Jedo_03

... and then what happened..?? Presumably this 1923 venture was a success..?? - and they went on to impliment the Tyne-Tees-Thames service...?? Are there any recorded details..?? Who were the Orange Family..?? Were the buses Orange - or Red...?? Was this the first Tyne-Thames Bus Service..??

In 1927 the first Newcastle to London Bus Service was started by a Bedlington family firm (Orange Bros.) using ordinary buses. It was called the Tyne - Tees - Thames Service. Pic here of an 'Orange Bros.' bus used on the Newcastle to London (Thames) service with many stops along the way including Sunderland. 'Orange Bros.' may have become a subsidiary of 'United Automobile Services Ltd.'. Were their buses orange, or red??

Found this site about the Fynes Family which mentions Barrington Colliery in the 1840's. http://www.fynesg.freeserve.co.uk/Genealogy/Fynes%20Genealogy.htm Joe

But still looking for possible origins of WHY that row of houses was called "SHINEY" Raa..??? WHY was it called "SHINEY" Raa...?? It may have been an Anglo-Saxon/Nordic influence... I see that the adjacent mining village of "Shincliffe" in Co Durham derives its name from the Anglo Saxon "Evil Spirit on the Hill" (scin = evil spirit)... So Now I'm wondering if the "Shin" of "Shiney Row" is related in some way to that..??

Thanks Maggie... Unfortunately I'm in Australia... But thankyou.

Posting on an old thread here... But hoping someone knows the reason that "Shiney Raa" was so called... "Office Raa" and "Double Raa" are self explanatory... But what is the legend behind "Shiney Raa"..??? Also - did the Bedlington/Barrington "Wharton's" have any connection to the Wharton's in Offerton (Co. Durham)..?? Thanks if you can help Joe

Hello... My name is Joe and I actually live in Australia now. I was born in Sunderland. I have no family connections north of the Tyne, but played in a group in many of the clubs around Bedlington, Ashington, Cramlington, etc. in the mid to late 60's, and remember many of the towns. My wife, Sheila, has strong connections with the mining community, being from Whitburn. Many of the menfolk in her family worked at Marsden Colliery, and some at Westoe. I'm 67 now, and full of nostalgia for the "Owld Times and Places" I am doing some "amateur" research on an old mining community down there in Co. Durham called Shiney Row. Shiney Row is 2 miles NW of Houghton-Le-Spring... Specifically, I'm interested in the origin of the name "Shiney Row" One 'story' goes that a member of the local gentry (or royalty) was passing the row of cottages and remarked on how "Shiny" they appeared... But that sounds folk-lorish... We think that the hamlet was known as "Wharton's Row" in the 1780's, probably named after a prominent landowner in the area, Richard Wharton, one time owner of Offerton Hall. Whartons Row stood on the site now occupied by the war memorial opposite Westbourne Terrace at Shiney Row. On a search, I discovered this link on your site: http://www.bedlington.co.uk/community/topic/2684-double-row-bedlington/#entry29551 which references a "Shiney Row" in Bedlington... Sorry for being "long-winded"... What was the (likely) origin of the "Shiney Row" in Bedlington..?? Why would they have called it "Shiney Raa"..?? The origins for "Office Raa" and Double Raa" are ?self-evident? - but what of Bedlington's "Shiney Raa"...? Thanks if you can help.