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Happy Christmas to you all Maggie

Following a long absence on this site I have just become aware of Derek's passing today, sad news indeed. A true gentleman respected by all who were fortunate enough to have the pleasure of his company.

Miners picnic 1957

Didn't one of those on the left used to be Wemyss (sp?), the wholesale confectioner, back in the mid 1950s? I can remember carting an unstable load of empty crisp tins there on my bogey as an infant. Yes, those packets of crisps with the little blue bag of salt used to come in oversized biscuit tins to keep them fresh. My motive was purely economic - to pocket the deposit on them. Mr Wemyss, however - god rest his soul - wasn't prepared to cough up the going rate, likely embossed on the tins, and all I got was a pittance (or maybe a few sweets) for my trouble. The sweets are long forgotten, but the bitterness lingers on - such is life! 🤣

You should just be able to drag and drop the video into your post or upload to the gallery. If it's not a playable format inline it will embed as an attachment for download. You can also upload to Youtube/Vimeo and paste the link from there and it will embed inline here. e.g.

I know its a few years since the last post on this thread, but I'm doing some family history stuff and searched 2 gate house... it would appear my ancestors lived there between yours! Mine were there in the 1921 census, and moved on by 1939! Thanks so much for that map canny lass!

Hope everybody has a better 2024 than this year!! Aal thi best Folks!!

My pleasure this morning to give the lasses who are the Friends of West Lea Cemetery their newest award, off our friends at Bedlington.co.uk. This is the 2023 Piper award and given a lot of members on that site are ex-pats it’s nice to know they still keep up with current going-ons in Bedlington. Given in recognition of someone or a group who have made outstanding efforts in the Town over the last year, a well-deserved award. Well done girls.........

It’s that time of year again when thoughts of old friends emerge again and fond memories stir the soul. I hope everybody here is well. Wishing you all good time over the holidays and a safe happy New Year. Sym

.... and the same from me! Merry Christmas to everybody. Take really, really, REALLY good care of yourselves and we'll meet again in the new year.

Thank you Alan, Merry Christmas to you and yours, Merry Christmas to all members.

Had a bit play and I have come up with this template for this year and future years And for 2023 I added the info + our group logo Still need to look at the dimensions of the certificate to match the dimesions of popular frame sizes.

@Andy Millne @John Fox (foxy) @Malcolm Robinson @Vic Patterson @HIGH PIT WILMA @Bedlingtonian @Pete @Jammy @Maggie/915 @_pauls @James @Symptoms @Mal @Tonyp @Beano @7RIrF @carly @Bill Straughan @oldtimer @Dave Twist @6233jane @threegee @Darren Smith @jfk @B Davison @DJA 24 @anniemarr @Katherine Hyde @Jr6468 @Sheila Prouten @Joe McNally @Patricia Wadsworth @SouthernGeordie @rosco @Linray @lynnewatson @sallywoo1971 I have posted the message and the images onto the Facebook page of https://www.facebook.com/Thefriendsofwestleacemetery @Mal had a think, and clart, on what you proposed re certificate and anything is possible but naturally on something that is normally a pure online award there will be some issues to overcome. These are the tnings I am thinking about :- design and produce a certificate using my Winows Vista + Microsoft Digital Image pro 10 (as that is the only software I have print off the certificate - and as I am no professional that would be to an A4 sheet of paper. What dimensions would the certificate be = what are the standard picture frame sizes, between A5 & A4, that TFOWBC could by to fit certificate into Posting a certificate to TFOWC - looking at their FB page they don't have an address for where to post anything to and if they did it would have to have a letter box wide enough to accept an A4 sheet,8.27 x 11.69 inches or 21 x 29.7 centermeters, wth cardboard support to stop it getting bent/damaged in the post. ------------------------------------------------------ I will let you know if I come up with anything

I have made the 2023 award and as long as all are happy with this years award going to The friends of Westlea Cemetery (TFOWC) I will post the following text and images on TFOWC Facebook page. To the volunteers at The Friends Of Westlea Cemetery. In 2020 on the Bedlington community group (bedlington.uk) it was suggested that a yearly award (purely online) be award to anyone that had helped the group or anything to do with Bedlington. It was decided to name it The Piper Award after Ainsley Piper who bred the Bedlington terrier in 1825 in St Cuthbert’s Vicarage. This December the members of the group have voted for the online award to go to your volunteer organisation that has helped so many people in Bedlington, and beyond. So the members of bedlingto.uk would like to say thank you to the work your volunteers have done.

Aye he takes a canny snap!

"There will be a shuttle bus to get people from one side of the crossing to the other..." Well, I can dream! This one was supposed to be flying by 2018, and it seems there are quite a number of such designs. Maybe it's going to take Elon to bring one to reality!

Hi We are moving to bedlington as we have just bought a property on front street. The property in question has a blue plaque on the wall outside (Gibsons who i believe were a family who made nails) and I've been told used to be a wholesalers and such over the years prior to becoming a home in the early 2000's, id be really interested if anyone has any old photographs of 36 front street (opposite the Black Bull) prior to it becoming a home. thanks

Coming soon! This is an interesting family and I've been researching them this week. I'll post soon, probably on John Dawson's thread The Last of the Nailers. It will probably be long so it may need a few posts.

The aad photo of the shop is hoo aa remember..broon painted shop front..roller shutters in later yrs,probably after the break-ins..the war hadn't been owa just four yrs prior ti my first seeing this Aladdin's cave..the only sweets I ever got at that age was when me Mother tuk me ti Doctor Hickey's Surgery,at Choppington,just up the bank from where a lived in Storey's Buildings,doon aside the Willow Bridge at Choppington Station..Dr Hickey aalwis kept a big tin of sweeties on his table at the side,and every kid who went to see him,even if it was their Mother who was the Patient,they got a sweetie..that was the way to befriend the kids and allay any fear aboot gaan ti see him!![dinna forget..we didnae hae the drugs we hae nooadays..us kids picked aal sorts of infections up..!!

Our Government (Canadian) is giving away millions to foreign companies to come and build facilities for making batteries, we have most of the "ingredients" to make them, but the environmentalists rather we get others mine it, using less friendly methods.

@Mal and the same to you

After I posted the two images - 2023 Piper Award 'ceremony' & Piper Trophy - on The Friends Of Westlea Cemetery Facebook page one of the volunteers has responded on their FB page with this :- Waiting to see what @Mal has done with the certificate image he downloaded.

@Mal there is a fault on the one above - I have corrected it in this one.

10-12-2023..UPDATE!..LOST KEYS RETRIEVED AT LIDL THIS MORNING.MANY THANKS TO THE KIND AND HONEST PERSON FOR HANDING THEM IN!

These programmes maybe of interest to members in the coming months .

Yes 100% for it.

Sounds like a great suggestion fully behind it

During WW2 my maternal Grandfather was working a double shift in the middle of the night (to help the war effort) when he was injured underground by a rock fall causing crush injuries to his legs and back. His mates dug him out, brought him to the surface and stretchered him the mile-and-a-half back to his home. The doctor was called, meds given and an ambulance was called to take him to hospital in Durham ... he worked at Sherburn Hill Colliery near Durham City. My Grandmother had to pay the Doctor for the home visit and for the ambulance - it cost her two shilling and six pence. You had to pay for all this stuff when the pits were privately owned and there was no NHS. He got plastered-up and was back at work a couple of months later.

Hope everybody's keeping well,apologies for absences,Hope 2024 is a better year than the last four years!![we keep saying that..!!] Cheers Bill!

Found this little bit of information today, dated 8th November 1920:

November 2023 - with a 'Merry Christmas' wish (but same hat and scarf @Canny lass ) - photo from Simon Williams.

Thanks Eggy! I'm sure I'll manage the Thursdays and Sundays but I think I'll give Tuesdays a miss!

8 years later... ..and this cool-laid-back is even built in to the software! I did come across a reply to a "how to" technical question on a forum last night posted five years after the question was asked; but it's nice to know that Bedlington.uk is right up there with the best!

"and Lord help anyone who taketh the tree I've had my eye on since early October" Book of CL (CL 1:1)

Now if we had said that Canny lass!!!!!😂😂😂

..... only female drivers then?

Hey, I can answer the BBC's "Have we seen the end of the Mediterranean heatwave" question: No, you haven't. It's almost exactly three weeks from the statistically warmest days of the year - August is pretty much always a heatwave, and of course - give or take a bit - it will all be back again next year as per usual. Any minute differences you think you'd like to ascribe to CO2 driven anthropomorphic climate change [careful choice of words there, as you can learn a lot from pseudo-scientific shysterism] are hidden in the statistical noise - just where the lucrative "climate change industry" likes them to be! Fun fact: Ask practically any retired and experienced metrologist for an honest opinion on the matter. They need to be retired so's they aren't in fear of their job, and decades of watching the weather instead of running incredibly dubious computer models helps enormously. You'll need to reference quite a few before you find one that doesn't smile and tell you that we are all being conned.

"It is strange what Ryanair are doing compared with the other airlines. Could it be that they don't have any spare aircraft to send out and bring holiday makers home - or is it just all about money?" The latter, for sure! It's a completely unprincipled outfit run by a moron! Other ex-pats here say they have no choice, but I've managed not to give him a bean over more than a decade. I hate it when Mrs 3G flies with them, particularly when I have to drive her to the airport at some ungodly hour to meet their scheduling. But she's quite canny and knows exactly how their rip-off charging system works, knows what days to fly, how long to book ahead, so plays the system for the cheapest possible seat. Ryanair: I'd rather cycle it! Steer clear of EU countries in any case, they have only ever been after our money, and will rip you off in an instant. If you want that, and want to be treated like cattle, then good luck to you, but don't moan about it afterwards!

Ah CL this explains why we haven't heard from you for some time, so pleased to hear you are recovering, again! Yes Covid is still around, I believe it will always be here and just considered another Flu with more deadly symptoms. Our health is so important as we get older, take care.

Don't let anybody tell you it's over! It's still running amok. Despite five vaccinations and still rigorously hand washing, I am now recovering from my second dose pf Covid in 3 MONTHS!! Feeling, and probably looking, like a half wrung out floor cloth at the minute. Trying to catch up on the reading but don't expect any real input from me for a while. Stay safe!!!

I put the proposed map up on my page................ Doesn't look good for us to me!

Hi Bill ,I've just read your post about the high pit,I knew mining was a dangerous job ,but I didn't realise how bad it really was.Dad never talked about it.Your story of the pony being trapped in a moving conveyor belt was really sad.What I know about the explosion that burnt Dad;my sister was a baby so it must it have been 1945/6 Mam and the other wives gathered at the pit head when Dad was brought out Mam didn't recognise him he was so badly burnt.He was given a cigarette to make him feel better.There was 7 of them and they were taken to a hospital along the tyne valley.they had to have name tags on their beds as they were all covered in bandages.Dad always thought someone on his shift had lit a cigarette

Hi David ,aa get so wrapped up in my recollections that sometimes I forget to add important details.. Aa wud just like to say that aa never knew ya Dad was in the rescue team..till a saw your Dad's pic..aav gotta impress ti folks that these lads were a very brave team..they had to endure some gruesome sights throughout wor mining industry nationally..not just locally,and many a family are greatly indebted to the bravery of these fella's who went inti thi mines..sometimes when it was styphed oot [Blackdamp-Carbon Dioxide concentration in poorly ventilated mineworkings],other times after a fire or explosion..facing the deadly dangers of Firedamp..[Methane CH4],and/or Afterdamp..[result of fire or explosion..CO- Carbon Monoxide],whilst it might have been major roof falls where roadways were closed completely,trapping men in danger of injury or suffocation due to lack of Oxygen. There is a myth that the Rescue Team knew it was time to retreat from the workings when the Team's Canary dropped off the perch dead..even just yesterday,on Radio 2,Jeremy Vine discussing some political topic,used his favourite phrase,which irritates the hell out of me.."Yes,this is like the Canary at the coal face"..he doesn't even knaa wat a coal face looks like!! The Rescue Teams valued their aan lives,as well of the men they were trying to rescue,and the Canary was taken down the pit,because he would detect a drop in oxygen levels,and noxious gases,way before the Rescuers could detect danger,and he would start to get anxious and chattery,and start flapping about..so if ye think aboot it..wud the Rescue team proceed FURTHER..into a danger zone,wait till their bird drops dead..knowing they had to come oot the roadway the same way they went in,and the airflow direction is one way only!...and by then,Oxygen levels cud be dangerously low or even non-existent.. The Teams had their own Oxygen supply on their backs,but the first stage in situations like that,was to improve the ventilation,to dilute dangerous gases..if there was a Methane blower in the main roadway..the danger was..one spark accidentally generated..could set off an explosion,which usually also set off a self-propagating Coal Dust explosion,which would rip through every roadway in the mine,as it did in the Easington Colliery disaster..ripping through 22 miles of roadways underground..and into several seams.. So a think that the Rescue teams were really unsung heroes,and never got the recognition they truly deserved. Dave,ye shud be proud of what ya Dad did ,they were the Miner's lifeline in times of disaster. Cheers Bill. p.s. ...and the Canary was always brought out to safety after a mission,well looked after by the Rescue team at the Mines Rescue Station,at Ashington top end next to the town hall..they kept the Canaries next ti thi window in their cages so they could get daylight and be used to people and a lot of activity..they could be seen by everybody that passed the station!..bonny healthy birds!

Hi David,life down Choppington B pit [aka "The High Pit"]was really tough..I should have said ROUGH! I left school aged 15 years in 1959,and followed in my Father's and Brother's footsteps,as a lot of kids did in those days,and went to work down the mines.After preliminary training at Seaton Burn pit,The Coal Board sent me to The High Pit..even though at the interview stage,all the trainees were given two choices as to which pit they wanted to go to..I chose Bedlington A pit..[aka "The Aad Pit"],or as a second choice..Bedlington D Pit ..[aka "The Doctor Pit"].. My Father went mad when he opened the letter informing me that I was being Posted to the High Pit...HE started down that pit in 1929,aged 14 years old straight from school also. He told me stories about how it was "Aal rough and ready.."..and how men were being killed or injured on a regular basis..and he was going to see about putting a stop to me being sent there. Whey,he calmed doon and within a haaf an hoor,said Billy,aa nivvor wanted ye ti gaan doon thi pit ,but ye wadn't listen ti me,ye med ya bed hard,so ye can lie in it!! SO,a went into the timber yard at first,and also helped out on the screens,picking stones off the conveyor belt,to clean the coal up..then went down the pit at 16 yrs. By the time I was 17 yrs old,I was on heavy transport and salvage work,doing a really strenuous job,trailing heavy bits of gear like Motors,Gearboxes,Conveyor belt driveheads,200 yard long heavy thick cables for the coalcutters,using my pit pony and tracing chains. Ronnie and Eddie were the Deputies in two adjacent coal faces,which were really rough,with roof water teeming in,constantly,bad roof conditions,swalleys of water 100 yards lang and up to the ponies belly..i.e. up to our waist in some places..men WERE getting injured and killed frequently,I have permanent injuries which I never reported and which have affected me my whole life..also the pit horses suffered cruel conditions and were frequently injured or killed,or had to be humanely put to sleep because of serious injuries. In conditions like this,it is inevitable that tempers were raised sometimes ,and that happened with Ronnie and Eddie at times..they were both in conflict with me and my Marra Keith Cooney..[now deceased R.I.P. Keith].Not just with Dad and Eddie,but other Deputies as well,it was because we were under the charge of Joe Barratt,the Overman,who was in overall charge of the mine underground...including the Deputies,generally.[but when it came to Safety Health and Welfare of the men in the Deputies' charge..the Deputy was the Kingpin!!..Nobody,not even the Manager,nor the Chairman of the Coal Board..were allowed to enter a Deputy's District,until they met the Deputy at the entrance to that district..[i.e."The Kist"].But in practice we went into every district in the pit,cos if we didn't,the pit would close down..we supplied the men on the faces with girders,timber,coalcutters drillers..everything they needed to produce coal!.. SO!...sometimes us girder lads would be trailing girders etc right up to the coal face as close as possible to ease the burden of the faceworkers,and the Deputies would complain that we were "getting in the way of the men"..and would phone and complain to the Owaman..Joe Barratt.. On one occasion,Dad was livid,and spitting blood,so to speak..we were trying to do our job,he was doing his..and we ended up in a confrontation..so when he complained to Joe Barratt,he was told to "Leave my Lads alen..tha daeing wat aa telt them ti dae..ye hae nowt ti dae wi it"..!..Sixty odd years later it seems funny that a row could brew up oot of nowt ,but like a said..in hostile conditions,where everybody's lives were at constant risk,tempers flared,and a lot of shouting went on..but ye see ,David,pitmen fell oot,and a quarter of an hour later,they would have forgotten aal aboot it,they HAD to watch each other's backs for roof falls of stone..Comradeship was second to none doon theor! We had to jump wor horses OWA fast moving rubber conveyor belts ti get them into other roadways..totally against the law,but we were threatened with "wa cards" if we stopped the belts ti get the horses owa..so horses like my Dapple Grey Charlie,who a bonded with very closely...got so seriously injured,trapped between the moving belt,and the steel structure poles,that he had to be put to sleep by the Vet.I was in tears at 19 yrs of age,and still well up thinking about him..he was as close to me as my LBJ..my black Labrador/Cross who was put to sleep four yrs ago..I miss them both terribly. SO,David,life wasn't a picnic doon theor,and aa was pleased as hell when they announced that the pit would close in 1966. Other pits I worked at were rough as well,but nowt like High Pit. Cheers David,every word I write is purely my own experience and every word is true. Hope aav given ye an insight how tough it was! Bill. p.s. I haven't any knowledge about Dad being burn't..maybe before my time even..