jim l

hi my name is jim lofthouse i was born and lived in netherton colliery then westlea i am looking for ivan mcbride i am told he is in a home but i dont know which one can anyone help me find him contact me at jimlofthouse@msn.com  thank you

If i remember right the francis pit was to the right of the new concrete road that went to barrington crossing on the bedlington to choppington road 

On Mon Nov 22 2010 at 09:30, Cympil said:

This is a photo of Netherton the way it used to look. Four rows of pit houses (there were more houses at one time, but i think they were bulldozed because of their bad condition) the club is on the right hand side over the `green` Up near the top left of the photo is a little shop and opposite that is the miners institute.

This is only a picture of what was called the new houses the original rows were yard row,howard row and clifton row all up towards howard pit the new houses went from the institute to the old francis pit near the, conctete road to choppington

I can remember the concrete road being laid bybedlington council in approx 1947/493

 The houses on howard row and clifton row were knocked down when people left to new houses in west lea and ridge farm estate behind netherton club the new one  cheers jim lofthouse

On Fri Nov 26 2010 at 19:27, Barton Lad said:

Does anyone have any information, regarding a "private" concrete road which runs off the Choppington Station to Bedlington road, just south of the Choppington station to Netherton. (I think the road is still there) I was told this was first a dirt track, but was later laid with concrete. The road was used by lorries, I think there was land fill tip near Netherton, but this maybe wrong.

The miners from Choppington and Barrington, also used this road walk to Netherton pit.

I also remember seeing whippet racing at Netherton. I seem to recall the track was oval (bit like a proper dog track), which is very usual. Generally whippet racing is all is straight line.

The wippet racing was down the lonnen just past the s bend and on the right handside

I was the pit baths

On Friday, June 26, 2015 at 08:20, Canny lass said:

Nice photo eggy. May I take a copy for personal use?

 

A - First Street

B - Second Street

C - Plessey Street

D - Third Street

 

All house numbers running from 1 left to 25 right in the picture

 

E . Netherton Institute

F -  The Chapel (Methodist, I think but not 100% sure). Not in use during my time. It was ownwd by Bill Mullen (Redhouse farm area) and used for his Haulage Contraction Business The area behind it is the football field.

G - Netherton Infant's School

H - Blue House Farm - better known as Fail's farm (owner Geordie Fail)

I - Depends when the photo was taken. The long building could be a row of new houses built in the ?50s but the "store" (Cooperative Wholesale Society) was here as well.

J - Netherton Pit

K - Netherton Working Men's Club

L - A Chapel (denomination not known), unused as such in my lifetime. Was owned by the Bell family of Third Street who used it as a pig "farm". (Discussed somewhere else on this site).

M - Waste ground. There were rumours that there had been Another row of houses here and there was a lot of rubble under the grass. Strangely, it was skirted by a pavement on it's left-hand side, so possibly there had been houses.

 

There was one more Chapel in Netherton - the Weslyan Chapel. It was still  in use. It's the larger building seen to the left of A and in a direct line NW of L.

 

Hope this helps.

i think I was the pit baths

The first photo is raymond bradley and i used to go to the tute for roller skating and i lived two doors from ivy short at west lea and lived in howard row at the colliery

Thanks for these photo's Cympil.

I sadly don't recognise any of these men either.

My whole family, on both sides cane from Netherton Colliery. Maybe your family knows of them. They were the Cunninghams, Tuck & Bell were my Grandparents & had 5 kids, Mary, Sally, Tom, Jack (My Dad) & Bob (the boys all miners at Netherton at some point I believe) My Mam's side were the Shorts of Howard Row. William & Alice (Grandparents) with Ivy, Norman & Reg (also both boys worked in the pit).

I know alot of miners from the Colliery moved up to Westlea when it was built and the community spirit was still strong there when I was growing up.

I remember helping my dad clear the 'tute, as they called it (miners Institute) in the colliery before it was demolished & we found hundreds of pairs of old roller skates. ALso remember the Co-op & the Chapel, which a cousin of mine, Joe Moore, used as a garage during the 70's & 80's.

Thanks for these photo's Cympil.

I sadly don't recognise any of these men either.

My whole family, on both sides cane from Netherton Colliery. Maybe your family knows of them. They were the Cunninghams, Tuck & Bell were my Grandparents & had 5 kids, Mary, Sally, Tom, Jack (My Dad) & Bob (the boys all miners at Netherton at some point I believe) My Mam's side were the Shorts of Howard Row. William & Alice (Grandparents) with Ivy, Norman & Reg (also both boys worked in the pit).

I know alot of miners from the Colliery moved up to Westlea when it was built and the community spirit was still strong there when I was growing up.

I remember helping my dad clear the 'tute, as they called it (miners Institute) in the colliery before it was demolished & we found hundreds of pairs of old roller skates. ALso remember the Co-op & the Chapel, which a cousin of mine, Joe Moore, used as a garage during the 70's & 80's.

Inspired by Cympil's post of Netherton Pitmen, I have scanned some of old family photographs taken at Netherton Colliery. There are a lot of people I can't identify, but someone else might recognise them.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me helpful and encouraging messages. I don't know if I'm going to get my photos in properly but I'll give it a go ...

The first photo was taken in about 1911. The man 3rd right (with his ‘bait' under his arm) is my grandfather, Edward Rochester, known as Ned. He became a winding engineman at Netherton, and worked until he was 69. He died only 2 years later. I was 6 when he died but I remember him well. He was a lovely man, very kind to me when I was a child.

The young lad on the left is Tommy Harrison, also called Percy by some (his middle name). His older sister later married my grandfather, so Tommy was my great uncle. When the First World War broke out he ran away and joined the army and he was sent to France. His parents contacted the army authorities because Tommy was only 16 and he was sent home. He did it again the next year and this time his parents decided to let him go. He served with the Scottish Regiment of Horse, surviving the Western Front and Battle of the Somme. After the War he worked as an engine fitter at Netherton Colliery.

The slightly older lad second left is Joe Swann, Tommy's cousin. Joe also became a winding engineman. He worked at the Hall Pit (near Nedderton village) while my grandfather worked at the Howard Pit. I don't know who any of the others are.

The second photo was taken at Netherton Colliery in about 1915, I think, but I'm not sure of the exact year. The man on the far left is Michael Harrison who was my great grandfather. He was the colliery engineer.

The 3rd photo is of French Flag Day in 1915, a fundraising event for The Great War held in the grounds of Howard House at Netherton. My great aunt Kitty Harrison is 3rdleft but I can't identify anyone else.

4th is a photo of a Netherton Chapel outing in about 1917. I can only identify 3 people, Joe Rochester back row right, my grandfather's older brother, and Joe's 2 children Billy and Kitty front right and 3rd right.

5th photo is of the Pecketts engines at Netherton Colliery. The Office Row houses are behind. My great grandparents Michael and Thomasine Harrison and their 8 children lived in the house on the end of the row.

6th is Netherton football team in 1921. My grandfather Ned Rochester is 3rd left in the back row, but I don't know who any of the others were, and I don't know what the trophy was.

7th is a photo of some of the children at Netherton School in 1924. My Dad is front left (with his front teeth missing at the time) but I can't identify any of the others.

8th photo is Michael Harrison, my great uncle, and brother of Tommy in my first photo. He worked at Netherton as an engine fitter. He was a member of the underground rescue team even though he was a surface worker (perhaps because he was exceptionally strong). This photo was taken just before he was lowered down a disused shaft to look for a man who had gone missing, I think in the 1930s. Michael put on extra layers of jackets to try to give him some protection in the shaft. He told the family about the eerie experience of finding wooden coal tubs fully loaded and still in good condition, as if waiting to be raised up the shaft. He though he might be crushed when crawling under rotting bratishes to search for the missing man, but he wasn't there.