Canny lass

Well! That was a nice little wander around a place I love, and looking so much better than it's ever done before. Thank you Malcolm for all your hard work.

@loopylou I can certainly agree that Clarkes Cottages and the Craigs Bldgs adjoining the Puddler's Arms are one and the same thing. My only reservation is that the 4 dwellings of Craigs Bldgs have become 9 dwellings in Clarkes Cottages - but it is possible. However, I'd be hesitant to say that Millfield Cottages are the same thing as the flats in Craigs Bldgs. It seems like an odd thing to call a flat a cottage. It needs some more work. If we get a bit of rainy weather this week I'll have another look at the area. Have you read any of the posts in the topic "Puddlers Raa (Row)"? There's some interesting info from people with first-hand knowledge of the area. You'll need to get your wellies on to read it as you'll have to 'wade' through a lot of info which isn't directly related to Puddler's Row. We do tend to digress a bit on this forum! One of the things you'll find in the topic is this photo of Liddle's buildings from 1910. The angle on the corner suggests to me that it may be the building marked in orange here. It's definitely on a corner!

Sorry, I forgot to include the source of the enumerators description of the buildings:

Make a cup of tea, there's no way of explaining this quickly! This may throw a little light on the mystery! The enumerator for Bedlington, District 9 in the 1911 census, was one J W Gaskin. He appears to have been a man who took his work very seriously. Going above and beyond the call of duty in meticulously recording the statutory requirements: name, age, birthplace etc. of each person he recorded even a brief description of the building in which the residents lived. From these descriptions I think its now possible to identify the buildings at Bank Top – at least in 1911. @loopylou Yesterday you described the census for 1911 in the following manner. (I’ve taken the liberty of colour coding your text so that I can compare them to census records, photos and maps. Unfortunately I can't use coloured text here). You said: “No. 1 Craggs (missing, a shop? Uninhabited?) BLUE No. 2 Craggs Buildings (Weightman) BLUE No. 3 Craggs Buildings (Elliott) BLUE No. 4 Craggs Buildings (Kinghorn) BLUE following these are Old Puddlers Arms (Mawson) GREEN Old Puddlers Arms (Thain) GREEN Old Puddlers Arms (Cole) GREEN Old Puddlers Arms (Burrell) GREEN All of these addresses ”Old Puddlers Arms” have two rooms each, which equates with the eight rooms described in the auction. then confusingly Craggs Buildings (no number) (McMullen) RED No. 2 Craggs Buildings (Thompson) RED No. 3 Craggs Buildings (Hutchinson) RED No. 4 Craggs Buildings (Campbell) RED No. 5 Craggs Buildings (Hadaway) RED Craggs Buildings (no number) (Parker) RED These also had two rooms each. Then after follows River View. It would appear that No. 2/3/4 are duplicated, but I do not think that these are the same properties, rather that the end six properties later become No. 9-14 of Craggs.” Let's ompare that with what the enumerator says. The enumerator describes the buildings these people lived in as follows: P 10: Sch nrs. 217 – 219 “Craigs Buildings, 1 block of 4 cottages” (1 unoccupied therefore only 3 sch. Nrs.) BLUE P 10: Sch nrs. 220 – 223 “Old Puddler’s Arms, 1 block 4 dwelling houses” GREEN P 11: Sch nrs. 224 – 229 “Craigs Buildings 2nd block in flats, 6 dwelling houses” RED There after follows River View starting with “a semi-detached villa, a villa, 6 more semi-detached villas and then 1 block 7 cottages”. If we transfer that information to a map (this one from 1924 as it’s the nearest I have) it looks like this: Following on from the red marking of Craigs Buildings, 2nd block, I’ve marked the enumerator’s description of River View: semi detached villa (pink), villa (yellow) and 7 semi-detached villas (purple), 1 block of 7 cottages (orange). If we then transfer that information to the 1930s photo it looks like this: There are a couple of questions that arise: The unmarked space between the blue marking and the green marking has no immediate explanation from the enumerator. I would suggest that it could be one of the 3 houses, each with four rooms, described in the 1864 advert as these are “adjoined” to the Puddler’s Arms. If this is the case then it should be marked BLUE. Much depends on the location of the outer wall of the Puddler’s Arms – to the right of or to the left of the unmarked space? In total, the three cottages have 12 rooms. The advert dated 1869 includes 6 double cottages of 2 rooms each. This also gives a total 12 rooms, so these could be the 3 roomed cottages mentioned in 1864. An alternative explanation for the space would be that it was occupied by the 2-roomed cottage offered for sale with the Puddler’s Arms in 1869 as part of the same lot for sale in 1869. If this is the case then it should be marked GREEN. To me it seems that, at least in 1911, the large building contained not only the public house (to the right) but also 6 flats (to the left). I’ve said before that housing was at a premium due to the need for a greatly increased workforce in Bedlington. Perhaps the Puddler’s Arms originally occupied the whole of the building but renting out accommodation may have given the opportunity to provide a better income – for infinitely less effort.

That's the first picture I've ever seen. Hadn't heard about the fire either. Thanks!

I see what you mean! They did move around a bit in those days. They sort of outgrew their living space and swapped with another family member with a smaller family.

@loopylou You may be confusing schedule numbers with door numbers. There are very few door numbers in the census records before 1911 but there are always schedule numbers in the far left-hand column of the census returns. These numbers can and do change as they don’t refer to any building, only to the households within them. The 1911 census was a bit different. You will find the schedule number in the top right hand corner of page 2 for each household - the part filled in by the householder. The correct address and house number (if there is one) you will find on page 1, filled in by the enumerator before he delivered the forms to the household. The address given by the householder on page 2 doesn't always agree with the address given by the enumerator. Everybody in the same street could call it by a different name. AS for 3 Craggs Buildings at the Bank Top. From your fragment of paper it does look like John's wife was living there pre-WW1 but by 1921 it was her daughter Ellen who occupied that house together with her husband James Thompson and they were still there in 1939. You need to go a bit further along the road in 1921 to find John's wife Ellen at number 8 Craggs Buildings. She is then widowed and head of the household. Living in are son Bernard and his wife Rachel together with their 5 children. Still at home are sons Joseph C and John Edward.

Topic: Mary (molly) Rooney 1926-2008 It was the same Joe Rooney that posted the above topic in ‘Public Notices & Announcements’, December 8 2008, that I was referring to. He died in 2010. April 2010 @sissinghurst posted 2 topics: 'Joe Rooney poorly' followed by 'Joe Rooney’s Passing'. @loopylou the topic 'Mary (molly) Rooney 1926-2008' posted in ‘Public Notices & Announcements’ might be of interest to you as Molly was born at 6 Craggs Buildings, Bank top which you mentioned in an earlier post.

Moved to Canada. Hasn't posted anything on here since 2010.

John Rooney had some of my relatives as neighbours!

Sorry about that! I started to doubt myself but now I can say that my posts were correct. You have got it right Eggy. Doctors Row in the first photo and Old Gate Row in the second photo. The building which "looks as if it is being demolished" is in fact the old gate house from which the street above got its name. There used to be five families living in that at one time.

Ignore my last two posts! I might be confusing Old Gate Row with Old Factory Row. I’ll have to have a rummage in my old research notes.

At the top of the hairpin bend was Gatehouse Row. It later became Doctors Row.

Here it is, arrowed in red.

Happy to have been able to help! Pubs, in particular are good markers. The landlords were often there for years so you can go to a later census where more addresses are available and get a better location. Another tip is to always read the enumerator's description of his area.