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does anyone recall the day in 1963 when the kids had just returned to class after break, there were very high winds that week and the wall toppled over the marble pitch where minutes before the kids had all been playing, I was in Mr. Halls class,fate saved us that day

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does anyone recall the day in 1963 when the kids had just returned to class after break, there were very high winds that week and the wall toppled over the marble pitch where minutes before the kids had all been playing, I was in Mr. Halls class,fate saved us that day

That would have been the year I started the whitley, think Miss Payne was the 1st year teacher at the time. Matty Hall was 4th year. Can remember another teacher called Butler and the headmaster was Fred Hostler of course. Dont think I can remember the wall falling over.

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Happy to oblige Brian,cannot see owt of Pottsy or Keith though must of been playing truant that day.

I think the only time I tried to play truant, the school board man felt my collar so quickly I was back in school before the end of the first lesson. That picture must have been taken in the 70's Foxy ? . Not long before that part of the school was demolished. The car park sign is a bit of a give away as to the era.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone, I have just joined today - 24 June 2012. I actually have a class photo of the Whitley Memorial pupils circa 1968. Everyone my age is on it including some of my friends and neighbours - but not me!!! The problem is I am having trouble uploading photos. I select an album and then I get a box telling me I have not got permission. Can someone help please. (PS I have nine photos from the 'Woody' school as well.) Cheers, Keith.

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can people really remember why it had to be demolished?............and having classes in the porta cabins

It got burned down, the guy that burned it down got a job rebuilding it when he got out of jail. Wont mention his name (he still has family living localy ) but he commited a particuarly nasty crime later on.
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  • 6 months later...

And the lassie that he murdered ,i worked with her Dad,and he walked around in a daze,shattered,for years after,it wrecked him,he used to be always joking before that happened to his young Daughter,no reason to keep facts under the table.

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I started the WHITLEY SCHOOL about 1952 and i remember nearly all the teachers,above all Matty Hall cos he was such a great character.Aad Nicky the headmaster caned me both hands three times on each,infreezing weather,cos i put one foot accidentally on the grass ti get the ball.when the grass was out of bounds.Every time my foot hits grass,i get a flashback of Nicky swishing the cane in front of my face to terrorise me.Even Matty Hall said recently to me that old Nicky was avery evil man.Sorry for the rant but it's ingrained into me.

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Mr Hossler lived just down the road from us - if that who 'Nicky' is. The other teacher I remember was Butler. But Matty Hall had us practice kicking a football into his desk. Here's some photos. I can name some of the kids but not all. (I'll post named ones later.) But if anyone can put monikers to faces I'd be obliged. Neil watson is holding the football and there is Stu Dobson, Lol Cummings, Phil temple, Rob Lee, Derek Wilkinson, one of the Olivers(?) - the rest unknown. And of course Matty 'don't I look like George Clooney' Hall.

post-2953-0-27347100-1358326601_thumb.jppost-2953-0-21501700-1358326622_thumb.jp

Edited by keith lockey
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And the lassie that he murdered ,i worked with her Dad,and he walked around in a daze,shattered,for years after,it wrecked him,he used to be always joking before that happened to his young Daughter,no reason to keep facts under the table.

Absolutely HPW, but seeing that the guy has a daughter living locally it would be unfair (in my opinion) to name him on this, or any other site. She does know what her father did but she was just a very young child herself at the time. People were totaly shocked at that murder and it is just as well he was arrested before the locals could get a hold of him. The lady has a family of her own and a different surname now. Most people who frequent this site would respect her privacy (and that of her children and grand children) but you would always get the odd low life who would stir up a right old rats nest and she (they) would inevitably be hounded over a particularly henious crime that had absolutely nothing to do with her. Just look at what happened to the daughter of Mary Bell when she was identified to the press, that lassie was not even born when her mother commited that crime !! Many of us us over a certain age know exactly what we are on about HPW, so lets just leave it at that, to protect the innocent.
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Mr Hossler lived just down the road from us - if that who 'Nicky' is. The other teacher I remember was Butler. But Matty Hall had us practice kicking a football into his desk. Here's some photos. I can name some of the kids but not all. (I'll post named ones later.) But if anyone can put monikers to faces I'd be obliged. Neil watson is holding the football and there is Stu Dobson, Lol Cummings, Phil temple, Rob Lee, Derek Wilkinson, one of the Olivers(?) - the rest unknown. And of course Matty 'don't I look like George Clooney' Hall.

post-2953-0-27347100-1358326601_thumb.jppost-2953-0-21501700-1358326622_thumb.jp

Aye Keith. Fred Hostler lived in a bungalow by the cut that ran from Stead Lane down to the Oval. If I remember he was cricket daft. Matty Hall may well have ruled his class with a rod of iron ( that blackboard ruler) but he had the respect of everyone he taught. He was an excellent teacher both accademically and to the school football team (and other sports). I still have a school prize from that school, signed and presented by Fred Hostler for ............... scripture (religious knowledge). I was also in Mr. Butlers class (a baldy guy that always seemed on edge). Before that my teacher was a Miss Payne. Can anyone remember Peggy Ashdown, the dinner lady ? She lived at the oval and was a friend to hundreds of kids over the years, Before the Whitley I was at the village infants (or the church school as some refer to it) The teacher that sticks in my mind from that school was Connie Watson.

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I forgot about Miss Payne, Keith, but Peggy Ashdown is stll knocking about. One of the things I remember from the Whitley is sports day on the middle green betweem Mister Halls classroom and the main building. Me an Phil Temple were up against each other in the final high jump. Unfortunately I was wearing a pair of baggy shorts (probably my bro's hand-me-downs) and they caught the bar, knocking it off. But my memory of the Whitley is limited - even worse is the Oval School, I remember very little there.

Edited by keith lockey
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  • 1 month later...

Mr Hossler lived just down the road from us - if that who 'Nicky' is. The other teacher I remember was Butler. But Matty Hall had us practice kicking a football into his desk. Here's some photos. I can name some of the kids but not all. (I'll post named ones later.) But if anyone can put monikers to faces I'd be obliged. Neil watson is holding the football and there is Stu Dobson, Lol Cummings, Phil temple, Rob Lee, Derek Wilkinson, one of the Olivers(?) - the rest unknown. And of course Matty 'don't I look like George Clooney' Hall.

No Keith,aad Nicky was the Headmaster before Mr Hostler...Mr Nicholson was his name ,but,like you said,living family weren't responsible for his actions,even when he caned a seven-year - old little lassie,for being late one mornng,there was no school run in 1950's,pupils and teachers all walked to the school cos everyone lived in the vicinity of the school.He was a brutal tyrant,enuff sed.

I also agree with you about the person who burn't the school down,no names to protect family with respect.

When we played down the free woods,and the picnic field,and we got the jungle drums to say he was coming along the woods,we used to climb the thinnest,highest trees we could find, cos if he caught you,he would delight in throwing you fully-clothed into the deep river,even if,like me,you couldn't swim.

I have vivid memories of all my childhood,so much so,that i am writing my life story for my family,so far i have written about 400 A4 double sides,and i am just up to my first few weeks working down Choppington B pit,in 1959-61...the start of nearly thirty years undergound,straight from my school desk at Westridge school!

post-2953-0-27347100-1358326601_thumb.jppost-2953-0-21501700-1358326622_thumb.jp

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HPW, the life story is a great idea but have someone in mind to take it when you go, My Dad had a pile of papers he had written of his whole life after he moved to Newbiggin from Bedlington, it was to be a book called the Perils of Private Potts, the pile was over 4 feet high with photos and newspaper clippings and he added to it almost every day until he passed, My sister in law came in to clean the house for my Mam after the funeral and she chucked out the whole collection he had made, when I found out my heart almost fell out of my chest, the woman had never paid attention to my parents ever before this, so Mark my words and put your writings in safe keeping Wilma

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Hi Micky,i heed your advice with great caution,and like Maggie says,it's a tragic story,it's only when you come to write your own story,like i have been doing,on and off,when i get time to sit and write,that you realise how much work goes into it.

I cannot write for long,due to arthritic cramps due to old mining injuries to my hands,so i only do about three or four sides of the A4 [200 page] notebooks,of which i am onto my fourth book in the story.

The only trouble with me is,i write like i talk!!!!

So i go into every detail,to ensure the reader fully understands what i am talking about,so,considering the pits are all closed now,and the Pitmatic is just about gone out of fashion,except the few of us old 'uns that's left,

maybe i am doing the right thing,by giving explanations and little hand drawn sketches of things here and there.

My two sons,and my Wife,urged me to do this story,cos they've heard my pit tales so much....they could go down tomorrow and start cutting coal!!

Micky,the more i think about your Dad's work being skipped,the more i feel I want to throttle her...and i don't even know her,but surely,surely,anyone with a bit upaheight....would double-check with family,as to what was to binned,and what was to be kept.

I was very close to my Mother-in-law,like her own Son,SO close that when we broke her home up,her little tins of old photo's and documents were entrusted to me and my Wife,for safe-keeping,by the rest of the family,which makes me feel very priviledged.

Many thanks for your concerns,and advice Micky.

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Heh heh!Sorry Keith....please excuse my being glaaky.!!

On the subject of "Aad Nicky",the Headmaster of the old Whitley Memorial School,many moons ago,i thought my story about him caning a seven-year - old little lassie for being late one morning,was bad,but just to confirm that my memory isn't starting to go,i was talking to Councillor Alan Stewart, a couple of days ago,and got onto reminiscing about Nicky.

Now,up till last year,when i saw him ,once,in the street,i hadn't seen him since the 1960's,to actually speak to.

He told me that on the first day we started the Whitley School,from the village infants school,in the morning,in the playground,he fell and his backside went onto the grass..............the dreaded grass!

We hadn't even got into the class cos the bell hadn't even rung at 9-0am to start class........and Aad Nicky saw him on the grass...as he fell...

[accidentally...mind...].....and...yes,you've guessed!

"Boy", "come to my office"....caned each hand....just like me and all the rest who crossed his path.

They say Mr Hostler was a very nice man,well-liked by pupils and Parents alike.

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Pitmatic is not out of fashion.

Books are now written on the subject and I believe it is a lasting legacy of true Northumbrian dialect.

When people moved to the jobs in the mines they brought with them the language.

Variations do occur but they are worthy of study.

Sadly Bedlington is becoming a dormitory town. This means our language dies or changes.

The content of this site is of huge importance.

HPW you are a legend in your own lifetime, write all you can and know it is worthy and important.

I wish my memory was as good as yours!

Micky can you not write some of what your Dad's story.

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