Journal entry – John Grey – 31 Jan 1835

Saturday 31st January 1835



Left Haydon Bridge early.  At Woodhall examined some encroachments of the Tyne upon the Hospital’s land, which it will be necessary to defend by a small embankments.  Looked also at a point where it is likely to run away a part of the Hexham Turnpike, which the Trustees applied to me thro’ their Clerk to join them in securing.   I wrote to the Clerk to  say that on examination I found the bank between the River & Road, which was endangered by the Floods, was not of sufficient value to warrant the outlay of such a sum as would be requisite to preserve it, & that I considered it to be incumbent on the Trustees to look to it.  That Trust has used the Hospital too shabily in the kind of Fences it has made, & in all their transactions, to deserve indulgence at the hands of the Commissioners.  I went over other Farms in that part, looking into the state of their Fences etc and came to Coastley where another evil has befallen that source of continual vexation, the Threshing Machine.   The size of the overshot wheel required an equally deep cut to take the Water from it.  This had been effected by commencing a Drift at the level of the Burn & carrying it below the Farm Buildings to the Wheel at a depth  of 26 feet from the surface.  This Drift had not been Arched, as it should have been to make it secure, nor even propped & cased with Wood except in some places, & then, the Wood has been so bad, that at the end of four years, I saw much of it quite rotten.    The consequence is, that a good deal of the Roof has fallen in, so that the Water course is stopped by it, & in one part, the Miner & Laborer whom I had employed to clear it out, tell me that it has come down to the extent of 14feet and must endanger the Buildings under which it passes, if not secured.  This will not be easily done now, as all of that space must be filled up.  In the meantime, they are removing the rubbish that has fallen by wheeling it out to the mouth of the Drift, no very safe proceeding, which will discover the extent of the mischief.  If human ingenuity had been employed for the purpose of contriving a Machine so situated, as to be the most expensive and the least efficient possible, with a very inadequate supply of Water, it would hardly have succeeded more completely than in this instance.  On reaching home, found the Tenders returned for  New Town Farm.  Informed Mr Lee of his success  & the others who were anxious to know, that they might look after other Farms, of their being cut out.  Had some enquiries about the Lots of Wood, & Miners from Alston complaining of the encroachments of neighbours into their Grants, by whom I wrote to the Moor Master, requesting him to investigate the affair & try to bring it to a just & satisfactory settlement, otherwise I should have to go up & enquire into the facts on the spot.  These squabbles are not infrequent.