Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Day 5

Saturday 11th July 2026

Woodhorn Museum and 2nd Birthday

Kate, Richard and Conker took us on a drive to the north today to visit the Woodhorn Museum at the former Ashington Colliery. A colliery is a collective of coal mines. Ashington was one of the bigger ones, employing around 10,000 miners at the peak of production. That is much bigger than Burgowan Colleries in the Burrum Coal Measures in Queensland, Australia, where Geoff first went underground at the age of 12. The first hand transcripts from young miners on their first shift at the age of 15 in Newcastle, resonated with him. The scrape of leather boots on the road before dawn, the big hewers (whoas) pick axing coal and the thud of bare feet on timber sleepers pushing coal wagons back to the race.

It was an interesting comparison of mining from a world away in Australia, to where it all began.

The wives and “mams” kept the whole show on the road and in an era before hot showers they scrubbed their filthy urchins returning from the pit before a good meal.

 

 

 

Back on surface at 2:30pm it was officially declared as my 2nd birthday when all of Richard and Kate’s family arrived in consecutive waves until we numbered 18 in total waiting excitedly for The Cake. The Queen of Cakes, Kate had outdone herself with a new creation she called The Wimbledon Celebration Cake for Susan. It came complete with fireworks, candles and enough strawberries to feed all of Wimbledon. Wow, it was delicious. Sous chef Richard assisted with his precision cutting skills to divide the cake amongst the party guests. The din was lulled momentarily whilst we got down to the serious business of eating cake, before we followed the children out into the backyard. What a wonderful couple of hours.