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Richard Bloomfield

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Posts posted by Richard Bloomfield

  1. I am pleased to say that the club won the Northern League programme award this season. 

    This was due in no small part to a series of articles about the history of the club from the formation of the Mechanics in 1949.

    Thanks to everyone on here who was able to chip in with bits of information. 

    • Like 3
  2. I don't believe that they did.

    With help from a number of sources, I have been ironing out the history of the club. For some years the club history said that the club played in the Tyneside Amateur League for the 1979-80 season as Bedlington United. Right League, wrong name.

    The club was known as Bedlington Town (and in 1978-79 as Bedlington Colliery Welfare). Town reached the Challenge Shield Final and the wonders of ebay has enabled me to get the programme for that game.

    None of the players in the photo of Bedlington Rangers are listed as playing for Bedlington Town.

  3. I hope no one minds me coming back to this as I have been able to get some more information. 

    The Mechanics were formed in 1949 and played at Millne Park in the Miners Welfare League. For the 1952/3 season they were promoted to the Northern Combination and then for the 1955/56 season to the Northern Alliance. 

    The club was turned off Millne Park at the end of the 1960/61 season and disbanded at the end of the 1962/63 season. 

    The club reformed and played the 1965/66 season as Bedlington Colliery Welfare in the Northern Alliance. 

    For the 1979/80 season the club changed its name to Bedlington Town and played in the Tyneside Amateur League.

    For 1980781 season the club adopted the name Bedlington Terriers and returned to the Northern Alliance. 

    I am still missing two bits of information if anyone can help. 

    1. Where did the club go after leaving Millne Park? I believe it was Bedlington Station Welfare but cannot confirm it. 

    2. When did the club move to Dr Pit Park? I have seen reference to 1968 but cannot confirm this either. 

    If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. 

    As an aside the original Welfare team folded at the end of the 1962/63 season according to the Terriers old website. 

  4. The Morpeth Herald reported at the end of the 1960-61 season that the Mechanics had been turned off Millne Park and that Mr. Millne wished to build a road through it giving access to his business.

    From 1965-66 season the club played as Bedlington Colliery Welfare and did not adopt the name Bedlington Terriers until the 1980-81 season. The Welfare team disappeared in the mid 60s and the best evidence I have seen is that the Mechanics moved to Welfare Park for the 1968-69 season. From 1961-68 the Mechanics played at Bedlington Station Welfare.

    • Like 1
  5. All these old photos are fabulous pieces of the history of football in Bedlington. 

     

    I have recently seen a couple of old photos. Bedlington United in the 1920s appear to have worn all white shirts, while the early Mechanics shirts look to he slightly darker, perhaps red. It's the difficulty with black and white photos!! 

     

    The Welfare started playing football competitively in about 1927 and ceased around 1968 when the Mechanics moved to Welfare Park. 

     

    The only Bedlington team in stripes was the Welfare. 

  6. The original ground was at Hollymount, not Millfield. He is also wrong about United moving in 1922 (it was 1920) and about them folding in 1930 (it was 1938).

    I will see if I can post some newspaper cuttings confirming this.

    The book is right about Welfare Park as the football team appeared for the 1926/7 season.

  7. I have seen the old maps.

    I am not that familiar with the Hollymount area but.... 

    When the club moved to Church Lane in 1920 the press article mentioned the area where the ground was at Hollymount being part of a building scheme. The article said: "this has been taken for the building scheme". 

    So if someone knows whereabouts houses were built at Hollymount around 1920, you can locate the old ground. 

  8. They moved from Hollymount to Church Lane in 1920. A "grandstand" was built at Church Lane when they moved. 

    The stand at Hollymount was only built in 1913 so they only used it for playing purposes given the intervention of the First World War. 

    The last time they won the league was the 1907/8 season when they won the East Northumberland League and were promoted to the Northern Alliance. No trophies were won between 1913 and 1920 when the stand was there at Hollymount. 

    It is difficult to tell from a photo but the stand doesn't look brand spanking new so I think 1928 as the Senior Cup was won in 1923 and 1928. The two shields probably symbolise the two Senior Cup victories. 

    So I think 1928/9 ish. 

  9. Is it possible that the two plaques relate to the same competition? And so it had been won 20+ times in all? 

    Bedlington United won the Senior Cup twice in the 1920s. The last time they won a league was 1908. 

    One of the local tournaments was the Tynemouth Dispensary Cup. That started in the 1900s. So by the late 1920s there would have been 20+ winners. 

    If this is a Bedlington team then it has to be United. 

  10. The grandstand at Hollymount was officially opened in March 1914.

    Millne Park was little more than a field. Welfare Park is never shown on the grand scale depicted in the background. 

    In 1920 a new ground was built at Church Lane known as Burdon Park with a stand costing £1,000.

    It has to be United. 

  11. Not sure what colours United played in. 

    It looks like a "proper" ground which I am not sure that Millne Park was. 

    United built a covered stand at Holly Mount in about 1912 and then had a ground at Church Lane suitable to host professional club reserve teams. 

    I would put money on Bedlington United. 

  12. There were a few before the War as well. Bedlington Royal Oak springs to mind and I am sure Bedlington YMCA was pre war. 

    I have the Welfare back to about 1926/7 and thought that they had left the Miners Welfare League at the end of 1951/2 to go to the East Northumberland League but will recheck that. 

    It is a sad indictment of modern day youth that they appear to have little interest in actually playing football which is why so many teams have folded. 

  13. That is incredible and amazingly helpful. 

    This is all the sort of material that needs recording. Anyone who was 10 emwhen the club started will now be 80 so it needs capturing. 

    Over the course of the season I have researched football in Bedlington. 

    The first ever competitive game was on 1 December 1883 when Bedlington Burdon FC beat Rothbury in the first ever round of the first ever Northumberland Senior Cup. Burdon never progressed further than the Blyth & District League and folded in about 1909.

    The most successful team was Bedlington United who joined the East Northumberland League in 1898 before progressing to the Northern Alliance and the North Eastern League before dropping back to the Alliance and then going bust in 1938.

    United played at Hollymount until 1920 when they moved to Church Lane. 

    There is 135 years of football there. Even if it is limited to a page and a half per season with the league table and a small commentary about the season it gives a 200+ page history of our local towns clubs. 

    • Like 1
  14. Thanks for your responses. It has been a great help. 

    I began to research the club history in the programme and found a lot needed correcting, especially the early years. 

    The club was founded in 1949 (May I believe). It started on the Northern Section of the Northumberland Aged Miners League (not the Northern Combination as the programme said). That league was won in 1951/2 and the club promoted to the Northern Combination. There were three cups along the way which did not feature in the programme. 

    Home games were played at Millne Park until the end of the 1960/61 season (there is a press cutting confirming that date) when the club appears to have moved to Bedlington Station Welfare. Can anyone confirm this? 

    The club appears to have moved to Welfare Park in 1967. Again can anyone confirm this? 

    We are aware that there a lot of people who can contribute to the early history of the club but we need to get a move on. 

  15. On ‎03‎/‎08‎/‎2013 at 13:35, Reedy said:

    As this post has connections to 3 current topics (miners killed in Bedlington pits, Netherton, people who lived in the pit rows)I thought I'd start a new one off rather than trying to spread the stuff out.

    My Dad who's now 84 years old comes from a mining family and has lived in Bedlington all his life. I was asking him about Netherton and the Dr Pit and he told me about my Grandfather and Great Grandfather who worked in the pits.

    My Great Grandfather was called George Reed and was a deputy at Netherton Colliery. He was killed in a mining accident before my Dad was born. He walked to work every day from Bedlington to Netherton and used to carry my Grandfather with him as he also worked at Netherton starting there aged 10 years old. George lived with his family (total of 10 people) in a 2 bedroomed house. No requirement to move if a bedroom tax had been introduced back then.

    He was killed when a stone or large pebble struck him in the head following blasting when water caused the stones to shoot away from the wall surfaces - a common occurrence at that time.

    My Grandfather was called Thomas Reed and eventually moved from Netherton to the Dr Pit. He lived at 1 Telephone Row and contracted rheumatic fever from working underground which made him unable to work. In about 1935, with no notice given, he was evicted from his colliery house by the colliery officials who simply removed all the family furniture into the street. He didn't have anyone in the house of working age which would have protected the tenancy. The next tenants were already waiting at the bottom of the street to move in with all their belongings. The family and furniture were split up to temporarily move in with other relatives(including 4 young children).

    He eventually bought a house in Stead Lane and returned to the Dr Pit as a checkweighman.

    My Dad worked at the Dr Pit as an apprentice until he was badly injured in an accident underground aged 19 years. He was with some others fitting a new clutch onto a coal cutter when the supports gave way and the cutter came down onto his ankles. He was freed and bandaged up where he lay before being carried out about 3 miles on a stretcher by 8 men to the surface. Dr Brown gave him further attention before he was taken to Newcastle RVI by colliery ambulance.

    When he recovered he worked a plumber in the colliery and also in all the colliery houses in Bedlington. He later left when the threat of pit closures loomed to work for the contractors building Blyth Power Station. He's also been a milkman for Jackie Abbs and a Postman in Bedlington.

    My Grandfather Thomas was the North East 'Bools' champion where you threw a metal ball underarm for distance. He was taken all over the area by Johnnie Barnes the fruiterer who used to make side bets on him winning at Newbiggin, Morpeth and other local villages.

    His drinking mates included John McGlen who was the area Quoits champion and John Carly who was the pitmans bare knuckle boxing champion. I've attached a picture with him in which was taken at the annual Top Club v Market Place Club football match to raise money for the elderly in the town. The football is painted with "Old Folks Treat Fund 1938 - 1939". Thomas is the tall fella on the far right in the goalkeepers top. My Dad is going to add some names to the faces which I'll post once their done.

    My Dad was also a goalkeeper and was the original keeper for 'Bedlington Mechanics' until his accident. He later went on to do some organisational work for the club. The second picture was taken before the Mechanics first ever match which was a friendly against West Lea played at West Lea. He thinks he also has a picture of the West Lea team from that match too plus some later Mechanics teams so I'll add them if he finds them.

    The Mechanics team which were all Dr Pit lads is listed below but sadly Dad believes he's the only one still alive. Their home matches were played on what is now Tescos car park and the team were supported by Jimmy Milne.

    Back Row left to right - Thomas Guilfoyle, George Hetherington, Alan Stafford, John Reed, Owen Turner, Robert Napier.

    Front Row left to right - Bill Ward, Bill Clark, Alan Jobson, Ossie Davison, Harry Docherty.

    post-3028-0-52588400-1375533289_thumb.jp

    post-3028-0-31484300-1375533306_thumb.jp

    2019 is the 70th anniversary of  the founding of Bedlington Mechanics.

    I am editing the programme and would like to use the photograph of the first ever team (as shown above) on the programme cover.

    Can anyone confirm who the image belongs to and if it is ok to use it?

    We are trying to capture memories of the club. If you are willing to spare an hour to talk, please could you email terriersprogramme@gmail.com.   Thanks.

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