Ovalteeny

If my memory serves me well, there were 2 Pavilions at the Station Welfare Park. The main one was where your 4 arrows are pointing in your montage of photos. This overlooked the bowling green and tennis courts and was used, I believe by people who played those sports. However, there was another Pavilion used by the football teams with home and away changing rooms which was located at the other side of the tennis courts, just prior to where the proper football pitch was. If Eggy can remember, Sunday afternoons in 1968ish when all the lads from the Station would congregate after being at pubs & clubs for pre Sunday lunch drinks and play a game of football (that ranged from 8-16 -a-side) on the large, rough field (piece of land) that was behind the football pavilion and ran at 90 degrees to the proper football pitch. This field was where the A-Pit annual Gala would be mostly held. This field (piece of land) can be seen in the above photos, the image at the top right of the montage, with the word google printed on it. The actual football pitch was above the light coloured track that runs diagonally, in the very top right of this photo. Some of the football team photos that are on this web-site were taken in front of the Football Pavilion/Changing Rooms.

I'm pretty sure that my research into the football teams of Bedlingtonshire from 1946-64(ish) won't be of much help, as I don't have any info regards when teams were formed and started to play at Dr. Pit Park. I'll see if I can can delve into my records and see, but I don't think so.

that's good to hear, thank you

Could John Waldock be related to Cliff Waldock who played for Bedlington Mechanics FC in the early 1960's?

From the research that I did I can confirm that there was a football team called Bedlington East End FC. After trawling through all the local league tables (between 1946 & 1956) in the Blyth News/Morpeth Heralds available at Woodhorn Archives I can see that they played in the East Northumberland League from season 1951/52 through to 1955/56. At the same time there was also Bedlington Dr. Pit Welfare FC and also Bedlington Mechanics FC playing in leagues of a higher standard. However, I have not discovered any photos or indeed did I find any match reports or team selection, so I can't help with naming names.

I have spent quite a bit of time researching Bedlington Mechanics FC, from 1948 and subsequently widened my search to include all the local teams from the Colliery Villages in East Northumberland. I have league table for several years from 1946-1960's for Northern Alliance, Northern Combination and Miners Welfare Leagues. I am happy to pass on the info that I have (albeit incomplete) by way of the spreadsheets that I compiled. If QVC would like to e-mail me on jack261@btinternet.com then I'm happy to expand further and also happy to share the spreadsheets. Ovalteeny

This week's quiz: 1. Who was the original lead singer with heavy rock band Deep Purple? Ian Gillan 2. Who was Liza Minelli’s famous mother? Judy Garland 3. Which football league club used to play at Goldstone Ground? Brighton & Hove Albion FC 4. Roy Jenkins was the founder of which political party? Lib dems 5. What type of creature is a ‘flying phalanger’? Squirrel 6. What is the capital of Honduras? Tegusicalpa 7. What name is commonly given to the area around Stoke-on-Trent? The Potteries (lived there from 1973-82) 8. Who invented the bouncing bomb (and no, it wasn’t Bobby Ball)? Barnes Wallace 9. Over what distance is the Classic horse race ‘The Oaks’ run? 1mile 2 furlong 10. Who coined the phrase “a land fit for heroes to live in”? Winston Churchill 11. Which reactive metal is represented by the symbol Ba? Barium 12. If Monday’s child is fair of face what is Wednesday’s child? Full of Woe

Richard, I'll attach my Dad's ID Card from the war years to 1951, when we moved from the Huts at Hartford Camp into Hollymount Hall. There is no documentation regards when we left and moved into our Council House at The Oval, but I'm pretty sure it was 1957 (ish). So, I am fairly sure that the demolition took place circa 1958.

I can only come up with 2 :- Tony Woodcock - 42 caps 1978-86 and Ian Storey-Moore - 1 cap 1970. It's obviously a trick question.

Bugga, if only I could read questions properly. I guess that's why I failed my 11+ and ended up at Westridge. Back to the drawing board.

I assume you mean with the surname starting with O, so Osgood as you say; Michael Owen - 89 caps (1998-2008); William Oakley - 16 caps (1895-1901) & Russell Osman - 11 caps (1980-83) 7 Peter O'Dowd - 3 caps (1932-33).

Nr6468, there was another lad who also played football with us, called Maurice Patty who lived in Roslin Park, but he didn't join the Army, he worked in the kitchens at St. Georges Hospital in Morpeth.

Eggy, myself and wor Allan (from No. 3 The Oval) plus David Rix (No. 5) and Tommy Cullen (No. 6) were the nucleus of lads who played football (and cricket) on the Oval Green throughout our childhoods. Tommy was in the school year below me, so about your age. Yes, he joined the Army. With me moving to work down South in 1969 I simply lost track of him so don't know where he ended up.

When I moved down to London then Windsor (with the help of someone called Alan Edgar) in 1969 I used to phone my Mam most Sunday evenings at 7:00pm. Mam and Dad didn't have a phone at 3 The Oval, so my Mam would go down to the bottom half of the shops and stand outside the Oval Telephone Box and when it rang, we'd have a weekly catch up. The kids today, don't know the half of it. The phone box was just outside the Chiropodists.

1 was Warnes, not Wilson, they lived in the first house round the corner in Fontburn Ave.

Canny Lass, i'm fairly sure it was bigger, my memory seems to think there was another wing, nearer the cut from Hollymount Square through to Haig Road. I'll ask wor Allan if he can recall anything.

sorry folks, but the only photo I have is of me and wor Allan on our 3 wheeler bikes with a very blurred section of the Hall in the background. We lived in Hollymount Hall for approx 4-5 years in the mid 1950's, renting a couple of rooms from the owners - Bedlington Co-op (where my Dad worked in the Abattoir).

Hello Joe, You a correct in respect of the "History of The Terriers" on the Bedlington Terriers FC web-site being not quite accurate. Especially the early years. A few years ago I tried to have some input and provided their Chairman with the info and even re-wrote what was originally on there. They took no notice. Someone has now made another attempt to clean it up, but the early years Certainly, all the time that they played at Millne Park are very misleading and chronologically wrong. Hey Ho. By the way Sep Kidd was my Grandad, not Ian Rowe's, who refers to my Grandad as his Uncle.

welcome Ian, Sep Kidd was my Grandad and used to take me (and my brother) on Jordans busses to all the away matches when I was a child. Me and wor Allan also went to all the home matches at Millne Park, so I guess we must have been aware of each other back then. There are lot's of items and photos on this site regards The Mechanics FC, hopefully you can navigate to them. Good luck, Jack Kidd

I've not seen any photos of Bedlington footballs teams from the WW2 years. Could be interesting.

When I did the research into Bedlington Mechanics FC and then widen it to all the local pit village teams in Bedlingtonshire, I focused on after WW2, from 1945-1965. I have some detail regards various Choppington teams that played in either the Miners Welfare League, the Ashington Welfare League or there was one (Choppington High Pit FC)who played in the Coquetdale League. However, on looking at these teams after WW2 there is no mention of a Choppington United FC. You might do better searching old copies of the Morpeth Herald, as well as the Blyth News and/or Ashington Post. I did try and find some details of Bedlington United FC from the very early 1900's - 1930, but really struggled as the newspapers only carried reports etc. direct from the clubs. If no-one bothered to report on the teams and results then there wasn't anything in the papers.

the Bedlington team in the 1990's and 2000's in this list of Northumberland Senior Cup winners was The Terriers.