Leah

On 07/12/2019 at 19:31, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

@Leah - you may have noticed many posts about bates Colliery from @HIGH PIT WILMA. Normally Highpit Wilma is on ths group weekly but I see he hasn't visited since the 24th on November but I am sure when he does, and if he knows your granda he will update you.

There is a Facebook group - Friends Of Bates Colliery - where there are a few ex Bates Colliery workers that occasionally add photos and we share many photos between the two groups. The facebook group is a 'Closed' group so you would have to join if you wanted to browse through the photos on that group. This is a link to that group :- https://www.facebook.com/groups/batescolliery/  

There is also a Bates Colliery Photo Album within the Gallery on this group. The album is under Galley>Places Gallery>Bates Pit by High Pit Wilma - this is a link to the album :-  

 

 

Thank you for the information Alan! 

On 07/12/2019 at 20:52, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

Hi Alan, gaan through a rough patch, please nivvor think that aav deserted!... (mebbe AWOL!!.. heh heh!) Noo! When a was a pit Deputy, a was in charge of John Bennett, and Gordon,and Dicky, his two Brothers. We all worked doon the Three Quarter seam.. among seawaata n clarts and bad roof stone.. as time went by, after seven years as a Deputy/Overman, I went back into the NUM, as a Composite man, and funnily enough, both John and Gordon WENT onto Deputy work.. John eventually became an Overman, the man who was in overall charge of the face, or the whole seam, but only responsible for Coal Production. The Deputy was solely responsible for the Safety, Health, and Welfare of the men under his charge, and directly responsible to Her Majesty's Government Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries. Not even the Manager had that responsibilty.. no-one except the Deputy..! Anyway, Gordon was our Deputy when I took these pit photos, he was down in another part of the seam, or I would have had him on the pics as well.. he was a great guy.. gud worker.. nice natured.. helped us all thi time... lost a lot of sweat every day... he used to say, it was thi beer coming oot of him! I haven't seen any of them for years. 

Thank you so much for both of your replies! 

So great to hear a bit more about what my granda (John) got up to as a miner, like I said in the original post he sadly passed away in 2017 and there's only my uncle Gordon left now as my uncle Dixon has passed on as well. As John died suddenly I really regret not having the chance to ask him more about his job as I think the mines and mining communities are such an interesting part of local history. 

A shame Gordon isn't in any of the photo's either, maybe one day him and my granda will make an appearance! 

Much appreciated for the information! The next time I see Gordon I'll let him know you were asking after him  

Hi All, 

I'm trying to trace a bit about my grandad who worked at Bates from when he was a 'young lad' as he used to say to it's closure. 

He sadly passed away in 2017 and as we are no longer in possession of his lamp (long story) we know very little about his role etc. I keep hoping to see him in some of the photo's shared around on the local groups but so far no luck! 

His name was John Bennett and I know he may have been a deputy at some time but know very little else! I came across this topic and wondered if anyone has any memory of him or maybe worked with him at some point? 

It would mean a lot to my family if I can do a bit of digging, as you can imagine we miss him very much! 

Any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Leah Southern