Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

BobbyG25 :- Hi HPW Interesting to here about the explosive side to your job. I remember testing the Beethoven exploders in the workshops at Bates. We used to use little yellow caps to test them. In the gold mines they used to fire a level at a time and only when the mine was totally clear. Sometime you could be out shopping and you would feel the shots going off. and that was from 4500 ft below you. I worked a good bit on the winders at Bates and the shafts, went down inspecting them. interesting to see this photo of the Baths, I used to change next to Ronnie Campbell, knew his brother skinny Campell, wonder how he is doing these days. The gold mines had a lot of Methane in them so I was surprised to be asked to take some sausages down one morning for a Barbacue........... yes and there right before my eyes down at 4500 feet we had a barby and a smoke.......wonder if its changed. Better go now, take care HPW....... high pit wilma :- Bobby, those were thi days my friend,we thought they'd never end, we'd cut and drill....and fire every day,we'd catch thi loco oot,off ti thi baths we'd shoot,those were thi days,oh yes those were thi days....la la la laaaaa,la la,...........!! [it cums natural ti a brilliant muso like me......!....mind,a DID try ti keep me day job,till yon b.............ugga,med sure a wadn't gaan doon a pit ever again,cos it was a working man I was,and I worked down und...er..ground......!!!!!heh heh!] Are yi still oot there Bobby? Ye probably dae knaa that Ronnie Cambell has been thi Blyth valley M.P. for thi last 20 years..[a think it'll be 20 years...] A didn't knaa his Brother. Keep a hauld ,Marra!

skida :- My good lady's dad, the late Frank Herron was a banksman at Bates, after moving from Crofton, and we have really enjoyed looking through you photos Wilma. Thanks. high pit wilma :- Hi skida,noo...!.....it's a smaall world,as we aal knaa,but did Frank live at Hollymount Square Bedlington by any chance? Many thanks for your kind comments,and i am pleased you had pleasure and nostalgic memories from seeing them. Cheers! skida :- Hi Wilma. Frank was a Newsham Man and as far as I know never lived in Bedlington. His daughters used to have a great time going into Bates' canteen where the dinner lady spoiled them. I am no fan of Thatcher and it was interesting reading your comments and getting an insight of the miner's perspective. I doubt this country will ever recover from the loss of heavy industry, especially in the North East, which resulted from her government allowing the fat cats to invest profits made here to be invested in sweatshops in the third world. Cheers BobbyG25 :- Hi Wilma I was at Bates between 1964 and 1972. Spent most of my time in the Plessy seam on mech faces. Served my apprenticeship as an electrician then stayed on till the strike then went out to South Africa, gold mines. That was an eye opener. Never mind I'm retired now and can spend my time thinking of those wonderfull times crawling along the face with water every where and dust coming off the machines especially if they where cutting through a fault. Those where the days !!!!!!! theres a song there some where .............. Take care Bob high pit wilma :- Hi skida,aye it's a different Frank then. I used to take my two Sons fishing at Blyth pier,35 years ago,and we used to call in to the canteen to get our pasties,which were huge,and my two lads loved them,especially on cold winters days!! There's a lad called Davy...? worked at the Plessey,and he says his greatest wish is that thatcher [ no capital t for her...i'm petty!],dies before him,so he can witness her funeral with glee!! Cheers!! Hi Bobby,i started Bates in June 1971,as a Deputy,up at 8's [84's faceline]in the Beaumont Seam. I came back into the N.U.M. in 1978,onto Composite work.[known as Development work at other Pits.]....winning out new roadways and coalfaces,installing the mechanised conveyors and face chocks etc,and doing any specialised work that we were called upon to do. I went down the 3/4 drift and pioneered by blasting out the back drift from the start at the top,just past the south loader...that was a humdinger!!!....150 pounds of Polar Ajax [P1] in 50 x 9ft long drillholes,using 0-15 millisecond delay detonators,fired by the Beethoven 1500volt dynamo - "battery"..[ not really a battery..cos it was a dynamo-capacitor exploder...] The rule was,because we were so close to the South loader cabin,which was built on an overhead girder framework,in the main roadway,about 200 yards outbye side of us,we had to let them know when we were going to fire..so they would open both doors of the cabin,and so relieve the air pressure,to prevent damage to the cabin. Well,for a while that went o.k........... But one day,i was under a lot of pressure,with a fault on the detonator circuit,and after a lot of time spent checking the wiring,i finally had a good reading on the ohm-meter,so i went and fired the shots............ There was hell-on!! The pressure-wave from the shots actually lifted the steel cabin,with all the hydraulic control gear for the loader,plus the loader-lad,and pushed it outbye on it's framework,for a few feet!!! The loader lad thought his end had come,cos he didnt expect it,mind...he let me know about it when he saw me!! No danger from the shots mind,just pure air movement! I remembered after that to let him know i was gonna fire!! Was it as scatter-brained in the goldmines,Bobby?....bet it was hot!! Cheers,and thanks to you both for your comments.

hoggy03 :- Hi Bill, My dad was just telling me about the masons cabin (blue shed) in the pic and how someone wrote above the masons bit "free" thought it was funny, did you know/hear about it? high pit wilma :- Hi Hoggy! Naa! Nivvor hord that one,but very typical wit of aal the tradesmen,with the exception of one or two real canny lads like your Dad,[he was always just like he is,canny and quiet,and very sociable..]. Mind,Russel will confirm that you had to have razor-sharp reactions to stand up to the wit of the younger fitters and sparky's,some of who are now deceased,at a very young age. The conditions we worked in were bad,but the banter was great,like i never experienced in factories and small workshops,after i left the pits,in 1987. Comradeship second to none. BobbyG25 :- Seeing these pics takes me back a few years. Yes it was hard working underground those days but have to admit I enjoyed it. Sure my bad knee is caused by crawling along those coal faces. Take care Bob Gregg electrician 1964 1972 high pit wilma :- Hi Bob! I started Bates in June 1971,and as it's so far back in time now,i canna place you. Were you in the Beaumont or the Three-Quarter seams? I was a Deputy when i went to Bates from Bedlington A pit,and was all over the whole pit,at various times,so got to know a lot of the men over time. I went back into the N.U.M. in 1978. Did you go by a nickname,Bob,cos lots of lads i worked with for years,just had nicknames,and,funnily enough,i never knew the real names of some of them....odd?!!!

Dr. Drewboy :- i have never heared of 6-legged roof-supports but in germany it was the same with the investments... the miners said "when your mine get's new showers/headgears/whatever it will be closed next year."! germany's biggest headgear in "göttelborn" never really extracted coal. or "schlägel & eisen" shaft 4 got a modern, 70m high headstock which just was in use from 1986 to 1990 and the new coal blending bed was finished in 1987 and also worked until 1990... high pit wilma :- Hi Dr Drewboy! Yeah,in the 1960's,when we first got mechanisation,we had Dowty 5-legged chocks,with adjacent,and full 6-batch control.[that was after using Dowty hydraulic props and face bars..!]. Then we got Gullick 6-legged chocks [4 legs at the back,and 2 at the front,supporting the canopy.Each leg could withstand 100 tons roof pressure,so each face chock was referred to as a "600-ton face chock". Problem was,the goaf used to push the legs forward,and cause the roof to fall,flattening the chocks to the ground,like squashing a beetle,the roof pressure in the 3/4 seam was so great. We got a new design of chock called the "Rev-lem",which had huge,thick armoured bracing plates,at each side,like grasshopper legs,which allowed vertical movement of the chock canopy,but which also prevented lateral movement,so the canopy couldn't be pushed forward by the goaf falling in. One coal face alone,installed with these chocks,made Bates Pit profitable,but when we asked for more,the area director refused us them,and sent us the old style Gullicks,which he,and everybody else, knew,was a risk of human life,to work under. As a result,thatcher,our prime minister,made the excuse we were unprofitable,and closed the pit. It was all contrived from the start,cos she knew,and she actually said it,that if she could break the Miners,she could break the T.U.C,our trade union movement....and she DID!

hoggy03 asked :- Hi Bill, Did the NCB have spares for everything or just a select few things that would be needed ASAP, if they where damaged or broken for the pit to work. high pit wilma reply :- Hi Hoggy! Most spares that were considered essential,were kept,and that, was a lot of spares!! On one aerial photo,i have put notes on,and you can see a complete face installation of hydraulic face chocks,stacked in double rows,which would have cost a million pounds back then......then then there was spare shearers,Dosco Roadheaders [costing £30 million each!].....pumps,conveyor belt driveheads,and structure.....etc etc...! A lot of that stuff was sent down the pit and never used,just to put the costs onto the colliery Manager's budget,and so deeming the pit to be uneconomical.....cos as long as it stood in the pit yard,it was costed to the area plant pool..,but the minute it was put into the cage to go down,the Manager had to account for it. I was talking to a Welsh ex-miner at Beamish museum,a few days ago,same age as me,and he said they did the same thing in all the pits down there,one by one,to deem them "uneconomical",as an excuse to close them. He said they left hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of machinery down there....... .....and he isn't the only one who has told me tales like the ones we already know! Cheers,Hoggy!