Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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