L to R - AGGY - BIG WILLY - IVAN - BILL - GORDON FRONT - DRIFT BOTTOM XMAS WEEK - 1985

Dan :- high five to you guys.

high pit wilma :- Cheers Abandoned miner!

Ray Hammond :- Bait time? 

high pit wilma :- CHEERS RAY! AYE,BAIT TIME AT THE "BOILER",[TRANSFORMER HOUSE"]

gan canny :- Hi wilma 
I used to work with you Bill and Ivan, cant remember now if it was in the 3/4 or the plessey,
I finished off in 1986 on face work in the plessey , but prior the strike worked all over on composite, with little Jackie Beckworth.
Can you remember Charlie the lad that was killed at the top of 293sdrift , I was his marra that got buried with him, anyway good to see some old faces, is Bill still bouncing at the night club in Bedlinton station ? ( wonder if he ever got that nose straightened,) lol What are you doing now, I wouldn't of thought there was any mines still going in the NE,
I move to Perth Australia in 2003 after I had a couple of holidays here,and got the taste of it, never looked back
keep your timber in, take care............

Jim

high pit wilma :- Ah! Jim...! Noo!
You got me thinking noo...!Jim...Jim.....Jim....naa! A can think of a lot o Jims,one in particular,"Jimmy the watch",who worked with the Maltese Falcon" [Tony],and another Jimmy,who's dad was the famous pie-eating champion,in the working men's clubs,in the 1960's,but to save gaanin on,cheers for your comments!
A canna mind Charlie being killed,are you sure it wasn't Paul, who got the whole crossing girders doon on him,when they were drawing the face chocks off the face? I came into the pit baths,that afternoon,directly after the fatal accident,and Jimmy, Paul's marra, was sitting on the lockers seat,breaking his heart,in tears,and he was a big powerful lad,but losing his marra,devastated him.
This part of mining was what the people who said "Greedy miners",when we asked for a pay rise, didn't see.
Bill is retired now,like me,an' it's a gud job he naa's nowt aboot computers, or he would put he's fist through the wires to boonce yi,for ya cheek...heh! heh!...!!
He's gone through a bad patch,Jim,health-wise,but he's still a born-again biker,shooter,dog-man...an' aal that!
A wish a cud place yi,Jim,aad love ti catch up wi yi!!
A lot of the Bates lads are gone,at early ages,can yi mind Stevie ["the Womble"] T., wa union treasurer,a think,and "Fishy",they died in their late 30's-early 40's. Ronnie Cambell has been Blyth's Member of Parliament, for about 20 years,noo,deaing a grand job,for an aad miner....alang with aal the rich sods who've been claimin' multi-thoosands of quids,for hooses that they haven't got...etc...!
On these pics,Jim,i was on the composite team,wi Bill,and Tom.
We were driving through a 36 foot thick Whinstone dyke,to reach 30 million tons of clean , virgin coal....and we would have done..... if a certain woman,who killed the mining industry,took the milk from the school bairns,when she was a junior minister,and killed off the community spirit...apart from stealing 9 million pounds,from the N.U.M. CENTRAL FUNDS,hadn't gettin' her own way.......b............d !!
Aal hae ti ask Bill aboot little Jackie,a canna mind him,and a see Bates lads every time a gaan ti Blyth,and yi canna get moved for coal,
it's usually aal the way aroond Netto's ,or Lidl,or Aldi,supermarket floors....!
Keep in touch Jim,hope you keep well,plenty o' sunshine there, so you should be healthy -looki'n as hell !!
Cheers !

gan canny ~:- Sorry Will for not being a bit clearer, the pie eater was a distant relation of mine,and your right the lad that got killed was called Paul, but his surname was Charlton and got the nick name Charlie, and you hit the nail on the head, it was me breaking my heart in the baths ( lockers) 
so now you can put a face to this writing (Jimmy ), in Australia they called me Jim, and its just habit now signing off, on it now, anyway have you got an email address and I will send you some photo's on how the other half live down under,
all the best ........

Jimmy

high pit wilma :- Noo Jim,me lad...!
Did yi get me e-mail,a sent last neet,Teusday,26-5-09,aal try and send yi one thi neet,but seeing as it's noo11-35pm ,aalriddy,and aav just sat doon noo,aal probably faal as asleep afore a get that far!!
Thanks for your comments,and for gettin' in touch after 25 years....!!
Flickr's a great tool eh!!
cheers Jim!

Dr. Drewboy :- Glück Auf!

high pit wilma :- By the way,"Big Willy" is the name given to me by my eldest Son,when he was about ten years old.!
Now,he is bigger than me,but,now 46 years old,he STILL calls me that!

high pit wilma :- 20-9-2014, 30 years on from the strike,and aam waaking me little dog doon the Wansbeck riverside waak,when aan aad fella cums runnin' full belt alang thi path,says hello,keeps runnin'......then at thi end of thi path,turns roond and cums joggin' back,but this time,he stops for a crack.
He luks a gud age,and me Wife and me start a casual bit o' crack wi him. He is from Malta,lives at Guidepost,[been there for donkey's yeors..],and he 's caaled TONY!!
So, a says ti him,a had a marra caaled the Maltese Falcon,and HE'S name was Tony!!
From then on wi see him noo and again,and a caal him...Thi Maltese Falcon!!...he laughs affectionately,he is aboot 78-ish,and fit as a lop!,but he was a fitness instructor in the RAF,for years,and has run all his life.
He didn't have any respect for thatcher and her cronies in 1984!!