Hi from Ashington.

[sixo]

Hello folks, i have just come across the site and saw some fantastic pics of old bottles dug up many moons ago, I have similar interests Metal detecting, bottle digging, fishing, homebrewing and general mooching around the beautiful northumbrian countryside.
cheers

[Coquet]

Hi Sixo, great to have you here!

Have you any old bottles with 'Ashington' on? Never found any around Amble, which seems unusual as I would have thought there were a few Brewers / Mineral Water Companies there too. Found Alnwick, Morpeth, Berwick, Newcastle companies, but not Ashington.

[sixo]

I have seen Ashington bottles in various collections, from the lads I used to dig with, I never kept much from the digs that I took part in years ago, foolish but not to worry.
Mainly the bottles were from the Grand Hotel, The Portland but I've never seen one from the North Seaton Hotel (White Elephant)which is the only fully functioning bar/hostelry still active out of the three!
Many of the bottles were from Blyth being an older port.
The digs were quite a few years back, and Morpeth turned up some amazing finds, I never knew what happened to them, but I was just a bairn at the time.
I got into digging growing up around the Seaton Hirst area of Ashington and over the road from the White elephant was a small post office behind which was a small holding of considerable size, in the embarkment that ran through the valley held all manner of glass, I regularly got a tanner, two bob from coloured glass bottles from an old fellow that came along to see what we had prised out of the ground. Big money for red glass, must've been worth a few bob.
cheers

[Coquet]

Shame about the end of those great drinking establishments over there. Big changes have occurred over the past thirty years with the demise of the mines. I can remember frequently going into the Portland direct from the pit training centre at Ashington Colliery. Massive building. What's it used for now? I can't remember the last time I was at that end of town

My first bottle was a George Young Ginger Beer - "Chantry Well, Morpeth, Est. 1872" that establishment date was exactly 100 years earlier than the year I found it -1972 - so I can never forget when I started bottle collecting if I keep that one.

[Coquet]

Ah... you've got me reminiscing now, trying to remember the names of the instructors at the pit training centre....Jim Kadansky and his partner in crime Mr Luke, Mr Liddle on machine tools, Mr Hepplewhite, Mr Bell, Mr Alexander and a load more. highly skilled individuals.

My first venture underground was at Ashington colliery too. Bit of a shock to the system it was.


My apprentice piece for 'machine tools' - a steel miner's lamp. Took a month to teach us enough to make one of these:

[Coquet]

here's a nice transfer printed jar found Amble:




The Allenburys Malt Extract 'Rich in Diastase Soluble Phosphates & Albuminoids' sounds quite toxic!
I wrote to Allen and Handburys (Glaxo?) when I found this and they told me when it was on the market, but I've lost the letter. Edwardian I think.