Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

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.

BigLoada :- THis is a really great composition. It works perfectly, especially if like us one is familiar with the area. rigobonzo :- What time of the day was the photo taken. tarboat :- This is a cracking shot. high pit wilma :- Cheers, tarboat,and Loada! Rigo, it was taken during thi night shift,from up thi main heed gear, about 6 or 7 o'clock in thi evening.[no gaffa's knocking about then!] hoggy03 :- Great shot bill, what was the shed with the blue doors for near the road? high pit wilma :- Got ya Dad ti forever thank,for all these surface shots,from up on the headgear,Hoggy,it was a gud job we took thi chance ti get up there and create a bit of historical archive material![seeing as how the whole place has changed completely......] Noo,the shed.......,yi got me wondering mese'll noo! Zooming in on large size,yi can see the railway lines leading up to the building,which makes me think it might have been a shunting loco shed/garage/workshop..... Does Russ not know? Thanks for ya comments Hoggy! hoggy03 :- He said it was for the shipping plant, but i don't know if he was on about the same area as me. high pit wilma :-Hi Hoggy, i've added a note to the place i think you are on about. We might get some response from somebody...! hoggy03 :- Hi Bill, i have showed my dad the photo and he's says it is number 3 loco shed, so that has answered the question. high pit wilma :- Heh heh!....thas nowt us pitmen divvent knaa...eh? Gud ti get it sorted,Hoggy. Noo,yi got me wondering aboot things like that,aam thinkin'....a canna place,[in me mind], where the "back"[upcast] shaft was,at Bedlington aad pit...a naa it's nowt ti dae wi Bates,but it's buggin' me,just thi syem!! A was there 6 years,so a shud've knaan.....aam at a funny age noo,Hoggy....! Dr. Drewboy :- i agree - a really nice overview! Ron Dobson :- Hiya Bill,Added a few note,s.That was a loco shed but later it housed the Payloader,s used at the Shipping Plant,Shipping started at 5-0am and finished at 2100hrs and worked 5/6 day,s a week,kypd Take care marra high pit wilma :- Dr Drewboy-thanks for your kind comment.! blythfoto1 - Thanks fo aal ya info on wor pit! Keepahaud marra! ian Cummings :- Great pics all my family worked here cummings n brocks high pit wilma :- Hi,Geordieian, I knew Peter ,and Ronnie Brock, hellish gud workers they were and canny lads as weel. Peter got he's thumb fast in the Sylvester,one day,when he was pulling thi conveyor box-end in to tighten the belt up. The sylvester handle flew oot Peter's hand,as he was lifting the butterfly catch..[favourite thing wi sylvester's],and Peter's thumb was off. The Deputy bandaged him up,and was sending him ootbye,when he argued with the Deputy,he wasn't gaan ootbye,he wanted ti finish the job he had started. He had ti gaan oot,but he groused aal thi way ootbye!! -tough aad nut was Peter! Another one was the Owaman,Jack M.,he had two fingers taken clean off,and a third hanging on wi a bit o' tat,nearly off. He got his hand fast in the conveyor belt loop-take-up winch ropes. Deputy dressed his hand up,and he made ti gaan inbye,cos thi men had shouted owa the D.A.C. phone for his help with a Tirfor rope which had become fast inside thi tirfor. The Deputy said,"..A knaa where ye are ganning Jack.....ootbye....NOO" !! A canna mind thi Cummings....... Cheers marra! bradfordlad2012 :- are the houses still there ? high pit wilma :- fat lad, Hi marra! Yes the houses are still there....30 years later,[it's now 22-10-15] but the Cambois Power Station was demolished quite a few years ago,after the coal industry was savagely murdered by thatcher-thi-hatcheter and her evil greedy cronies. So is the Alcan Smelter closed,after the closure of Ellington Colliery,which was the smelter's nearest and largest supplier of coal for it's furnaces at it's own dedicated power station.

Logan_5 :- The Ridley - aka the 'Wilick'. high pit wilma :- Heh! heh! Long time since i heard that used...! FREDOOO2 :- I used to attend the Willick on a more than regular basis,in fact my missis said I was in there longer than the wallpaper was,and the Vikings put that on!! high pit wilma :- Cheers Fred! Did the vikings not consecrate the original Willick?....!!!!! Philip Hodgetts :- Wonderful to see Bates as I remember it. I grew up on Taylor Street Cowpen 1968 - 1981. The panorama that filled my bedroom window was the power station the river and Bates including the West staiths. Sounds hideous I know, but I had plenty of fields to play in down by the river. Miss the old homestead. How things change with time. One of our neighbours Mr Simpson used to get coal by the ton load for my mum and dad which was delivered by side tipping Bedford TK in the navy blue of the NCB. How I remember the biting east winds in mid winter.... brrrrrrr.... rattling the old sash window and sticking the net curtain to the window in ice. Outside toilet too........ nearly stuck my arse to that bakelite seat on cold nights, so learned to 'hover' lol! Thanks for the memory. high pit wilma :- Thanks locohodgetts,now you woudn't happen to know anyone called "Wandre".....would you?,cos if you do,you know high pit wilma...![unless it might be your dad,or granda.....!] high pit wilma :- Plenty Hodgetts knocking aroond,but the word "Loco",as a pre-fix....! I bet Iano the fireman would cotton onto this one immediately,and be askin' what the hell did ye part wi the "Framus" for....! Have i got you,or do i sound like i am just rambling on....?!!!! Philip Hodgetts :- Hehe, no, you've got the wrong Hodgetts in mind. None of that means anything to me. Sorry. lol high pit wilma :- Ah weel, Hodgy, nivvor mind bonny lad,nice of you to appreciate my pics,and your kind comments! Ootside netty?!!,wors was bust pipe in the bleak mid-winter of 1976-ish,for a few weeks we had ti tek a bucket o' waata owa the yard ti flush the netty,afta we used it. Noo,a might hae me date wrang a bit,cos thatcher -thi-hatcheter was prime minister then,and when a couldn't get nae joy oot thi coaal board,ti get wa netty pipe fixed,and a had two little bairns gaan owa in freezing caad conditions,and not being able ti flush the netty,a wrote ti 10 Dooning Street,and addressed me nasty letter ti thatcher-thi-etc. Whey 2 days later the coal board foremen [2 of them!] knocked on me door,when aa was doon thi pit,and wor lass answered. They were both full of sheepish excuses as ti why we hadn't got wa netty fixed. One of them said.."Your man's been writing sumwheor,hasn't he?" Wor lass went through them like a dose o' salts...thi pipe was fixed thi next day!!! high pit wilma :- A forgot ti say that a got a reply from 10 downing street by return of post,all official letterheaded,and a letter from thatcher's personal secretary,apologising for the trouble we had wi wor netty,but that seeing it wasn't thatcher's dep't,she had forwarded my letter to the appropriate dep't in the national coal board..[building dep't at Ashington!] if a cud find me original letter copy,plus the reply from thatcher,a wud post them up here for posterity!! A wrote a few times since then,aboot different things,and aalwis got a speedy reply!!

high pit wilma :- That is a mighty big wheel!! frazerweb :- Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Colliery & Mine Photos, and we'd love to have this added to the group! Cool stuff high pit wilma :- Hi! No digi marvels here, this whole set was shot with a 40 yrs old HALINA 35X 35MM MANUAL FOCUS -SHUTTER-APERTURE- STEAM-DRIVEN,WITH GEAR LEVERS AS WELL.....! Pleased you like them,glad to have whatever shots,added to the group. Ray Hammond :- Superb sho,t great composition, Sadly all but lost of this Iconic period. german shepherd dog woof to my friends :- my dad had his accident at bates pit the shaf had fallen 50 ft to the bottom that was in the mid 70's nice photo with blyth power station in the back ground high pit wilma :- Hi max! Sorry to hear about your dad,the miner risked he's life as soon as he stepped into the cage,but we never thought about it. Your dad's accident must have been in the early seventies,before 1971,was it? I started bates in june 1971,and i'm thinking it must have been before i started.Correct me please... Ryan Hogg :- Nice to find this photo from bates, who took the photo of my dad then? high pit wilma :- Hi Hoggy! All this set is my own copyright. Purely my own work,if you go through the set , you'll find info on what camera i used.Russell kindly took me and my son [who was 14 at the time,i think...!] all around the washery,screens,winder hoose,etc,but unfortunately, that film was somehow lost,before being developed. But luckily this one got done. Do you know what trade your dad was in before he went on shaft work? Cheers! hoggy03 :- Very nice photo of my dad, im his second son, hoggy92220 is my older brother, i response to the question you asked my brother my dad was a joiner at Bates before he did shaft work. Ron Dobson :- Nice to see Russell He was just an apprentice the last time i saw him I worked at Bates 66-87 and was at Isabella pit in 1960-66 Good times high pit wilma :- Heh heh! Hoggy, just checking,no disrespect, i knew Russell long before he went onto shaftwork,he used to come into my districts when i was a Deputy,1971-1978,and after that,i chucked Deputy-work in,and went back onto composite work,till the pit closed in 1986,well i went ti Ashington pit,just before Bates actually had the ropes cut. Always was a nice lad,Russell,well-liked by everybody,bar none. high pit wilma :- Blyth foto,i can't place you,were you in the 3/4 or the Plessey? Ron Dobson ;- Hiya Bill - Worked aall ower at Bate,sOn transport/Manrider in 3/4 for a while 4north and Plessey as a datal on loader,s on 73s on pony. Tommy Blair/Stan Brooke,s/Jimmy Kenny aall gaffer,s Aaaaalll fur noo Tek care high pit wilma :- Ron,wish a cud bump inti yi in Blyth market,wat a pair o' aad natterbags wi'd be....!! Wor lass syez wa warse thin aad pit wives nattering on when wi get tigitha.....[pitmen...i.e.]!! Dr. Drewboy :- ah, this is the picture. really nice! high pit wilma :- Hi Dr Drewboy! Just catching up,been off for a while,thanks for your kind comments! Pleased i got these shots,cos the opportunity to get aerial pics from this unique spot,will never arise again....i don't think!!

sparty lea :- Canny view from up there. high pit wilma :- CHEERS SPARTY! IT WAS A CANNY NEET, CALM,COULDN'T HAVE PICKED A BETTER TIME TO GO UP THERE. THIS SET WAS TAKEN ON 35MM FILM,USING A VINTAGE[ 1963/4-ish] HALINA 35x CAMERA,WITH PARALLAX ERROR CORRECTION GUIDE IN THE VEIWFINDER. [NOT AN SLR!] EVERYTHING MANUALLY ADJUSTED..SHUTTER,APERTURE,FOCUS.....STEAM-DRIVEN..WITH GEARLEVERS...!!!! DIGITAL,EVEN IF THEY HAD BEEN AVAILABLE IN THE 1980'S, WOULDNT HAVE TAKEN PICS LIKE THE UNDERGROUND ONES,IN THE AVAILABLE LIGHT I HAD[CAP-LAMPS]...WELL... I DON'T THINK SO ANYWAY..! high pit wilma :- Once again,Sparty, apologies for 'shouting'...purely ignorant of the fact that capitals had this connotation!!