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Andy is "Putting" or taking the tub outbye to a landing,where several full tubs would be coupled up,usually a set of six,where a "Driver" with a bigger horse would pull the set outbye from the landing to the shaft bottom,to be sent to Bank in the cages.Andy is going downhill when the pic was taken,as he has a wooden "Dreg" in the rear wheels to help slow the tub from over running the horse,even though the Limbers,["Limma's"] used to control the tub ,also the "Backstrap" on the Horse's Gears,around his rear end and fastened to his Bellyband...that pushed up against the Horse's rear flanks,and w

Note their pants!!.."Fustons"...indestructible thick warm material,most Miners wore Fustons,it was like ...what else wud ye wear doon a black hole?...not ya Wedding Suit! See the Steel corrugated Straps,[or "Planks"] holding the roof up? They were 6' long and canny heavy! Aboot three or four years ago,me and LBJ [me wee Lab x Dog],were waaking back from owa the Bomar fields ahent wor hoose,and a got me eye on summick familiar,sticking oot the thick bushes,next ti the Farmer's fence.A howked on and pulled it oot,it was one of these steel straps,bent at right angles,wi the weight of the roof und

Aye,James,the metal canister held 5 lbs of Explosive Cartridges,what we ,[the miners] referred to as "Sticks o' Pooda"..[Powder]. That was the Legal limit that a miner was allowed to carry,under the "Mines and Quarries Act 1954"..of course,like any other Industry,rules were made to be broken! Down the Three-Quarter seam,at Bates,in the early 1970's,I used to be hurrying inbye to fire the Solid Drivage Maingate or Tailgate,or Back Drift,[1-in-4 gradient!],carrying a 50 lb Box of Polar Ajax,[33% Nitro-Glycerine..],under one arm,another 50lb Box on the other shoulder,and TWO - 10LB Packs ,one ea

The Old Colliery Row, better known as “The Aad Pit Raa” was built in 1840, 15 years before the Dr Pit was opened. According to Stephen Martin’s book it was built by a farming family, The Swann Brothers to rent to miners who were moving into Bedlington to work on collieries that were opening up in the vicinity. The Colliery Row was initially leased then sold in 1892 to the Bedlington Coal Company. The row was demolished along with Bell’s Place in 1950. Hollymount Square was built on this area immediately after the demolition of the rows.

Hi Ian. This was taken at The Old Vicarage next to St Cuthberts Church. I am the other person in the photo . Threegee is my father. If my memory is correct your grandparents lived at the top of Attlee bank but @threegee will know best.

I was Jammy............🥶

'I think it was @Malcolm Robinson who took the photo without any clothing added' There are no leaves on the trees so he was probably quite cold standing there in the nude with his flasher in his hands!

When we were kids we spent hours in the spring catching toads from the 'A' pit pond(s). We didn't do anything with them, we caught them because we could. I remember there was competition to see who could catch the most. We put them back when we were hungry and went home for something to eat. We were never challenged by any blokes for being there. Every year my uncle wanted one in the spring for his greenhouse to catch the slugs that appeared overnight and the odd insect during the day. The toad he got that had fed well over the summer disappeared early winter. It didn't reappear the next

At the Doctor pit, in the early days, the main winder and the John Pit ventilation fan were driven by steam engines. As with all steam engines, each had a boiler in which coal was burnt to produce the steam to drive the engines and each had a chimney high enough to provide sufficient draft to efficiently burn the coal. The chimney of the main winder was 160 feet high and was demolished in 1921 when an electric winder was installed. I don’t know when the John pit fan was converted to electricity but the chimney was demolished in 1952.

HPW Before the plant in the photo was built there was an old plant on this site that washed output from the Aad pit. The “new” plant was built on the same site as the old plant and continued to use the same dump. The wash plant in the photo was about 10 year old when the photo was taken but the discard dump as you say had been in use for over 100 years. The difference with the new plant was that it washed coal from both the Doctor Pit and the “A” Pit. In James Tuck’s book he states that this was part of a modernisation plan at the time of nationalisation of the mines in 1947. I’

They are leaning against the "Modern"[!!] MC3 Gathering-Arm Joy Loader. This Machine made mincemeat of loading out a 14'x10' arched roadway full shot lasted out of the solid strata. In my Bates' gallery there is a pic of me in an Eimco 625 Mechanical Shovel loader..loading a full shot onto a conveyor belt. I had to continuously drive in,track back,skew,then empty the bucket onto the belt. With the Gathering Arm Loader,you just swept in at the left side,driving in inchy pinchy,and the floor was cleaned up,all you had to do next was track back,skew, drive in at the right side,and the a

Noo THAT!..was one hell of a job,doon the pit,the Bulls'sHead..["BULL'SHEED"],Driller was a canny weight,so with a Nine foot drill in,and drilling into solid stone...ye needed arms like Garth,[a pit saying!],that's hoo Dinper has arms like this in the pic!![He is drilling into the Coal Seam on this Pic.]A "fast" [Stuck!] drill has caused many a broken arm or shoulder,when reverse torque spun the machine out of your hands and twisted your arms etc!

One of my Neighbours at Hollymount Square,in the early 1950's was a fella called "Aad Singer Dixon" ,and he was one of the Horsekeeper's from the year Dot,they used to say..and this guy looks like him to my mind..I was only three years old when we moved there,but I grew up with the Dixons,until I got Married in 1967,but Singer had sadly Passed away by then. I remember his Grandson Brian visiting every other night,with his Parents,and through the windows at night we used to hear Old Singer shouting ,as he waved his family off for the night ..."Gudneet,see ye thi morn!"..I can hear his voice no

Photo of two Wastemen at the Doctor Pit taken by Willy Ward. No names unfortunately. Wastemen were miners who were too old for heavy work and were employed to maintain the return airways – clearing falls of roof, renewing supports etc. and they often carried on doing this work even in their 70’s. Willy Ward worked at the Doctor Pit till it closed in 1968. He was an excellent photographer and a few of the photos I have posted were bought at his shop on Front Street East. I wish I had got more of them and taken a note of the names. (Many couples would have used Willy to take their wedd

Hi Alan, thanks for sending this excellent, very rare, piece of historical Mining Memorabilia! I learned how to use the Vicious Sylvester from my first weeks down Seaton Burn Colliery, at the training gallery, underground, in 1959.It was designated specifically, as a pulling device, and lifting anthing with it was strictly forbidden.. well!.. theoretically! Although it was against the law to use it for lifting machinery, etc, what else could you use, if there was nothing else but the Sylvester! So! It was used for lifting, and over the years many lads lost fingers and thumbs at the very least

Photo taken by Willie Ward in 1952

Doctor Pit banners. 1948 banner on left. 1960’s banner on right.

Doctor Pit union men in 1960’s. Andy Fairbairn in middle at back. Anty Thompson on extreme right.

The onion sellers bring back memories! They came to Netherton during my childhood days, 1950s. I believed them to be Frenchmen. They didn't have carts but had baikes with onions hanging in strings from every available space. I came across Dr Trotter recently in the 1911 census records. He was then living at the Old Brewery House on Front Street west with his wife of 9 years and their two children - Margaret Martin Trotter and Robert Martin Trotter aged 8 and 6 yo. They had one resident servant - Alice Herron - one of my relatives.

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Dun Cow with the Co-op grocery dept on the right and Marshall’s buildings on the left

The following is an extract from the book “Leisure and Recreation in a Victorian Mining Community” by Alan Metcalfe ……….. …….”this, is illustrated vividly by the history of the Bedlington hoppings which were held for three days every Whitsuntide from sometime in the seventeenth century.72 The focal point of the three days of festivities was the Front Street and the adjacent side streets. The Hoppings attracted commercial attractions from outside Bedlington. The streets were filled with "numerous swing boats, galloping horses, shooting galleries, cocoa nut stalls, ice creamers, hokeypokeyi

This photo shows the church with the semi - circular aisle and gallery that was demolished in 1912 and replaced with the rectangular North aisle and gallery that we see today. (From a Church of England booklet published 1949.)

All of the institute, including the library was situated on the top floor of the building. It was in a small alcove at the end of the institute; not where the arrow is pointing which was a private house. It was not a public library but for members of the institute, i.e. employees of the Doctor pit. The arrow should point to the area on the top floor of the building mid- way between the window to the right of the war memorial and the end of the building adjoining the house.

I loved my velour hat but quickly succumbed to peer pressure and asked my mum to get me a beret.

All from BGS. I don't know though about the Rangers (senior guides) who held their meeting later the same evening - I just remember being totally in awe of them.

Some of the names of the rows are incorrect. The photo has been enlarged and cropped and has cut off Shiney Row which can be seen on the extreme left of the main photo. Telephone Row and Cross Row are correct but - Shiney Row should read Doctor Terrace. Doctor Terrace should read North Terrace. North Terrace should read New South Row. This is an interesting photo as it shows two winding houses. It shows a new brick built electric winding house (it was later painted white) and in front of it the old steam driven winding house. As I mentioned in a previous posting t

Dr Pit in 1912 with the surface workers posing for the photo. Note the guy on top of the headgear next to the “pulley wheels”. This old winder house was for the steam driven winder and was replaced with the electric winder in 1921. So there was loss in production, the new winder house was built behind the old one and the electric winder commissioned. The pulley ropes from the old winder were then passed through to the new winder to the electric winder and the old winder house with its chimney was demolished. (Information taken from James Tuck’s book “The Collieries of Northumberland”)

Yes, no problem, the one in the middle is Bon McGregor he was an electrician, my brain has just kicked in and I remember!

About 1965, and shows where the damaged cables from the machines underground were stored prior to being loaded onto reels to be sent to Ashington Workshops. The job took place first thing every morning and was normally carried out by apprentices in all weathers. When job was finished it was off to the canteen! In the background, the John Shaft, airlock, lamp cabin and winder.

Probably one of the best photos taken of Doctor Pit. It was taken by Bill Ward Photographer in Bedlington, I believe. Bought this photo, in a frame, from him many years ago.

Hi threegee, It’s Ian here. Thank you so much for uploading this photo. I think I can just make out my Mum in the background behind Grandad. I’m sorry I haven’t been on here in years. I was grateful that the Sustrans charity commemorated the memory of my Grandad with a statue. I was fortunate enough to attend the unveiling of it several years ago along with some of my family members. I was very grateful that the community not only proposed a memorial to him, but that they also showed up when his statue was officially unveiled. I still have family in Northumberland, so I hope to vis

My wife and I were coming through bedlington station yesterday, I knew of course about the of cinema now apartments, we visited dominoes in sixties so had some nice memories. However, it came as a shock to see the old railway tavern gone completely. We spent some lovely times together in the disq as it was known. The Percy arms had good memories too, now a restaurant. Of course the Clayton has gone where we first met. I said to my wife, our history has been taken away. Of course nothing stands still. Rather sad for me though. My family long gone but some lovely memories. Bedlington has certain

That's right! I can't pretend to be au fait with the intricacies of the game but I remember my mother letting off steam to my father about it!

Found this image which may help work out where the toilets were. I hope it uploads ok.

The lad 2nd from the right on the front row is William(Bill) Jamieson. The lad with his hands on Bill's shoulders is Joe Cotsworth who became a barber at the station. The lad standing on the right edge of the group with a dark jacket and button hole flower is I believe Joe Anickan(spelling?). I know he was in the same class.

On the front row - 2nd from the right ( dark jacket and shorts and arms folded) is William Jamieson. Directly behind him is Joe Cotsworth.

Well that sorts that out! Lol

My dad was Ernie Gurney the butcher next door to The Gardner’s Arms. My Mum and Dad were in business in Bedlington from 1954. My dad went to work as Manager in the meat department in Laws Stores in 1978 until he died suddenly in October 1979. My Mum ran the shop but also had a very successful outside Catering business. She continued to live in the family house until her death in June 1995. I have two brothers and a sister and we were all brought up there. I remember Ned Metcalf and his wife ‘ Ginny’ as he called her very well. They had no children and they were very fond of me. He was a stri

I still get emails about these, on my old PC, that I hardly ever check. Couldn't remember my password for this site and the PC blocks this forum. After much faffing about I'm back in. Can't believe I didn't recognise Tommy Percy, it was he who gave me lessons all those years ago, I used to go to his house every week and remember his lovely wife bringing tea and biscuits. Nice to see more names added though.

Slightly pedantic but no. 9 is Margaret JOISCE, my aunt who passed away when she was very young. My dad is enjoying looking through these photos, thank you for posting them!

Thanks for your reply-just remembered no.2 the principle cornet player was called Trevor-so sorry no surname. No recollection of no. 4. probably a borrowed player-quite common to play for another band. At that time I was playing for Dunston silver band-Durham county youth band, Buradon Band, Felling band and Whickham comp.school band-as I had just turned 15 at the time.

@george.atkinson. - names updated. I assume you have copies of the photos that you are on? The member - Bandsman1966 (Biff's son) that posted the photos hasn't visited the group since November 1st 2018. Any names I have added since Bandsman1966 visited have been from ex Netherton Colliery people that are members of the local Facebook groups.

Hi, I have been meaning to contact you with some information about this photo for a while. I am no. 8 George Atkinson. No. 2 was the principle solo corner player-sorry can't remember his name. No.8 George Atkinson solo cornet. No.17 was called Vivien, Tenor Horn. (sorry can't remember her surname) No.21 was Brian Harding B flat bass. No.22 was Ian Lambs father. No.23 was a representative of Brentford Nylons. By the time this was taken Joe Grant had left the band (think he went to Ashington) Hope this is of some help 🎺🎺🎺🎺

Dorothy Sadler has identified No 10 - Bob Kennedy.👍

4 Mr Smart Woodwork & Metalwork (Mr Kitson did not join school until 2 years later approx.) 10 Mrs Code (Coad??) 11 Miss Taylor Latin 13 Miss Pollard Religious Education 16 Miss Hope P.E. 17 Mrs Brown School Secretary Miss Elliot Maths

did you find one to test?

Jimmy Halliday with his family.