelted as scrap in steelworks - there was a well known incident in Spain a few years ago. Beamish Museum :- Great photo Wilma! high pit wilma :- Thanks for all your kind comments folks! Paul, we'll never be able to describe how much was left down there,in a month of Sundays!! John Lee :- That is just great. A terrific historical photo.You must print and frame this shot. high pit wilma :- Thanks Johnny, my Brother,who rescued the "jigsaw" of very small shreds of the photo, after it had been carried around in my father's inside jacket pocket for probably all his life,[and he was 87yrs old when he died,about 5yrs ago...],had this photo enlarged and framed for my Mother,[who was 93 yrs old on her birthday...last week...],for a xmas present,and she was thrilled to bits!...[she tells everybody..including doctors etc,that she still has "all my marbles"...!]..... And she has as well.! Tough lot, my Mother's generation...... high pit wilma :- Johnny,you have me thinking,your right,i should also have it printed,for safety back-up,cos if the computer crashed out totally,i have no back-up. I never thought about it,before,but i will do that. Thanks for the prompt,Johnny! Cheers! Billy Embleton :- Nice and rare underground shot. high pit wilma :- Thanks Billy,wish i could find more pics or archive material on Choppington High Pit. high pit wilma :- Can you even start to imagine any 14 year old kids working even five minutes down a dirty hole in the mine,nowadays,like this photo of my Father......look at the size of his arms and shoulders!!,no easy task lifting pit tubs onto the rails,["the way.."],when they became de-railed. But down there,you had no-one but yourself,and you HAD to keep the tubs supplied to the hewers,or you would be sacked!! You soon learn't to grow up to be a man!

No 2 - Ernie McGeorge - '?' should have been removed. @clanbull - I think I said I would let you know if we had any more with Kinglsey Wake on.

BigLoada :- Night Fly...dont get WIlma started on pit stories, I have had over 30 years of his tales....lol! Nah, they are great really! If you want to know anything about working down the pit, ask him morrisoxford61 :- Wilma you should write down all the stories about your life working in the mines or even record them on video or dvd I reckon if you visited schools and sat them down and told them about it the children would listen and learn, its their history after all be nice for the great grandchildren to open and album adn see pictures and read about it. My father did a book with lots of pictures about his working life and gave it to my then small daughter, she now has a daughter of here own, one day when he is not around she can openit and read about some one she has heard about and met but was not old enough to know high pit wilma :- Yes Morris,that's why Big Loada,and his brother,have nothing between their ears but coaldust.....!! I used to tell them stories from them being just old enough to talk, drawing pictures of coalcutters,etc,before they even knew what a windy-driller was...! Seriously,i do believe in keeping that part of our heritage alive,cos kids nowadays have no idea about the hardships or dangers of mining. Try to tell them about the miner who fell out with his wife,and weren't speaking to each other....so she would write on the "bleezer",to tell him his dinner was in the oven,and she was away to her Mother's! "Bleezer"?......!! Chek out my responses to your comments on other pics in my set. Cheers,and thanks for taking an interest! morrisoxford61 :- no problems, its wonderful to find out about the heritage and history of mining being a city boy its all alien to me I am going to take my grandson down the big pit and Bleanavon later this year, he is only 5 but I am sure it will leave a mark on him my father worked as a civil engineer and had a keen interest in industrial archeology so from an early age I was able to appreciate and respect the work done by these men Slippy Cundy @:- Wilma they did that to us at Ashington!!!! First time down, in The Duke Shaft inside a cramped small cage. I thoroughly enjoyed it but there were a few who didn't want to go back in it...... I'll never forget what it looked like down there - perfect brick arch roadways with a strange breeze blowing along. An unusual smell combined with the distant sound of machines. Hundreds of machines. Our instructor told us to enter a doorway off from the main roadway - it led us into a fully equiped classroom!! Imagine a classroom with no windows and you get the idea. We were then led around on a short wander through the old workings where the mine began. 6 foot high seams (with some lower) and narrow railway tracks. We were shown conveyor systems, why bolts in a mine face one way, explosion suppression systems - balanced planks of wood with lime dust on them etc. That tally needs looking after mind - watch that hole doesn't spread. high pit wilma :- Heh heh!! Stone dust barriers eh?!! Yeah,you should have been a deputy in a district,when an awkward H.M.Government Mines Inspector was doing one of his frequent visits......[went by the nickname of "Split-pin"...because of his rather lean physical stature....!] There were many other inspectors,like "Split-pin"..,who,instead of taking notice of the atrocious working conditions that men and ponies had to endure,and bollocking the management,to get something done about it,[ponies trailing heavy girders and machinery over bare rough ground,because there were no rails laid,in mothergates,for instance..],they would come in and fine you for throwing your bait papers down at the bait-hole,[no bins down there..you know!]. But some would ask the deputy technical questions such as... "what is the minimum quantity of dust required,and how many barrier shelves would you erect in a 12 x 8 ft arched roadway,where there are at least 30 men in the district,with an air quantity of at least 12 cubic yards a second,flowing at 50 ft per second............" and......."how far from the caunch would you erect the barriers...?" ...I'm not kidding you,there were a lot of what we used to refer to ,[politely...]..,as "idiots.."!! You might have been in a coalface,with sea water teeming in through breaks in the strata,the roof breaking up severely,falls of roof threatening the men's lives,a severe shortage of timber planks and props etc,and these so-called "law-enforcers",would come in,with the "bible" of regulations,under their hats,and absolutely no idea about mining at all!! When i came back into the N.U.M.["onto the tools"],after seven years of Deputy-work,i was sitting one day,getting my bait,against an air-receiver,[a big one],getting my wet clothes dried,with the heat from the tank,[illegally,but everyone did the same..!],when the colliery Manager,and the Inspector,came in and sat down beside me,for a short rest. We cracked on a bit,[the Manager was a nice bloke,very well liked..], when i suddenly noticed something glowing around the Inspectors wrist,out of the corner of my eye,in the darkness... Yep..!! A RED L.E.D. DIGITAL WRISTWATCH!...[when they were first invented,back in the late 1970's/early 1980's.] AN ILLEGAL ELECTRICAL DEVICE,WHICH DIDN'T COMPLY WITH THE MINES AND QUARRIES ACT,ON FLAMEPROOF EQUIPMENT!!..ON AN INSPECTOR'S WRIST..! 'NUFF SED..!! high pit wilma :- You always put girder fish-plate bolts in facing outbye. "Why? " So the salvage men had easy,and safe access to the nuts,when it came to removing them,during salvage operations,it mean't they didn't have to lean into exposed roof,to put the spanner onto the nuts,and also,of course,WE didn't have the same risks either!! There were lots of little common-sensicle things a miner had to consider,and do,in the name of safety! Good point you made there Paul!! Kevnorth :-Lol Paul & Wilma you have both brought back my school leaving days to life, I too followed my dad down the pit after a short training session at Darnley Road school and a couple visits to the underground training centre at Ashington and one underground visit to Shilbottle I went on to work in the stores at first then as an electricians mate at Lynemouth working with a maintenance team, it was a grand job for learning about mines we would go into faces that had been shut down for maintenance and we had the run of the face. Of course Lynemouth was a dream to work at with it's high roadways and seams and I can still remember the feeling of seeing the massive machines used to hew the coal and transport it from the face. Lynemouth was two collieries in one or thee counting Ellington I always prefered working at the drift side with it's long manriding conveyor belts and sets to the old side where you had to decend in the cage! Oh those were the days! high pit wilma :- Thanks Kev! I met a canny fella at North Shields,a few weeks ago,works at the opencast at Ashington,over from where the workshops were,and guess what he told me...!!! They are down to the first shallow seams,pulling pit tubs and rails,and cables, [and god knows what else by now],by the dozen!! Wait till they reach the abandoned coal-faces,and start pulling shearers and armoured face conveyor pans out...!!![like i've said all the time,millions of pounds were left down there to rot..] steve chaplin :- can any of you lads help me with getting some brass tallies i collect, cheers charlie ex newdigate/ keresley pits 02476366732 / 07591155419 cc.2463@yahoo.com Slippy Cundy :- steve chaplin Ebay? There's usually loads on there. steve chaplin :- Hi, I look on their, but im mainly after warwickshire collieries ie; binley, arley, griff clara & others cheers m8 steve (how do i get a picture on instead of the grey face, ive uploaded but can't move it on here) Slippy Cundy :- steve chaplin You have a picture on now. I don't think any of the users on here actually collect tokens and tallys as such (the one above has huge importance to the family ) and really can't help as such. steve chaplin :- k paul, ive about exhausted other avenues, thought maybe some of the people might have'em cheers m8 high pit wilma :- Hi Millie! Thanks for your visit. Lots of tallies would have been chucked away with disgust for thatcher and british coal. Some lads i worked with kept them for thier kids,with foresight,as i did also,only mine isn't traditional,as i have already explained. I'm now pleased i had the foresight to get some pics for posterity,but seriously regret not taking any of Choppington "High" pit,where i started from school at 15 years of age. Blythboy :- My dad, Tommy (Tucker) Henderson worked at Bates from the war's end till he died in 1979. Fantastic pictures and many memories. What pisses me of is the Google maps picture of the old Bolckows wharf, where a ship is unloading coal. most probably from Russia. Underneath that heap of coal are almost limitless reserves of UK coal. The UK still uses circa 50 million tonnes of coal per annum the vast majority of which is imported; yet the coal is piled above a viable coal reserve. As you will recall, Bates employed about 2,000 men and Ashington over 5,000 in their heyday. Thus, if the UK mined coal seriously again the circa 30 million tonnes imported would equate to circa 12 Bates and 12 Ashington collieries. Alan Slippy Cundy :- Blythboy I couldn't agree more! Yes coal is a dirty fuel but there are many ways around that! high pit wilma :- Hi both you lads,and thanks for your comments! Whey, it's what aav sed aal alang,tha's mair than 60 million tons of virgin 5' high clean low sulphur content clean coal lying under the north sea around Bates colliery alone! We would have been mining it for the last 25 years[since 1986],if thatcher -the hatcheter hadn't killed our industry and communities. I'm convinced there was some personal clandestine financial gains to be had from somewhere by thatcher,for her to carry out such a murderous deed to our country. Years ago,maybe 40-odd years,i saw a book in a local shop window,with the title ........ ...."The Lynemouth colliery scandal", and it referred to a period in the colliery's history whereby an official at the pit had agreed contracts with mining machinery companies in return for gifts,holidays,cars etc. The Manager of Bates colliery told me and my two marra's that he was of the opinion that Mr Archbold [the then area Director for the NCB IN Northumberland],had a "personal vendetta against Bates Colliery,and wanted it shut down as quick as possible"[and i quote!] Noo,ever since then,i've been convinced that Archbold was involved in a similar position,seeing as HE ALONE ordered complete sets of Face supports,which were quite safe in other pits and locations where conditions were good,but were proved to be absolutely useless in the Three-Quarter Seam at Bates Pit. There were times that the Chock-fitters had to change as many as 70 chock legs in a week,on one face alone,due to them actually bursting open like a peeled banana. Often the severe roof pressure at the goaf end of the chocks,pushed the whole chock-line forward,into the face-line,flattening as many as 80 chocks,fully onto the floor,like crushing a beetle underfoot....which took months to blast out and replace all the damaged chocks........it was proved in time,that it was quicker to just abandon the whole face,advance the roads,and win a new face out and install it with new chocks. Only thing was,they used the same chock-types again,which was a disaster! Finally,i was on the development team who won out a new face called 50B's and we installed "Revlem" chocks on,which had "grasshopper- leg" side braces on,and these chocks held the roof amazingly,which then made the face very profitable,with very little if any damage to contend with. When i asked the manager why we couldn't get these chocks for the other new faces we were winning out,he replied,and i quote word for word...."You know they're good,and i know they are good,but Mr Archbold is my Paymaster,and if he says we put the ordinary 6-leg chocks on.......we put them on!" I pressed the safety issue with him,and he shrugged his shoulders and said to try telling Archbold about that. Now it makes you wonder why,for a few years,we were installing face chocks,which were known to be dangerously unfit for the job they had to do in those conditions,when all the time we could have had very safe chocks installed....not forgetting that every shear that was taken off,it took sometimes a week or more,to advance the whole chock-line,ready for the next shear..........no wonder Archbold wanted it closed down,i bet somebody was on his tail from higher up,i just wish i could meet him and put my feelings to him personally! bewildebeeste :- high pit wilma Many interesting tales and bits of information on this thread. I'm not surprised about the issue over the chocks....any excuse to get the government what it wanted. As someone who wasn't old enough to realise what was happening regarding the murder of our industry at the time, It's Maggie's regime that I hold responsible for everything being owned by foreigners these days. Now more than 40% of the UK's listed firms are foreign owned - so essentially we're all working for foreign shareholders who have no compunction in rising prices by 8% or so when they see fit (am thinking primarily of utilities - legalised thievery is what I call it).... I also blame the same administration for a large part in the breakdown of society ("there is no society" remember?) into a bunch of self interested, unthinking arse lickers who divorce themselves mentally from the consequences of their workplace actions in order to please their immediate superiors. It starts with teaching kids that simply passing an exam is enough to suceed - never mind instilling a sound work ethic or passing on the joy of learning - and I'm sure you've all seen how cynical and ultimately destructive subsequent governments' target driven education policies have been. I despair at the path my own generation has been led down and what it will lead to for future ones. Ok...rant over high pit wilma :- Thanks a million Bewilderbeeste! I'm 70 yrs old next year,and i've never ever wished i was just a young lad again,as i have been really content with my life,hard as it was. BUT.........i sort of would have been happy to be around,when the time comes....and they DO go back down to get the coal we left....AND find all the machines etc that i have ranted about,JUST to prove that i have told no lies.!! Mind,all the old pitmen who know these facts to be true,hopefully,will tell stories to thier children's children,and hopefully,keep our heritage alive. I have spoken to miners from Wales,Scotland,the Midlands,Derbyshire,and lots of other places,since our industry,and our communities,were destroyed by thatcher-the-hatcheter,and each time we have compared stories,the end result was the same....i.e......tales of millions of pounds worth of mining machinery abandoned to rot underground. This is Nationwide...and is a very serious situation,and the government has virtually just ignored,nay,covered up on the matter. But a fella i spoke to recently,said,"Just wait till next year!" When asked what he meant,he replied that the thirty-year rule was up,and all the archived files will be available to the press and the public.........now THAT might just put the cat among the pidgeons!!! I can't wait!! Cheers and thanks Beeste,for your kind comments.

BigLoada :- This is an awesome shot. Mind you, this whole set of pictures is incredible. Erics dowta :- Hi, Can I just say I love your pics of Bates pit and how nice it was to see pics of the pit again. Bill, in this pic, is actually my father-in-law. My father also worked at Bates, he was called Eric. I have fond memories of going to the pit with my Dad and Mam to either pick up his wages or a visit to the canteen. One day my Dad took me to see the pit shaft, I remember walking down, what seemed a long sloping corridor, he showed me where the lamps were kept, we went through an air lock room, I remember that really hurt my ears, then I saw the pit shaft, it was dark and drafty. Like a lot of people I was sad to see the pit close, some were probably glad because of sons, husbands, fathers etc losing their lives there. A family close to us lost their son, bless them! I am so glad to have found this site and thank you for the pics, just wish my Dad was here to see them, they`re great!! Dawn BigLoada :- I think this is my favourite shot of the set. Even though I totally love them all, there is something about this shot that just grabs me. By the way, Dawn, I too used to get tken down that long corridor past the lamp cabin. I believe they called that walk the "Golden Mile" but I am sure me dad (HIgh Pit Wilma) will correct me! Erics dowta :- Hi Big Loada I cant quite recall what the long corridor was called, but you could be right, I agree with you the whole set of pics are great, I love them. I even remember going with my Dad during the `84 (i think that was the year) strike and digging for coal. Everyone was so skint but looking back you had to do what you had to do!! I was gutted the other day when I was driving and we stopped at some railway crossings and a train carrying coal passed, my son asked me what was in the trucks and I said coal, he asked what coal was.....I was gutted, talk about being a thing of the past, quite sad I thought when you grew up in that kind of environment and then all of a sudden its gone!!!! Cant wait to show Bill these pics.....I can just hear him now....it`ll be his claim to fame!! Ha Ha. BigLoada :- Dawn I have just noticed your avatar...snap! That headgear is an iconic image for me. I am so glad that dad took these pictures though, as like you said, kids nowadays don't even know what coal is. Its important to remember the history and keep it alive. Erics dowta :- Yeah, your right, its important!!! I showed Bill the pics the other day....and yep I was right he asked me if I wanted his autograph!!!! Ha ha. By the way...my avator....great minds think alike! high pit wilma :- Cheers Erics dowta! Thanks for your comments. Eric was a great guy to work with,nice lad. high pit wilma :- Aye, Loada,the waakway was caaled "the golden mile" for donkeys years..! spartan missile :- My fatha used to take me to the canteen at bates when he had to go to the pit to sort his pay out. He worked on the coal face his name is Jackie Smails and was marras with Ivan Threadgold Norman Brannigan and deputy Tommy Buck .When i left school i wanted to go down the pit ,but my fatha said ower his deed body was i gannin doon there . ATB barrie Smails high pit wilma :- Hi Barrie! Thanks for your comments. Would that be Ivan that's on the shot taken in the transformer hoose....[the boiler hoose!!]..? A knaa it's Ivan,but canna mind he's second nyem! Ya faatha was reet wise ti stop yi gaan thoon thi black hole. It waasn't much fun when ya family and marra's who weren't pitmen,were gaan ti bed at 11-0 o'clock at neet,and yi had ti get oot o' kip ti gaan doon a thoosand foot deep black caad miserable hole,on thi end of a rope!.....ti work in these conditions....and these pics only give an insight,they dinna convey the stinking atmosphere,clarts,dust,noise...................getting jaaped noo 'n agyen.........beat knees,...... ....if ever aa get me book finished,wat aav been writing for owa two yeors,aboot me life's experiences,it'll be an interesting read,for them that's nivvor been doon a mine before. Is Norman Brannigan still knocking aboot?...it's a lang time since a saw him at Blyth,on he's bike. Aal thi best Barrie! high pit wilma :- Update on my last comment! It is now nearly 30 years since I took these photo's,in 1986,and my comment about Ivan ,to Barrie,is now resolved,and I now know that his Dad isn't on the photo of us all in the transformer house.

Dan :- high five to you guys. high pit wilma :- Cheers Abandoned miner! Ray Hammond :- Bait time? high pit wilma :- CHEERS RAY! AYE,BAIT TIME AT THE "BOILER",[TRANSFORMER HOUSE"] gan canny :- Hi wilma I used to work with you Bill and Ivan, cant remember now if it was in the 3/4 or the plessey, I finished off in 1986 on face work in the plessey , but prior the strike worked all over on composite, with little Jackie Beckworth. Can you remember Charlie the lad that was killed at the top of 293sdrift , I was his marra that got buried with him, anyway good to see some old faces, is Bill still bouncing at the night club in Bedlinton station ? ( wonder if he ever got that nose straightened,) lol What are you doing now, I wouldn't of thought there was any mines still going in the NE, I move to Perth Australia in 2003 after I had a couple of holidays here,and got the taste of it, never looked back keep your timber in, take care............ Jim high pit wilma :- Ah! Jim...! Noo! You got me thinking noo...!Jim...Jim.....Jim....naa! A can think of a lot o Jims,one in particular,"Jimmy the watch",who worked with the Maltese Falcon" [Tony],and another Jimmy,who's dad was the famous pie-eating champion,in the working men's clubs,in the 1960's,but to save gaanin on,cheers for your comments! A canna mind Charlie being killed,are you sure it wasn't Paul, who got the whole crossing girders doon on him,when they were drawing the face chocks off the face? I came into the pit baths,that afternoon,directly after the fatal accident,and Jimmy, Paul's marra, was sitting on the lockers seat,breaking his heart,in tears,and he was a big powerful lad,but losing his marra,devastated him. This part of mining was what the people who said "Greedy miners",when we asked for a pay rise, didn't see. Bill is retired now,like me,an' it's a gud job he naa's nowt aboot computers, or he would put he's fist through the wires to boonce yi,for ya cheek...heh! heh!...!! He's gone through a bad patch,Jim,health-wise,but he's still a born-again biker,shooter,dog-man...an' aal that! A wish a cud place yi,Jim,aad love ti catch up wi yi!! A lot of the Bates lads are gone,at early ages,can yi mind Stevie ["the Womble"] T., wa union treasurer,a think,and "Fishy",they died in their late 30's-early 40's. Ronnie Cambell has been Blyth's Member of Parliament, for about 20 years,noo,deaing a grand job,for an aad miner....alang with aal the rich sods who've been claimin' multi-thoosands of quids,for hooses that they haven't got...etc...! On these pics,Jim,i was on the composite team,wi Bill,and Tom. We were driving through a 36 foot thick Whinstone dyke,to reach 30 million tons of clean , virgin coal....and we would have done..... if a certain woman,who killed the mining industry,took the milk from the school bairns,when she was a junior minister,and killed off the community spirit...apart from stealing 9 million pounds,from the N.U.M. CENTRAL FUNDS,hadn't gettin' her own way.......b............d !! Aal hae ti ask Bill aboot little Jackie,a canna mind him,and a see Bates lads every time a gaan ti Blyth,and yi canna get moved for coal, it's usually aal the way aroond Netto's ,or Lidl,or Aldi,supermarket floors....! Keep in touch Jim,hope you keep well,plenty o' sunshine there, so you should be healthy -looki'n as hell !! Cheers ! gan canny ~:- Sorry Will for not being a bit clearer, the pie eater was a distant relation of mine,and your right the lad that got killed was called Paul, but his surname was Charlton and got the nick name Charlie, and you hit the nail on the head, it was me breaking my heart in the baths ( lockers) so now you can put a face to this writing (Jimmy ), in Australia they called me Jim, and its just habit now signing off, on it now, anyway have you got an email address and I will send you some photo's on how the other half live down under, all the best ........ Jimmy high pit wilma :- Noo Jim,me lad...! Did yi get me e-mail,a sent last neet,Teusday,26-5-09,aal try and send yi one thi neet,but seeing as it's noo11-35pm ,aalriddy,and aav just sat doon noo,aal probably faal as asleep afore a get that far!! Thanks for your comments,and for gettin' in touch after 25 years....!! Flickr's a great tool eh!! cheers Jim! Dr. Drewboy :- Glück Auf! high pit wilma :- By the way,"Big Willy" is the name given to me by my eldest Son,when he was about ten years old.! Now,he is bigger than me,but,now 46 years old,he STILL calls me that! high pit wilma :- 20-9-2014, 30 years on from the strike,and aam waaking me little dog doon the Wansbeck riverside waak,when aan aad fella cums runnin' full belt alang thi path,says hello,keeps runnin'......then at thi end of thi path,turns roond and cums joggin' back,but this time,he stops for a crack. He luks a gud age,and me Wife and me start a casual bit o' crack wi him. He is from Malta,lives at Guidepost,[been there for donkey's yeors..],and he 's caaled TONY!! So, a says ti him,a had a marra caaled the Maltese Falcon,and HE'S name was Tony!! From then on wi see him noo and again,and a caal him...Thi Maltese Falcon!!...he laughs affectionately,he is aboot 78-ish,and fit as a lop!,but he was a fitness instructor in the RAF,for years,and has run all his life. He didn't have any respect for thatcher and her cronies in 1984!!

BigLoada :- I always wondered, why were those staithes called the West Gears? high pit wilma :- Probably cos they were westerly with respect to the staithes which ran along the east side of the river...You know,they are cut down to just above the high tide mark,and run along beside north blyth terraces,on the way up to the seven stars jetty. BigLoada :- Is THAT what they are? Thats amazing. How did I never know this considering I have been going down there fishing since I was about 4! I thought they were supposed to be that height! drdamp1 :- Check out this page if you want to know just what the staithes looked like on Low Quay before they were cropped down. http://northumbrian-railways.co.uk/?page=blyth high pit wilma :-Thanks drdamp1! hoggy03 :- Enough to bring tears to your eyes when you look at pics of shut pits and ones in the middle of demolition shame should never have shut, but as i say governments come and go but the working class always suffer. Stephen Franks :- Shocking what happend to our industries! hoggy03 :- Well Bill It took 27 Years after the death of Bates Colliery, but the miners of the 80's still alive and kicking got their justice, with the end of her. high pit wilma :-HI Westdrie! Shocking ain't the word for it pard,[correct greeting?!],it weren't just the miners,it was every industry,and every union. Young people won't know that thatcher-the-hatcheter even stopped free school milk to our children,when she was education minister,then later stopped free swimming lessons for our kids,which was a serious misjudgment of cost-cutting. While all the time she and her rich cronies were reaping in millions of pounds in fraudulent expenses scandals...only she wasn't brought to justice cos she conveniently became dementia'd[?]...very conveniently......i think.... I hated the sight of her..and the mention of her name,then,and i always will..and i have a justified right to say so! high pit wilma ~:- Hi Hoggy! I just came out of hospital,when she snuffed it,and was bedridden for a week at yem,so my Wife lovingly made a little red,white,and blue flag,out of coloured card,and hung it on my bedroom door,for me to celebrate her kicking the bucket....it was only a pity she went peacefully,she should have gone in utter agony,like the agony and heartbreak she caused in thousands of families,during our fight to save our industry. My Son came up from London,while i was in hospital,and he was telling me how he is constantly reminding ignorant Londonders,that the 1984 strike was about jobs....not money,which most people think it was,[people who know nothing about the industry of coalmining,and just spew out nonsense.] hoggy03 :- I work with a load of them ( at Sir Robert McAlpine) who thinks it was about money Bill, none of them ever worked near or had anything to do with the pits (family never worked there) that commented so they don't know anything about it, Hope your fine now hope it was nothing major. high pit wilma @:- Hi Hoggy! Thanks for your kind greeting. I went into Wansbeck hospital on 25th March,with severe chest pain,which was caused by blood clots [lots of them] on both my lungs,with associated pleurisy. The Doc said,quite nonchalently,that this condition was potentially life-threatening......it's a bliddy good job nowt worries me,or a wudda been freaking oot!! Am back oot and oot and aboot again,albeit tekking things canny for a while,cos a still have the Pleurisy chest pain. Doc sed it would tek a few weeks ti heal properly,so nae lifting tubs on the way,or heavy girders!!!!!! Anyway,that's enuff aboot me! Noo,wat aboot these buggers hoo are a bit ignorant of the facts! Keep spreading the gospel,Hoggy,and remind them that every word Scargill said,was right,and my photo's are utter proof! Tell them to log onto this site....there again,mebbe we dinna want folks like that on here.... Rumour has it,that the witch was only in Hell 10 minutes,when she closed three furnaces doon,and paid Lucifer off,cos he was uneconomical! A luv it!! Cheers Marra!

BigLoada :- You really don't like Thatcher do you! I love your comments! sparty lea :- In a world short of energy, sterilising millions of tons of coal reserves the way she did was criminal! rigobonzo :- Conveniently Thatch now has dementia...pitty that. high pit wilma :- I didn't know that,can she not cross a busy road in London,or somewhere,and forget that there's traffic on the road..............i think the crows and magpies wouldn't even think of her as roadkill......... [if you get my jist...!!] Miners died as a direct consequense of her actions.We won't forget... I make no apology for getting wound up at the mention of IT'S name... hoggy03 :- My dad feels the same way, she has blood on her hands that will never wash off, thanks to her i cant follow in my family's footsteps of coal mining without moving to yorkshire or the midlands, coal stopped being king thanks to her and the rest of her goverment may they burn in hell all of them. BigLoada :- Thanks Hoggy,when the time eventually does come,and it will,to go for coal again,they'll have to bring chinese or other ethnic miners in to train our lads,cos my generation will soon be gone. Sure,young lads of the future will learn ultra-modern machines,like breathing,but it takes a lifetime of handed-down experience to know how to read strata,and understand how it talks to you.....your Dad will confirm that point...... Oh,and like i've said elsewhere in my set,when they DO get back down there,maybe a hundred years time,what an Aladin's cave of machinery they will find,and surely someone in the government of the day will seek to dispel maggi's "heroic" actions,in costing the nations economy,to defeat the miners,at all costs. I said it in 1984,near the end of the strike,that if we had been able to hold out a bit longer, i'm positive that she would have put a curfew on us,with armed soldiers on the streets,like they did with the Polish[?]miners in the 60's..i think it was....Dad might remember more about that, and also Mcgregor had armed military units out on miners in the U.S., with lots of miners killed.[That's why she[IT] sent for him to come and beat the hell out of us. I'll go to my grave with memories of those two,and i expect to see them in hell!! Aal thi best ti ye and Russel,and aal ya family,give Russ my regards! This is High Pit Wilma,by thi way,using Big Loada's laptop,and i divvent knaa hoo ti "switch user" ti my account!!!!! hoggy03 :- Hi Bill when did they flatten No. 1 Winding house? Just because it looks to me in one pic by Ron that the Winding house was still there in 1988. high pit wilma :- Hi Hoggy! Whey aa left Bates Pit in 1986,and finished at Ashington Pit in March 1987.[Ashington Pit was ganna close aan aal,so a says ti mesel........"Bill,a think after nearly thorty yeors doon thi bliddy pits,it's time ti get oot,afore Ellington Pit shuts aan aal,cos tha'll be nae jobs ti get,wi 2000 men being hoyed onti thi dole!"] So,a got oot![mind a had a bad accident ti me left hand,so that helped me ti mek a decision!] Noo,when a was at Ashington Pit,one o' the Bates lads said "Bill,yi wanted some more photo's of Bates,when they start ti demolish it,div vint yi?" A said "Aye , hoo's that like?" He said,"Whey yi better get doon there quick cos it's a al but razed ti thi groond noo...!" A went doon straight away,and this pic shows what was left!! They reckon it didn't take a fortnight ti get this far,from scratch!! So....a lang-winded answer ti ya question,Hoggy,is,a reckon,sometime in late 1986/early1987. Can anybody be any more precise,please? Cheers Hoggy!

Dr. Drewboy :-I can't imagine... minig "under the sea" must have been really dangerous! :-/ high pit wilma :- Hi Drewboy! Sorry for a late reply,yeah,it wasn't the best of occupations,but you got used to it after nearly thirty years of it....! You know what?,just up the coast from Bates pit,was Ellington colliery,the last pit in Northumberland to close,and that pit had huge thick sea-doors in the main roadways. These were intended to be closed,in the event of a major inrush of the sea,trapping men in the workings forever,to try and save the rest of those in other parts of the pit. Sacrifice the few,to save the many,was the intention.... But no-one in management level would accept the responsibility of making the heart-rending decision,even though they were never called into action,to close those doors. At Bates pit,the unions refused to accept having these doors fitted in the first place! Stephen Franks :- Are they Hollybank girders holding the roof up? high pit wilma :- No Wesdtrie,just ordinary straight RSJ'S [Rolled-Steel - Joists],with corner clamps to help them from being knocked out. Hollybanks have a knuckle joint on each component part,like each leg fitted into it's corresponding end of the roof girder,and were held together with a large nut and bolt....badly designed,by someone who has never been down a mine...methinks,cos we used them in one roadway,and they just buckled and broke at the bolted knuckle ends! They would be okay in a model pit,where there is no roof or side pressure,and nice to see a straight line of them for N.C.B. Promotional photo's...but no gud in the pits i have worked at where heavy-section 10" x 8" straight girders have ended up like arched girders after afew months! high pit wilma :- Did you read my description about this roadway,above? Wesdtrie,these planners are typical of the design engineers i just referred to in my last comments there..... Who on earth would plan a retreating coalface by driving into the dip,knowing the amount of water that was teeming in....with nowhere for it to go...do you know anything about pitwork,and retreater's...Wesdtrie? The water constantly mixed with small coal scufflings,turning it into a thick black slecky soup,which no pumps could handle without constantly burning out,therefore the way to help keep water under control was to get as much coal onto the face conveyor as possible,and this carried a lot of water away,only to deposit it somewhere else along the pit roadways. It was quite pleasant walking around all day with thick black sleck inside your wellies up to your knees.......!! Stephen Franks :- Ive never worked in a UK coal mine so my experiance of retreating and UK pit work is limited! Its great hearing from experianced people like yourself on matters like these! high pit wilma :- Thanks a lot Pard! high pit wilma :- Westdrie,on an advancing coal face,you win the Main roads,and the back airway roads,a few yards,[usually] in advance of the coalface,so you always have advanced headings.Right? On a retreating coalface,you win out your roadways fully to their boundaries,to "prove" the coal seam,then you win out the coalface,at the end of the roads,and install the machinery facing outbye,so every shear you take,you have to remove previously installed roof-supports,and shorten the conveyor belts. You also have to periodically move the electrical switchgear,gullick[?]hydraulic pumps etc,cables...outbye,just the same as you would if you were advancing! Hope you understand how it works,and presumably by now,you have found out by other means!

Guy Sande :- Hey, pard! That's our equivalent Western US hardrock speak for your "Greetings, marra" - I think. But now you've got to translate for me what "ploatin thi caunch" means. I googled "caunch", and it wasn't anywhere near as dirty as I thought it was going to be. If I've got it right, it's what we would call the "face", right? But I'm stumped on "ploatin". Looks like you've got a freshly shot round siting there at the face, so maybe Willy is resting from barring down the loose? Scaling down the back? (prying the rocks ready to fall?) I'm fascinated by how close our terms seem to be - similar enough to indicate a common heritage, but yet different enough it's clear we're on different continents. high pit wilma :- Heh! heh! I can see that you and me are gonna have fun! Watcheor marra! [pronounced "wa-atch-ear-or..."-said quickly,with a "roll" to the "r"-it's English Northumbrian ["Geordie"]-local mining dialect,for "hey pard...!! Over here we call the mines "pits",and i was a pitman[miner],for nearly 30 years,seven of which i was a pit Deputy/shotfirer. I came back off Deputy work,and onto Development 'cos i didn't care much for being an official of the mine..!! Now,"caunch"...is a nickname for a "Ripping lip",that is,the part of the longwall coalface,at each end,where the high arched roadways are driven. You have the face conveyor belt [armoured],under the ripping lip, advancing with each "shear" taken off,so you have to drill and fire the ripping lip,[caunch-pronounced..caa-aanch],to creat height,and erect your arched girders,3' or 4' apart,depending on the managers support rules for that district. Strictly speaking,where i am sitting on the big heap of stones,isn't a "caunch...it's a dead-end full face of a new proving roadway,called "R10's Tailgate". We just call it a caunch,for ease of definition! R10's Maingate,or "Mothergate",was about 60 yards outbye,down the fresh air intake road,and we were driving these new roads into a virgin coalfield,after we had driven through a 36feet thick Whinstone Dyke..[igneous intrusion],but Maggie thatcher closed our pit before we got that far..so we left 60 million tons of virgin , clean coal,5feet high,never to be gotten.........well,Maggie gave the orders,but Ian Mcgregor,who fought with your unions,did the dirty work..!! You are dead right,Silverminer,when you guessed about "ploating", it means hacking down all the raggy,loose stones,and making the place safe,to start and "timber up"...we put the girder "crown" up on the "forepoles",to support the roof,until the "shot" is all "ridd"[redd] then we put both girder legs in and strut,and timber the girders all around. Hope i haven't been too long-winded here,but it's hard to explain pit-work in brief terms!! high pit wilma :- Oh, by way, Silverminer,Wilma was a nickname i was kindly given ,as a young pit lad,in 1959,at 15 years old,and it stuck,at all the pits where i worked.. Did me a good turn,cos i was well-known by everybody,with a name like that,when it came to overtime,etc,gaffers remembered my name..!! I got it cos i grew my hair long,with rock and roll hitting the scene in those days,and my marra's said i looked like Wilma,out of the flintstones....all straggly,with the pit water,you know what it's like,working wet,and you look like a drowned rat?....! Bill, or Willy,is my real name...but i answer to anything anybody cares to call me!!Heh! heh! Michael Chesterson :- Hiya Bill, you are givvin me nightmares here, i've fired quite a few of these buggers in me time, i can still remember the chill doon the back of me neck ,when you went back in after fireing to see shot wires still hanging,shudders!!!! high pit wilma :- Hi Michael,i spent seven years on deputy-work,and came back into the N.U.M. in 1978. Some solid drivages i used to fire were 20feet wide by sixteen feet high for the first 40 or 50 yards,to take the conveyor driveheads. I had ti stem oot 100 holes,wi 250lbs of Polar Ajax,fired all at once,using millisecond delay dets. NOO!!...........THAT used ti shake the roadway up a little bit,AND change the air direction,mekkin yi deaf for a couple of hours...but the worst thing was the reek,it hung roond aal ya shift,cos wa ventilation was non-existent...!...so yi went yem wiv a stottin' heed wi the Nitro-glycerine fumes. A sumtimes fired 1000lbs of polar ajax in a single shift,but the inspectors nivvor knew wat was gaanin on at Bates! They eventually caught us using Ajax wi 4feet of coal in the seam,and that was the end of that,after years of getting away with it!! Michael,if any hardened aad-timer tried ti convince yi that he wasn't bothered in thi slightest,aboot finding shots that hadn't gone wi thi rest,a would think he was living in cuckoo land.....when yi have wife and bairns at yem,it did cross ya mind,.....if these buggers decide ti have a little bit mair delay than they shud hev.............. it happened at Choppington high pit,when a was a young lad,where shotfirers shot thasell's. It sticks in ya mind!! high pit wilma :- That's a mighty big heap there!,it makes me look smaller than i am,and i'm 5ft-101/2..not big,but not as small as this big heap makes me seem,it's a measure of how BIG it actually is!!

kellmarnumber1 :- dinting..takes me back to my good old days at gedling colliery..great shot......psi would love this picture................. high pit wilma :- Hi Kell! We didn't call this Dinting,it was called Driving....this was "10's Tailgate drivage." Conditions were dry,for the first few yards in,then the North Sea broke in,as was usual in the Three/Quarter R seam,at Bates pit,in Northumberland,England. When word came in on the jungle drums to "switch off and pull out",we were driving through a 36 foot thick Blue Whinstone dyke..[igneous intrusion..],with water teeming in from the roof strata above us,with 60 million tons of virgin clean coal,5 feet high,which no other pit had ever worked,at the other side of the dyke! But our evil tyrannical bitch of a prime minister,[who as a junior minister,stopped the free school milk for schoolkids..as well as free swimming lessons..etc etc...],had a personal vendetta against our National Union of Mineworkers,and very cleverly shut down virtually all our Nation's mines,except for one or two "RICH"pits,in southern England,which she then privatised. We now buy so-called "cheap" coal from China,and other countries on the other side of the world,at the cost of many miner's lives[with poor safety records],to fuel our power stations etc. Ellington colliery supplied Alcan smelter,[about a half a mile away],with coal for about 40yrs, then when thatcher closed our pits,they built a new shipping berth at North Blyth,to unload Chinese coal ships,and a new rail facility,to transport the coal to the Alcan aluminium smelter plant,about 6 miles away.....! Talk about carrying coals to Newcastle...!! Check out my pics of the surrounding area ,taken from up on the pit headgear............! high pit wilma :- Tom and Bill are my two "marra's",by the way..! Dr. Drewboy :- nice shot of the working place! high pit wilma :- Aye,Drewboy,we lapped it up for about 60 yards,decent conditions,from the start of the new roadway,but days after i took this pic,it was like a pig-cree!! ws60041 :- Aye - Thatcher will rot in Hell soon, we have the bottle of bubbly sitting in the fridge, I'm looking forward to opening it high pit wilma :-Whey aam a teetotaller, but the day she.....sorry......IT!....dies,aal hev a nice cup o' coffee,wi a wee dram o' rum or brandy tippled inti it,....not ti be seen drinking yi unnerstand...., just ti celebrate thi occasion!! .........er.... a forgot ti remind the people oot there,that thatcher and her cronies didnt just stop the bairns free school milk,and swimming lessons,as a junior minister,but as prime minister during the 1984 miner's strike,she also stopped CHILD BENEFIT,to the children of miners who were out on strike .....NOT FOR EXTRA PAY...but to try and stop her ...it's...government from closing down the majority of our nation's coal industry,except the few big,rich pits,so she could privatise them,and sell them off to her rich buddies,not surprising when you see what they did to Northern Rock,and other big institutions....... By the way,my comment about the Rio Tinto Alcan Smelter,[above],IT has since been shut down,puttIng THOUSANDS MORE MEN AND WOMEN ON THE DOLE! NOTHING ,AND NOBODY,ARE SAFE UNDER THESE TORY B............[NO APOLOGIES!] Last comment........it wasn't the poor little bairns's fault that their dad's and brother's had the GUTS to stand up and fight against these evil people,to try and save their jobs...... Oh!....i forgot,.....she also sequestrated £9,000,000 of money from the N.U.M,so that the union couldn't help their members to feed their bairns ...literally starving the men back to work......now, who was this churchill brat,didn't he say,in 1926,about the miners.....[nobody else mind......and it WAS a GENERAL STRIKE...]......."GET THE RATS BACK DOWN THEIR HOLES WHERE THEY BELONG".......as he smoked his fat cigar,while sitting in front his COAL FIRE....!!!! Sorry for ranting......i got carried away with all these home truths! high pit wilma :- ....Er....i forgot,thanks for your comments ws60041..!! Stephen Franks :- Is this photo an official NCB photo or did you sneak a camera underground? high pit wilma :- Er........,protocol,Westdrie..!!..you don't ask questions like that,man!! Seriously, i own all copyright to the whole of my photostream,and these are before the digital camera age,so the pile of 35mm negatives are here in my drawer. Nothing in the Coal Mines and quarries Act 1954 says anything about it being illegal to take a camera underground,unlike Specified "Contraband",which was any naked flame, cigarettes or matches,lighters,candles, or any other lighting contrivance having a naked flame,or liable to ignite Methane. As time went by,ammendments to the Act came in,and this included the prohibition of Aluminium foil in bait-boxes,or any mining equipment containing Aluminium ,as it was found to be liable to "flash" if struck forcibly,thus causing dangerous sparks,capable of igniting Methane. My camera has no Aluminium,or any prohibited materials in it's construcion. The camera was a xmas present from my [then!] Girllfriend,in around 1963/4-ish,has taken hundreds of pics,over the last 50 years,took these pit pics,and is still better than any digital camera i personally,have ever seen,for taking night-time shots,on prolonged exposures! The hardest part is keeping your subjects absolutely still for long periods!! Noo,Wesdtrie,after that long-winded answer to your question,may I ask what made YOU ask in the first place? Stephen Franks :- I was just curious! I was just wondering if it would be frowned upon by management for photos that may contain scenes of breaches of mining law etc? high pit wilma :- Cheers Westdrie,there's no breaches of mining law....why are you so persistent on this point...it's history now..there's no coalmining industry to speak of,other than opencast mines,it's too late too even think about breaches,the pits are gone....we are importing coal from China to a shipping berth which was recently built across the river Blyth,directly opposite Bates pit where these photo's wer taken..is that rubbing salt into us old miner's wounds? Anyway,you didn't breach mining law if you had any brains....it was a very dangerous place to work in....to start with!!! I kinda think it's a bit different out in the States,and every other coal producer in the World! The only people who put our lives at risk,were those in management at a higher level than the Colliery Manager...[who was a stickler for safety],and those B....tories in power who decimated the industry,and killed thousands of communities all over our country. Now that's my rant for today ,Pard,how's your industry doing,? same as ours did? Cheers,have a nice day!! high pit wilma :- By the way Westy,all the old - timer pit lads are either ill with mining injuries,or mining diseases,caused by Coal,and Stone dust,or already dead! So if any body in our NON-EXISTENT industry wants to think about frowning,it's a little bit late in the day,even thatcher herself has one foot in the coffin,every miner left alive,and thier families,are just waiting for the other foot to go in,then the breweries will record the highest beer sales ever....if you get my jist?!!!!!!!! ....and i haven't forgotten the American [ scottish by birth] macgregor b..............d who thatcher brought over from your Country to do the dirty work in our Coalmining Industry... i don't know what happened to him,maybe he went back to the U.S.A to retire on the Million or two pounds golden handshake he got from thatcher! I'll explain how a retreater longwall coalface operates next time Westy!![my nickname for you!] S'long Pardner! high pit wilma :- Update on August 11 th 2013..at 12-45 am.......... thatcher-the-hatcheter finally snuffed it a few months ago,[this is for the benefit of our friends across the world who might be out of touch!],and the word came around quickly that she wasn't in hell for 10 minutes,when she closed 50% of the furnaces down and made Lucifer redundant........! Seriously,it cost the British taxpayer,over 10million pounds,for her "State" funeral,when she should really have been burned at the stake for her atrocities while in power as prime minister,and also as a cabinet minister before that,when she stopped the free school milk for our children...and free swimming lessons..... high pit wilma :- Update on the subject of "Breaches" as referred to by Westy.........i was a bit slow a few comments back there........there ARE breaches of mining law seen/not seen in my photo's............AND THEY ARE ALL BREACHES BY THE NATIONAL COAL BOARD!! Ventilation in our drivages...non-existent.[no wonder we all have lung diseases and C.O.P.D.] Toilets...non-existent....you had to empty your bowels[if you were caught short and couldn't wait till you got to the surface],by going down the roadway,out of sight of anyone,do your business against a dirty wet strata,by the side of the roadway,sometimes use a sharp peice of coal to clean your backside,[no toilet rolls down a mine!],and cover your muck up like a dog would.[very inhuman to say the least..but you got used to it]. No efficient lighting,we worked in very poor light every day of our lives,[no wonder that the world seemed dazzingly bright when we rode to the surface at the end of our shift..][that is...IF it was light at all..we sometimes didn't see daylight for a week,in the winter....dark when we went down...dark when we came back up!] 20 Minutes only allowed for meal break...[Mines and Quarries act 1956.........yes ...1956!!...no change as time went by !!!!] Working with vibrating tools,[Compressed-air percussive drilling machines,as shown in these pics,with NO protection whatsoever,to prevent "White finger" disease,or proper sound-deadening on the drillers,which the Coal Board KNEW could cause damage to miners who were using them..... Need i go on? Yes,there were breaches all right!! Trouble was,we just accepted anything that was thrown at us,and said nowt! Oh!,and another thing,when i was 17 yrs old,and earning £4 a week take home pay,on heavy transport,down Choppington High pit,in 1961,in atrocious wet rough conditions,i was sent "to bank"[to the surface,home,without pay at all...],because i refused orders from the overman,in charge,Joe Barratt,to go and work with the "girder-lads",carrying in extremely heavy steel heavy-section arched-girders,into the coalface,where the roof had caved in,making it impossible to take a pony in,to transport these girders.[so they had to be taken in by hand]. Why did i refuse? Because the girder-lads were paid three times more than i was,and the overman,Joe Barratt,refused to pay me the same rate of pay for the job,as he was paying the others,which i thought was an entirely justifiable reason for standing up for my rights!! Joe had his hooks in me from that day until that pit closed in 1966..[used to send me to the roughest places on the coal face whenever he could,and all my marra's noticed,but he was boss and nowt i could do to prove i was being victimised. It wasn't hunky-dory working at that pit!! Mind,it didn't help my situation much when i stormed up to the Undermanager,and told him straight that i was going to see my union secretary,which i did,to see about getting my pay re-instated!![at 17 yrs old!!] high pit wilma :- Update;Tom in my pics,seen above,sadly passed away a few weeks ago,after a long spell of illness.R.I.P. Tom. We had some good times,even in these conditions,when a bit banter with your marra's kept your sanity! Bill.[High Pit Wilma] high pit wilma :- Tom is the one sitting in the Eimco machine. high pit wilma :- Tom sadly passed away recently,after a long illness.although it was rough where we worked,down the 3/4 seam,we had some good times working together,cos we had to make the best of it whether we liked it or not! [that was mining!] R.I.P. Tom. high pit wilma :- UPDATE 4-2-14-...........Westrie,now i know why you were persistent and very knowledgable to ask about breaches of mining law,.......I noticed your comments on another person's photostream,and you state that your Father was an UNDERMANAGER FOR THE NATIONAL COAL BOARD...!!........THAT'S WHY! It puzzled me from seeing your first comment,asking if this was an "Official" photo,or did I "SNEAK" the camera underground?........I assure you there was no need to sneak.....I was searched by the banksman for "Contraband",[illegal objects such as lighters or matches and cigarettes...],and passed through to get into the cage to go down the mine. You didn't know whether this was a Coal Board shot,or not,and if I had said it WAS an official shot,breaches of law wouldn't have entered your mind,now,would it? Heh Heh!!! Funny old world isn't it?! You see,lots of people have seen these pics,including many experienced Miners,and if you notice,it has taken the Son of Management to query mining law relating to them. Sorry if I seem to go on about this,but that was the effect your comments had on me,upon first seeing them! Cheers Pard,no offence meant to you or your Dad!! Freedom of speech is what it is all about here! Stephen Franks :- I hope I haven't caused any offence! I was purely asking out of interest. I remember my dad saying he broke loads of mining rules when he worked for the coal board. I had to sneak a camera underground to get my gold mine photos. I was just wondering if the coal board was ok with people taking photos or if it was just a case of taking a quick snap when nobody was about? Like I said I do hope I haven't caused any offence with the question, if I have then I am sorry to have upset you. high pit wilma :- Hi Westy! Now it's my turn to apologise! Sorry for being a bit blunt with you,and not even knowing you,but I appreciate your kind comments,and I just checked out your pics and they are certainly something else!! We both were in the same boat,and I wonder if you could understand my Northumbrian way of talking! I thought you were in the States,till I checked your pics,was it South Africa?...,and are you still there? Great pic of King Arthur you got there,as well as all the rest of your pics...! Cheers Marra! The Coal Board had their own film crew,who made loads of promotional films in the years after the second World War,and you can check them out,unless you already did,on You-Tube. high pit wilma :- Westdrie,I wish you and me could have had a good natter [talk] face to face,we would be up all night,sharing mining stories, and experiences,like us old Coalminers do when we see each other in the street,now that all our mines were shut down by a ruthless government. With regard to mining law,it was sometimes great to be a Deputy,cos if the pit Manager came into your District,with a Government Inspector,WITHOUT notifying you to meet them at the meeting station,[or "Kist"...as we called it..].. and just turned up at the coal face,neither of them would be in a position to reprimand you ferociously,with any kind of threat to your employment,if they found a breach,such as not enough timber supports in. The Mines and Quarries Act 1954,clearly states that "NO PERSON shall enter any district underground without the prior PERMISSION of the Deputy of that district."[that means NOBODY!...not the Manager,nor the Chairman of the Coal Board...... ...NOBODY! So if they DID threaten you,it would go down on your Official Mines and Quarries Shift Report,that these people entered your district without your permission,whilst you were on the face doing your General Examination of the district...[ an act of Parliament,which must be carried out twice daily.] Mr Hindmarsh ,Bates pit Manager,[and a Gentleman],often came in unexpectedly,but would never shout at anyone,He would take you to one side ,say to you what he wasn't happy about,and leave it at that,very quietly,and you would do whatever was necessary to correct the fault he had found,[the above comment about permission,was never required,cos he was a good Manager.] Yeah,your Dad will know that if everybody,incl. Management,had rigidly followed the regulations to the utmost,we miners wouldn't even have went down in the cage . Did you know that it was LAW that "Every roadway in every mine shall have toilet facilities,and it shall be an offence for any man to relieve his bowels while underground,in any roadway,except where these facilities are provided for that purpose" [Quote...Mines and Quarries Act 1954...] Of course there were no toilets,and wash basins........and of course men had to relieve their bowels....nearly 12 miles out under the North Sea,and a thousand feet down.......away from civilisation......what else could they do? THAT, was a favourite one of mine!,I used to tell the lads that if they needed to go outbye early,during the shift,that THAT was the best legal reason for leaving their workplace early,without fear of losing their pay!! Heh heh!...what a subject to be talking about ,after I just had my Corned Beef Pastie and fried vegetables for dinner!! Cheers Westdrie! Stephen Franks :- Hi Bill, Steve here (Westdrie) I'm glad I didn't cause any offence! Right, well, I live in Yorkshire, I worked for only a year in South Africa from July 97 till July 98. I got the chance of a life time so took up the offer. I finished as a skilled mine worker after I qualified as a shotfirer, I came back to the UK and never worked on a mine again. I took an interest in coal mining and its history when I was about 10 years old, I love hearing old stories and looking at photos etc of mining and mining history. I also like asking questions (hence the question about photos underground!) My dad was a Barnsley miner, he started on the pit top in 1951 and when offered the chance to study he got his managers ticket with the coal board and finished in the late 80's as an Assistant Manager. My dad had many stories about when he was shotfiring and breaking all the rules as the need for coal was so important, also had loads of stories about the strikes in 2,74 and 84/85. My dad was an Undermanager at Kellingley in the 70's, he told me many stories about the Geordie lads, leek and onion growing competitons that they held regularly!! Cheers Bill! high pit wilma :- Hi Steve,glad to know you after all! I started learning about everything to do about mining,from 1956,when I was 12 years old,cos my older Brother,who was born on the same day as me,but three years earlier,started the pit in 1956 also,aged 15 years. From his first day at the pit,he used to come home and tell me about everything he had learned. As he got a bit older,he took me to a local mine,where the coal they got,was sent by overland endless rope haulage,about a half of a mile,over the fields,to a larger mine,where the coal was screened and washed. Sets of three tubs at a time were hung onto the rope using "Hambones" [rope clips]. We rode our bikes over to where the middle of the haulageway was,between the two pits,and my Brother showed me how to "knock-off" the hambones,and "Dreg-up" [wood sprags pushed into the tub wheels],the tubs. We were making up sets of about twenty tubs at a time,and hanging them back onto the rope! It wasn't long before men from both pits came along the line to investigate what was going on!When we heard shouting and bawling,we got onto our bikes and buggered off really quickly,and never got caught! That was about the limit of any mischief we got up to in those days,but it was in the name of education....i would say! From then on on,I got books out the library,about mining,and by the time I left school at 15 years old,in 1959,I had a good understanding of most aspects of mining,right through to how coal-cutters worked!! My whole family on both sides of my Parents,were all miners,so I also heard many stories when very young!

high pit wilma :- Cheers Fritz! [ and Loada,of course!],one day me and me marra,Eddie B.,another [big] deputy were in 2's tailgate drivage,stemming a full shot[blasting off thi solid,],when thi air changed,and we both went deaf , for a second or two. We ran out and down to 20's tailgate,fearing thi worst,cos we knew how bad it was on thi face,thi men were all off thi face,and it had closed like a box, flattened 70 chocks like squashing a beetle! It took months ti ridd thi faal,and replace aal thi chocks..that was one HELL of a job!! The face road is standing at aboot 2'-6" high.[thi chocks are 23" high at thi lowest ,when they are fully released,[collared..as we say.] So they are extended aboot 9" on thi pic. Yeah, some great characters,you don't get thi likes of marra's like that in factories etc at bank. high pit wilma :- FOR REFERENCE,FRITZ,THESE WEREN'T BRACED CHOCKS,THEY WERE BOG-STANDARD 6-LEGS,THAT'S WHY THEY WERE FLATTENED AT THE FIRST BIT OF GOAF-MOVEMENT..THE TOP CANOPY USED TO BE PUSHED FORWARD,OVER TO THE COALFACE,THEN SHEER TOP WEIGHT JUST FLATTENED THEM DOWN ONTO THE DECK!! SAME WITH 21'S , 22'S , 23'S, BOTH TIMES,11'S,5O'S ,... IT TOOK A YEAR OR TWO FOR SUMBODY AT THE BRAINS CENTRE TO REALISE THESE CHOCKS WEREN'T WORKING! WHEN 50B'S WENT AWAY,WE INSTALLED THE FIRST "REV-LEMS" ON THE FACE,AND THESE HELD THE TOP,AND WITHSTOOD PRESSURE FROM THE GOAF BREAKING. THEY HAD GRASSHOPPER LEGS AT EACH SIDE,WHICH HAD A CANTILEVER ACTION,THEY COULD GO UP AND DOWN,BUT NOT FORWARD.I WAS ON COMPOSITE,WINNING OUT ALL THESE FACES IN TURN,AND WORKING ON THE INSTALLATION,AND WE,MY MARRA'S AND ME,TOLD HINDMARSH THAT THESE CHOCKS WOULD SAVE THE PIT,SO WHY NOT GET THEM FOR ALL FUTURE FACES? HE SAID HE AGREED, BUT HE'S PAYMASTER WAS ARCHIBOLD,AT TEAM VALLEY,AND ARCHIBOLD REFUSED TO BUY THEM IN...AND YOU KNOW WHY? 'COS THATCHER HAD ALREADY HAMMERED THE NAIL IN OUR COFFIN,AND ARCHBOLD HAD A VENDETTA AGAINST BATES TO START WITH,IT WAS COMMON KNOWLEDGE,AROUND THE PIT, SO WE CONTINUED TO INSTALL INFERIOR GEAR ON THE OTHER FACES,AT RISK TO THE LIVES OF ALL OUR MARRA'S,JUST LIKE THE SAME STORY WITH OUR LADS OUT FIGHTING THE TALIBAN...INFERIOR GEAR. NOW WHY DO YOU THINK I DON'T THINK VERY KINDLY OF "LADY" THATCHER.....AND HER CRONIES...? high pit wilma :- Er, i'm still in the learning process,and my son tells me it's bad manners using capitals,so i apologise if it offends anyone. When i was young,we were learned to write letters in capitals,for neatness,cos we had old-fashioned pen nibs and bottles of ink. And no,it wasn't when dinosaurs roamed the earth.....! therailwaymuddler :- Bloody Hell! high pit wilma :- I tell no lies,and i notice that no-one has ever come on to suggest that i might be exaggerating,or living in cuckoo-land! therailwaymuddler :- It just goes to show what horrendous conditions people had to work under (literally), we need people like you to remind us. I've lived such a namby-pamby life....! high pit wilma :- Thanks marra![mate..] Don't pull yourself down,we all have to do our bit in life. We had a party of visitors to this coalface, not long after it went away on coalwork, around 1975-ish,[give or take a year or two..!] The conditions were horrendous,and usually visitors were taken to better parts of the pit,where it was at least drier,but these visitors came in with the colliery manager,Mr Hindmarsh,and when they saw these conditions,above,throughout the whole of the face,[200 yards],and water pouring in from the broken-up roof strata,they were astounded that anyone could work in conditions like this,day after day..! Guess what they did for a living........? R.A.F. Squadron of fighter pilots!!! I was the Deputy on this face at the time,and i had a good crack with them as they went down the face,with some of them just shaking thier heads and saying.."you must be bloody mad to work down here"!! I told them that i thought the same about them,wanting to fly high up,cos i'm terrified of heights,but we both had something in common........that we miners had a bad "top",but a good "bottom",and they had a good "top",but a bad "bottom"!!! We managed a good laugh,and some great banter,but one or two were terrified to crawl down the face,and said,"if you think we're going down that f.............g face,mate,you got another think coming,we'll see you around the other end"!,then they walked back out of the mothergate,to go right around the district to meet thier mates,at the tailgate end,which is shown in this photo. The Squadron Leader presented a huge panaramic framed picture of the whole Aircrew, including groundcrew,to Mr Hindmarsh,the Manager of the pit,and it hung in the main entrance stairway landing wall for years,until thatcher the hatcheter closed the pit,in 1986. I often wonder what happened to that lovely photo...bet it went to a gaffer's house!! The face would normally have been 42" high,[ coal-seam height],but due to bad roof conditions,it was 15feet high and varying down to just over two feet high,and absolutely flooded throughout,with grey muddy slurry,we worked drownded,head to foot,every day. I came off deputy-work and back onto the face as a miner,on the tools,as they say,in 1978, and from then was on "composite work" ,winning out new roadways,and coalfaces,as my photostream shows. Cheers marra! high pit wilma 6y This pic was taken in 1986,just before the pit closed. Dr. Drewboy (deleted) 6y what a story! high pit wilma 6y Hi Dr Drewboy! Thanks for your comments.It seems we shared the same fate in the mining industry,which was the backbone of the industrial revolution.....but people have short memories.....it's always greed of the politicians to manipulate whichever industry they have most invested in. Cheers mate......or would gutten tag be right?[i read it!...hope it isnt an insult!!!] oildrum1 PRO 5y Excellent stuff showing how "difficult" things could get. Can remember working on a face, which we knew to be approaching a major faulted area, but it was a case of carrying on as the roof got gradually worse. It was basic 6 legged Dowty supports & usual timbering over the top, with forepoling in an attempt to catch the roof again. Finally as the sheare went through the roof started to go and just continued. By the time we returned the following afternoon a good stretch of supports were down on the spill plates & the AFC was buried. Can't remember how long it took to get it to move again, but relief came a few weeks later when I got the message over the face tannoy that "that was that". The men were transfered to another face & we salvaged what we could from the roadways, but the face was just left. Arr, those were the days eh!!! high pit wilma 5y ......THE FACE WAS JUST LEFT.....!!!! THANK YOU OILDRUM1,I WISH I COULD NOT ONLY SHOUT FROM THIS BLOODY COMPUTER,I WISH I COULD STAND ON TOP OF THE BUGGER AND YELL IT TO THE WORLD!!!! I've told as many people as i possibly can,on holidays,etc,when the subject has arisen,as it does,just how much valuable machinery,and exotic materials,even down to Mercury-filled pumping sensors,used in water standages,costing an utter fortune,complete mechanised coal face with millions of pounds of machinery,just left under the north sea to rot... and that's just Bates pit...!...think about every pit in the country,and i bet you've got an amount near to the chancellor's budget purse!! bewildebeeste 4y Very interesting. I've always been interested in the pits as long as i've lived in the North East but never really have leared how it all works underground - though I must ask - what were RAF fighter pilots doing down a pit? high pit wilma 4y An oganised visit,upon their request,they wanted to see how men lived and worked a thousand feet underground,when they had the most beautiful view,when they were a thousand feet above the ground! high pit wilma 4y beeste...my oldest sister went down Bedlington A pit when she was about 14 yrs old,crawled along the face,the lot,along with her classmates and her Schoolteacher, back in about 1952,i was about 8 yrs old then,and i can remember her coming home and telling all the family about it,and showing us a small piece of coal which she had brought out of the pit for a souviner.[we had creeful of coal-but this bit was special!] It was a common thing to do in them days,i think it was to do with public relations,the N.C.B. was only about 5 yrs old from investiture in 1947,and organised visits helped promote the industry. When you think about it now,it costs a fortune to visit Beamish and other Pit Museums,and a visit down a big working mine cost nothing then! high pit wilma 4y bewildbeeste....,you asked why i thought Archbold,[the area director for British Coal],had a vendetta against Bates,on another photo in this set... This pic says it all,this is how we worked the first few faces in the 3/4 seam,pure hell..! Only one face was installed with the more powerful and safer face supports called.."Rev-Lems",and that face looked like a training face,almost perfect conditions by this standard,although still soaking wet throughout. They had "grass-hopper leg" cantilever braced canopies,which effectively prevented the roof canopy from being pushed forward over the face and flattened to the ground by the goaf crashing down at the back of the chock. Bates was making a profit with that one face alone,all the other faces were in a bad state, cos the chocks weren't holding the roof up effectively,but did Archbold listen to his own Manager,or the men who's lives were at risk every day?,who requested Rev-Lems to be installed on the new faces that i was on winning out,with my Marra's? I rest my case! By the way,what made you ask? Are you a relative of Archbold? bewildebeeste 4y No, I'm not a relative. I was just wondering his motives - just a puppet for thatcher's policy then; I didn't know whether he had a legitimate reason for disliking Bates. If it was making a profit on the one face could production not have been concentrated on that one? high pit wilma 4y Hi beestie mate! Sorry if i seemed a bit strong,Archbold wasn't the best liked of area managers,unlike our own General Manager,Mr Eddie Hindmarsh,who was a gentleman,of good personality,attitude,and understanding....he would take you to one side,away from other men,to quietly bollock..[reprimand!] you on a point of safety,if a prop was missing from a girder,where 5 others would still be supporting it,in an advanced heading ,for instance,and you would know you had been bollocked.!! That was the way to gain respect from the men,rather than some who would come in shouting and bawling at you. The one face that was making a profit at Bates,didn't need concentrating on,it was installed with Rev-Lems,and went like the clappers!! It was the other faces that should have been concentrated on,and if Archbold had given the go-ahead to fit these chocks on all faces,then we would have once again been a record-breaking pit. Words,and even my pics,here,can't convey how horrendous the conditions were,in the 3/4 Seam,at Bates,you would have had to be getting out of bed to go down on the end the rope in a cage,at 12-0 midnight,leaving your Wife and Family asleep in their beds, getting inbye,and starting the crawl up the face,through slurry,and really bad roof conditions,to really know what it was all about.We did it cos it was all we knew,from leaving a school desk,our GrandFathers,Fathers,Brothers,uncles,and Mates,all went down the mines,because it was our heritage. For the record,and just to remind those that have forgotten,Bates Pit was THE first pit to go through the "Colliery Review Procedure",after the Wilberforce Enquiry recommended the thatcher government to conduct the Enquiry on all so-called "Uneconomical" pits that were threatened with closure. Wilberforce told thatcher that Bates needed investment,as it was already profitable,with one face alone,and should be kept open,with Coal reserves of over 60 million tons to be worked,and it would devastate the local economy,if the pit were to close. [This was after the 1984 Strike,which wasn't for extra pay .....it was for our jobs and communities..] Guess what? Wilberforce and his colleagues got handsomely paid for doing a grand job,but the thatcher government totally ignored his advice and recommendations,and closed Bates like switching a light bulb off. We were loading a full shot out,in R10's Tailgate,and our Marra's were drilling a full round,when word came in from outbye,on the jungle drums,[cos we didn't have a telly down there to watch the news..!],to switch off and pull out. The Manager had received orders from archbold,to cease production immediately. All our mining machinery and electrical equipment,switchgear etc,still lies down there, flooded out,for ever more. high pit wilma 4y Er,.....i think i should make it clear,that Bates normally ran with SIX coal faces at any one time,and as one face closed,another one was usually ready to start production. Some faces were worked in the Plessey Seam,where conditions were a lot better than the 3/4 Seam,but still not where sane people would want to be at 3-0am!!! So my comments above only relate TO the 3/4 Seam. high pit wilma 3y Does anybody think that if thatcher-the hatcheter was shown this pic ,would she[or was she really a he in disguise?...]... even KNOW what she/he was lookingt at?...i think not!! And would Dennis thatcher,or his spoilt rotten son,ever dream of going down on the end of a rope,a few thousand feet,and working a few miles out UNDER the North Sea....?...i think not!!!

Logan_5 :- Such a brilliant pic, for me. How deep was the shaft, Wilma? high pit wilma :- Hi,Logan! The shaft was about 1000 feet deep,to the sump. I recently spoke to an old fella,a total stranger,in Aldi supermarket,at Blyth,[cos i'm sociable,like that],and we got on great talking about pitwork,as old miners do....he told me was a shaft sinker,and he was in the team that sunk this shaft...! I think it was about 1954 when this one was put down,relativeley new, by comparison to older pits. He told me about an explosion,in the shaft,that killed two of he's marra's,and it would have been him as well,but he had changed his shift,so was able to tell the tale. Some of the shots hadn't gone off,and when the men went back down,they went off in front of them,killing them,sadly. This often happened in the old days,even in the early sixties,at Choppington high pit,where i worked,a shotfirer shot himself,accidentally,of course,when the shots went off in front of him,on a longwall handfilling face.Didn't kill him,but badly injured him. Just one of the dangers of coal mining. mattr68w :- Cool picture. Seems everyone who works or plays underground always loves looking down the shaft! high pit wilma :- Thanks Matt! When i was a young kid about 10 yrs old,a few of our "playgrounds" were old shafts..our area was riddled with pits!Some of the shafts weren't covered over or filled in,and a kid fell from the old buildings while trying to reach a pidgeon's nest,and went straight down the old shaft.[ fatally injured as you would expect]. That was in the mid-fifties,and my friends and i used to climb over the low flimsy wall that was built around the shaft and throw stones and logs etc down the shaft and listen to the booming noises they made as they bounced off the shaft walls.[we literally stood a foot from the edge of the shaft wall with no fear whatsoever....!] Another old shaft had railway lines concreted in over the shaft,about a foot apart,and we used to shimmy over to the middle of the shaft,sitting astride one of these rails,again,to throw stones down.....savage amusement.....!!!!!! For all i started down the mines at 15 years old,straight from my school desk,i have had terrible nightmares that i am falling down the shaft...but never hit the bottom of the shaft ....and always wake up in a cold sweat.[even though i am now a retired old git!] high pit wilma :- .........er............!............no playstations them days!!!!![ we kids had to make our own entertainment......down the woods.....playing over at the opencast mine among all the dragline excavators and bulldozers etc,on a weekend when no work was going on...........no security guards!!!!......no health and safety....no do-gooders telling us we might hurt ourselves if we fell from a tree...we bloody well did hurt ourselves,and learn't NOT to fall from trees!!!]....oh!.....and no claims solicitors getting fat from us either!!!

clockworklozenge :- Maybe one day in a few million years a new generation of miners may stumble across a perfectly fossilised eimco mucker ;-) high pit wilma :- Heh!Heh! Like an old abandoned bentley in a farmyard barn...Be funny if they switched it on and it started tracking forward...Ready ti redd the caunch.....!! Cheers clockwork lozenge! morrisoxford61 :- bloody governments, in any other country all this equipment would be salvage and re used after all old it may be, but only th every best materials were used and it was well looked after Ted McAvoy :- All these photos are going to be classic archive material. Thanks for taking them and posting them. high pit wilma :- Thanks Ted!..enjoyed some of your photostream also,but was falling asleep going through them late at night,suffice to say you have some stunners in there,especially the 1934 -39 set! Will try another time to check them out again. Cheers! Owen Edwards :- you'd be surpised how long machiney can last for underground and flood, at Beamishs Great North Steam Fair they had a Engine that was uncovered while open casting, had been down the abandoned pit for 100 years, and amazing how intact it was. where there was oil it kept the water out. high pit wilma :- Yea, Owen,i was there,and saw all the exhibits,fascinating stuff!,only the difference was, it wasn't lying doon in the 3/4 seam at Bates pit,cos the water there,was analysed in the labs,at the N.C.B. Research centre,to find out why it was corroding electrical panel-boxes,and shearers,and everything on a 1 million pound mechanised coalface,[in the early 1970's!],to destruction,in 6 months,when the same equipment was lasting 2 or three years on faces at other pits,and even in the other seams at Bates,such as the Plessey seam. The hydraulic chock legs were being changed every day,somewhere on a face,like changing your shirt,in big numbers.....if a shearer wasn't switched on over the weekend, to keep it running,you couldn't switch it on at all,by the time Sunday night midnight shift went inbye to start coalwork! Electrician's had to go in every shift over a weekend,to lubricate,and move the switches on every bit of gear in the place. The water was found to be six times saltier than seawater,and three times more corrosive, so i don't hold much hope out for my old Eimco shovel lasting out!! hoggy03 :- When i went on the old bates site with my brother and dad, when they knocked down blyth power stations chimneys i saw loads of old bits of pit equipment and my dad told me what it was and what it would be used for i was amased to find so much stuff and in good shape and i recently saw the great mounds of metel and concrete from bates and thought "shame", destroy and prefectly good pit and build houses on the site not another pit. high pit wilma :- Aye,Hoggy,i bet i'm not exaggeratin' when i say that they left the equivalant of the nation's purse doon there,throughout all the pits in the country,totalled up. You reckon it up,at Bates alone,hundreds of millions of pounds worth of equipment,like Dosco Roadheaders,£30 million pounds EACH!...,Complete face installations,with TWO longwall Shearers on each face,200 6-legged hydraulic face "chocks"..[roof supports], All the associated auxiliary equipment,like Gullick hydraulic pumps,[needed to power the face chocks],miles of cables,hundreds of electrical panel-boxes,and transformers,pipes,rails,mine cars,i could go on and on,but it wouldn't bring home the value of all this gear,to the average layman. Each coalface installation cost,in 1986,nearly £100 million.....there was always at least Six, to eight,faces working,at any one time...[Plessey and 3/4drift+the "Newbiggin drift"] But they still cut the ropes,where your Dad is hanging from,in the pic where he is standing on the top of the cage..........on thatcher's orders!....and left it all to ROT! bewildebeeste :- The average layman just googled Dosco Roadheader and even I can tell that these bits of kit are not cheap! For the record there is just as much stuff down the Salt mines underneath Cheshire that was abandoned rather than salvaged over the years. high pit wilma :- Hi beeste mate! Thanks for your comments,and i'm interested to hear about the salt mines ,which i knew nothing about! Were the mines being worked in recent years?,cos up here in Northumberland,Durham and Cumbria,there are loads of ancient Fluospar,Fruorite,Galenite,etc,Mines,so i would have thought....hmm...salt mines?....machinery?....recent times?...please educate me! Cheers Mate!

BobbyG25 :- Hi HPW It's been a while since I have been in here. Hope you are keeping well. I'm living in the south now, retired and watching Ronnie Cambell on TV, Wednesday morning. Still miss the north and the way things used to be. How life has changed down here, feel like I am in a foreign Country. Take care high pit wilma :- Hi Bobby. My eldest Son has lived in North Finchley,London,for the last 26 years,and can still relate stories aboot gaan owa the Bomar heaps scratching for coal,in 1984,during thi strike..amang aal thi otha things he did as a kid growing up in a colliery hoose wi an ootside netty....in the '70s and 80's! Some people caal Ronnie Cambell a nugget etc....a divvent knaa why the Blyth people wud have voted him in for the last 27 years,if he was a nugget!! Aav hord mair gud reports aboot Ronnie,than bad ones mind. Me and him got on aal reet at Bates,even after a tried ti run him doon during the '72 strike.......!!![that was a pit joke started by Jimmy Hall,it was his favourite introductory peice when meeting anybody doon the pit,if a was present!!] If ever ye see Ronnie,ask him if he can remember the story!

bewildebeeste :- Plenty of NCB internal user wagons on this photo. The ones in the foreground (do they have chocks in them?) look like standard 16t minerals but the red ones in the background look like older tapered 7 planks dating from well before ww2. high pit wilma :- Hi bewildebeeste,the wagons have 12' and 15' long baulks,["baaks"],4' long rolleyway sleepers,and 2' long hardwood chocks[which were Beech,with a 6"x6" cross-section]. All these timbers are shown being crushed like cardboard,on the pic of R20's face,in this set. All the wagons are the same,different ages,certainly not pre-war!!,and not tapered either,long time since i saw the old tapered wagons,mind a mean a long time!!

BigLoada ~:- I just love the cars in this shot! Logan_5 :- A sight that will live for me, with the rest of my life (the iconic pitheads) Remember so much about this place, as a kid. Catching the pit bus with my dad at Stakeford on a Saturday morning. Getting to the pit - going to see the 'winder-man' and getting a sit in his chair! Going for a shower and being amazed by all the lockers in the locker room. Getting a remarkably brilliant breakfast at the pit canteen, before us getting the ferry over to Cambois to see my grandma and grandad. A top day! Wilma - my dad is Alan Burn and he sends his regards to you. BL says that my dad used to run the cable in for you to fire the shots? One of my biggest regrets, is that I never got a look down Bates. My dad said he'd take me down for a look when I was 18, but the place was shut by that time. Still disappointing even now. high pit wilma :- Hi Logan,thanks for your comments! Give my regards to your dad,me and Alan always got on great,we both have the same interest in cars...tell him i'm driving a vauxhall signum now,it's brilliant..! He knows me by my real name,[Bill]. Logan_5 :- D I'll tell my dad, Bill. Alan still loves his Vauxhalls - he's flying around in a 2.5 Omega now. Didn't you nearly buy his Vauxhall Ventora off him, back in the early 70's? Remember Dean telling me that story! high pit wilma :- Hi , Logan! Heh! heh! i knew big Al would have nothing less than the Omega,until Vauxhall decide to think about the next executive motor!! Yeah, i was gonna buy his Ventora,cos i loved them,mine had been written off,but dad's needed a bit work,and he was totally honest with me,even advised me to keep looking around for a better one! [ not many blokes would have done that!] My next one i had 6 years,and scrapped it,my third one i had 6 years, and i was wrote off on a busy road in london...13 years in total of ventora's.[nobody can tell me owt aboot them..i had every fault on a car you can possibly think of!!] hoggy03 :- Hi Bill, i found out the dark blue van in this shot is my dad's, a person who stands out in a crowd and well known for his van's, great shot with getting the cars and the headgear in, was the shot takin looking to the east? high pit wilma :- Hi Hoggy, yes,this is looking eastward. The views from the headgear pulleys,give you a better idea which direction you are looking down at. Cheers!

hoggy03 :- It is a idiotic idea to build on bates because of all the hazards pit lagons, mine shafts, water and the rest, not a place for kids or teenagers for that matter never should have been considered for building on and my dad agrees completly, i would have like to see another pit built there but that will never happen. high pit wilma :-Hi Hoggy! Does it ever mek yi wonder where thi brains are in high places? Chek oot me pic of thi waata standage,in thi 3/4 seam,where thi panel boxes are at thi opposite side ti the explosives[pooda]magazines,standing next ti a brick wall haading haaf a million gallons o' waata back...! Noo THAT'S brains fo' yi...!! ......and a school on top of pit waste heap/compoond/toxicated area,next ti THREE pit shafts.......whey.......!!!!!!!!!! Three pit shafts? Did yi knaa that the aad Bates "North " pit shaft was capped wi concrete,[might hae been filled in,but a divvent think sae..],and it's up where the "top" car park used ti be,next ti Netto's on thi corner there... Yi cud hear it hissing,drawing air in through cracks in thi concrete,one time,when thi big fans were ventilating thi pit,but a was looking for thi capping,t'otha day,and it's aal owa grown wi grass and bushes noo. Noo if it was tekkin' air in one time,it'll be letting styphe and aal sorts oot noo,nea matter hoo gud they sealed it...it'll just get diffused in thi open air,cos nowt'll stop thi pressure building up as thi pit gets flooded. That's my aan opinion anyway,mebbe aam glaaky,but time will tell...as it did at Widdrington.. Cheers Hoggy,thanks for your comments! hoggy03 :- yes i have seen the pic of the high explosives, electrical equipment and water held back by a brick wall, my dad says the management was rubbish and payed a part in the pits downfall, did they ever take the explosives out of the pit before it was demolised or was they left there, as well i looked though some of your other pics and saw you worked at ashington what did you do after it shut? high pit wilma :- Hoggy,there'll be pooda left in aal owa the pit,but it'll be safe noo, cos the salty sea-waata will have just dissolved it back doon ti nowt...... I got re-trained as a cabinet-maker,after i left the pits,but had several jobs,like driving,etc in between,cos after the pits aal closed doon,thatcher -thi - hatcheter,made sure smaal businesses couldn't survive either,and i worked in some lovely little workshops,making very expensive furniture,your Dad would have killed to work in!!! Ask him if he ever used a computer-controlled[NOT CNC!]...FOUR-SIDED planer!! You could feed a raggy pit prop into the feed-rollers,type in what section you required,[4x2 etc],and you would get your lovely smooth 4x2 plank spitting out of the delivery side...just like that! First time in my life that i ever looked forward to going to work in the morning,and i didn't want to come home at night,i enjoyed it so much...!!![oh.....and there wasn't any "foreshift" to work,either!] Cheers!

high pit wilma :- Hi Hoggy,thanks for the update,we're all a bit wiser now! At least somebody somewhere has had the sense to keep the plant operating,therefore securing jobs. Don't get the chance to check my photostream as often as i used to,due to commitments, Hoggy,and also Aj,plus any other visitors,so apologies to all if i don't reply straight away to any comments posted.[i really appreciate anyone showing interest in my photostream!] bewildebeeste :- hoggy03 Just a thought as to what kind of plastics/glass is going out of here - it wouldn't be domestic recycling would it? hoggy03 :- bewildebeeste I'm not sure, best person to ask would be somebody would works for the Port of Blyth. high pit wilma :- Pass on that one marra!

Ron Dobson :- I see the supplies are ready to gan doon thu pit Cheer,s Marra high pit wilma :- Waatcheor Blythfoto1! Yi soond like a bloke whee cin unnerstand anotha geordie pitmin,aam a reet o' wat?!!! Heh heh! The supplies are just waiting o' aad Jack M. gaan owa wi he's bit o' chaak,ti mark thim aal off ,fo' wheor thi hae ti gaan...can yi mind canny aad Jack? Aad like ti contact yi by mail,if that's aal reet! Ron Dobson :- Hiya Bill/Marra - Aye yi can e-mail onytime yi like itid b nice ti hear from yi Coz usses hevta clag (ameen stick) tigitha aall fur noo Tek care high pit wilma :- That's chinkaplonka! Was Jimmy Kenny, "Auld Blue"?,or sum bugga else? Cheers marra! Ron Dobson :- Aye yur reet there Auld Blue smashing gaffa him (wi me onyway) Just a laddie and me pony doon thu pit.di yuh rememba Cecil Cessford and Bob Armstrong at the Bella(Bob yuh got thin leg,s Owt dis fur pit wurk says him gud times Tek care Marra and keep yur pooda dry tee.... tata high pit wilma :- Aye, a saw Aad Blue 2 or 3 yeors back,in thi Keel Raa,a think it was,wi his wife,and a spoke ti him,whey its neaorly fowerty yeors ago since a was a young deputy,youngest at thi pit,at thi time,aboot 1973,and so he didn't knaa me noo,but mind,he was still Aad Blue,aboot a hundred yeors aad,lukking at him,but still wi thi hair,and aal he's marbles upa height.....!! He telt me aal aboot he's faatha,and brotha's,and hoo he went ti neet school,afta redding a caunch aal day,ti get he's tickets. That's hoo he was a gud gaffa,he was a gud pitman as weel. cheers,and k.y.t.i. an aal!! Dr. Drewboy :- it's not the "original" configuration, right? it seems as there is only the left half of the shaft used and there should be two more wheels. Stephen Franks :- Did the coal come out in tubs or skips at this mine? high pit wilma :- Drewboy..spot-on,it was originally sunk with the intention of installing four cages,but it never happened. Wesdrie.....it was three and a half ton mine cars.