HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Additional copies available. The Centenary Volume, published 1933, provides an index to the History from Volumes 1 to 27, (1831-1931) Price £20.00 The Sesquicentenary Volume, published 1987, provides an index to the History from Volumes 28 to 41, (1932-1980) Price £15.00 For purchase apply to: The Librarian, Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, Borough Museum, The Barracks, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 IBT, U.K. The Club Library is held in its own room in Berwick Borough Museum. Access for members is available at no cost on presentation of a Club Library ticket at the entrance to the Barracks. Tickets are available from the Librarian, and visits should be made by appointment with the museum curator, telephone 0289 330933. PRINTED FOR THE CLUB BY HOW & BLACKHALL, 77 MARYGATE, BERWICK UPON TWEED 1994 ISSN 0960-4170 HISTORY THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEU SI OCT ;:535 OF THE PURCHASED j GENERAL LIbHAF BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB INSTITUTED SEPTEMBER 22, 1831 "MARE ET TELLUS, ET, QUOD TEGIT OMNIA, CCELUM" VOL. 46. PART 2, 1994 OFFICE BEARERS 1993-94 President Mrs SHEILA ROMANES, M.A. Norham Lodge, Duns TD1 1 3EL (Tel. 01361 882763) Field Secretary Co-ordinator and Librarian Dr G. A. C. BINNIE Ladykirk, Norham, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 1XL (Tel. 01289 382201) Corresponding Secretary B. H. CATO, Esq., M.A., LLB. 2 Croft Place, High Newton-by-the-Sea, Alnwick, Northumberland NE66 3DL (Tel. 01665 576334) Treasurer M. C. TROUSDELL, Esq. Hillburn House, Ayton TDM 5SG (Telephone 018907 81325) Editing Secretary Mrs J. D. COWE, 10 Ravensdowne, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 1HX (Tel. 01289 306175) HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB CONTENTS OF VOL. 46 Part 2, 1994 THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUI 31 OCT f535 PURCHASED GENERAL LIBRAR' 1. Anniversary Address — The Cholera Epidemic of 1832 in Duns and the Borders, and the Romanes family connection 103 2. Border Woodlands: 1 ~ Berwickshire 115 3. Planting a Copse 134 4. Coal Mines of North Northumberland II — Scremerston Triangle 137 5. Field Notes and Records 179 6. Archaeological Notes 189 7. Obituaries — William Ryle Elliot and David Mackenzie Robertson 194 8. Field Secretaries' Report 196 9. Librarian's Report 204 10. Treasurer's Financial Statement 207 iii Advice to Contributors Inside Back Cover ILLUSTRATIONS Scremerston Triangle 138 | Greenwich Colliery ventilation 148 i Unthank Waggonway 156 i Scremerston and Felkington coal advertisements 161 j Tramway through Spittal, 1822 171 1 'Coal Drop' of 1938, Tweed Dock 171 [ Portrait of William Ryle Elliot 194 - Inscribed stone at Haggerston Italian Garden 201 iv I HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OE 1832 IN DUNS AND THE BORDERS, AND THE ROMANES FAMILY CONNECTION being the Anniversary Address delivered by Mrs Sheila Romanes, President of the Club, on 21st October 1994. My address is a piece of social history inter-twined with a piece of family history, and there are three reasons for my choice of subject for this paper. Firstly I have always been interested in social history and especially in the difference in our human condition since the days when a child's first year of life was so fraught with danger that many never saw their first birthday. Childbirth was perilous for the mother too, and often ended in fevered death. The lack of clean water in the homes, the wells and outside privies and the lack of things we take for granted now, meant that hundreds fell prey to epidemics such as cholera. The second reason was the wealth of information I had on the subject. My husband's great-grandfather and his uncle were closely connected with the cholera epidemic in Russia and later through that, with Kelso and District. This is recorded in the book The Calls of Norfolk and Suffolk. Their Paston connections and descendants written by my husband's grandfather, Charles Simon Romanes who was a C. A. in Edinburgh but had a country home in Buskingburn near Coldingham and was a member of the Berwickshire Naturalists. Then there were the documents left in my father's office from the days of the Feuars of Duns which contained many references to cholera in Duns and district. Thirdly there was that date — 1832. It is a poignant thought that our Berwickshire Naturalists' Club was instituted in 1831, the year before the worst local epidemic. 1 had written a short article, originally for this year's history and after I submitted it to our Editing Secretary, Mrs Cowe said she liked it, but wanted me to make it longer and to tell more 103 104 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB about the Romanes Family connection with the cholera epidemic, so I expanded it. With her agreement, Janet lost her article for this year's History and I decided on the subject of my address. The title is 'The Cholera Epidemic of 1832 in Duns and The Borders and the Romanes family connection'. There is a disease, described by Hippocrates, Galen and other writers on medicine which modern doctors easily recognise as cholera, variously described as 'summer cholera' or 'European cholera' or 'Cholera Morbus'. The more malignant form of the disease was Asiatic Cholera which began in India and was confined to Eastern countries until the 19th century. In 1817 there was cholera in Europe, but the epidemic which reached our part of Scotland started in India in 1826, reached Moscow and Berlin in 1831, Paris and the British Isles in 1832 and thence spread to Canada, carried by emigrants in that same year. 1832 is exactly the year which appears in many references to cholera in the documents of the Feuars of Duns and although other outbreaks occurred later in the 19th century, the one of 1832 was the worst. In a letter sent from the Central Board of Health, Whitehall, dated 13th December 1831 there are authoritative statements on what precautions to take during a cholera epidemic — they seem so ineffectual now. They were right in one respect — the need for cleanliness. But how difficult this was in the days of no indoor water or sanitation. People were exhorted: 'Space, cleanliness and pure air are of the most vital consequence.' With a plethora of capital letters, the document advises, 'The room should be purified by scrubbing, lime-washing, free ventilation and fumigation by heated Sulphuric Acid and common salt, with Black Oxyde of Manganese or the same Acid with Nitre, or when these materials cannot be obtained, by strong vinegar thrown upon heated bricks.' The room must have seemed like Dante's Inferno, whichever method was used. 'The Bed, Bedding and Clothes should be immersed in water, washed with soap and afterwards fumigated as above. 'To correct all offensive smells. Chloride of Lime may be applied; but great caution is recommended in the use of this Material, its Fumes continued for any length of Time having been found higlrly prejudicial to Health, more particularly in delicate persons. 'A number of steady men' — this presumably applies to their reliability, not to their sobriety! — 'proportionate to the District in which they are to act, should be appointed to lime-wash and purify as ordered above, under the direction of Medical Authority such apartments as may be pointed out by the Inspectors of the Local Board. THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF 1832 105 'Those who die of this disease should be buried as soon as possible, wrapped in Cotton or Linen Cloth saturated with Pitch or Coal Tar, and be carried to the Grave by the fewest possible Number of Persons. The funeral Service to be performed in the open Air.' The danger of infection was thus realised. In his paper on Berwick Infirmary, Dr Binnie told us how the cholera referred to as 'the malignant distemper' appeared in 1832 in Berwick, but an approach by the Berwick Board of Health to use the uppermost floor of the dispensary for cholera patients was turned down because it could not be isolated from the rest of the building. Not till 1854 at the time of a later epidemic were patients admitted. A letter dated 9th March 1832 came to Duns Board of Health from A. McLaren of Coldstream reporting on the state of the cholera epidemic there and giving advice on avoiding an epidemic in Duns, so it must have come to Coldstream first, a town right on the border. I have seldom read such a complacent epistle. Dear Sir, My son John I can send to your town with all confidence as he has never been in the way of infection — my house you know is some distance from Coldstream and I have taken care to cut off any chance of infection from the town. I would give you my earnest advice to hinder all vagrants from coming to Dunse for it was through them the disease was brought here. They came after the constables went to bed and were away in the morning, so look well to that. We have reason to be thankful that although the disease has been rather deadly yet the numbers are small and except one or two persons they were all such as might look for trouble from their former state of health. This smacks cruelly of 'survival of the fittest'. Urge upon the people the propriety of sending for a surgeon the moment they feel unwell. If it is taken in the first stage it seems as easy to manage as a common cold, needing only loss of a small quantity of blood and a little opium and they may be almost certain of cure, but when the people neglect themselves till the second stage comes on, I would not insure their lives for 75 per cent. It has been the folly of the people here that has caused so large a proportion of deaths but experience is now teaching them more caution. I must say since we have had the disease in the town that 106 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL'B I feel less dread than formerly and this seems to be the feeling of almost every one. I hope we have now got over the worst of the trouble and most earnestly wishing it may not visit your town. I am, dear sir, yours, A. F. McLaren. P.S. If the county wish to prevent the disease spreading to other places they should not cut too close to the wind in money matters. We have used every precaution but money must be had. In fact in cases of cholera it is of as much importance as a well-filled medicine chest. It was ever thus! But Duns was already spending money and had posted guards at the ends of the town a full month before this letter arrived. The rate of pay was nine shillings for six days of watching for each man. They were given the grandiose title of constables, though some could not sign the receipts, but their mark and their name was inscribed beside their cross by a more literate citizen. There were several receipts showing that the wage was l/6d each day. Vagrants who were caught were put in the lock-up house overnight. A Walter Sedgeley was paid for 'white-washing the lock-up house' and there was a voucher for 'lantern, spoons and basins' for the vagrants. Alexander Park (the postman) had an extra source of income from 'fumigating letters' and George Paxton sent a bill to the Feuars for providing the fumigator. As early as November 1831 it was decreed that, 'It is of the utmost consequence, nay it is absolutely necessary that all NUISANCES be immediately removed — such as DUNG-HILLS, and every other accumulation of FILTH; also PIG-STYS and NECESSARIES to be frequently and well cleaned.' Another admonition was, 'In the prevention of this complaint, nothing is of greater importance than the strictest attention to sobriety.' One sensible idea was that people should be well nourished and a good diet would help to prevent the disease. Posters were put up in the town and hand-bills sent out in February 1832, intimating a 'General Meeting ... for the purpose of raising a fund for establishing a soup kitchen and making arrangements for the prevention of cholera.' The letter from the Central Board of Health in Whitehall had emphasised a 'good diet' and with the soup kitchen the Feuars of Duns were doing their best to follow the advice. At a meeting in the Town Hall of Dunse in February 1832 they decided on quantities: THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF 1832 107 BfOTICE. A General fleeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Dunse and the Vicinity, is to be held in the Town Hall there, on Friday the 3d February 1832, at 12 o’clock noon; for the purpose of raising a fund for Establishing a Soup Kitchen, and making arrangements for the prevention of Cholera, and other matters connected M'ith the public health. Dunse, ^\st Jan. 1832; Dunse: Printed by J. Hkowk. The meeting is of the opinion that T part of a gallon will be sufficient for one person and that a measure or ladle should be made of this size. . . . From the state of the funds it is considerd that along with the soup, the Committee will be enabled to give each person an 8oz. loaf of household bread. This seems a fairer ration than poor Oliver Twist and his companions received from Mr Bumble in the workhouse. It is the opinion of the meeting, to make 45 Imperial gallons of soup would require the following quantities Butcher meat — 45 lbs Barley — 25 lbs Oatmeal — 3 lbs Black pepper — 3 ozs Vegetables to consist of carrots, leeks or onions and Swedish turnips. The soup was to be cooked by Margaret Holywell and Betty Taylor, each to get six shillings per week (and bounteous broth ITl be bound!) David Dunse was to superintend the soup kitchen and his remuneration was to be left to the committee. 108 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Bills coming into the Feuars of Dunse include some from the many butchers in the town: 'Adam Dickson for beef, 'John and David Mickle for beef, Thomas Rutherford for beef, James Swan for beef. Then there were other bills, 'William Euan for leeks and John Inglis for leeks'. Over 200 'poor people' as they \vere described, had put forward their names for the broth. No 102 was Mark Lawson's widow and 3 children No 114 was the Widow Fyfe In the Kelso Mail of 1st March 1832 there appeared this notice: CHOLERA By Authority of the Board of Health in Dunse Appointed by his Majesty's Privy Council As the cholera has appeared in Edinburgh, in Haddington and other towns and villages in East Lothian and also in Kelso and Coldstream, NOTICE is hereby given that no Hawker, Pedlar; Gingerbread-Dealer, Fruit-Seller or other person of such descriptions will be permitted to enter the town unless they bring with them a certificate from a Member of the Board of Health. Similar certificates will be required from the persons coming to Dunse as long as cholera exists in the towns or villages from which such persons come. The inhabitants of this district are earnestly requested to avoid frequenting those places where cholera exists, keeping in mind that their return may be prevented. Board of Health, Dunse. Feb 22nd 1832 Opposite is an original handbill — probably the one given to a printer. It is in beautiful copper-plate writing. Notice John Hudson returned last night from Tranent & Cockenzie where Cholera at present prevails. The Public are cautioned from having intercourse with him or his Family for a few days. Dunse 1st March 1832 In other words, that family was treated as unclean, like lepers in medieval times — no one was to approach them or speak to them. Nowhere was it appreciated that cholera was a water-borne disease. There is in Soho a monument to Dr John Snow in the form of an old water pump. It was Dr Snow who identified THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF 1832 109 iyKHoc€J /Ze'^u^tec^ '?u.^£c c/z> .■5 - S ^ i o S) - i-i P H < £ c/5 U S ca UJ CO ixi o 0/ (/) r/6 o < !S J2 * -O .£ I'go §?^.s 5| H O) T3 §1 •5^ ■s> CA) U 2:1 •- C O « a.T3 fO ^ s O o o o ^ -S c o TO -i-i QJ "ti C LI o ^ <= QJ u- ■*-' T3 O fO U o £ ° tic oi Cu o -S o ns u QJ T3 T3 c _o ■| S S| OI -r 1 ^ C CD ns C 13 cu >-l n, sl 'H. CD c > 0 1 o 7 if) ns Xi o 01 o t-l 0) ^ o BS § ^ '£ o oi -r C/5 ^ L. !-i CO o w u (N ro 1 ^ CT' 1 (N in 1 CO o CD iro 1 M LD (N ro 1 c— 1 m 1 ^ a o — &c _c u X Oi o _D £ S m s: ^ I o -s: ^:3 (D u > u «3 CM I \C r-' 1 -sC I r— ' D- >^ H T3 C _ro -a LO o ^ O Cl O ^ t3 . ‘u ^ a> V Q 1 < o &c — 0) S « rs u < I Total Area of Woodland in District BORDER WOODLANDS: I - BERWICKSHIRE 131 ancient woodland relative to those areas in Roxburgh and Ettrick and Lauderdale Districts. The percentage of conifer afforestation is however markedly less than in the other Borders Districts. The decline of parkland in the first 70 years of the century is also a prominent feature, as agricultural practice and mechanisation intensified. Unexpected in this wildlife survey was data from the botanical records which showed that many of the steeper woods, for example on Lower Whiteadder downstream of Allanton, retained good examples of the flora and vegetation communities typical of long-established or ancient woodlands. These had escaped the attention of the early map makers probably because of the scale, map distortion and the lack of strategic military importance. Within the district the ancient woodlands notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest cover the range of geological and soil types although the carboniferous rocks and soils are as yet poorly represented. They are as follows: Abbey St Bathans Oakwoods Silurian (Godscroft to Aikieside) Pease Dean (Aikieside) Silurian/Upper Old Red Sandstone Langtonlees Cleuch Upper Old Red Sandstone Many of the policy woodlands are long-established on the sites of ancient woodland and although usually highly disturbed some sustain a reasonable flora with associated insects and birds, e.g. The Hirsel SSSI. Enclosure of parks round major houses and castles from the cartographic and botanical evidence has often sustained fragmentary relics of woodland vegetation, e.g. at Duns Castle with an ancient enclosed park, Dunglass, Paxton, Milne Graden and Spittal. Most of these lowland woods are Ash-Wych Elm types with varying amounts of Oak changing to Sessile Oak with Birch, Hazel and Rowan as one ascends. Alderwood is virtually extinct as elsewhere in the Region. Truly sub-montane scrub is also extinct in the District and Hazel scrub is likewise almost absent, although small patches of Juniper, Bird Cherry and Aspen still occur and wind pruned Oak, Blackthorn and Hazel with Rowan, Aspen Gean and Hawthorn occur sparsely on the steep coastal cliffs and deans. Willow Carr, as a secondary development on basin and valley mires with associated Birch and Alder, is found extensively at Gordon Moss — now the largest semi-natural woodland in the entire Borders Region. Other more modest examples occur at some of the basin mires of the Merse 132 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB (Bishop's Bog, Horse Bog, Bunkle, Middlestots) and to a lesser extent elsewhere (Coldingham Moor, Drone Hill). The importance of the woodland riparian ecotone-edge is obvious in Berwickshire as in the other Borders Districts but Berwickshire holds more considerable areas of neutral to mildly basic grassland, interspersed with ancient and long-established woodlands, e.g. along Whiteadder. This habitat relationship is not so well developed elsewhere in the Region except in South Roxburghshire and species dependent on this ecotone, such as Green Woodpecker and various insect groups do well here. REFERENCES Anon. (1818). North of England and Scotland in 1704 (quoted by P. Hume Brov\m, 1891, q.v.). Anderson, M. L. (1967). A History of Scottish Forestry, 2 Vols edited by C. J. Taylor. Thomas Nelson: Edinburgh. Atkinson, R. T. C. (1962). Fishermen and Farmers in: Piggot, 1962, q.v. Baldwin, J. R. (1985). Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Lothian and Borders, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland: HMSO, Edinburgh. Brown, P. Hume (1891). Early Travellers in Scotland, David Douglas, Edinburgh (reprinted: Mercat Press, Edinburgh, 1978). Carr, A. A. (1836). A History of Coldingham Priory, Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh. Chalmers, G. (1887-1902). Caledonia: or an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North Britain. New edition, 8 vols, London (also quoted by Anderson, 1967 q.v.). Connolly, A. P. (1957). The occurrence of seeds of Papaver sect. Scapiflora in a Scottish Late Glacial Site. Veroftenlichungen Geobotanischen Instituts, Zurich, 34, 27-29. Connolly, A. P. and Dickson, J. H. (1969). A Note on a Late Weichselian Splachnum capsule from Scotland. New Phytologist 68, 197. Donaldson, G. (1965). James V-James VII, Edinburgh History of Scotland: Vol 3, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. Duncan, A. A. M. (1975). The Making of the Kingdom, The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol 1, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. Dumayne, L. (1992). Late Holocene Paleoecology and Human Impact on the Environment of North Britain, PhD Thesis: University of Southampton. Durno, S. E. (1967). Scottish Woodland History Since Boreal Time as revealed by Pollen Analysis of Peat, unpublished. PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh. Fraser, S. (1885). The Douglas Book, Edinburgh, 4 vols. Fraser Tytler, P. (1845). History of Scotland, Wm Tait, Edinburgh, 7 vols. Gilbert, J. M. (1979). Hunting and Hunting Reserves in Medieval Scotland, John Donald, Edinburgh. Godwin, Sir H. (1952) (per comm). Two untitled pollen diagrams from Whitrig Bog, Berwickshire. Hardy, J. (1879). Local Documents: V. Cockburnspath 1389 — Number of Border Flocks in Early Times. Kerr, R. (1809). General View of the Agriculture of the County of Berwick, Constable and Co, Edinburgh. Lawrie, A. C. (ed.) (1905). Early Scottish Charters Prior to 1153 A.D., quoted by Anderson (1967) q.v. BORDER WOODLANDS: I - BERWICKSHIRE 133 Lowe, Alex (1794). General View of the Agriculture of the County of Berwick, Millan, London. MacFarlane, W. see Mitchell (1905-6). Mackie, A. O. (1988). The Human Setting: Early Community in the Borders. In: Allan, R. and Candlish, I; The Scottish Borderland — The Place and the People, Border Country Life Association. Mannion, A. M. (1979a). A Pollen Analytical Investigation at Threepwood Moss, Trans Botanical Society, Edinburgh 43, 105-114. Mannion, A. M. (1979b). Chemical Analyses of a Peat Profile from Threepwood Moss, South East Scotland. Chemosphere 8, 233-242. Mannion, A. M. (1982). Palaeotological Research in the Scottish Borders. History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, XLII, (2), 1982, Berwick. Mitchell, A. (ed) (1905-6). MacFarlane's Geographical Collections. W. MacFarlane: Scottish History Society, 3 vols, Edinburgh. Nature Conservancy Council (1991), Badenoch, C. O. and Walker, G. Inventory of Ancient, Long-Established and Semi-Natural Woodland (provisional). Berwickshire District, NCC, Peterborough. Nicholson, R. (1974). The Late Middle Ages, The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol 2, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. Pennant, T. (1790). A Tour of Scotland, 2 vols, London. Piggot, S. (ed) (1962). The Prehistoric Peoples of Scotland, Routledge Kegan Paul, London. Radford, C. A. R. (1962). From Prehistory to History, in: Piggot, 1962, q.v. Raine, J. (1852). History and Antiquities of North Durham (Appendix), London. Sinclair, Sir J. (ed). Statistical Account of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1970s. Skeat, W. W. (ed) (1894). The Bruce by J. Barbour. Skene, G. (1729). As quoted by Anderson (1967). Switsur, V. R. and West, R. G. (1973). Natural Radiocarbon Measurements, University of Cambridge; XII Radiocarbon, 15(3), 534-544. Thomson, A. (1908). Coldingham Parish and Priory, Craighead Bros, Galashiels. Thomson, T. (ed) (1844). Scottish Text Society, 2 vols. Acts of Parliament of Scotland, Edinburgh. Whyte, I. (1979). Agriculture and Society in Seventeenth Century Scotland, John Donald, Edinburgh. PLANTING A COPSE Isobel D. M. McLelland Benachie, Gavinton, Duns TDll 3QT Our experiment may interest members, especially those who, as individuals or community representatives, may know of ground which could be enhanced by the introduction of trees or hedging. Our ground lies adjacent to Langton Parish Church in Gavinton. Behind the church, in its north-east corner, a small, one-storey church hall was built in 1993. This lies just beyond our north-west perimeter. Before building commenced, some trees — as few as possible — had to be felled. The prevailing winds have since uprooted or damaged others, which lacked support from their neighbours; so our land is more exposed to the north-west wind. In the night the dustbins career away; during the day, the washings fly off the line. We decided to plant a strip of woodland along our paddock, not just for protection but also for our pleasure and that of others, particularly visitors to the church and graveyard. I heard from our Community Council secretary that a grant could be made available but only learned the procedure pragmatically. Perhaps this article will encourage others. We consulted David Roger, Arboriculturist, Mossyrock Landscaping, Greenlaw. You may recall that the Club visited the family firm of Tree Growers at Stichill on a summer's day in 1994. My husband, Forrest, is a past-president of TRADA (The Timber Research and Development Association), so by name and calling, it behoved us to do a 'proper job'. With David, we calculated that a strip 33 metres long and 8.5 metres wide should be planted -- an area of 272 square metres. Of course, this is a small area in the reckoning of large landowners but these grants are usually only awarded for areas of under a quarter of a hectare (i.e. approximately a sixth of an acre); or for hedging. (Each year 5,000 miles of Britain's hedgerow disappear — and the insects, birds and animals they support.') David advised that we apply for a grant to Borders Regional Council which administers the scheme in association with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG). It is funded by a partnership of Borders Regional Council and Scottish Natural Heritage (S.N.H.). 134 PLANTING A COPSE 135 We needed 5 rows of trees with 12 in each row — not planted geometrically rigid but in a natural-looking formation with about 2 metres distance between the trees; in fact it was 64 saplings. Required also was strong, Rylock fencing with two wire and one barbed row because during the Spring there are eight rams grazing in the paddock or the occasional pony. There is already secure fencing along the garden edge with almost rabbit-proof netting which was better left intact so a stile of local pine which was to hand, was to be erected. The site is part of Gavinton Conservation Area. Naturally the scheme promotes plantings of indigenous species. Incidentally, do visit a similar corner of saplings established, with an informative plaque, on the small triangle of ground to the west of the metal pedestrian bridge over the railway line as you come from Castle Terrace to Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh! These represent species likely to have been growing there during the reign of David 1 (1124-53), when this land was used for tournaments, hawking and hunting. Here there are: Qiierciis robur — common English oak Betiila pendula — silver birch Piniis sylvestris — Scots pine Pniniis avium — wild cherry Alnus y^lutinosa — common alder Ulmiis glabra — elm Do you see some similarity with our collection? We were supplied with: 8 Sorbus aucuparia 8 Betula pendula 8 Mains sylvestris 4 Ilex aquifolium 8 Corylus avellana 8 Crataegus monogyna 8 Larix decidua 8 Primus padus 4 Laburnum anagyroides rowan silver birch crab apple common holly hazel hawthorn common larch bird cherry common laburnum — 64 specimens in all, about 30/45 cm in height. They all needed stakes, ties and protective sleeves: a familiar feature of Berwickshire now. Since we ourselves are no saplings, and so may not see these trees mature, around the grant-aided plot we also planted independently a border of taller specimens with eye-catching leaves or fruit. These cost about £19 each and the labour — £55. 136 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL-B These were: 1 Malus, Golden Hornet — yellow crab apple 1 Crataegus, PauTs Scarlet — a bright double-flowered thorn 1 Prunus: Pissardii nigra rosea — bronze-purple leaves with salmon flowers 1 Sorbus Asplenifolia — fern-like leaf 1 Ilex Aquifolium, Golden King — yellow-edged holly leaf 1 Corylus Avellana Contorta — corkscrew hazel (Harrv^ Lauder walking stick) For the purpose of the grant, the site was inspected before and after planting — before, for suitability of site by Hugh Chalmers of FWAG and after by Kath McTaggart of BRC Planning Depart- ment for verification of species and quality of planting. The planting was done in January 1995, which you will recall was a fine, wet month; fine, that was, for tree rooting (the month of the Paisley and Netherlands' floods). The cost of the grant-aided exercise was £570.05. After the submission of the receipted invoice to BRC, we received a cheque for £298.75, approximately 50%. Under the maintenance grant, again 50% of the cost of one herbicidal treatment around the baby trees will be reimbursed when this is completed in the Spring. This is to 'catch' weeds like creeping thistle, when young. So far the copse has withstood the early 1995 gales. Already green tips are showing at 12th February within the sleeves. Under the trees I intend planting snowdrops, daffodils, wild garlic and bluebells to naturalise. A cock pheasant seems happy to regard this as his woodland territory although he is only strutting among plastic protectors. Possibly the Club will visit Langton Parish Church in 1996, when I hope you may glance to the east to admire our fresh woodland. In Walter Scott's Heart of Midlothian, the Laird of Dumbiedykes told his son, 'Jock, when ye hae naething else to do, ye may be aye sticking in a tree; it will aye be growing, Jock, when ye're sleeping.' If you think you would like to participate in the Borders Tree Grant Scheme, contact Kath MacTaggart on (01835) 823301 ext. 428. REFERENCE 1. Plantlife pamphlet 'Why have all our flowers gone?' by Adrian Darby, former chairman RSPB. COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II SCREMERSTON TRIANGLE J. W. Bainbridge 41 Castle Terrace, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 INZ Situation The collieries under review are situated within a north Northumbrian triangle (Figure 1) with Berwickhill Colliery at its northernmost point, Felkington at the western margin and Beal Point at the eastern extremity. The Beal-Berwickhill side of the figure follows the coast. Scremerston, while not at the geographical centre of the triangle was the hub of a coal district of thin seams and indifferent co^ . Outcrops of coal are numerous in the triangle, particularly on the seashore, in the coastal cliffs and in the banks of water-courses. Once found, seams must have been easily traceable from the coast at Cocklawburn south- westerly towards Felkington. The district yielded coal for upwards of 300 years and throughout the 19th century it provided a local supply for the towns, villages and farmsteads on both sides of the Tweed. I Geological series The Scremerston Coal Group of the district contains nine coal seams that have been worked:' Coal Remarks Greenes Found 6 fathoms below the Oxford Limestone. 30 inches thick, it was wrought for many years on the Ancroft estates. Muckle Howgate Situated 40 fathoms above the Woodend Quarry Limestone, it outcropped on the road from Aller- ton Stead, on the east side of Felkington Kiln, and at Wood End. This seam, about 3 feet thick, was worked within 200 yards of Greenwich Colliery (of 1840), near the turnpike road, 3 miles south of Berwick. Fawcet or Caldside Supposed to be on the Greenwich estate (Scremerston), 35 to 40 fathoms below the Little Howgate Seam, and consequently about 3 fathoms below the lower Dun Limestone that 137 1 138 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB ANCROFT CLUSTER COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 139 appears on the seashore of the district. Wrought from the sea to the Unthank east boundary, a distance of nearly 2 miles. While the seam was known to be 3 feet 4 inches in thickness it was greatly diminished by a 16 to 18 inches band of stone. Scremerston Main As at Berwickhill, this was the leading seam of the series. Where named the Blackhill Seam its quality was inferior. Worked at Scremerston and Unthank from an early stage in the history of the field. Wrought as the Blackhill Coal at Felkington. The seam is split by a band, of variable thickness, into a top coal and a ground coal. Above the upper coal is a bed of limestone 1 foot 2 inches thick. Stoney Situated SVz fathoms below the Scremerston Main Coal. Worked on the Scremerston estate, within 80 yards of the Berwickhill boundary, and on Unthank Common. The coal, from 2 feet 9 inches to 3 feet 2 inches thick, was very strong and worked large. The seam was found in a good state in the Scremerston Restoration Pit but barred-up due to its tendency to spontaneous combustion. Bulman or Cancer This, the Cancer Coal of Berwickhill, is 17 fathoms below the Stoney Coal. At Murton it was known as the Bulman coal but at Thornton and Shoreswood it was the Main Coal. At 5 feet 9 inches it was the thickest seam of the district, but a bad roof demanded that the top coal, of 1 foot 8 inches, be left as its support. The seam could vary from 3 feet 5 inches to 6 feet 9 inches. Three Quarter Situated about 18 fathoms below the Bulman coal this was a good hard lumpy coal. Although expensive to work it was wrought at Murton, Thornton, Shoreswood and Felkington. Split by a band, the top and bottom coals were each about 1 foot 1 inch thick. Cooper Eye Proved throughout the district it lies some 3 or 4 fathoms below the Three Quarter Seam and at Berwickhill, it varied from 2 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 6 inches; at Shoreswood, from 1 foot 3 inches to 3 feet 4 inches. Formerly called the Stoney Coal it is split by a 'macher' which would burn but left a 'ghaist' or 'skeleton'. 140 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Wester This, the lowest seam that has been worked in the district, lies 13 fathoms below the Cooper Eve Seam. Anciently worked at some of the rise pits in Shoreswood, and was sunk to in the working 1 pit in 1839, but from its inferior quality was not worked. Varies in thickness from 3 feet to 4 feet 6 inches. SCREMERSTON Collieries The undulating nature of the surface of the district was favourable to a system of mining pursued prior to the development and installation of pumping engines. The coal was extracted via drifts from the face of a convenient hill, or from the sea banks, at a level that would allow the water in the workings to flow out into the sea, or into one of the numerous streams which intersect the district. In the 16th century Scremerston pits were supplying Berwick with coal. But, by 1590, the Corporation of the town was in conflict with The naughty fellows of Scremerston':^ For reformac'on to be had in the measure of coals at Scrymerston Pitts. Whereas in Sir Nicholas Sturley's tyme, the price of coales was inhansed from one pennye into two pence the boale, upon consideration that the same boale of Scrymerston coales should contayne two Barwick bushels.^ Now so yt is that the commanitye and inhabitants of this towne ar very farr abused and evill intreated by such naughtye fellowes and servants as have the charge of the coale pitts of Scrymerstone, as well in that they will serve but half measure for holl, either at the pitts or in sendmge them to sell by carriage into the towne. As alsoe they will serve country men and Scottesmen before any of the garrisons of this towne. And foreasmuch as it is a matter chieflye touchinge the com'onwelthe and service of this pece, we doe crave that the L. governor and councell wolde please to provide especially for reformation in the premisses, so as the com'ons of this towne may have the just measure of two full barwick bushels for their boll at the pitts; and alsoe, that it myghte be further ordered, that no caryer shoiude bringe any coales to be solde in this towne, which do not contain a full Berwick boale, or a full Berwick bushel, &c. and that for the trial thereof there might alwaies be resident in the tolebothe a righte bushell for the same service. A lease of the 3rd March 1711, from James Radcliffe, third earl of Derwentwater, to William Clavering, of Berrington, gentleman, of the coal mines at Scremerston, for a term of 15 years, with wayleave'^ and liberty of building salt-pans' at an annual rent of £80.^ This points to the possibility of drifts COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 141 or shallow mines being sited on the coastal strip at Cocklawburn at the beginning of the 18th century. By 1873 it was reported that the surface of the coalfield was literally honey-combed with old workings, and forsaken pit heaps were as plentiful as molehills in a mole-burrowed field.’ On the 13th February 1748 Jon Watson* recorded in his journal that he had viewed Scremerston Colliery where there was a drift 516 yards long and a seam of coal 4 feet high. Sixteen years later Watson examined the contemporary and former workings of the colliery and these appear to have been sited to the south of the long-established Berwickhill Colliery. Watson's plan of 1764 suggests that there were two working pits and several old pits out of which coal was drawn. One of these could have been close to the present Deputy Row, it being the pit from which the old Scremerston level of 1764 was cut, 38 fathoms below the surface, and which remained in use until the last Scremerston Colliery closed in 1943. This drainage channel, 18 inches square, was cut through rock and drained the Scremerston Main Coal. Water from the Cooper Eye workings, in what would be the New Winning Pit of 1878, was pumped up to the Scremerston Main Seam to be drained away to the coast near Hud's Head, Spittal. The level was testimony to the skill and perseverance of the pitmen who cut it.’ In 1786 Watson noted that there were three sinkings on the Scremerston estate: the Tanny, Anderson and West pits. The lessees at this time were Messrs Terrot, Douglas & Smith. It is of interest that in 1799 Fuller' ' referred to there being three pits at Coldside, about two miles south of Tweedmouth. Mining in 1786 appeared unusually hazardous: a section of the mine was on fire, making parts unworkable; other workings were flooded; and sludge, upwards of 2 feet in depth, had made some areas inoperative. The 18th century problem of excess water was common throughout north Northumberland and would persist at Scremerston until the final mine closure. As already stated, the quality of the coal was not of a particularly high standard, but it was the best that was readily available and the local market ensured the coalfield's future. There is no indication of the level of output from the earlier Scremerston mines but Greenwell'^ has observed that in the Newcastle coalfield, in the mid-17th century, a pit of moderate depth was judged successful if in one day it yielded 20 or 30 tons. 18th century outputs in Scremerston were extremely low, when compared to those of the early 20th century. After the 18th century phase of mining on the southern slope of Sunnyside the shafts appear to have migrated a short distance to the south. One of them, mentioned in 1828, the Old Hill Colliery, closed in the early 1840s. Its shaft was brought into 142 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB use as a furnace shaft‘d to improve the ventilation of the new Greenwich Colliery on the south of the estate. The Old Hill Colliery was also known as Restoration Pit and is shown as such on the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 6 inches (to 1 mile) sheet of 1866 that had been surveyed in 1860. The Restoration Pit was adjacent to Borewell Tileworks, midway between Deputy Row and Borewell. The outline of its former shaft can be seen at the northern end of Restoration Cottages. One of Scremerston's most expensive mining ventures was mounted in 1840 at the southern end of the estate, immediately north of Doupster Bridge, where, on the site of an old pit, a new shaft was sunk to the 'great depth of 110 fathoms'.'^ This Greenwich Colliery became known as Scremerston Colliery but in the present paper the former title is retained to avoid confusion with the next colliery that would open. The water tower of 1840, still structurally intact, carries the inscription: ERECTED A.D. MDCCCXL BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF GREENWICH HOSPITAL JOHN GREY ESQ RECEIVER MESSRS JOHNSON & CARR COLLIERY LESSEES THOMAS FORSTER ESQ VIEWER AND ENGINEER MR W ELLIOTT TWEEDMOUTH BUILDER This plaque is positioned high on the west wall of the massive water tower, built of sandstone and topped with a tank. Immediately to the east of the tower are the remains of a substantial engine house, with sandstone walls and a slate roof. Adjacent to it, on its northern edge, is the concrete-capped shaft. These remains of Greenwich Colliery, sited in woods covering a former spoil heap, are the most prominent reminders of mining to have survived in the district. A brief account,'^ of 1873, gives an insight into Greenwich Colliery before it reached the end of its working life. Messrs Johnson & Carr were still the lessees, having in 1870 re-formed under the title, the Scremerston & Shoreswood Coal Company. Fifty-four hewers were producing an average of 150 tons of coal per day. The seam being worked, the Scremerston Main Coal, was about 4 feet 6 inches in height and yielded two grades of coal, the best sold at 15s. per ton and the seconds at two or three shillings less. As a general rule the men employed were native COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 143 to the soil, but many of them, once they had mastered the art of hewing, left for the richer seams and more remumerative employment of south Northumberland or Durham, where there was a chance of earning a few shillings more each week than the seven or eight which (in 1873) was average in north Northumberland. Greenwich Colliery closed in May 1878 when 100 men were thrown out of work.'^ Before the close of the 19th century Greenwich Colliery was being referred to as the Old Colliery or Jack Tar Pit. The last round of activity around its shaft occurred in 1913 when the managing director of Scremerston Colliery, J. E. Carr, decided to reopen the Jack Tar Pit. It was more than three decades since the pit had been laid-in, and in that time a vast quantity of water had accumulated in the old workings and shaft. A pump, suspended in the shaft, was powered by electricity generated at the New Winning Colliery.’’ The official returns, however, reveal that only two workmen were employed below ground and two on the surface. In each of the next five years the Jack Tar Pit was listed as 'suspended"® and it seems it was never brought back into production. Before Greenwich Colliery closed in 1878 the shaft of the last of the Scremerston collieries, the New Winning, had been sunk. On Saturday 22nd September 1877 the employees of Messrs Crichton & Winning, contractors, were entertained to dinner by the partners of the Scremerston & Shoreswood Coal Co. The dinner was held in the Miners Arms at Tweedmouth on the occasion of the termination of the sinking of the new shaft. This is the colliery that is best remembered by many in north Northumberland and a few of its former miners still survive. It became better known as Scremerston Colliery and was one of the first, if not the first, in Northumberland, to adopt the longwall system of working, and miners went from Scremerston to teach pitmen in the southern part of the county this method of working coal. The record output from the mine occurred in March 1910 when 389 tons 9 cwt was won in a single day by 241 men and , boys (199 below/42 above ground). By 1926 the Cooper Eye Coal 1 was the only seam being worked in Scremerston Colliery: 2 feet 8 inches high it was split by a bandstone 11 inches thick." Four , years later a new seam was opened up and in September 1930 I the event was marked by samples of the new coal being exhibited in the window of Messrs CaverhilTs hardware shop in Bridge Street, Berwick." Scremerston's other shafts of boreholes that were known to exist in 1915"’ were: 144 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ Shaft/bore Situation Depth I No 1 Bore At Richardson's Stead, 300 yards east of the smithy. 1 605ft 6in No 2 Bore About 1 mile SSE of Richardson's Stead and 300 yards north-west of Scremer- ston Farm. 765ft No 3 Bore Seems to have been in Berwickhill ground: at the junction of Prior House Road and the Great North Road. 535ft lOin In No 16 Pit or the Rise Pit A little west from the New Winning Pit at Deputy Row; used as an upcast shaft. 94ft Sin Engine Pit On west side of Scremerston CoUiery Incline and north side of Deputy Row. 359ft 6in In No 2 Bore there were two coals about 45 feet above the Woodend Limestone ~ in the Lower Limestone Group, above the Scremerston Coal Group. The lower seam, upwards of 3 feet 7 inches thick, was largely wrought west of Scremerstonhill for lime-burning, early in the 19th century. These workings were drained by a level driven from the Slateford Burn. The same coal was also worked south of Greenwich Colliery where, in 1926, there were still traces of old shafts.^" In the course of the history of the Scremerston field numerous drifts were dug and shafts sunk. Some were no more than trials while others flourished, peaked, declined and passed away. Prior to 1943 they were replaced by others. While blanks exist the evidence points to the order of working as having been: 1. 16th century development — pits that supplied Berwick with coal, their location is not known. 2. Early 18th century development — on the coastal strip at Cocklawburn. 3. 18th century drifts — on the southern slopes of Sunnyside, immediately south of Berwickhill. 4. 1764 working — on a site close to the present Deputy Row. 5. 1820s shaft towards the middle of the estate — Old Hill Pit or Restoration Pit. 6. 1840 shaft at southern end of estate, just north of Doupster Bridge — Greenwich Colliery, Scremerston Colliery, Old Colliery or Jack Tar Pit, 1840-1878. 7. Final development, 1878-1943, at the mid-point — New Winning Pit, No 18 Pit or Scremerston Colliery. COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 145 Scremerston, at the hub of the northern field, had its heyday in the first two decades of the 20th century. In the post-World War II years, following the closure of Scremerston Colliery, the villagers voiced their opposition to the unsightly spoil heap that had been left behind.^- Eventually it was reduced, planted with fir trees and used as a building site for a bungalow. Lessees and management In 1828 Robert Johnson was the lessee of Scremerston Colliery and his steward was Andrew Scott. Six years later the joint colliery agents and viewers were Andrew Scott and Richard Geddes.^’ By 1840 the engineer who contributed most to the development of the deep new mine was Thomas Forster, and his name is commemorated on the pithead plaque. Greenwich Colliery had, however, a new viewer, Stephen Scott, in 1841.^* As the plaque reveals, the lessees in 1840 of the new colliery were Johnson & Carr and they were to remain central figures for much of the final century of Scremerston mining. Nor was the influence of the Carr family restricted to north Northumberland. They were a mining dynasty, with the founder, John Carr of Ford, being agent to Lord Delaval. Towards the end of the 18th century the first John Carr commenced opening pits, principally on the Ford estate, and when he died in 1829 his mining interests extended into south Northumberland. These Northumberland collieries passed to his sons. They leased Seghill, Burradon, Hartley and Felling and had interests in other mines. The Carr Bros, were the owners of the Hartley Colliery when the catastrophe occurred in January 1862 and 204 men and boys lost their lives. This, and other mining accidents, almost ruined them.^^ Richard Fynes^° commented on the Hartley disaster: Hartley Pit was no worse than many other pits in the district. Messrs. Carr, instead of being worse, were very much better masters than many the miners had to deal with. The only feeling that existed in the clistrict amongst all classes towards the very unfortunate owners of Hartley Colliery, was one of sympathy. The Carr family's connection with Scremerston, according to John Evelyn Carr,^' went back to before 1700. J. E. Carr, the great grandson of John Carr of Ford, was managing director of the Scremerston Coal Co. from 1898 until 1922. The fourth John Carr to be associated with the district's collieries, he recalled on his retirement, how he had seen the longwall system at Cowpen, Blyth, but it was nothing compared with what it used to be at Felkington, when they used to go down ladders and could be underground for 14 hours. J. E. Carr had been manager at Felkington prior to its closure, when his company also leased and worked Unthank, Billy Law, Berwickhill, Shoreswood and Etal collieries. In addition, the company held and worked numerous 146 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB limestone and sand quarries in the Scremerston triangle and manufactured lime, bricks, tiles and terracotta. John Evelyn Carr was a popular master and most of the improvements made in Scremerston village were due to him.^“ Another popular Scremerston master in the final decades of the 19th century was Thomas Johnson of Seahouse. His workmen erected a monu- ment to him near Scremerston church but by 1902 only the pedestal remained.^- In 1935 when the owners of Scremerston Collierv seemed inclined to close the pit this prompted the men to form a syndicate, and raise £3,000 to purchase it. The owners then decided against closure and in November 1935 it was purchased by C. A. Nelson, chairman of Hartley Main Collieries Ltd.,'^ who undertook a modernisation programme. This included the introduction of an underground conveyor belt system, coal cutters and electrification.^- In its long history Scremerston collieries had of course many viewers or managers, including Henry Morallee (1855), W. Brown (1880s), John Walkinshaw (1886), Robert Nesbitt (1887), James Cleland (1898-1901), J. E. Carr, D. A. Evans (1920s) and J. A. Kilpatrick (1930s). An under-manager who is still remembered in Scremerston is John Whitfield.” Mining methods Each section in the Scremerston collieries, post-1840, was controlled by a deputy who was responsible to an overman who, in turn, reported to the 19th century viewer or the 20th century manager. The deputy was responsible for the safetv and ventilation in his section and for the movement of the coals to the shaft bottom. The overman was second-in-command and, in pits where there was no under-viewer or deputy manager, there was normally one overman. In the north of England mining districts prior to 1830 the coal below ground was generally transported from the coal-face to the shaft in corves on a carriage called a rolley. Then in the early 1840s^** tubs on rails proved to be an immense advance and this became the main means of moving coals underground. It is assumed that Greenwich Colliery of 1840s witnessed the changes happening regionally. Once the hewers had filled their tubs these were taken to the sidings by putters, who had also to maintain a supply of empty tubs to the coal-face. Putting coal could involve pushing a 7 cwt loaded tub up a one in ten gradient. At the sidings the putters passed the tubs to a pony driver who hitched them to his pony and took them to the main haulage line and hence to the shaft bottom. A feature of many of the old coal mines in north-east England COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 147 were the long water-courses cut to drain the workings. GreenwelP^ remarked on the beauty of many water-courses or levels and the patient toil with which they had been executed by pitmen, working with primitive tools and no explosives. Water- courses, 18 inches in width, cut through stone, could be straight and as smooth as though they had been chiselled. The old Scremerston level of 1764, referred to above, was such a work. The pit in the final phases of mining was kept open only by the pumps being manned around the clock, seven days a week. Then, on Saturday mornings, when only the pump men were at work, three of them donned special clothing and cleaned the 18-inch square water-course. Blockages were cleared and the iron stained pit water ran freely into the sea near Hud's Head. Keeping the level clear of debris was a cold, time-consuming and miserable task.-*" In British collieries there were two methods of working coal: the bord and pillar and the longwall. As indicated above, the latter method was practised at Scremerston where the seams were not fiery, the seams were thin, roofs consisted of tolerably hard stone that could be taken down to form gate roads and seams were split by bands of stone. Scremerston collieries possessed all the conditions'*' suited to the longwall system of mining. Ventilation in English coal mines before the mid-19th century was usually by means of a furnace or fire in the vicinity of the upcast shaft. In small mines furnaces were sometimes placed on the surface and surmounted by a chimney. But this method only generated a limited circulation of air and was wasteful of fuel when compared to the furnace sited underground. Where the upshaft formed the chimney an exceptionally strong draught was created. Earlier it was noted that the Old Hill shaft had been utilised as a furnace shaft for Greenwich Colliery (Figure 2). In north Northumberland fire-damp was present but never a major hazard and open flames were widely used. The candle was the main source of light until the final phase in the history of the field. The pit candle, invariably small, weighing from 30 to 50 to the pound, was best when made from clean ox tallow, with a small wick of fine cotton. Candles were normally used throughout the pit, except near the shafts, where more light was needed. In August 1878 the Davy safety lamp was introduced into Scremerston Colliery but the miners objected to the feeble light that it gave.''^ In Scottish collieries small tallow lamps were popular and these were used at Scremerston"^ for a long period. ! Then followed the small brass carbide lamps that had flints to ignite the acetylene gas that was generated by water dripping on I to the carbide. Ex-miners remember the open flame gave a good i i 148 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB enough light but threw out a great deal of smoke. When the underground workings were eventually lit by electricity in 1935, the pitmen appreciated the advance.''^ OLD HILL GREENWICH COLLIERY Figure 2. Greenwich Colliery ventilation. Workforce In 1855 Greenwich Colliery gave employment to 120 men and boys'* ^ and this may have been the approximate total engaged in Scremerston mining for most of the remainder of the 19th centur\^ By 1899 it had risen to 166 (145 below/21 above ground) and exceeded 200 (170 below/32 above ground) for the first time in 1903. It then appears to have remained above the 200 mark year by year to 1935, having peaked at 295 (228 below/67 above ground) in 1919."" At the close of the 19th century Scremerston miners struggled to exist, and were working short time: three days a week in summer and four in winter. But J. E. Carr's arrival improved matters as he endeavoured to provide employment for all his workmen without reducing wages."’ In 1903 the men, however, were working nine days a fortnight due to the 'usual slackness', caused by farmers being otherwise engaged and not at liberty to lead coal. A recently erected screening plant had improved the quality of the coal and it was hoped that this would lead to more local orders."* Short-time working continued throughout the depressed inter- war years, when the men would work two days one week, three the next and receive unemployment benefit for the other days."^ At other times, as in September 1927, Scremerston Colliery would close for a week at a time.^" By July 1932, when the same practice COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 149 was being followed, the delivery of coal was maintained, as the wagon men drew upon the pithead stocks.^' In 1935, on the change of ownership, the colliery closed for three weeks, and this was followed, in December 1935, by an appeal, made at the annual dinner of the Scremerston branch of the British Legion, to local people to buy Scremerston coal.^^ Three years later the call was repeated at a meeting of the Berwick Employment Committee: Scremerston miners were worthy of the district's support. In 1984 former miners still living in Scremerston were: George 'Joiner' Richardson Jim Wakenshaw (former deputy) Henry Hope (former blacksmith) Eddie Thomson Robert Johnson Willie Lockie Cheviot Terrace Cheviot Terrace Armstrong Court Restoration Cottages Main Street Prince Charles Crescent George Richardson, born in 1899, started work at the age of 12 years when, each day, he walked three miles from Sand Banks to Scremerston Colliery, for ten pence per day. Two years later he went underground to start a 5-year apprenticeship before being allowed to work at the coal-face. George spent 47 years working underground. He also served as a Coldstream guardsman in the 1st World War.^^ Working conditions Outstanding memories of Scremerston colliers would almost certainly be of cramped working conditions because of low seams and of water. Everywhere there was water: it dripped from the roofs, it lay on the floor, it swirled around in the standages, it soaked the clothes and it crept into the bones. Miners firmly believed that for every ton of coal won from Scremerston seams, 40 tons of water was pumped into the sea.^^ Pit clothes had the ability to stand on their own as they dried out. The shifts worked were those adopted by industry at large: the 'fore' (6 a.m. to 2 p.m.), the 'back' (2 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and the 'night' (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.). In the 1930s, when the miners descended the shaft in the cage, those working at the coal-face had a mile to walk or crawl. The pit was then ventilated by compressed air, not the best means of ventilation, and conditions were never too comfortable. The hewers returned to the main gate for their 20 minutes lunch break while the rest of the shift was spent on their sides, getting the coal out. They were often paid for what they produced, so it was not unknown for teams to lose pay because of the amounts of stone in the coal. The band of 150 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^B stone between the top and bottom coals might only be 5 inches thick, but once removed it had to be placed behind the men at the face so that it could be taken away. Then they were able to start on the top coal and it came away in slices. Each man worked a section almost 10 yards long and when production was at its peak, a miner could hew a ton a day. When youngsters started work at 14 years the majority worked on the surface. But some, and Jim Wakenshaw was one, went straight underground to work as putters. In the north of England, since about 1842, small ponies had been used to haul full tubs and pull back empties.'* Scremerston was no exception and 14 ponies were still employed below ground until 1930. They were stabled near the bottom of the shaft and were seldom taken to the surface. As in most mines, it was claimed that the ponies were well treated. In 1951 two retired Scremerston miners, Erank Patterson and Alex Hope, told Sid Chaplin, the author of an article in Coal, a National Coal Board magazine, that earlier in the centur\^ a district in Scremerston Pit was called 'Fisherman's Flat', being reser\^ed for fishermen miners and closing for the duration of the Tweed salmon fishing season. Alex had a season with the nets and both he and Frank admitted to having been salmon poachers. That Scremerston miners worked periodically at salmon fishing and that some engaged in poaching is not in dispute. But that a district of a pit had to be maintained when it closed for seven months (February to September) in the year seem unlikely. The report''’ would appear to have been somewhat exaggerated. Village Nineteenth century census returns^" for Scremerston were: 1831 c. 500 1871 1069 1841 692 1881 755 1851 953 1891 754 1861 1080 1901 757 The area designated as Scremerston included the farms of Scremerston Hill and Oxford, all being within the ecclesiastical district of Ancroft. Between 1841 and 1861 Scremerston estate experienced a greater increase in population than the national average, because of the coal mining and new industries being developed. Incoming labourers arrived from Scotland, Ireland, the surrounding country districts and small pits in the area. Some of the incomers did not stay long and needed replacing when they moved on. A number of the newcomers were accompanied by large families and this added to the social problems of the estate. Major developments included: COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 151 1830 1839 c. 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1870s c. 1877 1890 Scremerston estate divided between the parishes of Tweedmouth and Ancroft. The Vicar of Ancroft, the Reverend William Hewitt, and others, recognised the spiritual and educational needs of Scremerston's rising population and began campaigning to build a church, parsonage and schoolmaster's house and form a consolidated chapelryT' Colliery Row built close to Greenwich Colliery. Some of the money raised towards the improvements was lost when the Tweed Bank collapsed. This shock prompted the Bishop of Durham to donate a further sum.^^ School built. Anglican Church of St Peter built. Parish of Scremerston created. Vicarage built. Deputy Row houses enlarged. Churchyard extended. School enlarged. In 1873 a visitor to the village noted that the Scremerston miners, although few in number, did not live in a compact settlement, as in many mining communities.^^ Indeed, the three distinct rows of former miners' cottages that survive today illustrate the scattered nature of the village. In the late 19th century there were 30 houses at Richardson's Stead, 10 at Restoration Cottages, 12 at Deputy Row, 10 at Derwentwater Terrace and 19 at Colliery Row, later Old Colliery Row.^"* Three decades after being built the 'one-up-one-down' cottages of Colliery Row were seen by the mine officials and residents as model homes, although inferior in most respects to the miners' cottages of south-east Northumberland. These large two-roomed cottages had fireplaces in the downstairs room which, in 1873, were described as old fashioned. They had an oven at one side but no pot or boiler at the other, so when hot water was needed on wash-days or for pig-killings it was obtained from the yetlin,^^ suspended from an iron hook above the fireplace. The two rooms in these cottages were almost large enough to make four, and where there were large families an improvement would have been to have a partition run across the upstairs room. Each of the Colliery Row cottages had a pantry, a garden in front, a garden behind and a covered coal-house. In 1873 the surface drains behind the row were overflowing as the over-filled ash-heaps blocked the watercourse. As a consequence, this was very 152 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB insanitary. At one end of the row there was a colony of pigsties. The dwellings at Richardson's Stead formed a small square, at the centre of which stood a huge ash-heap, flanked by a few almost roofless coal-houses. Large sink-holes at intervals formed traps for the footsteps of the unwary, and the general appearance, of what was the village centre, was extremely squalid. The majority of the houses had two rooms, one on the ground floor and one up a ladder. There was also a short row of cottages backing on to the turnpike, each consisting of a single room with a brick floor at least 6 inches below ground level. They were damp and clammy. Also at Richardson's Stead was the parish church, the National school with accommodation for 150 pupils, and the post office. In 1873 there was a square of cottages at Old Hill, most of which were one-roomed. Some, however, had four rooms that were occupied by four families. One of these cottages had been converted into a newspaper room by the colliery owners, who charged sixpence a month for membership. A little further to the east of Old Hill was another short row of cottages called the Old Engine, that were described as the most wretched dwellings in north Northumberland, and which were reserved for the Irish labourers who worked at the pit. Another short row of one- roomed houses. Deputy Row, had projecting pantries, detached pigsties and unsavoury ash-pits. The number of dwellings in the Scremerston of 1873 with privies was extremely low.^^ Life was, even by the standards of the day, primitive and harsh. The Scremerston Colliery band was formed in 1884 and performed first at Seahouse, the residence of Thomas Johnson, in July, at the half-yearly meeting of the partners of the Scremerston & Shoreswood Coal Company. But it was not until the appointment of John Evelyn Carr as managing director of the Scremerston Coal Company in 1898 that the quality of life in the village began to improve. He helped in the provision of a miners' welfare institute and sports ground. The institute fostered a community spirit, being home to the football club, British Legion, tennis Club and Women's Institute. During the 1926 strike the cycle track was built round the football pitch with waste from the colliery spoil heap. J. E. Carr also donated prizes for a wide range of activities in which the villagers participated. The managing director of the local company earned the respect of his workmen and their families. His was a meaningful contribution.^’ UNTHANK CLUSTER This group of mines is within the area immediately to the west of Berwickhill and the Scremerston workings. Sited on either COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 153 side of the Tweedmouth to Etal and Ford turnpike the remains are now found to left and right of two miles of the B6354 road from Prior House to the Allerdeanmill Burn. They include the coal pits of Billylaw, Murton and Unthank. Billylaw pits At Billylaw, on the western side of the Etal road, two miles from Berwick, there is a tendency to treat this as a working of the period 1870-1890. The Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 6-inch map, however, clearly shows an old pit and smithy immediately to the north of Billylaw farm buildings. The more recent mine was being worked in 1871 by Johnson & Carr and it remained under Scremerston ownership until its closure. In 1873 the 'new Billy Law Pit' had opened to work the Bulman or Cancer Coal that had been exhausted in the Berwickhill royalty. The base of the new shaft gave the Scremerston company a new point of departure to work the Bulman westwards and south-westwards. Thirty-three hewers had transferred from Berwickhill to Billylaw and it is recorded that in 1873 the new pit was being 'besieged by farmers' carts and drivers clamorous' for a share of the 40 to 50 tons being raised each day. The coal was being drawn to the surface in round tubs.^® In 1883 the mine was managed by W. Brown, the Scremerston Colliery manager, and this appears to have been the control applied throughout the life of the pit. In the mid-1880s the Cooper Eye Coal was worked at 26 fathoms depth and a typical section^’ of the seam was: Coal (split) 1ft 5in Midstone 2ft Ground coal 1ft lin Early in 1890, when all available coal had been worked out, Billylaw was abandoned and the men transferred to Scremerston Colliery.’® Murton collieries The Norham & Islandshire Book of Rates for 1680” confirmed the existence of a highly rated colliery at Murton: Murton tyths Is 8d The collyery in the player ground 4s 8d Fuller in 1799 mentioned the existence of 'three pits at Morton, three miles distant from Berwick'.” By 1820 the Bulman Main Coal was being worked in a pit at Murton Colliery, at a depth of I8V2 fathoms. The seam, 4 feet 11 inches thick, consisted of five coals split by three bands of stone of a total thickness of IVi inches. 154 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ The Cooper Eye at Murton was only 2 feet 2V2 inches thick, with the two coals being separated by a midstone of 1 foot 2V2 inches.’^ There are mining remains to the west of Murton Square, on the western side of the Etal road, 2V2 miles from Berwick. The coals raised at Murton Colliery for various periods, 1810 to 1825, have been compiled from a series of slips, each addressed to Thos. White, East Ord, that are deposited in Berwick Record Office: Year Four week period ending Output Tons Bolls 1810 Nov 23 32 178V2 1811 Feb 15 36 268 Mar 15 34 299 April 12 27 i7y2 May 10 30 101 Nov 22 30 3011/4 Dec 20 31 392V2 1812 May 8 29 274 Murton Colliery: coals raised in four week periods, 1810-1812. Period Output Tons Bolls 27 Oct 1810 - 10 May 1811 incl. 1 Nov 1811 - 8 May 1812 incl. 4 Nov 1824 - 19 May 1825 incl. 19 May 1825 - 3 Nov 1825 incl. 221 373 215 319 209 347 67 402 Murton Colliery: coals raised, various periods, 1810-1825 It is difficult to place accurately those coal mines formerly referred to as being at Ord. These could have been in the area of the Unthank cluster. This applies to a record of 1586 which states that the tenants of the two 'colemynes within the feildes of Ourde' were George Murton, Rowland Burrell and Christofer Ourde. But in Eebruary of that year it was alleged that the said coalpits were not being properly managed or they were not meeting the local demand for coal. When a complaint. Tor the great abuse which is comTtted in spoylinge of the grounds or colemynes . . .', was made in the council chamber it was ordered that the 'pitts should be vewed' by Hector Woodrington, the Provost Marshal of Berwick, George Ourde of Longridge, gent., John Saltonstall of Berwick, gent., and others. To view a pit is the mining term for a survey or inspection with follow-up suggestions for the pit's future development. This was done and to 'bringe yt to some good order' it was recommended that COAL MINES OF NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND II 155 there should be but two pits working at any time and each should employ: 5 hewers 3 men above ground: 2 winders 1 banksman 2 putters 1 overman for the two pits Thus, it was ordered that Christofer Ourde, who held four parts of the tenancy, should find 14 colliers while George Murton and Rowland Burrell would be responsible for seven each. The order was signed by Sir Henry Woddrynton, Marshal of Barwick, Anthonye Anderson, Mayor, and John Selby. Unthank collieries The Book of Rates of Norham & Islandshire also provides proof of a 17th century colliery at Unthank: Unthank tythes Os. 5d. The collyery there Is. 9d. The abstract of the title of West Orde in 1744 includes undivided lands, in all 165 acres, called the Threep grounds between Murton and Unthank, a quay or coal staith in Tweedmouth, a fire engine, mines and minerals, together with the coal mines and seams of coal belonging to the vendor in East and Middle Orde. Also a freehold estate called Unthank that included lime and coal, let to John Anderson, jun. for 21 years from May-day 1753, at £110 per annum. Winning a colliery involved boring, sinking and lining the shaft, opening up the underground galleries and keeping them free of excess water. An account book” that records the winning of Unthank and Bogghill Colliery, between April 1765 and March 1766, reveals that the cost of sinking, the masons' work and drifting to have been £1373. This record also points to machinery having been installed to pump surplus water, move coal underground and raise it to the surface. There also exists a plan” of the colliery that was prepared by William Brown of Throckley, the most eminent viewer of his day in north-east England. He was, when employed as a viewer or consultant at various collieries in Northumberland and Durham, responsible for building or adapting many of the early fire engines for pumping water from mines. The plan of Unthank shows the system of bord and pillar 156 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ work employed, the various shafts and a representation of a beam engine at 'A', the Engine Pit. The colliery at Ord and Unthank was from the 1st January 1767 let for £200 per annum to Fenwick Stow, Elias Boreham and George Douglas’^ for a term of 21 years. In the mid-19th century there was still a landsale collierv^ at work on the Unthank estate. A proposal to route the Berwick to Kelso railway via Unthank had not materialised but, according to Raine,®' 'a railway has since been laid to Tweedmouth, or Spital, by means of which Mr Selby is enabled to convey his coals to the sea'. This was the waggonway from Unthank to Tweedmouth that is marked on Greenwood's 1828 map of Northumberland. According to Warne®^ the waggonway included an incline plane and was known to be operational by 1764. R AXXiW AT FftOR unthakk colliery to tweedmouth. Estimates will he received by Mr, Ralmer, Aficroft Greenses, m WEDNESDAY the 6‘th September next, at Three o’Clock, p. ar. tor Cutting and Mounding sundry parts of the intended Railway. Particulars are inseite 1319194. I have examined the books of The Berwickshire Naturalists' Club and from the information and vouchers provided have found them to be correct and in order. (Sgd) E. J. Kellie Royal Bank of Scotland, Ay ton. ADVICE TO CONTRIBUTORS The History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club has now run continuously for 163 years. It has recorded a huge amount of information about every aspect of life in the Borders: archaeology, genealogy, history, sociology, topography, and all branches of natural history. It is an invaluable repository for such primary information. Many people with special knowledge of Border affairs and happenings may, perhaps, be inhibited from contributing to the History by being unfamiliar with how to put an article together. The following notes are designed to assist, reassure and encourage such people; but also to be a general guide to all contributors. The requirements are simple; but the more closely the notes are followed, the speedier will be publication, the easier the lot of the Editing Secretary; and the greater the likelihood that the Club will be able to attract Editing Secretaries in the future! Manuscripts are best typed, double-spaced, and two copies sent; but even handwritten documents, if clearly legible, can be considered. References in the text to other publications are most simply done by author name(s) and date and then listed in alphabetical/chronological order at the end of the manuscript, giving the title of the document and, for papers in journals, the volume and page number, for books, the place of publication and the publisher. In this style: Baxter, E. V., Rintoul, L. J. (1953). The birds of Scotland, Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. Boyd, H., Ogilvie, M. (1969) Changes in the British wintering population of the pinkfooted goose from 1950-1975. Wildfowl, 20, 33-46. Taylor, G. (1937) List of fungi observed in the neighbourhood of Cockbumspath. History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, 29, 303-313. Titles of periodicals should be written in full, as above, not abbreviated. Sometimes text references to other publications, documents, etc., in the text are more conveniently done by superscript numbers, e.g.: "the house of Netherbyres^" and then related to a numbered entry in a list of references/ notes at the end of the paper, as e.g.: "5. Scottish Record Office TD 78/7." When other publications have been consulted but are not specifically cited, it may still be useful to guide readers following up tne subject, to give a ' oibliography", citing the publications in the same way as for references above. Illustrations should be numbered consecutively and provided with short descriptive legends. Contributions may be sent direct to the Editing Secretary, or handed to any Council Member. Copyright. The copyright of papers published in the History will normally be understood to pass to the berwickshire Naturalists' Club, as a permanently accessible institution, but authors may reserve copyright to themselves, if they so wish, by a written request to the Editing Secretary. HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Additional copies available. The Centenary Volume, published 1933, provides an index to the History from Volumes 1 to 27, (1831-1931) Price £20.00 The Sesquicentenary Volume, published 1987, provides an index to the History from Volumes 28 to 41, (1932-1980) Price £15.00 For purchase apply to: The Librarian, Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, Borough Museum, The Barracks, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 IDQ, U.K. The Club Library is held in its own room in Berwick Borough Museum. Access for members is available at no cost on presentation of a Club Library ticket at the entrance to the Barracks. Tickets are available from the Librarian, and visits should be made by appointment with the museum curator, telephone 01289 330933. PRINTED FOR THE CLUB BY HOW & BLACKHALL, 77 MARYGATE, BERWICK UPON TWEED. 1995 iG. A ISSN 0960-4170 ""HE natural H1ISTORY MUSEUV 25 OCT 1998 i PURCHASf ' \ GENERAL Ubh .H-~ > BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB INSTITUTED SEPTEMBER 22, 1831 ''MARE ET TELLUS, ET, QUOD TEGIT OMNIA, CGELUM" HISTORY OF THE VOL. 46. PART 3, 1995