Everything posted by Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)
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I just can't remember having seen a Yellowhammers egg. I know it's illegal now but in the late 1950's we spent most of the spring searching for nests, with eggs, all over the Bedlington area. Down the woods, across farmers fields searching the hedgerows. I suppose I should be pleased I never found one to add to the birds egg collection my brothers and I kept.
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@Walsham Wonderer - some info on the Bedlington area and as you find out more about your family when they were in Bedlington we should have some photos of the colliery rows that we could add to these comments :- Bedlington had two mines – The Doctor Pit and Bedlington/Sleekburn ‘A’ Pit. When researching the Bedlington area, especially the coal mines, you will see that the town of Bedlington built its railway station next to the ‘A’ pit that opened in 1850 and the ‘A’ pit was next to the town of Sleekburn - West & East Sleekburn can still be seen on current maps. I do not know when the area name changed from Sleekburn to Bedlington Station but you can see that the people of Bedlington had to travel from Bedlington to Sleekburn to get to Bedlington’s railway station. So it’s more than likely that everyone said they were going to Bedlington station. When you find out the address of where your family was living in Bedlington we should be able to give you a bit more detail on the housing etc. in that area. So when I grew up in Bedlington in the mid 20th century everyone referred to the two areas of Bedlington as The Top End & The Station. This link to the ‘Disused Stations’ site has details good info + maps on the area of Sleekburn and the ‘A’ pit. I would be guessing that your relatives got to Bedlington via train – the Bedlington railway station was linked to the Newcastle Central Railway Station, to the South of Bedlington, and the Morpeth Railway Station to the North. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/b/bedlington/index.shtml This map is from the Disused stations site and it has the name Sleekburn but it doesn’t have a date. This 1859 map (not very clear) shows the railway line – Wagonway - between the two pits. There are no colliery houses marked on the map for the Doctor Pit area. The ‘A’ pit area has colliery houses and they were – South Row (2 terraces) – North Row and Shop Row. The pit rows for the Doctor pit are not on the 1866 map and first appear on the 1896 map. This is a compilation of the maps. There is a row marked as Old Colliery Row on an 1897 map but it was at the East End of the town and the Doctor pit was at the West End. James posted that this row, known as ‘The Aad Pit Raa’ was built in 1840.
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Champion - I didn't know that - it's a few years since I sent off for a certificate. 😊👌
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The images I posted above are from a site called Family_Search. They are a free site and handy for checking for old records. Using the info from that site I input the details for the two children, Julia and Charles into another free site = FreeBMD. The FreeBMD site is very basic but it uses volunteers to transcribe registration records, Births - Marriages & Deaths, onto their Database. So if you have any success searching on the FreeBMD site if gives you registration info so you can apply to the Registrars Office to obtain B,M & D certificates. I'm guessing you already know most of this.. The main problem with the FreeBMD site is that you only get a name + registration reference and you have to hope you have the right person when you apply to the Registrars Office for a copy of a certificate. they used to be £9.50 per certificate but don't know what the cost is now. The FreeBMD site is :- https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ I did a very basic Birth search for Julia & Charles Hunt -= First name - Surname - Date Range Mar 1985 to Dec 1880 and the following records were returned :- The local registry office for Bedlington would be the Morpeth area so I would assume that the two records returned with the Morpeth entry could be the records that would give you the info, address etc, you are after. I will add another comment after this one with some maps of the Bedlington area showing where the the two Bedlington collieries were sited and the colliery rows that existed.
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Walsham Wonder - I will see what I can put together to give you a picture of the area + coal mines where you grandparents were born. I won't be able to give you any info on the 'whys or wherefores' of your great grandparents move.
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@James Norma Agnew commented :- I know my Uncle Tom Gordon was stable keeper for a long time but I wasn’t very old when he died so I don’t know if it is him . -
James - David John Gray (Bygone Bedlington Facebook group) says the man on the right, as you look at the photo, is Bob Smith, Back Shift, Overman.
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@James - just remembered this album by @Blank. The men carrying the banner plus the man with the cup look similar to those in the photo you posted. -
@HIGH PIT WILMA - I bet you have used a 'Sylvester'😇 -
@James You probably know this but I see your photo/slide was taken in front of the Market Place club. I have seen a couple of other slides with the 'WW' + other info written on the side of the slide. All the other slides have 1952 written on them and I think I can make out 1952 on the bottom edge of this slide. I have checked the programme from the last Northumberland Miners Picnic, 1989, and it lists all the the places the picnic was held. It might have nothing to do with the slides but Bedlington's first held the picnic in 1952. I've never seen anyone comment on the slides saying that they knew who's slides they were. Written on one slide, taken outside the Black Bull, is the name Sir Charles Trevelyn + WW + 1952. -
Extract from Wikipedia- ..........Breeding commences mainly in April and May, with the female building a lined cup nest in a concealed location on or near the ground. The three to five eggs are patterned with a mesh of fine dark lines, giving rise to the old name for the bird of "scribble lark" or "writing lark"......... Is that your photo @Bedlingtonian? You could start an album of bird species & sightings in Gallagher Park in the https://www.bedlington.co.uk/gallery/category/5-and-the-rest-gallery/
Then & Now (google street view 2018) Photo and info of the houses built on the other side of Hartford Road.1. According to the Bee Gees where did all the lights go down? Answer = 2. In which constellation is Rigel the brightest star? Answer = 3. What was The Elephant Man’s real name ? Answer = 4. Which adult male singing voice is lower than tenor and higher than bass? Answer = Baritone 5. How many players are there in a baseball team? Answer = 6. Which pop group derived their name from an unemployment benefit form? Answer = 7. What is the capital of Belize? Answer = 8. Prince Charles is Duke of which English county? Answer = Cornwall 9. What is the official language of Pakistan? Answer = 10. What type of bird is a budgerigar? Answer = Parakeet 11. In 1930 which country did Amy Johnson fly to from England? Answer = 12. Which type of wood did Noah use to build his Ark? Answer =I wonder if he went for it himself? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. The average human brain uses as much electricity as a 10-watt electric light bulb. Answer = I didn’t
@Yail Brussels - when you say '...... we have examples of many other dogs like a blue nose pitbull..............' are you referring to a 'group' - a Facebook group - a web site or something else? Are you looking for info or members?😊
Names from the Bygone Bedlington Facebook group members.
Google street View images of the rebuilding :- 2009 Google street view shows No 72 Waverley Drive would appear to have been bought and converted to traditional brick before the council decided to rebuild the airey houses :- Info on the Coquetdale Place houses :- Our family moved into Coquetdale in 1949
I got the numbering for No 28 Steadlands Square wrong. That house should be No 2
In Evan Martin's book - Glimpses of Old Bedlingtonshire - he has some info on this 1902 photo.
@James - I don't have the info to hand but my memory says the rectangular North aisle, Burdon gallery, was built by, and named after, the Burdon family. Hartford Hall Hall was built in 1811 for William Burdon and I think the North aisle was named after William Burdon's wife - I think🙃
Before the electric street lamps were installed - do you have a date for the photo @James
The circular Galleried aisle built in 1817 and replaced with the Burdon aisle in 1912
On the stone wall, on the left as you look at the photo, is a plaque showing the wall was built in 1902. This photo of the plaque was taken by @John Fox (foxy) The plaque reads :- B. U. D. C. ROAD WIDENED NOVEMBER 1902 JOHN CRAMER CHAIRMAN HENRY SADLER VICE CHAIRMAN CUTHBERT BROWN A.MIC? SURVEYOR
Should read Steadlands Square. -------------------------------------- Following info on Airey Houses from Wikipedia :- Airey house From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Airey Houses in Harthill, South Yorkshire, showing the original shiplap panels An Airey house is a type of prefabricated house built in Great Britain following the Second World War. Unrefurbished (left) and refurbished (right) Airey houses in Sicklinghall,North Yorkshire. Note the increased thickness of the insulation and new cladding on the refurbished house. Designed by Sir Edwin Airey to the Ministry of Works Emergency Factory Made housing programme, it features a frame of prefabricated concrete columns reinforced with tubing recycled from the canvas tilt frames of military trucks. A series of shiplap style concrete panels, tied back to the columns, form the external envelope. In 1947, the Central Office of Information commissioned a propaganda film, Country Homes. The directoral debut of the later acclaimed documentary maker Paul Dickson, the film promotes the building of Airey houses in rural areas as a solution to the poor condition (due to the 1930s depression followed by wartime neglect) of much of the housing stock outside Britain's conurbations, due to the ease with which the prefabricated sections could be transported to remote locations. Today the Airey houses are life expired and many are in disrepair. The houses are one of a number of precast concrete systems listed in theHousing Defects Act. This meant that Government help for private owners was available in certain cases. Generally they are not accepted for mortgages unless repaired in accordance with certain prescribed methods. In the mid-2000s, one company began testing a refurbishment programme. Their programme involves replacing the concrete slabs with blocks, covered the blocks with insulation, and then facing the structure with brick. It is hoped this remodel will result in a warmer and more structurally sound house. ----------------------------------------------------- This is a 2021 aerial shot from Google and the marks out where the airey houses were. All the houses are now brick built. The first 6 houses of Tosson Close were replaced by new builds and renamed as Puddlers Drive. Numbers 21 and 22 of Coquetdale place were demolished but not rebuilt.
