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#41
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1 November 1900 a new company was registered, Broomhill Collieries Limited which was an amalgamation of the Broomhill and Radcliffe Coal Companies as well as other going concerns.
And then there was nationalisation. |
#42
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My mother Elizabeth Usher who attended the village school won a place at Alnwick grammar school circa 1927. She claimed that after the school was bombed during WW2 the role of pupils gaining scholarships could be seen on a remaining wall. Has anyone any knowledge of this. She lived in Leslie row, her father William(Billy)Usher was a miner and served in the Northumberland Fusiliers during WW1.
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#43
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Reading between the lines it looks like the lease came up for auction in 1867 to settle the estate of John Harrison, but did not sell??
We also have Ladbroke in the equation in 1842, as it's 'Ladbroke and Browne', 1842, on the dedication stone of the school that opened in 1843. |
#44
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I don't know whether the Ladbroke was local. Certainly there was a London banking firm, Kingscote and Ladbroke. Wheels within wheels.
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#45
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So a Phoenix company. I guess some creditors lost a load of money there. I've put it down as a voluntary liquidation as that is what it looks like. |
#46
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Radcliffe was declared a dying village in 1946 and according to the Ministry of Housing that it should be left to die. Following protests, Alnwick Rural District Council finally agreed that the villagers should be rehoused at Amble.
The Ministry of Health stated that as soon as the housing was provided, the Council would be responsible for the demolition and clearance of the site at Radcliffe. A slow death then. |
#47
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Morpeth Herald, 28 October 1949:
"In a few weeks the village of Radciffe, already with a few gaps left by demolished buildings, will change much of its appearance in the eyes of miners and the families they have brought up there in recent generations. Condemned houses are to be destroyed. A Clearance Order was approved by the Ministry of Health in 1937 relating to properties numbered 1 to 12 Long Row South and 30 to 41 Long Row North, all comprised in the Radcliffe No. 1 Clearance Area. Alnwick Rural Council on Monday resolved to direct the owners of these houses to serve notice to quit upon the tenants of those at present occupied requiring them to vacate the property within two months and to have the houses demolished and the sites cleared within two months or not later than six weeks after the houses are vacated." |
#48
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Nice find, I was wondering when they were taken down. |
#50
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Morpeth Herald 28 May 1898:
"William Hepburn was summoned at the instance of the Radcliffe Coal Company for disobeying an order of the magistrates for the payment of £1 7s 6d under the Employers Liability Act, being the amount of a penalty and costs imposed upon him for absenting himself, with others, from work as a putter in Radcliffe Colliery, five months ago....." |
#51
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There is recorded through the newspapers an ongoing struggle regarding the establishment of decent local water supplies. One of these reports refers to a Radcliffe Cholera outbreak that killed 20, and infected about 200. The water source at that times appears to be the burn.
Alnwick Mercury 14th of February 1874 Water Supply at Radcliffe. Sir, — We have your various Letters to Mr Harrison on the above subject. We have now to inform you that arrangements have been made whereby 2900 gallons of water per diem can be supplied to the inhabitants. The supply is drawn partly from the condensed steam and partly from a well situated on our colliery line. In addition to the above supply (which is for culinary purposes), there is available an unlimited supply of water for washing, etc. we think you will agree with us that the water supply is now ample. We may observe that but for the indisposition of Mr Harrison, this matter would have had our earlier attention. We are, so, yours respectfully, the Radcliffe coal company, F.W.Kinnear. The Inspector stated that water was conveyed in the train from a well near Amble. This was the additional supply, besides the water from the condensed steam, which the people already had. He could not say the supply was satisfactory, to meet the permanent wants of the place. The clerk was directed to acknowledge the receipt of the letter, and to state that the Authority considered the provision made to be satisfactory as a temporary measure. Alnwick Mercury 14th of April 1877 Government Enquiry at Amble. On Thursday last, a government enquiry was held in the Dock Hotel, by J. Harrison Esq. C.E., appointed by the local government board. Mr Watson and Mr F R Wilson represented the Rural Sanitary Authority, in support of the scheme which was to supply Radcliffe and the harbour end of Amble, from a well now the property of the trustees of the late Mr Smith. Mr Sewel, solicitor, of Newcastle, represented the owners of Radcliffe Colliery and several ratepayers in Amble, and opposed the scheme. Mr Watson stated at the outset that he withdrew the application for a special district, so that part of the scheme was not gone into. The application of the Authority to borrow £314 for sewers was next considered. The inspector recommended that the Victoria Street outlet be not laid as originally intended, nor as recommended by the Parochial Committee, but that it enter the burn a little distance from the present outlet, the extension to be by new pipes. In objection was raised to the main outlet at the harbour, but the inspectors said he could not go into that matter, he not being appointed to do so, and its having been settled by Mr Arnold Taylor some time ago, but that he would hear anyone; after which he said he would consult with Mr Arnold Taylor on the subject. The water scheme was then gone into and Mr Watson examined, who said that in 1864 the village of Radcliffe was visited with an outbreak of fever, having about 200 cases and about 20 deaths. The burn where the people got their supply of water was found to be in a wretched condition and very much polluted, and this served to be the cause of the fever. Mr Elliott reported in 1865 the great want of pure water at Radcliffe. After this steam water was supplied to the people for a time but no permanent and satisfactory supply had been yet got. In 1875 a petition was sent from the place, signed by 8 of the workmen, appealing to the Sanitary Authority for a supply, and Mr F R Wilson was sent to report on the same, and presented the scheme which was the subject of the enquiry. Meanwhile a water cart was employed to supply water at a small charge. There are 160 houses and about 800 people at Radcliffe. Mr F.R. Wilson explained of the scheme, but could not certify that there was a sufficient supply from the well for the object in view, though from all information obtainable it seemed as if this was the case. He estimated the required supply for Radcliffe at 8000 gallons per day, and 2500 gallons for Amble Harbour. The inspector said that he could not approve of the scheme, but thought a more general one should be adopted for supplying the whole district with water, as from his personal investigation during the morning he found the other part of Amble were in want of water as well as the Harbour and Radcliffe. The Rev. A.O. Medd objected to any general scheme as being of too costly a sought to be approved of by the inhabitants, who would put up with a little inconvenience rather than pay so much for it. John Archbold was examined as to his having supplied Radcliffe with water during the summer, but the most he supplied on any one day would not exceed 400 gallons. Mr Topley, of the Geological Survey, who said he did not appear in any official way, was examined, but his evidence did not alter the opinion of the inspector as to the scheme been objectionable both as to the cost and danger of the supply of water not been sufficient. As a temporary remedy, Mr Harrison, the owner of the colliery, promised to lay pipes from the colliery to the village and give the people a supply of steam water. A vote of thanks to the inspector for his courtesy during the proceedings, closed the meeting. |
#52
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I'm assuming the above was a Cholera outbreak rather than something else?
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#53
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Wonder who the 20 dead were? Some of my mob lived there then. You had about a 1 in 4 chance of catching it, or a 1 in 40 chance of being killed by it, rising to 1 in 10 if you actually became infected, if you lived in Radcliffe at that time. You can bet there would be a lot of scared people about.
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#54
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Not sure about drinking condensed steam out of the colliery boilers either? Wonder if the origin of that was the burn or water pumped out of the mine? Probably had enough dissolved metals to make your bones magnetic.
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#55
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#56
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For the last several years I have been attempting to write an account of my childhood in Radcliffe during the 1950s. At a fairly early stage of this project I wrote a brief history of the village and was intrigued by the early sanitary arrangements – there weren't any! As for the water supply, McAndrews in his book “Amble and District” (written circa 1916) states on page 61, “...the inhabitants of Radcliffe Colliery were supplied from the harbour pump in the summer months, the water being carted to the colliery village and retailed at ½d per can.” I wondered where the villagers obtained their water for the rest of the year. There are some possible explanations in various postings on the forum; in addition Edward Wallenburg, in his booklet “Old Radcliffe”, says “...water had to be carried in pails or barrels from Togston by way of the Hope Road.” I assume, however, that the villagers must, at some time, have taken water from the burn which flows to the south of the village. I've always had a problem with this theory as there were two unnatural hillocks in the village by the side of the burn, one near the top of Leslie Row and the other near the bottom of Cross Row. (These can be seen on the 1923 map which is somewhere on this forum.) The hillocks were said to be old dumps where the village's debris and faeces were deposited. If this is so “matter” from the dumps must have leaked into the burn – no wonder there was a cholera outbreak in 1864! Were the villages simply ignorant of the causes of the disease or was there simply nowhere else to dump their waste?
The netties and middens were very much a feature of the village during my time and I'm sure there are members of the forum who remember Tommy Cleghorn, the “midden man”. He came with his horse and cart on a Thursday morning and climbed into the middens to clear out the faeces, cans, ash from the fires etc. and transport them to the tip which was situated some distance beyond the west end of the welfare. There will be many who also remember the only water supply was from taps in the street (three for the thirty-two houses in Leslie Row where I lived). Happy days! |
#57
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Fascinating Stuff Digvul. I've been reading up and 1864 was the year that germs and bacteria were first considered to be the cause of disease, so the same year as the Radcliffe outbreak. There are two other possibles for this fever - Scarlet or Typhoid, but reading in the papers they seemed to be able to contain these more effectively than Cholera, so perhaps this is Cholera.
Harrison appears to have been ordered by a magistrate to install privies and drainage in the late 1860s. There is an article from 1870 describing the situation in Radcliffe then, it's still horrific! I'll type it out. |
#58
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Alnwick Mercury 3rd of September 1870
Alnwick Board of Guardians RADCLIFFE COLLIERY. — An order was made by the magistrates a few years ago upon Mr Harrison and others to construct drains and privies at the colliery. The drains then suggested were all laid down, and they now appear to be open and in good order, but the privy accommodation is very defective. On the south side of the long row of cottages privies have been provided at a good distance from the houses. On the north side of the long row, cross row, and south row, Mr Harrison has provided no privies, although he promised at the time to construct them for all properties at and about Radcliffe Colliery. The water supply is very defective, and could not be worse in quality. The principal supply is got from an open ditch which crosses the road leading to Coldrife. This water is raised by the pumping engine, about a mile and a half west of Radcliffe colliery houses. Several drains at Togston House and Hall run into it. This quality of water is quite unfit for any domestic purpose or whatever. The people are also supplied with a portion of steam water from the engines, which is also unfit for use. A most lamentable complaint was made to me by all of the people of the place relative to the bad quality of water. If anything can be done to compel the owners of the colliery to provide water good in quality and sufficient in quantity, the board ought to take proceedings against the owners at once. As this is the worst case I know of, I would not been Lisa Price of colour was to break out at the above place; several parties, during the last few days, have been attacked with premonitory diarrhoea. |
#59
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From that I assume Togston Colliery is pumping water into the burn, and the cottages dumping their waste into it as well. In that same article Mr. Cowans, the lessee of Togston Colliery, is mentioned for the lack of sanitation at his five cottages. |
#60
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A 'modern' water supply arrives in 1892:
Morpeth Herald 29th of October 1892 NEW WATER SUPPLY FOR HAUXLEY AND TOGSTON. The new water supply for the above townships, which were commenced last February, and extended for a distance of nearly 9 miles, have now been completed for Alnwick Union Rural Sanitary Authority. The Sturton Grange Springs are the property of the Duke of Northumberland, to whom the authority will pay an annual rent at the rate of 10 shillings per hundred of the population supplied. His Grace also reserves the right to tap the main to supply at any of his properties along its course, for domestic as well as agricultural purposes. This reservation opens out an immense boon to the farmers on this part of the ducal estates, many of whom were indifferently supplied with water. The trunk main and the branches will also supply many other properties along its course. The following places containing a population of about 1600, are either already supplied by it or will shortly lay and connect private branches to it, so as to participate in the advantages of the scheme: — Brotherwick, Hound Dean, Hermitage Farm, Pinegarth Churchside, Warkworth Mill, Howlet Hall, Old Barns Cottages, Old Barns, Morwick Gate, New Barns, Maudlin, Togston Wood Houses, Togston Hall, Togston House, South Togston, Togston Terrace, which is a mining village of about 350 inhabitants; Hope House, Radcliffe Terrace, which contains nearly 1000 inhabitants; Togston East Farm, Hauxley Hall, and 24 fishermen’s houses at Hauxley Links. The Alnwick Authority may be congratulated on having carried out such a great and good work. The contract has been executed by Mr John Carrick of Durham, from plans and under the superintendance of the authority’s s surveyor, Mr M.Temple Wilson; and Mr J.A.Hustson, of Caton, Lancashire, has officially acted as clerk of the works. A large number of skilled workmen have also contributed to the success of the work, which includes a 20,000 gallon covered service reservoir, 56 feet long inside; and a good settling well at the fountainhead. The 4 inch trunk main was laid across the river Coquet at the paved ford near Warkworth Mill, when the water was only a few inches deep at the time. Each pipe is securely held with a wrought iron hold-fast driven into the kerbing, which is of wood. The train of pipes cross the river Coquet at no great distance from the celebrated Hermitage, near Warkworth. They also cross the main line of the North Eastern Railway, as well as the Amble and Chevington branch. |
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