HIGH PIT WILMA

Great document ,Symptoms,but what puzzles me is where they describe blue Whin,as "Hard Sandstone"!! Blue Whin,is NOT any kind of sandstone at all! [Obviously,education supposedly improves over time,and this is what they thought was correct at the time!] Blue Whin is an igneous rock,forced up through the strata as molten rock during volcanic activity.Sandstone is a sedimentary rock,laid down as silt from the sea bed,all of this happened over 200 million years ago! Reading documents is very interesting,but actually driving roadways,and winning out coalfaces 200 yards long,through fossilised mussel-beds,600 feet underground,and miles inland,away from the sea,and hitting a solid blue-Whin "dyke"...is another thing!! You have solid proof of the igneous origin of the Whinstone Dyke,by the Cinder-Coal on either side of the Dyke,which usually,but not always,equalled the thickness of the Dyke itself. If a Dyke was 3 feet wide,then the Cinder-coal would usually be 3 feet wide,on either side of the Dyke.....a 6 feet wide Dyke had 6 feet Cinder-coal either side,and so on. The Cinder-coal was a measure of how the fierce heat from the molten lava rock,forcing it's way up through the strata,actually burnt the adjacent coal seam,turning it to Cinders,but still under tremendous pressure,thereby retaining it's original form,in the strata. I'm thinking the mistake would have been a clerking error,rather than ignorance,seeing as blue Whin,used on our roads,doesn't bear any resemblance to sandstone at all!!...and anybody seeing cinder -coal,in situ,would guess that something very hot has been going on here! Go to FLICKR,[or Google] and type in.."High Pit Wilma's Photostream"..Bates Colliery,and my pics have a very good shot of a 36-feet thick Whin Dyke,in the 3/4 seam,where,had we been given the chance,[after 1984!] we would have reached a 5- foot -high coal seam,at the other side of the Dyke,where reserves of over 60 million tons of virgin clean low-sulpher coal still lies,untouched![thanks to wor maggie!][under the North Sea] Lots of these documents have mistakes in them,such as the Durham mining museum's records of seams worked at Choppington High Pit,and dates when they were worked,fatalities,and dates when they occurred,etc. Again,to read them,knowing that you were there at the time,working in these seams,and some of these fatalities taking place where you were working, prompts you to read with reservation! Besides me nit-picking for correctness only,these ancient documents are still fascinating,so what the hell! An old neighbour of mine,about 20 years ago,showed me a small ledger book,that he had found,lying in the street,at West Terrace Stakeford. I was amazed when I read it! It was the clerk to Crofton Mill Colliery's accounts,for the costs of building all the pit's surface buildings! "Pit Cage winding wheels-2 off- £2-13shillings and sixpence......" .....just an example out of my head,but pretty near the real thing,cos every item was costed,down to the handrails around the headgear,the boilers,the bricks for all the buildings...etc etc!! John,or anybody else who might know Keith Corbett,son of the canny fella who showed me this book,[Jimmy Corbett..deceased..R.I.P Jimmy..]]if you ever see Keith,it might be a gud thing to ask whatever happened to it. I had told Jimmy to take it to Woodhorn Museum,to have it scanned in,but he sadly passed away,and by then,I had moved away from that Terrace. I haven't seen Keith for a few years now,but this book is always in my mind,it was so precious,that if I see him,I will be asking him myself,what happened to it.[it was dated on the days when the pit was being actually built,in the 1800's]

Watcheor Lone Ranger,ye knaa nae body better than me! A telt yi on a previous thread,a was a transport lad working wi John Dickinson,and John Wardlow,at High Pit,in 1960's,when yi were a belt lad!! A can mind ya waistcoat yi wore doon thi pit,and ya pocket watch and chain!! Then a was a Deputy in charge of ye and Bob Keeley,[deceased r.i.p. Bob...smashing marra and nybor...],doon the 3/4 at Bates,driving thi back-drift,and thi 1-in-2 drift up ti thi Beaumont seam . As time went by, a came back inti thi NUM,and Ye went onto be a Deputy,in charge of me and me marra's!![role-reversal!] Bill Allison...do you not remember me...a gud taaka!!...[no...not a gud taaka.... a gud conversationalist....is a better term!]

That's why they call a Fox..a Fox...cos they are Foxy!....and very intelligent creatures. When we as kids played,nay.....spent wor lives doon them woods,as Keith says,the Seven Sisters,trees, still stood beside the toll-house.[on the Ha-apenny wood side..] The cliffs were fully exposed,and the plaque was there for all to plainly see. Noo it's aal covered wi trees,a cudn't see it thi otha day when a went doon. The Free woods stretch,from Attlee Park,[the Picnic field..],was on the Blyth side of the river,starting from the Bedlington bridge,aal thi way ti thi Humford swimming baths,and steppy-stones. The picnic field was a lovely grazing meadow,full of pink clover,[which we used to suck the juice from the flower heads..],and a herd of cattle wi greet nasty horns,in 1950-ish,[when kids 6 yrs old CUD gaan doon the river wi tha aada brother's and friends!!] Noo,at the far end of the field,where the tarmac path starts,through thi woods,THAT used ti hae a greet high wood fence aal thi way up from the waataside,ti the fields reet at thi top,and was clearly marked "Private-No Tresspassing." That land was Dinsmoors land,[probably leased from Lord Blagdon],and there used to be a lot of deer roaming,unless they fell foul of thi poacher's...that is....and it wasn't thi first time me and my friends came across a shot deer lying ,dead. Dinsmoor must have had CCTV, on every tree,[my little joke....!],cos thi minute we climbed the fence,and went inti thi "Plantation"[as it was caaled],he used ti come after us wi his dogs,never caught any of us cos we would splash straight across thi river,fully-clothed!,and climb up the biggest beech tree we cud find,and he cudn't touch us!! Eh....wat happy times we had!! Only fault was noo,we had ti wesh wa clarty claas in the river,mek a fire ti dry wasell's oot,afore gaanin yem,or else wa Mutha's wud kill wi for gaan yem clarty.......[money was scarce,new clothes even scarcer,and Mutha med sure yi knew aboot it! This was on thi Bedlington side,remember! If ye gaan doon thi Furnace Bank noo,thi Plaque says .."Welcome to Bedlington Free Woods"..[a bit different noo,ti 1950!] Somehoo,and a divvent knaa HOO,but them free woods on thi Blyth side are noo marked "Private land-no tresspassing! Ivrythin's torned topsy,since aa was a bairn! There wasn't any paths like tarmac,yi knaa,in them days,just thi paths that thi kids med through thi weeds and trees....and thi woods were a lot denser as weel. There was a lot of clearance work done,to create the tarmac path ti Humford from thi Picnic field.

Would Bob Hutton,[now 70 yrs old,if he is still with us...]be any relation?..he was in my class at West Ridge school in 1956-on. Mind, a kinda think he was a Netherton colliery village lad. We knocked aroond tigitha afta schyuul hoors,he was really gud company,a proppa joker.!

Hi Willowbear7..! My oldest Son has lived and worked in London for over 25 years now,and speaks true english,[only to make himself understood to others,as he sometimes works abroad also.] The minute he starts talking to My Wife and Myself,over the phone,he's back to being a true Northumbrian! It soonded queeor hearing him taakin' ti folks doon theor,like he's nybors,[when we used ti visit him-afore me Wife became disabled,and cannot travel doon noo..] We used ti think,"lissen wor Daz,taakin' aal queer-like....snotty-nosed"..! Looking back,it wud be pitiful watchin' them,if wor Daz taaked like me ti thim!! John,at Choppington High Pit,in the 1950's-60's,the term.."Chinka-plonka",meant you,or something else,was great,like.."top-of-thi-pops-man.....!

Aye Maggie,there was aalwis thi "Bogie Man",and "Gillie the Ghost",[who,I was told years and years ago,that there was someone [human!],used ti gaan oot ti frighten folks,wi a white bed sheet owa he's heed! When I was five years old,and just started thi Infants School at Bedlington Market-place,we were terrified of a character called "Saaasa-eyes"..[saucer-eyes..],and this character was supposed to have eyes as big as saucers,and chased little children on thier way home from the school!! Looking back,I wouldn't mind betting it was a crazy way of ensuring all the kids ran home as fast as possible!! [Mother's didn't wait outside of the school gates in thier big monster jeeps,in those days!!!...circa 1949-50-ish!..]

Kieth,my friends and me used ti gaan ti Beadnell's,for wa .22 air rifle slugs,and 1/4" square black catapult elastic,in the 1950's. You were a proper hunter,gaan doon thi woods wi ya catty in ya back pocket,a pocketful o' whin chippings off the road for ammo,ya pea-shooter made from the big "rhubarb" weeds that grew alang thi river,ya other pocket full of Hawthorn pips for pea shutta ammo...,and ya greet big bowie knife in it's leather sheath,hangin' on ya belt...!...at ten or eleven years aad![The air-rifles came a bit later on,aboot 14 years aad...[using big Brother's gun!] If ye fell off ya bone-shaker,[med oot o' aad pram wheels from Barn'ton tip,and an aad wood plank...],and hurt yasell badly,yi went doon ti see Dr Ivory,and Dr Robertson at "thi Grunds" surgery!] Kids wadn't naa waat a pea-shutta was,nivvor mind mek one from a weed! ..........and wat aboot thi H&S man....!!!!!!!![He wud freak oot if he saa hoo many kids went doon them woods,fully armed ti the teeth,in...."gangs",[but friendly street gangs]....[groups of friends would be a better description of us scruffy lot!!]

If my memory serves me correctly,I think Bill Hunter was the bookie.....am I right or wrong?..[i'm looking at 1962-ish,when I met my Wife,She was friendly with Him and His Wife,they might be in thier Eighties noo!] Hi Penny Lane!..first time I have seen any of your posts..! Are you a fellow[?] Musician also?....we can start a thread aboot C# 's and B-flat-minor-seventh's...with a sustained fourth......and a diminished ninth.....!!!

Damn! Where does time go? I intended ti gaan doon ti tek pics of thi shops,like Keefy did,too late noo! A was very ill last year,and ain't been aroond that way for yonks...so wat's happenin' noo?

When I was still 15 yrs old,my older Brother [three years older and born on the same day as me!],took me to Newcastle,and around from the City Hall,to Kitchens' music shop. Well,back in 1959,they were a shop for serious classic or jazz true musicians,and were a bit slow at catching up on the rock and roll scene! They DID eventually,and they had a blood and custard Selmer Truvoice 15 watt,[bert Weedon type] amp,inside the shop,which was visible from the window.[No carousels in the windows....yet!]. While I was drooling over it,this being the first time I had ever seen anything like this,my Brother brazenly went in,with me trailing,terrified,behind him,and said to the OLD...OLD! male assistant..[who spoke like eton college twang..!]...."Wor youngin' would like a go at that amp...is that aareet?..." The fella kindly got a Hofner Committee acoustic-electric..[NOT A SEMI-ACCOUSTIC!..IRRITATING TERM!],guitar,and plugged it in,with a lovely amp-tremolo setting,and played a few chord progressions,and a bit of finger picking.Gorgeous! He gave me the guitar,and all aa cud play was little bits of single note stuff,not even complete tunes! But a was thrilled ti bits,and buzzing like hell. A told the fella a wud luv one,but cudn't afford one just noo....JUST NOO!....15 years aad,and mekking fowa quid a week,before off-tyeks,tipping me pay up ti me Mutha,and getting five bob pocket-money,as aalriddy said before,paying for me Rosetti Lucky Seven!! Then Johnny Tillotson released "Dreamin'....aam always dreamin'........"!! Aye,they WERE happy days! Bert Weedon always used this set-up...Hofner Comittee guitar and "blood and custard"Selmer truvoice amp..pure and clean sound.

Sure is John,it was given to me by my dear old friend and nieghbour,Ada Fearon,[deceased R.I.P. Ada],and so has great sentimental value now.

Hi Joanne,maybe a different family,but a Father and adult Son lived two doors away from my family,at Hollymount square,in the early to mid-fifties. They both had the nickname of "Pop" Robson. The Father used to drive a massive old 1940's Wolseley car,with the old-fashioned running boards,and huge Lucas "King of the road" headlights mounted on the front wings...green,if I remember correctly. This was in the days when your milk,groceries,ice-cream,rag and bone men,and everything else,was horse and cart driven...so this car really stood out in our street. Did you have other relatives who might have been driving a car like this? Hope this is of some use,if only to eliminate!

Hi James and welcome!

Very interesting Maggie! Mind,it's a gud job evolution is a powerful force in nature!! Wor lass wud be using an oak tree insteed of thi rowlin' pin on me!! Never been in Belsay Castle,gone past millions of times though... It reminded me of the male figure who was supposed to be roaming thi woods aroond Bolam lake,a year or two back... ...any more news aboot him,Maggie?

New day,unusually early in the evening,[for me,that is],a gotta eat grass! Clear brain tells me it WAS Jimmy Shillinglaw,but he wasn't Manager,he was a deputy at Bedlington aad pit,not lang afore it closed,in 1971. He was a canny fella,at a time when aad-fashioned deputies were very strict. A can be excused for the mix-up,cos Jimmy the Manager at the High Pit,was the spit o' this Jimmy,so aam still searching for a surname here,even though a was so sure a had got it! A WILL get it,cos aam hoping me aad marra who a worked with at thi High Pit,in thi '60s,will remember him. One day,in aboot 1963,[a was 19 years aad], a was tekkin' a full tram-load of arched girder legs up a steep bank,wi me pony pulling and straining he's back legs,and steam rising from he's body with being soaking wet,and sweating at thi syem time. Ye cudn't see past the horse for aal thi steam coming from him,and aa was at thi back wi a six-foot wood plank under the back of thi tram,paizin' ["levering"] ti try and help poor charlie,me horse. There was a newly -installed "drop-girder" safety device,on thi bank,and this was designed to arrest any runaway tubs or trams etc.['cos there wasn't any machine rope hauler in this roadway]. The roadway was a steep incline all the way for a quarter of a mile or so. Normally,we used to tie this drop-girder up near the roof,out of thi way,cos it was a nuisance,but this day,a had a feeling,with this heavy load a was tekkin in,summik might gaan wrang,and sumbody might get hurt or killed,if me tram went amain doon thi bank.[runaway out of control..]. Whey,a put thi girder doon,into the safety position,and got Charlie ti keep pullin this heavy load. Next thing aa knew was,Charlie lost a footing,reared up like Silver,in the Lone Ranger,and thi sheer weight pulled him head owa heels,and back doon thi bank,by his collar roond his neck. Terrifying sight to see,but aad seen it aal before,lots of times,with other lad's horses..[common cruelty at Choppington,due to lack of investment in rope haulages..] Anyway,thi tram went [seemingly] 30 miles an hour doon thi bank,only aboot fifteen lonnnnngg yards,and smashed inti the drop girder,tipping aal thi girder legs off thi tram,and virtually closing thi roadway...dust everywhere,sparks flying,crunching..metal on metal.....then silence except for Charlie's panting..[he was o.k.] Next thing aa knew was ....voices!! Several people appeared through the dust-filled roadway,led by....Jimmy..?...the new pit Manager!! They were government mines inspectors,engineers,safety officer,[Ned Stephenson..pictured above],and other visitors. AA was hevvin twins,shaking in me wellies,at the state of this roadway,which was impassable,with a heap of tangled up girders,and a tram lying on it's side,but still halfway up thi drop-girder,hangin,ready to maim anyone who was stupid enough to try and pass by!..[and a steamin,stinkin,sweaty pony,pantin his head off,and up to thi eyes with clarts.] A was fully expecting the sack,and a court appearance,from the Manager and safety officer,and a was flabbergasted when nice Jimmy,the Manager,said to aal the visitors,AND me,"Noo yi see hoo gud these drop-girders are for safety?....well done Wilma,for using it properly,if ye hadn't,we might aal have been injured,or even killed,by this lot..!" They wanted to help me shift the girders ,ti mek room ti pass,and a wudn't let them,cos they weren't used ti handling the heavy weight,so a quickly made it safe,and away they went,with the Manager at the back of the party,whispering in me ear,hoo pleased he was,that this had happened,cos he was trying,.... ...trying ....TRYING!!....ti convince the area director to put more money into the pit,in the way of investment on safety.! Was aa pleased a had put that drop-girder doon that day,and a DID every day after that...ye learn by ya mistakes in life,and never forget them..!

Jimmy Shillinglaw! THAT'S hoo a was trying ti think of....manager of Choppington High Pit at one time,not for long though,we had a few in quick succession. Gotta tek little black Jess oot noo,gotta a story ti tell aboot Jimmy,later! If THIS isn't Jimmy in the pic,aal eat grass!

Aye,Lone Ranger,and it seems yi still canna mind o' young Wilma,who started working on transport with John Dickinson,and John Wardlow! A tried ti prompt yi ages ago,but yi never came back on,after I twigged hoo ye were! A went on ti girder-leading with Keith Cooney,who died in Australia after gaan ti see England cricket team play for the ashes,not long ago,whey a few years...R.I.P. Keith. A worked at thi high pit from 1959 - 1965,and went ti the Aad pit at Bedlington,just before the high pit closed. Welcome back,B.B.! Ronnie Twist,and Eddie [councillor]Teesdale,were marra's [Deputies],on T.B.1 and T.B.2 faces in the Top Busty,[the new drift],and the kist was just at the entrance to the through-shoot,[stenton at other pits],as ye went up the other side of the drift.[ opposite T.B.2's tailgate] Can yi mind any of this ,Lone Ranger?

It's queer hoo blokes were really aad cheps,when yi were only aboot 17 years aad,and as yi aged yasell,and look back at pics like this,the blokes were really young also!! Perspective on life! Ned Stephenson was caaled ..."Stivvysun".... Aam still racking aboot Jimmy wi thi stotty-cyek cap on.....

Spot on Foxy! Ya a star! Ned Stephenson was the safety officer. When aa was 17 years aad,in 1961,aroond aboot then,a went inti the offices ti see aad Ned Cushing,wa training officer..[a luvly gentle fella who knew my Faatha when HE worked at thi pit in 1929!!].. Ned Stephenson came oot o' he's office and got he's eye on me studded belt. He ordered me ti get rid of it,or he wud "tek yi in,bonny lad..."...when a sed who the hell di yi think yi are,he flashed his "Special Police constable" I.D.wallet at me,of course aa hadn't heard of a special police constable,so a got stroppy wi him and telt him ti mind he's aan business!! He reckoned me belt was an "offensive weapon",at thi time when gangs were using them like that. Mine was through aal me breeks loops,and a wud be kicked in by thi time aa got it off! Anyway,aa didn't gaan oot drinking and fighting,a spent my pocket money on guitars etc,and lived a quiet hillbilly life! So a towlt the manager aboot aal this argument wi Ned,and HE telt me ti just ignore him!!! By hell,a was a quiet lad,unless any bugga tried ti waak owa me! Howw,Foxy,hoo did yi knaa his nyem?,is he related?Nae offence meant aboot me story,purely nostalgia,but a cud tell yi a few hair-raising stories aboot thi High Pit and Ned!!

Every bugga pinched baigie's in them days!! Last time a was in Scotland,[Calendar was the place],a few years ago,me and me Wife went into a curiosity shop in the street. The shop was full of memorabilia from the old days,Beano comics,Marvelman,etc. A got me eye on a Meccano set,and got on telling the guy in the shop hoo aav still got mine stashed away,from 1955. Taak went on,and a mentioned gaan ti schyuul wi a Bowie sheath knife on me belt,like we aal did in them days. A telt him thi shop browt back memories,when we were kids,pinching apples,peas,carrots,tetties,even brussel sproots,oot thi fields when we were hungry,and miles away from yem. War rations were still on,and when a telt him we used ti bite the peeling off the baigies,and eat thi whole baigie[turnips...ti thi uninitiated!],he replied...... ...and said,[in a swanky posh voice,...not Scottish!!]..."Oh,I was never driven to thaaat"..[Prince Charles' accent...!]. We came oot thi shop thinkin'..."noh,yi bugga,yi waadn't be driven ti thaaaat,cos yi were born wi a spoon in ya gob!!" Wadey's,Joicey's,Hunter's,[noo he had a jelly gun,and if yi were catched on he's land,he wud shoot yi,and the jelly wud clag ti yi.......!] Can anybody mind o' Hunter's jelly gun.........!!

Kieth,did Jackie ride an Ariel 1000cc Square-four bike-sidecar ootfit in the early 'fifties,and live at thi Bedltn marketplace? I worked with Dougie Scantlebury,at Bedltn A pit,when he was a Deputy,in charge of me,after Chopppington High Pit closed,and aa was transferred there. Later on,aa was in charge of him at Bates,when aa was owaman on thi face[just odd days here and there]...queer hoo things used ti turn oot. My Brother and his Wife Joan,used ti baby-sit Jackie's toddler,in the late 50's - early '60s. Noo!,me Brother is 73 years aad,so that/them toddler/s are probably in their 50's,and that means that any of their little-uns would be aboot late 20's-early 30's mebbe....? Noo wudn't it be a smaal world if Keefy,heor,was one o' them toddler's...!!! Aav just thowt on,me Brother had a marra at thi Whitley schyuul,a canny lad,dark curly/wavy[?]haired,in thi mid-fifties ,eh yi bugga, a can see his face clear as a bell,but a canna mind he's first name,a think he might have been Dougie's Son.[He would be 73 noo also]

Hi Maggie! Lovely ti see thi aad schyuul,but very disheartening ti see hoo it's deteriorated since aa was there last,at a school prizegiving evening,ti see me Nephew's Daughter receive her prize..a canny while back mind,and it wasn't in this state then! Mind, a ownly went inti thi schyuul haal,and naewheor else. My last proper memories of it was a very well-kept immaculate premises,only 3 yeors aad mind,from being built![so yi would expect it ti be kept nice!]

I could be miles oot,but the guy second left on pic 1 with the cap and solemn look,is the spitting image,[in my mind!] of one of the managers who came ti Choppington High Pit in the early 60's,called Jimmy....Jimmy....it's on thi tip of me tongue......! He was a lovely bloke,and too nice natured ti be a manager. "Noo, me lads"...[was his greeting when he came inbye on his visits..] Might not be him,but it's freakily like him! Guy on the right side,pic 1 looks also freakily like the Safety Officer at the pit...strange that both blokes remind me of both senior officials,Ned was his first name,canna mind surnames of either. Aal rack me feeble brains aal neet noo...even if aam wrang aboot them both!

James,yes,the small pits were closed by the labour government,in the 1950's-through to the 'sixties,but only because they were scratching around for coal,exhausted of productive coal seams. If you worked in the mines,then you should have been familiar with the.."PLAN FOR COAL",which was drawn up,for the future of the industry. The plan was to create "Superpits",like the Selby project,where many underground mines would feed their coal over miles of conveyor belts,to a central drift conveyor belt,[massive!]which would bring the combined production straight to the surface. I still have my original copies of "The Coal News",which was the coal industry promotional free press to every mine. These plans were laid out in detail,and were going to cost billions of pounds,with the promise to the miners of a very long prosperous future,with wages and conditions which would be the envy of all other industries........ What a laugh! They brought in a bonus scheme which,at one pit,like Ellington,miners were very well paid,because of high coal seams,massive investment in machinery,and excellent working conditions..[by our standards...still bad compared to surface industries!] At Bates pit,in the Three-quarter seam,conditions were atrociously inhuman,seawater coming in everywhere,bad roof breaking up,so we couldn't get the same amount of coal,therefore little or no bonus at all. The canteen ladies worked hard,in hot conditions,[that is,when the canteen wasn't under four feet of sewage water when strong east winds and heavy rain caused flooding all over Blyth!],but they were on the Area bonus,which meant that they usually had more bonus than us men on the coal faces and development works,risking our lives every day. When we finally drove new roadways to open out reserves of over a hundred million tons of clean,low-sulpher,coal,in 1985-6,thatcher ordered the cage ropes to be cut..pit closed...just like THAT! The trouble with a debate like this,is that people who know nothing about mining history,how our ancestors were treated by the greedy coal-owners,[how WE were treated by greedy millionaire politicians],[about WHY unions were formed],try to demonise the miners. [i fell into the same trap a week or two back,spouted off about the council,I was wrong,and apologised for my ignorance,to Malcolm,and Adam,when I should have held my trap shut,until I knew the facts!] It takes a man to stand up and say "sorry"! Scargill was accused of not "having a poll"......was I dreaming that I put my cross on the strike voting paper,at Bates pit? Oh,I forgot.....it was a pit to pit ballot.....someone wanted a National ballot,WHY?,were we a set of dumb nuts?,we already made our feelings clear for strike action,to save our pits,nowt to do wi money. It was a ploy to delay strike action,by all this talk of "illegal ballots". History now,as Maggie says,let's have a democratic debate,where we can discuss it,with no personal derogatory comments to each other,but the fact is,thatcher did more harm than good,destroying hundreds of communities all over our nation. She was cruel to kids,by taking the free milk out of their mouths to save coppers....that was before she became p.m. It's now nearly 1-30am,and I am gonna pile some z's up,now,cos i'm getting wound up just thinking back to the hardship we had in 1984...... ....it's not good for the old ticker!!!...and certainly not worth it!!

The pylon above on the left,gives a bit idea of the time slot when the pic was taken["start of the free woods"]. They were being built from the late fifties,through to the 'sixties.[a bit of useless information...!]