Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

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!