Free woods at Bedlington/Bebside

[emmadog]

I wonder if anyone can give any info regarding the  "free woods" or the "halfpenny woods" at Bedlington/Bebside.  My grandfather had a smallholding in the woods on the Bedlington side of the river and as kids we used to go while our fathers' ploughed, dug collected eggs etc.

I remember the river in that area as being very picturesque and seem to remember some caves  at the entrance to the woods.  Was this where Bedlington iron words were??

[Michael Dixon]

emmadog,

The world-renowned Bedlington Iron Works were on both sides of the River Blyth.

The iron forged on your Bedlington side of the river. Steam locomotives were built on my Bebside of the river - between the stone bridge and where the railway bridge is now. Bebside-built locos in museums in Amsterdam and Rome.

You might have swam/paddled around the flat stones in the river, which had sort of been damned to deepen the water.  The Works fiddled around with flow of river to utilise it for iron-making.

 Loads on internet.

On the web site   communities.northumberland.gov.uk    in the Bedlington section, you can see old photos, a painting of the early iron works, also see old maps in Ordnace maps, and trade directories of the day.

Early censuses called the community on the south bank "Bedlington IronWorks" even though it was not in Bedlington. ( Just like Halifax Building Society branches did not have to be in Halifax ! )

The Gray family lived in the toll house that collected the halfpennies at the entrance/exit to the woods.  I think the "free" woods were on the Bedlington side of river .

Michael Dixon


Michael Dixon

[emmadog]

My grandads house was in the middle of the woods on the Bedlington side of the river and he lived there until the late 1960"s. 

As I remember it, I used to play in my own bit of paradise as that is how it was down near the river at the bottom of his fields.  Not many kids these days have the opportunity to play out like we did in the river and in the trees overlooking the river. 

The house itself was a beautiful stone cottage but I understand it later got pulled down (shame it could have been on one of these makeover shows!!!)

Will have a look on the net for more info but it was your comments on another post that got me thinking back.

Thanks for your info.  Any other comment gratefully received.

Barbara.

[Eggy1948]

emmadog
Although I spent a lot of in the late 1950's and early 1960's playing by the river Blyth, mainly on the Free side of the woods, I can't remember the names of the of the houses or Farms along the black path, from the Furnace area to the top of Beatty Road and on to the 'Millbank area and the Bedlington Bank. We only referred to the dwellings by whatever fruit trees they had to offer! We didn't need money we just helped ourselves to fresh produce! I have seen a couple of photos of house that were on the Free woods side.
This image is a 'mashup' of a couple of photos + a bit of Google street view aerial shot. Could this be where your grandparents lived?

[Eggy1948]

[emmadog]

Hi Eggy,
I have not been on here for ages until tonight when I found your post. I'm not sure about your photo and google bit. We always called his property "the Ranch" for what reason I don't know.
His house as a beautiful stone single storey property (not so beautiful inside though". It was about halfway along the track from hairpin bend to Bedlington main street. There was another house if I remember correctly nearer to Bedlington end. My grandad had fields for veg, apple and pear trees, bee hives in his garden and he had lots of chickens and turkey ready for christmas. He travelled around the area selling eggs. His name was Hunter. One of my uncles lived in the bungalows near the Bank Top pub.
I'm pretty sure I have a photo shoot of his house somewhere. Will look and see if it was where you played as a lad.

[Eggy1948]

Unfortunately the photos that are available of The Free Woods are nearly all around the Furnace Bridge area and showing buildings to the East of the bridge eg. Dene House and the Furnace Bank up to the Bank Top. Going West of the bridge I think there is only a photo of the Bandstand, and the one I posted above, that have done the rounds on the social media groups.