Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

@James never seen the Bedlingtonshire Revisited booklets. Were they by the Martin family? I have seen the text you posted from the ChatGTP (AI chatbot developed by open AI) and I am surprised it gives the Six Townships Community History Group, as a soure of info on the PO. I know the Sixtownships used to be a Facebook group run by @johndawsonjune1955 and it changed it's name to Past Times History group buy I can't remember the exact year it changes it's name. Pity John Dawson kicked me out of the group otherwise I would ask him where he got the place & year for the 1st PO opening

@Canny lass this dosen't prove anything but I see in John Dawson's Bedlington Timeline he has an entry :- '1858 Bedlington's first post office had a telegraph system installed. It was situated in the Baptist Yard' - but no reference to where the info came from. i don't know if John still runs the Facebook group - Past Times History group - as he kicked me out of the group a couple of years ago because he thought I was an admin, and I wasn't and never had been, on the Ashington group and had deleted his post about selling his books/CDs on the local area.

I'm with you and I doubt we will stumble on anything that proves it one way or the other. Can'tm remember ever having seen Baptists yard identified on the old maps I hva looked at

@Canny lass - I only have one booklet by S B Martin and I will have a look through it and see what's in it (it's years ago I got t of ebay). I have googled it but no copies avialble. This is the cover :- Don't know if that is the one @James is referring to. When I was Googling for Stephen B Martin books on Bedlington this one came up :-

Cheers @James - I hadn't remembered that one

@Canny lass - for the Google strett view shots I actually typed in Front Street West Bedlington for my initial search as I knew that's where the PO was. So me then typing Front Street East can only be put down to Mild Cognitive Impairment or Onset of Dementia. It's like been back at school and I can here the teacher saying - Edgar stop stairing out the window and concentrate

@Canny lass - it's just me not thinking straight - again - yes Front Street West.

On the Facebook group Bygone Bedlington a member, Ian Foster, posted this clip from the BBC archives when the BBC was looking for the 'Market Place' Post office and you will need the volume turned up to listen to this :- https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/611257809e2c440020e8f292?selectedLatLng=55.13239860534668%2C-1.5979957580566406&zoom=11 So I checked the journey of the Post Office When it was in the Market Place :- Then it moved to 40 front Street East and was still called the Market Place Post Office :- Where it is now - Google Street View 2024 - 20 Front Street

@Eddie Yarrow - have you ever visited the Northumberland and DurhamPits Facebook group to see if any member can identify anyone/ If you are not on Facebook group(s) then if it's Ok with you I could post one of your photos, with the space, numbers and names, on the group to see if there are any memmbers that recognise and old relative.

Thankyou @Canny lass. I had wondered why some of the maps you have posted had different street names etc. to the ones I look at - now I know. When I first found the NLS maps I spent an awfull lot of time looking tat all the different types/sizes of maps and eventually set myself up a direct link, within Google, to the OS 6inch maps as I thought they had more detail and info. Well I got that wrong for the last 5+ years. I noticed on your map extracts you had looked at the 25inch maps. None of the 6inch show the double row of houses. I have now set up a link to the 25inch :- https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=16.0&lat=55.14074&lon=-1.56793&layers=101&b=1&z=0&point=55.14131,-1.56716&i=132279023 and this is the link I have been using to the 6inch :- https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=13.0&lat=55.13580&lon=-1.64090&layers=102&b=1&z=0&point=55.1326,-1.5691 This is the 1896 6inch map and it does not show the double row of houses :- And the 1920 6inch map is exactly the same. I will now tell Jan Appleby that you have showed me the way and I will give her a direct link to this posting. Eggy

@Canny lass would you do me a favour and see what info the enumerator has in the 1911 census records for Back Clayton Street. I had neve heard of that street until this old photo (no date given) of Clayton Street was posted a couple of days ago on the Facebook group Bygone Bedlingtom :- and one member, Jan Appleby, made this comment :- So I searched everywhere I normally search and only found one other comment that mentioned it and the was by @tullybrone in this group in 2013 :- I then checked the old maps between 1896 and 1921 and no mention of Back Clayton Street. Only Cross Row and Phoenix Row behind Clayton Streeet. Help