Jump to content

HIGH PIT WILMA

Members
  • Posts

    1,483
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    118

Everything posted by HIGH PIT WILMA

  1. Heh heh!....Vic,"snotty noses"....wat a blast from the past! Ivry bugga had stiff white-ish mucky jarsy sleeves .....! Can ye imagine aal thi kids from 10 years up owa,waaking aroond wi Bowie knives in leather sheath's hanging in full view from tha belts,and gaan ti skyuul wi thim on an aal?!![ it was the equivalent of x-boxes at christmas time,ivry bugga wanted a Bowie knife,cos wa hero was Jim Bowie on a Saturday afternoon,in the sivvin'pinnies,at thi the top-end flea pit...!] Vic,did ye ivvor gaan up the river ti thi dam,past Humford Baths,and climb up onto the two big waata pipes wat crossed the river from bankside ti bankside? Wi used ti say,if wa Mutha's cud see wi running owa thi pipes,and hanging owa thi side ti scratch wa nyems on thi pipes,wi a raging river in full spate,below us,wa Mutha's wud kill wi! Ye had ti climb up the brick pillars at the bankside,speel aroond the 3-inch sloping concrete haunch on tip-toe,ti get onti thi pipes,mighty dangerous,but a nivvor saw anybody faal yit! Catapults,nivvor knew of anybody being fired at or hit by a 'pult! Aa used ti climb the big Beech trees,[thi "King trees"],and gaan reet up ti thi flimsiest branches,aboot 70 feet up,and just wedge mesel in between the branches,and sit there,swaying in thi wind,firing smaal whin chippings from the roadside,oot me catapult,at nowt in particular! Boredom,has NEVER,EVER, been in my vocabulary,and at 70 years aad in July,nivvor will! Thi ownly "bored" aa knaa is thi bords doon thi garden! Thanks for your P.M Vic,hope my reply was successfully sent,cos aav had bother trying ti send other mail ti folks. One last one,did anybody ever chew lumps of black pitch,when the cooncil decided they shud put some tarmac doon on the clarty roads...in the early 'fifties? We used ti smash bits off the big lumps, the size of a bit of bubble-gum,and chew the bugga till wa eyes waata'd! Those were thi days my friends! Gie me love ti ya boss!
  2. Funny how some things stick in your mind,lads,did you know Tommy married my next door Neighbour,called Mildred. I haven't seen Tommy and Mildred for two years,and I heard she had sadly passed away,mind,I said I HEARD! [cos years ago my marra down Bates pit,who was also my neighbour and good friend Bob,took a bad turn and was hospitalised...days later,another marra told me that Bob had died..when I got home he was in his bed at home,laughing and carrying on with another neighbour!!!...chinese whispers!] So!....if you Google "Zoe McCullough",you will see Tommy's Step GrandDaughter,Zoe,playing guitar with the worlds great guitarists on u-tube!!,at the N.a.a.m,music festival,in Nashville...!![among other places...] Digressing a bit,but couldn't let the chance of a plug for my young musician friend,go by,when were talking about her Step-Granda!!! Aam just thinking,Denise comes into me mind;when a met Keith Cooney,[my pit Marra at high pit..]and Her,at a Labour Party social evening,in Bedlington Market place club, around 1963-ish.[a cud be wholly wrong on the name,but aav got the feeling aam reet!.....unless she was another grocer's Daughter......] I never comment on anything unless I know it to be fact,or without adding a note that I stand to be corrected,if I'm not 100 per cent sure. So,on this one,I am sure,but now wondering if a different owner took over,or had the shop before Tommy,cos My Marra definately sat at the Spar-owner's dinner table and had dinner with the family,among other regular visits to the family home. Tony,if you know the facts,please keep me right where the lass came from,and remember...it was around 1963-ish[give or take a year..!] Cheers!
  3. Hi Vic,aye a fully agree wi ye aboot the kids nooadays,but remember when we were kids,we made wor aan entertainment! Tiggy-in-thi-bay,hot rice,races aroond the block,climbing trees doon thi woods,wandering owa aal thi millions of fields we had then..... .....and the lassies played bays,[posh people caaled it hopscotch....a think!],two-baaley,or for the clivvor lasses,three,or even four-baaley...... aye,a think we were a pretty fit lot in them days. Me posting at the start of this thread,aboot Danny Douglas waaking inti thi new gym,and seeing me climbing a brand-new-untouched -by-man...lovely shiny white rope,hand owa hand,wi nae feet,like a monkey,up ti thi roof in seconds,was true in every detail! We didn't sit aal neet pressing buttons,cos the ownly buttons we had was on wa sharts! Nice ti hear from ye Vic.
  4. I lived just where the front biker is passing,on the left side of the road,in number three Storey's Buildings,from about 1944 to 1948-ish,after which my Parents moved to the newly-built Hollymount Square in Bedlington. There was a biggish crater in the field just across the road,close to the houses, on the right side,where we played as three-year-old kids,and which was a bomb crater we were told. Alan,I mentioned somewhere else on the site,that I was mooching around the place with my dog,a week or two back,and I see that the remains of the chapel wall to the rear,is still there,a few feet high from field level,and overgrown with trees.[took me back to fleeing down the clarty back lane on my little Tri-ang crane,at forty miles an hour........what imaginations we had when we were three years old!]
  5. Smudgy,the original Bell's ranch was on the left side of the lonnen,as you walked up towards the houses,and later on,Mrs Bell bought the land,including the little old chapel,which was on the right side,which you rightly mention. I think I have mentioned in other threads,that My oldest Sister married Mrs Bell's Son Raymond,[now deceased..R.I.P. Ray..],and I used to enjoy helping Ray to collect the vegetable peelings from all the neighbours,and putting them in a massive witch's set-pot,built up on bricks,lighting the fire underneath,filling the pot with half a milllion bucket-full's of water.[...a knaa,it shud read "buckets-full"....but aam an aad pitman....!],and cooking the swill for three days day and night. As you came up the lonnen,you were greeted with the smell of the loveliest vegetable soup which money couldn't buy!!...and we say animals are dumb....it's us that's dumb,chucking oot the best part of wa dinna! We used ti have ti help the sow to feed her litter,sometimes seventeen,when she didn't have enough udders ti tek aal the little we-ens,by lifting the greedy little buggers off the teat,and putting the weaker ones on. It was interesting fun,being a twelve year old laddie,helping ti rear young turkeys,ducks ,hens ,geese,pigs,and wat-not. We knocked out the floor of the chapel,and patiently broke hundreds of bricks into small pieces with a pit axe [as you did....!],to make hardcore for the floor,prior to concreting it,to make indoor pig-sty's,which was better than cramming dozens of pigs into sheds which were too small to house them properly.[as they had been] Mrs Bell had a lovely green Morris Oxford car,which was a rare sight in those days! My Sister worked for old Doctor Hickey,[who brought Me,and most of old Choppington and guidepost folks,into the world!],at his surgery,in Scotland Gate,in 1955-ish,where she met Raymond,who was "on the bins" at the time. When they married,they lived in a caravan next to the old chapel,on the right hand side,can you mind of that ,any of you canny folks on here? Us kids used to slide across the rails over the Francis pit shaft,and throw stones down,listening to the booming sounds which came up the shaft as the stones bounced from side to side on the way down.....what entertainment for a laddie.!!! There we sat on the rails,straddling the rail like sitting on a tree branch!!...no fear! Imagine kids playing like that nowadays!
  6. Keith,I remember Tommy,and his brown coat,and also the fact that the lad who gave me my nickname of Wilma,in 1959-ish,[one Keith Cooney,now deceased..R.I.P.Keith..],used to court Tommy's Daughter,for a while,as a very young lad,way back in the mid-sixties. I wonder if she is still with us,and if she could remember Keith......actually,I don't think anybody could forget him,he was such a character....was Keith![bloody good worker down the pit,in really bad conditions...] Tommy started the first Spar shop that I ever knew of,in our area,anyway.
  7. Heh heh!...Smudgy,you did right i would say,cos I did the same in 1959,and went down the pits,me having such a knowledge of electronics,but being bottom of the class for maths.[i always wanted to be a radio television engineer]. Stupid thing about exams etc is that you need them to get a good job,but never use the knowledge gained ever again,even bank staff have told me that! My Son went to London 25 years or more,ago,with nine top O-levels and two O-A levels. He had a job within a week,and nowhere to stay,as he was temporarily staying with my relatives down there. His new boss said very impressive about his qualifications,but in this job,you only need TWO things.......a good sense of hearing,and dedication. He said to my Son that he he could put his C.V. and all his qualifications in his bottom drawer and never look at them again! The job?.....Sound recording engineer in a Recording studio,making records! Now?.....He has his own small recording studio,with some very rare and sought - after equipment,gold discs on the walls ,and an impressive [for us!]previous client list! Unfortunately the music business has dropped like a stone,and it is becoming more difficult for record producers like my Son,to survive the downfall. I digress,but the point I was trying to put over was that in most employments,you won't need a degree in religious studies,or history,geography,physical training,football etc..........!! I think you should be encouraged to learn the subjects which will help you achieve your ambitions in life. I actually went and knocked on Mr Hemming's office door,one day,[aged 14 years!],and asked if I could be excused from P.E. lessons,and to spend that hour,twice a week,in the science laboratory,studying radio electronics,and furthering my knowledge and gaining more experience actually constructing radio projects with Mr Johnson,the science teacher,who was my mentor,long after school hours,every night,sometimes till 10-pm!! We were like two old friends,after school,but strictly pupil/master during class. Mr Hemming agreed with my request,and said to tell Danny Douglas,[ahem....MR Douglas.....!],that he authorised me to do that. Guess what Danny said....and DID! ".....Did he now?.....[referring to Mr Hemming..],well I'll tell you what we'll do ,Boy,[while lifting me off the ground by my ear,paining it like hell!....]... ...come with me and I'll SHOW you what we'll do with you!" He pulled me by the ear along the long corridor from the gymnasium,to Mr Freeman's class,[who was in the middle of a math's lesson],and said to Mr Freeman,to give this boy an hour of Math's for not bringing his P.E kit in.!!!!! Mr Freeman knew of my gift with electronics,and quietly whispered to me how he sympathised with my plight but had to comply,so there I sat for the next hour trying desperately to grasp Logarithims..[can't even spell it,never mind DO it!]. NOO!,.......HOO do ye knaa hoo actually USES Logarithims in their daily job!! Danny effectively held me back from studying my chosen field,cos I didn't want to jump a vaulting horse or kick a bit of leather around a grass field! BUT,I still thought the world of Danny Douglas,as did anybody else who he clipped,cos he was such a great character! R.I.P. Danny. Eh,there a gaan again....!!!!!!!!!!!
  8. Just for correctness,not to be awkward,but there was no "free" coals,the concessionary coal was part of a miner's wages,from long-standing agreements. It has always been a sore point with me,using the term "free",probably because the miners got slagged off by tory press during the 1984 strike,and this was always one of the bullets they always fired! Sorry for digressing folks! An old pitmatic saying was.."Yi tell mair lees thin a collry polis"....the colliery policeman had to justify his wage,and would take in young kids accusing them off tresspassing on the railway lines,or accuse men of stealing from the pit stockyard,and take them to court if need be. I've had it done to me by a young police officer [H.M.]twice when I was young,told bare-faced lies to the bench,[old Mrs Ainsley and co..],and got me fined for something I hadn't done.Colliery cops were the same!
  9. Great poem Alan! Who were the Allison's ye mentioned?
  10. Rhonda Richardson went ti the Bomar pit,then when it closed ,he went ti Bedlington A pit [thi AAD PIT!]. He was feared by a lot of the old-timers doon thi pit,and aav seen them put their bait back in their bait-bags,and get up and gaan back on thi face,cos ...."howway,thi Black Prince's coming in...."[Rhonda 's nickname...most gaffa's had nicknames in them days!],aa had many a standy-up battle wi Rhonda.[he was a strict,feared,overman,but was dedicated ti trying ti mek thi pit survive a threatened closure,in the mid-60's!!] My gud aad marra used ti live in Barnt'n village,in the 1940's-till the hooses were pulled doon..aal see wat a can find oot aboot thi Thomson family,and report back,cos he canna use the computer.
  11. Er,Alan,aam presuming yi DAE knaa hoo aam is.......tha was ownly ONE Wilma ye ivvor knew at thi pit![ who played a mean twangy geugaa!]
  12. Aye Alan,in 1947,a really bad winter,in horse and cart days,thi snaa on thon bridge was level with the waals on each side! Me and young Ronnie Andrews used ti play on a smaal tree stump,wat had a couple o' branch staaks sticking oot like handlebars,and mek on it was wor motor bike......a think that idea came from me uncle Tommy,who used ti cum ti wor hoose at no3 Storey's Buildings,on he's motorbike,and that would be thi ownly bike a wud ever see...![ we were ownly three years aad ye knaa],and them fields were just plain fields,nae trees,reet up past thi black bridge,which isn't there noo. Tha was a big pond up the fields,where thi Barn't'n burn used to widen oot,and when it froze in them days....it stayed frozed!! Ivrybugga used ti gaa up and slide on the bugga. Thi Barrington pit ponies used ti be in the back fields during the summer holidays,and one day aa climbed up on the barbed wire fence ti see them,and one came owa and bit me cheek,mekking me faal off the fence,and riving me shin doon the barbed wire.! Wat a carry-on!...aav still got a canny scar on that shin yit as a reminder not ti climb on barbed wire fences ti see pit pownies! A nivvor knew tha was a golf-course there mind,nice bit o' history. A was doon thon bank a week or two ago wi me little dog,just poaching aroond where the aad chapel used ti be,and a see the remains of the chapel garden waal is still there,jutting inti thi field,but owagraan wi trees and wat-not.
  13. Mr Bebington was a crackerjack of a teacher,well-liked by everybody....good-humoured,so much so,that when you were in the middle of a math's lesson,you would ask him to wiggle his ears,and he would put his chalk down,and demonstrate the fine art of ear-wiggling,turning his head to one side so we could see better,and having us all in stitches...THAT was the way to get a class of 45 pupils eating out the palm of your hand without a strap or cane! We found out about this from older Brother's and friends who had gone through his class before us!!!
  14. Hi Micky,recently saw a plan of the area,old one mind!,and it shows Allen's fields,as you rightly say,they were next to Knoxy's field.
  15. Heh heh!,Canny Lass,a musta gottn carried awa wi aal the clartin aboot copying and bliddy pyestn this an that,whey thi ownly pyestn aa knaa is on a pyestn tyeble puttn waalpyeppa on!!!!
  16. Alan,this is where aa med reference ti ye,wi ya initials,hope ye dinna mind owa much!
  17. Watcheor Alan! Nice ti see yi joined the set! A referred ti yi withoot saying ya name on page 3 of this topic,just ti confirm ti John,[at the time] where Storey's Buildings were,cos aa lived there when a was a kid,which ye aalriddy knaa,but ye might have forgotten aboot,seeing as it's a while since a seen ye. Great video ye med, wi John and Davey from Bates Pit..aav watched it a few times! Keep a hauld Marra!
  18. Aye,Tony,when a was a long-haired lout in a leather jerkin,back in the bad old '60's,a was a lead guitarist in a pop group,and a played many a saturday night at the old top club which you refer to,down the street,in the middle of the terrace. It used to get packed out,like all the other clubs mentioned here,in which I also played,the worst one for me personally to play in,was the "Gate club",cos I was playing in front of 90% of Choppington High Pit miners ,a lot of who were my own Marra's,and who,on a following Monday morning,back at the pit,would take the wee-wee out of me no end,all banter of course!!
  19. Heh heh ! Nice to see you joined the happy clan Paul. The dvd was one of the Six townships set, which was originally done on 8mm film,and found dumped in a builder's skip,rescued,then transferred to dvd,so the quality has suffered,but still gave the buzzes when I watched it! The coal-haulers were 42-ton,[not 66-ton...for correctness!],and they are seen bouncing over the bridge for a few seconds. If you google "Acorn bank Opencast coal site",there are lots of info facts and figures,such as there were only four coal haulers operating,with eight 42-ton trailers,running at 15-minute intervals,the time it took to fill each trailer,using "Butters" skip-winders at the edge of the cut. To us kids lying on the grass watching them go over the river bridge,it seemed as if there were dozens of them!! You will probably still get it at Al's videos at Ashington,or directly from John Dawson,of the "Six-Townships" . You are right about Big Loada,Paul! Noo,just looking at the pic of the workers at Costain's,the black guy with the beaming grin,reminds me of the ONLY black guy I had ever seen in my life,up to the age of about 16 years,and that guy was a star turn comedian,doing the working men's club circuit in the north-east. His name was "ASTOR",and anybody entering the "go-as-you-please" at the club,on a Saturday night,knew beforehand that they had backed a losser,cos Astor always took the biscuit hands down,he was that good. You know why he was a great success?,cos he pulled himself,and his colour,to shreds,in front of predominently old coalminer's,who were also prone to a bit of racist banter,purely banter,which,nowadays,would cause a lot of grief! Can anybody remember this great guy,and I wouldn't mind betting that he is the guy in the pic,cos I am talking about 1960-ish when I saw Astor on stage at Netherton club..[i wasn't drinking,cos firstly i was only 16-ish,and secondly I can't stand the smell,never mind the taste of beer,..except in weak shandy on a hot day...!...hypocrite!] No,a relative of my Brother's girl-friend borrowed my guitar and amplifier,to enter the go-as-you-please,expecting to win,cos he had he's own rock group in Leicester ,and he was good........but not as good a puller as Astor!![and I was there to set the guitar amp up on stage beforehand,so that's how I saw this really funny guy!]
  20. Noo wa gettn sumwheor!,mind a had ti put anutha fowath class stamp on ti dae it!
  21. Hi Maggie! O n the first day Westridge school opened,there were 500 pupils in the school hall,which was the full count for the school.Mr Hemming introduced all the staff members,and then announced that,because the stationers had renaged on their contract,there was no books,pens or paper ,or any other kind of stationery supplied to the school,so we would all be sent home,with a view to starting the next day. Now we did attend the next day,but as you can imagine,everything required to run a school,with 500 pupils,would take some organising! So Mr Hemming gave us all permission to just have a wander freely,everywhere around the school,to familiarise ourselves with the layout,and to note where fire assembly points,extinguishers, escape routes etc, were,even though we would be drilled properly in due course. So we went in our little groups of friends from our previous schools,and tottered around all the classrooms,which were locked,of course,along the corridors,upstairs and downstairs,marvelling at What we were seeing,such as the metalwork room,and the gymnasium.....the what?!!!!....we hadn't even heard of the word "gymnasiumâ€,let alone be able to say it![we were from the Whitley School you know!] The books and stuff started arriving by the van load,in the next few days,and it took best part of a week,or more,to get organised for proper lessons. This makes me wonder if the reason we started when we did was because the school cost a third of a million pounds to build,and was the first modern school to be built in Northumberland,after the end of the war,not forgetting that rationing would have just ended not long before the start of building work,in the post-war years of austerity. The County Council,would have been harassing the Government for the funding,and would have had to justify their case by occupying the building before it was totally completed,which it DID do,as the landscapers were still doing their job when we started. Happy days eh?...i have vivid memories of those days,and can picture Mr Freeman,Mr Johnson,Danny Douglas,Miss Thew......Miss Thew!![i blame part of my hearing loss on Miss Thew clapping my ear so hard with her flat hand,that it made my ears ring for days...for speaking in art class!]Miss Short,Mrs Nicholson,Mr Abrahart,Mr Epsley,Mr Cook on he's Sunbeam inline-twin green motorbike coming up the drive.....aahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
  22. What's gaan on heor?,a been clartin on owa an hoor,and ownly haaf me taak has gettn posted,did a not put plenty stamps on or wat?!
  23. Hi Maggie! O n the first day Westridge school opened,there were 500 pupils in the school hall,which was the full count for the school.Mr Hemming introduced all the staff members,and then announced that,because the stationers had renaged on their contract,there was no books,pens or paper ,or any other kind of stationery supplied to the school,so we would all be sent home,with a view to starting the next day. Now we did attend the
  24. James,I really am chuffed to hell that you posted this pic,cos the Captain holding the ball,left school in 1956,Mick Rutherford,he lived a few doors away from me in Hollymount Square,and was My older Brother's best mate,and I used to follow them around...they were three years older than me.[15 years old in 1956!] Dicky Mitcheson back left,it looks like Yice Hale next to Dicky,[maybe wrong!],Brian [councillor] Richmond-goalie[sat behind me all the years through school from starting infant school],looks like one of the Wood twins next to him,then I cannot mind the lad's name on the right,even though I knew him well. Front row was...[pass!],then, My long standing school-mates through every class Alan Wikinson,[sat next to me in the same desk],Ronnie Leyland,[sat behind me and Alan],Mick Rutherford,Mick Bradley,[in the form 4 who finished school that year this pic was taken!] So it puzzles me how Mick Rutherford played his last game in 1957,as a school-kid,when he would have been working in the pit for almost a year,as did my older Brother who also left in 1956,and missed starting Westridge in the school term following the summer holidays........obviously the pic had to be taken while there was still a team,for posterity,and other political purposes,but in reality is meaningless!! Seeing this pic has had the memories flooding back in my mind,how A lan,and Ronnie,and me [with other friends]used to go down the Ha'apenny woods after school,and have lots of great times! Thanks for posting the pic,James.
×
×
  • Create New...