Symptoms

In the early 1980s I was developing properties in London from big single family jobs into flats. One of these places had a courtyard with a series of attached buildings. I applied for planning permission to convert the house and the collection of courtyard buildings into flats but was refused permission to convert the outbuildings ... refused on change of use to 'domestic'. I was able to prove on appeal that courtyard buildings always had been 'domestic' so didn't need change of use approval; my proof was the existance of a poss-boiler in the corner of one of the buildings ... I was able to argue that clothes laundering was a domestic activity and the courtyard buildings therefore had always been used for domestic purposes. The beast was a brick-built cube with an arched fireplace below and a chimney out the rear, let into the top was an enormous cast iron cauldron, maybe two feet in dia for boiling the clothes before they were to be mashed with a poss stick (or dolly). My Granny had a 'ribbed' galvanised steel poss-tub and a wooden poss-stick and I remember her using them in the mid 1950s - good exercise! There was also a big cast iron framed mangle with wooden rollers.

John wrote: "Lets get some interested names for thew steering group on here and get it rolling." Any local project to be successful needs committed folk to drive it forward and I would suggest that the core members of the Steering Group need to be based in Bedders and its immediate hinterland. The obvious reason for this is the probable need for arranging meetings. The other thing that successful Steering Groups have is a mix of talent/skills/experience/connections. Having been away from Bedders for 45 years I'm not familiar with the current dynamics of the place. Are there any, so-called, leading citizens who could be approached ... the boss Padre at St Cuthberts, the boss Peeler, the top beaks at the local schools, a local saw-bones, is there a Bedder's conservation group (these usually have a few worthies). Notwithstanding what Mal said about local politicos being involved (funding dilemma) I think they should be involved ... they know their way around committees and they have contacts. That's why I'd nominate Mal and/or Adam; JohnD is another obvious choice. I would loved to be involved but, like Micky, I don't live in Blighty either.

I remember back in the early 60s going with my Dad to the coke works (some called it the gas works) in Blyth - at the back of the Roxy(or Wallaw) picture house behind the bus station. He used to buy 100wt sacks of coke to take home and mix 50:50 with coal to 'spin-out' the coal for the fires; the coke was much, much cheaper than coal and the mix burned well. I can clearly remember the rows of coking ovens and these enormous scales they used to weigh the stuff for the punters. Did Bedders have its own coke/gas works or was the town gas pumped from Blyth (or elsewhere) as I can't recall any gasometers in Bedders?

Lots of farms had Gin mills (same system as horse powered capstan and windlass used at early pitheads) but used to power grinding of grain ... there's one at Home Farm, Beamish.

It's all dirty! So the question for policy makers is which group of lobbyists bribes they'll trouser before making their decisions. It's immediately obvious that coal is dirty ... you can see belching smoke stacks but it inspires great art It's immediately obvious that shale is dirty ... our version of Krakatoa East of Jarva* is the result mixed with flames from the cold tap It's immediately obvious that oil is dirty ... just follow Wonk's old Land Rover It's immediately obvious that windpower is dirty ... just ask that rare dick that got shredded up in Jockoland last week It's immediately obvious that biofuel is dirty ... just look at the vast acreage of willow stalks taking away fields from food production It's immediately obvious that wavepower is dirty ... just look at all the headaches Moby Dick suffers from It's NOT immediately obvious that nuclear is dirty ... but let's ask our Grandchildren10 that question The real answer lies in using less juice or find a new clean fuel source ... perhaps we could round-up all the fat folk and melt them down for fuel. GGG knows deep in his soul that if The Wicked Witch** hadn't closed all the pits there would have been an 'industrial sized' clean coal and carbon capture systems put in place years ago at our power stations ... there would have been an economic justification for its development. Mal - you're right about that gasification method - I've posted here before about that pit-heap at Seaton Deleval burning uncontrollably for decades so it would be barmy to set light to all that stuff below. *I know Krakatoa was a volcano and not an earthquake but KEofJ 'scans' better above. ** This term is shorthand for all the influences that caused the demise of our coal to power generation axis.

"It's coming home, it's coming home, football's manufacturing's coming home." http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jun/30/dfs-leads-british-manufacturing-resurgence

It certainly happened elsewhere in Blighty, both in coal mines and mineral mines, and is well documented; officical docs for the NE suggest it didn't happen in our pits.

???

Official accounts suggest that women were not employed underground at any pits in the Northumberland and Durham coalfields but I'm sure they must have done so in the very early days. Check-out the Beeb's website for film clips of the NE coalfields: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nationonfilm/topics/coal-mining/ ... maybe this link has been posted previously. Have a look at the "Sorting Coal" clip to see women working at the screens.

Keeping the riches from shale gas in the North is a pipe-dream (sorry about that one) because all the funding for exploration, and then development, will come from abroad. The Yankees, the Frogs, and Fritz own just about all the 'British' energy companies; I also believe that the transmission infrastructure might have been sold off as well. So any future rich pickings will go overseas. I've post here before about the sense of fully exploiting the 300 years worth of coal sitting below Blighty; ditto shale gas. Build more coal-fired stations I say ... remember the Chinese and the Indians are building five new ones each week (or it might be per month). If there's a will by Government to do this I'm sure that all the so-called difficulties in industrialising clean coal technology would be quickly solved.

My chainsaw conked-out on Monday ... I've had the beast for over 35 years and it's given me sterling service (German manufacture). Anyway, I went to the Stihl website looking for a spare inlet gasket but mine wasn't listed as it was too old a model, so I phoned them on Monday afternoon and they said they'd sent me one by post at no charge. It arrived yesterday (Thursday) and I fitted it in the afternoon and the machine started straight-away. Brilliant service, top-notch equipment ... but would I get that sort of service for something made in China?

To kick this scheme off I will donate the domain name: www.thebedlingtonminingmemorial.org I have just registered this ... in a way to safeguard the scheme from being nicked (see my earlier post) and it also puts down a marker that the idea for a memorial started on our Forum. If and when a Steering Group is established I'll transfer ownership of the domain name as a donation (FREE); it'll then be up to that group to arrange the design of website and organise hosting. I could promise here to create a 'holding' website but I don't really have enough time.

Any political representatives MUST only have links with Bedlington. Councilors from District or County level may highjack the scheme with the memorial ending-up in Ashington.

After considering the Lone Ranger's post ("is it not sick posting about miners being killed in the collierys the time i worked under ground there was 4 killed .it is not a nice thing to talk aboutâ€) my view has been reinforced that all oral history must be discussed and recorded. If those who have a direct link with historical episodes aren't able to share their experiences with a wider audience then the 'accepted' history will remain incomplete. Whilst I wouldn't dream of making any direct comparisons with the Holocaust, our understanding of it is much more complete because of the direct testimony of those who suffered. If we aren't able to fully discuss the results of mining accidents and their impact on families then the history of the industry becomes sanitised – it also erases the part played by those miners who died. My view is we should do all we can to keep their memory alive. There's nothing left of the pits, no reminders to the young of what was here apart from Disneyesque theme-parks with their saccarined explanations. I like the idea of some sort of memorial but would suggest its location to be somewhere more 'public' than Gallagher Park. It needs to be seen daily by the most people so my suggestion is at the top end of Front Street; this location has the added bonus of ensuring the memorial is safe (safer) from metal theives and other yobs intent on damaging it. Other here have suggested involving a wide group of contributors for the project. It really does need to start with a Steering Group consisting of a mix of interested locals, including Bedlington politicians (Town Council perhaps). I think KeithL has suggested a number of good embryonic ideas but I maintain that it should be creatively led by student/staff from the Art Faculty at the Toon University or by a Northumberland based sculptor to ensure a considered design (not something school kids could deliver IMO) – the scheme could be launched as a competition ... a sure way to generate media attention. I would however, resist the idea of just putting a plaque on a tub - I'm not sure that would be an appropriate memorial to those who died or were injured. Engineering firms would get involved if the scheme was properly managed and creatively led simply because of the good publicity it would generate for them. Having the thing professionally engineered would ensure that it didn't look tatty, something that might happen if it was made from 'found' materials (scrap).

Adam - I'll PM you with my name & contact details so that you can pass them on to John. We were in the 6th Form together and were in the same A' level group.

Wonk wrote: "...with my lief garret looks ..." Nah! That can't be right ... it's got to be Kenneth Williams.

Adam, does John have a brother Peter? Is John aged about 62? Keith, I find it astonishing that the compensation payment was only £150 to your Mum, with a little extra for your brother. Would she have got a NCB widow's pension or even a Widow's State Pension ... I've no idea if these existed back then. Micky, one place that all this sort of info is kept is The Durham Mining Museum. Keith's Dad is listed on the Doctor Pit page: http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/b022.htm I find this site facinating and poignant.

I'm sure our two Keiths will be pleased to note and support Michael Gove's (Eductation Minister) redraft of the new History curriculum ... Out At key stage 1, Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Christina Rossetti have gone. In They make way for Christopher Columbus, Neil Armstrong, William Caxton, Tim Berners-Lee, LS Lowry, Rosa Parks and Emily Davison. Further info at: www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jun/21/michael-gove-history-curriculum

And he has more influence:

James Gandolfini, the actor who played Tony Soprano the Mob boss in that fabulous Yankee TV series The Sopranos, has croked in Rome ... he was only 51 when his ticker gave-out. Probably the best telly series ever. R.I.P.

Excellent news John ... it's good to keep this topic going.

I was about to suggest that The North East War Memorials Project - www.newmp.org.uk/ - might have been interested in this story but they have a slightly dated page about it already ... Does anybody know if the Memorial at the Grammar School is still there, now that the place is called the High School?

Eggs - the 'grass' in that photo in your first post looks suspiciously like that plakka roll-on stuff and not real tufts; or you don't have a mutt that causes brown patches where it pees; or ankle-biters to wreck the place and kick the gravel about. Ah, peace and quiet!

There was millions of tons of all sorts of Government surplus available for the public to buy after WW2. I mentioned in an earlier thread about all this stuff being available in Lisle Street in London in the 60s & 70s and 1000s of other outlets Nationwide. Most civilian freight transport vehicles for maybe 15 years after WW2 were ex-military. It's amazing what you can still get these days from Government surplus outlets: just go to www.mod-sales.com for a taste. they had helicopters a year ago. Before the recent handgun ban (post Dunblane) and the slightly earlier full-bore semi-automatic rifle ban (post Hungerford) they were even flogging firearms to the public.

Sym is watching, and waiting to pounce. KeithL take care ... Mr/MrsPuss has sharp claws.