Jammy

I was in Hartford Hall in 1972 but wasn't a pitman. Joyce Miller, a physio, was married to a German at one time and was called Muller but changed her name but not sure if it was by deed poll. Jimmy Luke was there and head physio. Mrs Mack (Jill?) from Gosforth, I believe, was also there as a physio. Ollie lived in the gate house and now lives in Newbiggin, so I understand. He was an ex military training instructor and was like a greyhound in training. A very, very fit physio. There was a dark haired lass who lived in the garage/shop on Shields Road so not far away. Also a physio. I used to go to the shop on a bike when I was shop laddie in advanced legs to seek the bacon sarnies, etc., for the morning break. It was exercise also for the 2 cartilages, one from each knee at the same time I had removed by Mr. Dineto in Ashington hospital and spent 11 days on ward 4 which was Thelma Keelysides ward. I was like a penguin when I first went in. I remember the first morning at the Hall. I was dropped off by my father and hobbled into the main doors. A lot were using sticks and as they entered Jimmy Luke took them away. They were like fish out of water. I couldn't help laughing. There was a groundsman who played a lot of squash or badminton for the county or perhaps at a higher level. I remember seeing him at the Stn coop later last year. He was living in Bower Grange at the time. The name that comes to mind is Dom but I may be wrong. He had a thick black tash. There were stories of the grey lady when I was a resident for 8 weeks with weekend breaks at home. I don't believe in ghosts and never had any 'moments' while in bed or at any other time. Some residents did believe the stories. Some went day release after the compulsory 1 week stay for assessment. Hartford Hall was a wonderful place to get fit and the crack was great. With 6.25hrs exercise a day and use of any of the equipment if fit enough to use it with physio's to make sure it was used correctly. The communal hot bath at the end of the day eased the aches and pains. I left fitter than I had ever been in my life. It's a shame it isn't there now for recovering people. Much better than 3 x 1hr exercise sessions at a hospital each week. There was a pit strike at the time I was in so there were quite a few pitmen in with bett knees. They didn't want to leave because they would have very little or no money coming in but got injury(?) money because they were on the sick while there. Each week consultants would call to check their patients to see if they were fit enough to leave. I saw many wet towels slapping the bett knees to swell them up before seeing the relevant consultants in the hope they would get another week there. One day Ollie said everyone in advance legs is going for a run around the hall. On the home stretch Ollie said last person to finish buys me a pint. All that could, put on a spurt to the finish line which was being watched by the consultants from a window who made a list of all that were fit. There was a big clear out the next day! Happy days.

The hen Blackbirds in your photos are showing partial yellow beaks so perhaps your cock birds also have a yellow beak. Keep your eyes peeled and let me know please. I'm interested and would like to know.

'I couldn't swear to it but I would say Blackbird - extract from Wikipedia = The adult male of the common blackbird (Turdus merula merula which is the nominate subspecies), which is found throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and bill and has a rich, melodious song; the adult female and juvenile have mainly dark brown plumage. This species breeds in woods and gardens, building a neat, mud-lined, cup-shaped nest. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits. So that description doesn't fully match yours but my ageing eyes detect a 'yellow eye-ring' in two of your photos' Wikipedia needs updating as regards Blackbirds. British Blackbirds normally have the yellow eye ring whereas mainland Europeen birds do not have the ring. A lot of blackbirds migrate to Britain and south in mainland Europe in the autumn and stay until spring. These birds can usually be picked out by the lack of the eye ring but not always. 1st year British birds do not have the eye ring until the following spring. British cock Blackbirds do not develop a yellow beak until their 1st spring and then retain it for life. Continental birds arrive in Britain with dark brown or black beaks. I don't know if they develop yellow beaks when they fly back to the area they hatched. They do not have yellow beaks when they migrate to Britain. Canny Lass that is why the yellow eye ring cannot be seen on your photos. Blackbirds become territorial in the spring which explains why your birds were chasing each other. Blackbirds do not line their nests with mud. Only grass is used to form the nest bowl. The Song Thrush lines its nest with mud on top of a grass formed bowl. The eggs are laid directly onto that mud once it has partly dried out and is strong enough to support the hen bird. There is no soft lining. As an aside. Blackbird cocks have a loud song and will sit high up on a bush for hours singing. Their song is repetitive, a loop. A song thrush mixes up the notes so never sings in a pattern. I like listening to both.

Scribbleyjack eggs. The name scribbleyjack maybe a local name and I've known it since I understood words. It's easy to understand why its called a scribbleyjack by the patterns on the eggs. I found many nests when I was a youth, sadly there are not many to find now. When farming practices altered and the stubble was ploughed in and sown before winter the birds couldn't glean the stubbles over winter so starved. Many other birds suffered because of the autumn sowing including Linnets and Skylarks.

1. According to the Bee Gees where did all the lights go down? Massachusetts 2. In which constellation is Rigel the brightest star? 3. What was The Elephant Man’s real name ? 4. Which adult male singing voice is lower than tenor and higher than bass? Baritone 5. How many players are there in a baseball team? 9 6. Which pop group derived their name from an unemployment benefit form? UB40 7. What is the capital of Belize? 8. Prince Charles is Duke of which English county? Cornwall 9. What is the official language of Pakistan? Urdu 10. What type of bird is a budgerigar? Parrot 11. In 1930 which country did Amy Johnson fly to from England? Australia 12. Which type of wood did Noah use to build his Ark? Olive

1. How many sides has a parallelogram? 4 2. Which country won the 1998 World Cup? France 3. What sort of creature is a Whirligig? A water beetle 4. Which US duo asked us to Walk Right Back in 1961? The Everly Brothers 5. Which two nations fought at the Battle of Agincourt? England and France 6. From which fruit is the spirit Kirsch made? Oranges 7. In which discontinued event did Ray Ewry win his ten Olympic gold medals? Standing jumping 8. Which dictator ruled Portugal from 1932 to 1968? 9. Who wrote the novels Animal farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four? Johnny Morris 10. Which word is spelled correctly: existence or existance? Existence in UK. Who knows in USA 11. What is the name of the dog in The Wizard of Oz? Bobo 12. Which part of your body would suffer from trichosis? Throat

I popped in to Cowells today. Bobby wasn't there but did get some info from Nicky and Kevin. The photo board was removed the last time the shop was decorated. Bobby took over the shop from a Mr Wilson. This was early 70's. Hopefully I'll get more info from Bobby when I see him and also something about Cramlington COOP over the road.

1. Which range of hills stands on the border between England and Scotland? Cheviot Hills 2. If you ordered pollo in an Italian restaurant what would you get? Pizza 3. Which team game has the positions first defence, in home and second attack? Netball 4. In the castle of which West Yorkshire market town was Richard II murdered? 5. Who wrote The Forsyte Saga? 6. A musket ball fired from the French ship Redoubtable killed which famous Englishman? Lord Nelson 7. What type of monkey is used as an organ grinder’s monkey? Capuchin 8. What was Hilary Clinton’s job prior to entering politics? Lawyer 9. Which former player tried to buy Celtic football club in 1998? Kenny Dalglish 10. What is the name of the earth’s outer layer? Mantel 11. In Cockney rhyming slang what is meant by ‘dickory dock’? Clock 12. What does the acronym UNESCO stand for?

Eggy, I should have put the brain in gear and thought about the date the mother-in-law worked at the stn COOP. She would be very, very old now. I occasionally come across Bobby Cowell so will ask when he opened the shop and if he knows anything about the butcher or the COOP across the road. He's older than me so perhaps he knows a bit more. I will pop into Cowells and see if there is a photo board. I was in about 2 weeks ago and didn't notice anything. I wondered if there was a butchers there before it was Cowells. Pete suggests Raffie Davison had something to do with it. I know there was a local butcher called Raffie Douglas(possibly). He worked for the COOP on the butcher van. My mother often bought her meat from him when he called. The Raffie I'm thinking of lived in Melrose terrace at one time.

Eggy, I should have put the brain in gear and thought about the date the mother-in-law worked at the stn COOP. She would be very, very old now. I occasionally come across Bobby Cowell so will ask when he opened the shop and if he knows anything about the butcher or the COOP across the road. He's older than me so perhaps he knows a bit more.

In the photo provided by @Eggy1948 it shows the end of the COOP building and a window with a sign ?????????? Dept. in it. I think that was the butchers. To the right of that as we look at it there was a COOP general food store. Everything, well almost, was sold loose and measured out as required such as a 8ozs of sugar or 2lb of flour, etc. I remember a big red meat slicing machine sitting on a counter but not sure if the counter was in that COOP food store. The slicing machine had a very sharp spinning metal disk which cut the meat into slices and dropped it neatly onto a moving flat bed. It was propelled by someone turning a handle. I have in my mind the name of a man who could have been connected with that COOP. He is Joe Kane, a short dark guy with long sideburns. He may have been the manager and possibly a councillor. Can anyone confirm or not what I think? Eggy, perhaps the mother-in-law will know. I may be incorrect as this is drawn from memories made 60+years ago.

I can remember a COOP butcher in Station road at the stn about where Keenleysides is. I'm 90% sure it was a Cramlington COOP butcher. My mother would take me there in a pushchair and we often left the butchers with a piece of white suet for me to chew. This was early 1950's. When I was a little older I used to go to the library at the stn. The entrance wasn't where it is now on the end of the building but faced east onto its small car park. This library was there in the 1950's and possibly before then.

1. Which actress played Basil Fawlty’s wife in Fawlty Towers? Prunella Scales 2. Which model replaced the Vauxhall Victor in 1975? Cavalier 3. What name is given to a reusable spacecraft such as Columbia or Challenger? Space Shuttle 4. Prior to 1810 where in London was all British coinage made? Tower of London 5. Which element has the atomic number 1? Plutonium 6. Born with the surname Fluck, which popular British actress died in 1984? Diana Dors 7. In what year was Princess Margaret married? 1960ish 8. What type of aircraft crashed over Lockerbie? 747 9. Sb is the symbol for Antimony. True or false? True 10. Which medical device was invented by Dr Rene Laennec to preserve the modesty of female patients? Catheter 11. Who was the tallest of Robin Hood’s men? Little John 12. With which hand does Def Leppard’s drummer, Rick Allen play the drums? Right

Canny Lass, I've just done a Win10 upgrade without any problems. Like you for this site my login details are remembered. I didn't have to login to get back into this site. Do you have any security software running that may be being extra protective since the upgrade? You need to speak with someone who knows about these things. It may be worth a google to see if anyone else has had similar problems. Search " passwords not saved since Win10 upgrade" or similar. Or, "a popup has appeared since Win10 upgrade" You may get lucky.

Canny Lass, That popup seems a bit suspicious. Someone after your login details? You need to speak with someone who knows about these BEFORE you do anything.

1. In Greek mythology who was the God of the Underworld? Hades 2. Who had a number one hit in 1982 with Happy Talk? Captain Sensible 3. Who was once reported to have bitten off a bat’s head on stage? ??????? Starr 4. Rudolf Hess was the last prisoner in which prison? Spandow 5. What colour is a ship’s starboard light? Green 6. What is the unit of currency in Norway? Krone 7. Along with the kayak which other type of canoe is used in the Olympics? A 2 seater 8. What is the Vulgate a version of? 9. What is the largest continent in the world? Asia 10. What is a Pirani Gauge used to measure? Temperature related resistance 11. How many horns does an Indian rhinoceros have? One 12. From which tree does the chewing gum ingredient ‘chicle’ come? The Yam

Thanks for the replies. I didn't imagine for one minute that it would be a coop that works the same way as ours. The coop trading principal obviously works in many countries. I wiser now!

I was watching some skiing on the tv over the weekend with the competitors wearing bibs with COOP printed on them. I wonder what the COOP stands for, surely not the one we know. This skiing was in Falum, Sweden so probably a question for Canny Lass.

1. Which instrument is used to measure the strength of earthquakes? A Richter scale 2. In which country is the source of the Amazon? Peru 3. What name is given to the cultivation of plants without soil? Hydroponics 4. What was the Christian name of the Mr. Marks who set up penny bazaars with Thomas Spencer in 1887? ------- 5. Which stretch of water separates Denmark from Sweden? The Baltic sea 6. Which two cartoon characters were used by the Ministry of Food during WW2 to promote the benefits of vegetables? --------- 7. Who had a Top Ten hit with Jo le Taxi? Vanessa Paradee 8. Who chose Ottawa to be the capital of Canada? Queen Victoria 9. The volume of what shape is equal to a third of the area of its base multiplied by its height? A cylinder 10. Androphobia is the fear of who or what? Men 11. How many years of marriage are celebrated in a china wedding anniversary? 10yrs 12. Which former Prime Minister was created Earl of Stockton in 1984? Harold MacMillan

Did you know that should you pick up a guinea pig by the tail its eyes pop out?

19. In which American state is there a law stating that pets must carry a light on their tails at night? Does this apply to guinea pigs as well?

1. In the book of Genesis, which land is said to lie to the east of Eden? Palestine 2. Marble is formed by the metamorphosis of which rock? Limestone 3. What would you do in a Cambio? Relieve ones self 4. Which European country produces Tokay? Hungary 5. Which football club play at Gresty Road and are nicknamed the Railwaymen? Crewe Alaxandra 6. How is deoxyribonucleic acid better known? DNA 7. Tverskaya is the name of one of Moscow’s most important streets. What was it called prior to 1990? Lenin Way 8. That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind, said Neil Armstrong. Which of his feet, right or left, made that first step on the moon? Neither individually, both together. 9. What is a killick? An anchor 10. What do fennel leaves taste of? Licorice 11. What does the name Spam stand for? Special pressed ham 12. Who lived at 221b Baker Street? Sherlock Holmes

1. What do we call a female donkey? A Jenny 2. What is the national airline of the Netherlands? KLM 3. What kind of clothing is a ‘dolly varden’? A Hat 4. Between 1830 and 1850, 20 000 people died of Cholera in London. How is Cholera spread? Contaminated Water 5. How high is Mount Everest? 29,305 feet (increases every year) 6. WW2 seems to have changed course with the battle for a small atoll in the Pacific Ocean. What is the name of the atoll? Midway 7. Why is a standard wine-bottle 750 mls? Something to do with a gallon? 8. On what did John D. Rockefeller earn his wealth? Stock Market 9. Which number did David Beckham have on his shirt when he played for Manchester United? No. 7 10. Who did Ingemar Johansson beat to become world champion and where did the fight take place? Floyd Patterson and ???? 11. What does the term ‘wifi’ stand for? Wireless fidelity 12. Who was the 13th century founder and first emperor of the Mogul Empire? Mogul

1. In a game of snooker, which colour ball is worth 5 points? Blue 2. In which novel did Michael Henchard sell his wife for five guineas? 3. What do we call the loss of water from the leaves of plants? Transpiration 4. Who had a hit in 1972 with the song Sylvia’s mother? Dr Hook 5. If A is Alpha and T is Tango what is M? Mike 6. True or false: Glyndebourne Opera House is in East Sussex? False 7. In which country is the Vosges mountain range? Germany 8. What do the initials C.G. stand for on an Ordnance Survey Map? Cattle Grid 9. How many standard bottles are there in a Nebuchadnezzar? 20 10. Which is the only bird that can fly backwards Humming Bird 11. If a person is lapidated what happens to them? 12. Whose legendary horse was called Lamri?