HIGH PIT WILMA

Anne,I was so engrossed in my thoughts ,trying to help Steven,and didn't think to say how sorry a was to read about your Dad's accident. Life down the mines was really rough,and in an accident scenario,miles inbye,in roadways roughly blasted out from solid stone strata,and swalleys..[dips],in the roadways sometimes flooded up to the waist..with oily black stinking water which was freezing..it was really stressful,sheer physically demanding hard work,to carry wor Marra's outbye on a stretcher.[we often used to wonder who would be the next one we would be carrying out..maybe it would be one of us..and it often was...] Conditions like that never existed in any other industry,no Doctor's,no Ambulances..no nothing..not even toilets or washbasins..I mean really barbaric.. We fought in 1984 to keep the pits open,but in my old age,and looking back,we knew nowt else..it was wor heritage..with a hefty legacy of injuries and suffering ill-health,maybe it was a blessing that they were closed. Anne,you should always be proud to tell anyone that your Dad was a Coalminer,Salt of the earth,and the Industrial Revolution would never have got us to where we are now ,without the sacrifices made by the Coalminers of the past..a rare breed! Kindest regards,Bill.

Hi Anne,and Steven,welcome to the forum! Steven,I worked at the A pit at Bedlington,[the "Auld Pit"],from being transferred there from Choppington B pit..[the "HighPit"],in 1965. I worked at the auld pit from 1965 until it closed in 1971,and knew LOTS of the workforce,in all the different shifts..and obviously,through time,I have forgotten some. However,as my friends on this forum all know,my memory overall of my mining years is still pretty vivid,and I remember well,the fella who trained me on the coalcutters [the old AB15 Cutters!],as well as my other face training operations. His name was Billy Miller,and he lived at Grange Park in Bedlington,in his later years. AAHH!..a thought just came to me as a was thinking Billy was the only Miller at the Aad Pit,then it suddenly came to me,it cud have been aroond 1966-7-8-ish,when a Shearer Operator,[the Shearer-Man],called Dusty Miller,was buried under a roof fall when he was at the face side of the shearer machine. The stone was aboot 10 feet lang and two feet thick..and was partly lying on the machine,and partly crushing the life out of poor Dusty.[a never knew his first name..we all had nicknames like my silly nickname on here.] His Marras were standing in the roof cavity where the stone had fallen from,using big Mel's ["Mallets"!],swinging the lang shafted mel's above their heads to hit the stone to break it so they could free Dusty. I wasn't in that shift,but came in onto the face in the following shift,and we were still breaking up the stones and timbering the roof to make it safe lang after Dusty was carried outbye on the stretcher..half dead. Well,we met the rest of the marra's of Dusty's shift,as they were travelling outbye,and we were coming inbye to start our shift,and they told us that Dusty was screaming for the lads to "Get them dogs off me back"..he was obviously delirious with pain and shock. As time had gone by,with the lads constantly pounding away at this massive stone frantically ,Dusty had started screaming at them to leave him alone,which,of course they couldn't..and no way could Dusty move a stone weighing a few tons which completely covered him as he was pinned down on his chest. Now we all know about false and misleading reports by Journalists who havent the faintest idea what they are reporting about,and it is quite possible that Dusty was your Relative,Steven,cos in those years I quoted,I was about 22-3-4 yrs old,and Dusty was one of the "Old- timers"..although he may only have been in his fifties,BUT!..to a lad in his twenties...fifty yrs old....was old!! [now,at 78 yrs old in July,fifty is just a skittering young ched!..as we used to say! As Dusty was recovering at home,his close Marras brought reports back to us lads in the team,about his progress,and said he was healing champion,but his Back was so bad,he had to go down the stairs on his backside..he couldn't walk up or down normally. Now I was transferred to Bates Pit in 1971,just a few weeks before the Aad pit closed for good,so lost touch with a lot of me aad Marras. Now the first person I worked with at Bates Pit,was a Seam Overman underground called Jack Miller,he had served in the second world war,and was a real canny likeable fella,a Bricklayer by trade originally,before joining the pits. His Brother was Seargant Miller at Bedlington Police Station in the 1950's. Another fella I worked with at Bates Pit was a well-known local gardener and nurseryman,called....Stevie Clark..!! Then there was Ernie Clark,wor Pit Electrician,another smashing fella ..me cog wheels are running dry noo,and starting ti slaa doon,if a can mind of any mair Millers,aal let ye knaa Steven. Gud luck wi ya search,Steven,hope aav been a wee bit o' help,if only ti eliminate the fellas from ya search. Cheers folks! Bill.

Hi Folks!,Alan,when my Parents moved into Hollymount..[herinafter referred to by me as "Hollymoont"!] Square,around the 1947/8 period in time,only half of the square was built..oddly enough,they weren't built in numerical order! We lived in No 13,and out of the total of 66 houses,we knew every single family in the square. Even noo in me mind's eye,aam naming them,but can a hell remember the Graham family. In those first years of living there,a lot of people moved house ,for some reason or other..can't think why,cos those were the days of either gas or candle lighting,and the gas came from the Doctor pit Gasworks,and when Hollymoont was built,they were like luxury hotels![to those of us who had to stand up at the end of the street with Mother,while waiting her turn to fill her bucket of water at the communal water standpipe..!..in Storey's Buildings,at Choppington Station..!] We had full electric lighting,and cooker,kettle,wash-house with electric boiler,hot and cold running water,and three bedrooms!! But try as a may,a canna think of Geordie Graham,and if you say he lived there,my family would have knaan him. ...Aaahh!..the question is..WHEN did he live there?..cos when a started courting my Lass..[noo WOR Lass!],in 1962,a stayed down with her family a lot over wor five yr courtship,and when we got married in 1967,a knew mair folks doon at Grange Park,than a did at Hollymoont Square!. A used ti remark ti me Mutha,when a visited owa the years,aav just seen a strange Wife/Bloke gaan inti number 12.or whatever,and she wud say ,Aah,they just moved in last week..or wativvor... SO!,at thi end of that [usual!] rammelin' on,aam still nae fartha forward wi Geordie Graham!! Funnily enough,when a moved wi me aan family,ti West Terrace Stakeford,in 1970,me eventual next door nybor was Joe Graham n his Wife,Margorie. Joe was in the Buffs Club,a wonder if he was any relation ti Geordie? Sorry aam aal reet at yakkin,but not much help this time! Cheers ti aal ye canny folks! Bill.

Correction about the Doctor Pit dumping waste on the aad pit heap...news ti me! The Doctor Pit had it's aan pit heaps,another playgrund of us kids..in the early 1950's. It was very dangerous ground,constantly burning,and giving off Sulphrous fumes,as weel as showing light pink patches at the sides of the paths we trod. Us younger kids were taught to follow the older ones,and to take notice where weeds and grass grew.and where rabbits burrowed under..they were the safe places to walk..and we were taught NOT to venture where the ground was light pink coloured..cos they were the areas where it was still burning hot,no flames,just smouldering hot. One day,a was really curious,and just dabbed me foot lightly on a pinky spot,and the ground just sank in like a quicksand,with a red hot plume of dust and fumes spewing out from the hole what was created by my actions..the big lads played hell with me,including my older Brother,who was looking after me.. I later heard of a wee lassie who was playing along with her friends,one minute,and the next minute,when her friends looked back for her,she was gone..she had fallen into thi "quicksand furnace" and would be incinerated in seconds..tragic story.. I don't doubt that maybe in the latter years just before the pit closed,that the pit might have run oot of dumping ground,and railed the stone doon ti the Aad pit heap. Cos the Doctor Pit didn't pile the heap up like the Aad pit,they more or less spread the waste oot owa a large area.

On a more serious note,a hope everybody on this great site ,are keeping well as can be expected,things are pretty rough here just now,with my Wife's and my own Health issues,so I can't come on as much as I used to,but rest assured I haven't deserted! Sadly for us at home,tomorrow is the third Anniversary of the loss of wor LBJ,[Little Black Jess],who was a treasured member of wor family..and who kept me going for ten lovely years. No more 3-0 am walkies....! R.I.P. LBJ.

...er Anne,a true Geordie will hae nae botha reading me test text! Dinna wurry if ye hae botha,when me Neice was in the Army,a few years ago,she ranked as a corporal..and they were stationed in the Falklands..[after the war was over],and,us being very close,she was pleased to hae letters frae me noo and again. Whey,one day,a wrote a full A4 sheet of very fine font,by hand,aboot 2mm high,as a dae when a naturally write owt doon. So this sheet of text,was aal geordie slang,wi a load of Pitmatic hoyed in amangst it,wi nae spaces and nae puncshuashon watsiivvor!! Aam not kiddin ye,it lukked like a load of hyriglifficks! Whey,she read it aalreet,so she sneaked inti thi Officer's Mess one day,and pinned it up on thi Operations notice board. Next thing she knew,she was getting her bait wi aal hor Marras in the Naafi [?],[Canteen?]..,when a high ranking Officer waaked in and caaled attention everyone! He thundered oot.."and what is this,and who is the person who posted this nonsense on the OP. Board..?" HE,and aal thi otha Officers,hadn't a clue wat it was aal aboot!!..and aa sed..THEY are defending wor COUNTRY ...and they cudn't decipher Wilma's pittle-tekkin..!! A had put in phrases like .." Tha stannin theor like a brokkin paor o limmas..." ..."Ya as much gud as a Choclit Polis".."thi tell maor lees thin a Collry Polis.."!..etc.. Me Niece telt them it was just a letter from Uncle Billy in Geordielan in Englind..they warn't very amused,cos a beat thim!! Heh heh! Noo aal get barred for ...Digressin...sorry Alan and aal ye kind folks..a cudnt resist it...am back!! Cheers! Bill.