Damian Robson

Thanks Alan, its good to know who the cartoonist was, I will write Davy Patterson's name on the back of the drawings so I never forget the artist and give him a mention when showing them. Its a shame the Morocco holiday drawing is lost, would have been nice to see. Damian.

That's great news, thank's for your help Alan. I hope the drawings bring back a lot of good memories.

Hi Alan, my dad was born in Guide Post and lived there most of his life. As a family In the late 60’s, we briefly lived in Stakeford, East Hartford and Netherton Colliery village in the early 70’s until demolition, then Guide Post after that. Sadly I can't ask my dad anything about the pictures because he suffers from Dementia and doesn't remember much of anything now. In the drawings there are jokes about his Lada car which I drove after passing my test in June 1988, so the drawings were most likey made during the period he owned the car, which was bought brand new and kept a long time during the 80’s. I know he worked at Ellington Colliery as I remember running him to work, which was quite a while after Bates closed. The more I think about it, the drawings had to have been made while at Bates or Ellington Colliery's. The funny things I remember about the Lada, it was very basic with no power steering, my mother would have difficulty steering it, especially at slow speed as she wasn’t very strong. She would have found it easier driving a tank. Dad coated the whole car with Finnegans Waxoyl, protecting it from the elements. It went through an amazing transformation, once a beautiful brand new red Lada, to a scruffy looking horrible old waxy brown colour, like it hadn't been cleaned for years. People standing at the bus stop outside our house would comment on how much it needed a wash hahah. People took the piss out of me for driving it also. I remember parking the Lada along Station Road in Ashington, there was a shop window with ads in, I was browsing for cars as I wanted one of my own but not a Lada lol. A group of young women who looked like they were out on the lash passed me by. One of them said, "can we come for a drive in your new car handsome?”, I was just too embarrassed to answer. Normally I'm quite witty and can fire back with some cheeky comments, but not on that occassion, I was devastated and too lost for words. At the time there were lots of jokes about Lada's, their drivers and how cheap they were etc. Whoever made the drawings was poking fun at my dad for having a Lada. My dad liked the drawings, otherwise he wouldn't have kepth them. Alan, feel free to post the pics in any groups you see fit, my aim is to re-discover the history surrounding the drawings and share the past with everyone. Damian.

Thank you, the wife uses Facebook so I'll ask her to take a look. I'm sure he worked at Bates Colliery in the 80's, perhaps early 90's then went to Ellington Colliery after that. If other's worked there at the same time, then they would probably know each other. Damian.

I was going through some old photos and documents belonging by my dad, when I found some funny caricatures drawn on the back of old mine documents. They were probably made by someone my dad worked with down the mine years ago. I hope the artist can be identified as they are very good. My dad is called David Robson, aka Davey and Mixer. He worked at Netherton Colliery in the late 60’s / 70’s then Bates, Ellington and possibly other pits around the 80’s and 90’s. The jokes centre around my dad and poke fun at him at work and for other things. I had to photoshop the phallus out of one drawing as it may offend someone. If anyone can shed more light on these drawings then I’d love to hear from them. Regards, Damian.

Thank you for reposting the link, it wasn't clickable when I first posted. Originally the video was on Youtube but they muted the audio track because of copyright, so had to find another site, upload and share. Looking back, I have some great memories of the Queens Head and miss the place a lot. Since the NISA was built, I've only been in twice and it feels wrong going in when I was so against the closure and demolition. I can't turn back the clock and change time but decided to keep the memory of the Queens Head pub alive and share my love in a short video and share with you guys. Damian.

Here is a link to a video I made during the demolition of the Queens Head. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ck54w

My Dad is doing ok, his memory isn't quite what it used to be though, I will mention that Foxy is asking after him when I see him next.

I was looking at the picture of the Netherton's miners march and the person marked number 9 could be my Dad, David Robson aka Mixer?. I've shown him the pic and he can't remember for sure whether he was there that day but says, "it looks like my stance". My Dad's memory is fading with time but remember's Alan Stappard who lived across the back lane on Third Street. He described the accident in detail where Alan was working on machinery which was used to cut into the coal face and switched on prematurely before he had finished and was killed. In the picture I've added two thumbnail pictures of my Dad to compare and it could be him, I will ask him again soon to see whether if he remembers anything more.

I'm pleased the video has brought back so many fond memories, feel free to download and share with everyone who wants to watch

Thanks for the info Eggy, the video was taken between 1970 to 1973 so well over 40 yrs ago. It was one of my parents who mentioned the accident down the pit. We lived across the back lane from him so my parents would have known him well and my Dad also worked at the colliery.

Got a two minute clip of Bedlington Miners Picnic, I think it was 1971. Wish there was more to share, hope it brings back good memories.

Hi Eggy, share the video with anyone you like. My brother and I were very young so don't remember too much about Netherton Colliery Village, but what I do recall is playing mostly around Plessey Street where we lived and thats where the footage in the back lane was took. The scene where we are climbing on the multi coloured car owned by my Dad, was at the top of 3rd Street and was where the old doctors house used to be. The old lady in the footage was Tissy, not sure if I've spelled her name right but she lived on 3rd Street, just across the back lane from our house. She was a lovely lady and like a grandma to my brother and I. On Bonfire night she cooked us both a jacket potato covered in butter, baked in one of those old ovens built into an open coal fire and tasted lovely. I believe the guy who owned the motorbike we were sitting on in the film may have had an accident and died down the pit, I don't recall his name. The ride on the Raisbeck coach was my first day at school which was in Nedderton village just up the road from Netherton Lane. Des was upset and crying in the film because he thought it was his first day at school also, we were inseparable as kids and weren't used to being apart. The second bus ride was Des's first day at school. The picture I've attached is me and my brother Des playing in the yard when we lived at Plessey street.

8mm film footage of the family when we lived in Netherton Colliery Village from around 1970 to 1973. Hope it brings back some good old memories.