Journal entry – John Grey – 20 Aug 1833

Tuesday 20th August 1833



Newlands Lot of Wood No 1 Sold to I Johnson 



Mr Dickinson having informed Mr Isaac Johnson that I was to leave home at nine o’ clock, he came to the office in the morning accompanied by Mr Burnett of Ovington, as his surety, who is a person of some Property, & we finally concluded a bargain for the Lot of Wood, No 1 at Newlands Park for the Sum of £330 of which £165:0:0 is to be paid for the 25th July 1834 and the remaining £165 on the 21st March following, by which time all the Wood is to be removed.  I was very anxious to have earlier payments, but find 12 months is the usual time allowed for standing Wood, and this Lot includes so much bad beech and inferior elm, for which it is doubtful that he may ever find a market, that I found it was in vain to insist upon better terms from Mr Johnson, & fearing that another purchaser might not be found, I considered it best to conclude a bargain with him, for which two Copies of an Agreement were written out, specifying the terms, and his and Mr James Burnett’s joint and several promissory Note obtained for the amount.



Alston Road Committee

I then went to Haydon Bridge to attend the Committee of the Alston road Trustees, of which, Mr Ord was Chairman.  As a Report from this meeting is not to be laid before the general meeting till the 5th November, I may just state generally, that I made several proposals for the future management of the trust, which were all agreed to, Viz, that instead of £500 a year being laid to Mr McConnel for himself who never sees the roads, and his deputy, They should advertise for a Surveyor to reside on the line of Road and give his time to it, at a Salary of £150.  That instead of two Clerks at a Salary of £40 a year each, they should have one at a Salary of £50.  That some system of Checks upon the Surveyor’s payments to the Workmen should be adopted and that instead of having the Stones broken by Cart Loads separately, they should be laid into depots & then broken by square yard subjected to competition by tender, in each district, by which I am confident a great saving would be effected.  And that  the Trustees should be divided into local Committees to meet quarterly to inspect the roads in their respective districts, and any works in progress at the time to be attended by the Surveyor, whose accounts they should also examine and have explained.  If the Trustees would take this trouble, I know from experience, it is a most salutary arrangement.  As to the liquidation of the debts, no specific plan could be laid down by the Committee, these proposals being only recommended for the adoption of a General Meeting, and no saving to arise from their adoption, being available for six months to come; and unluckily a Bridge having fallen down which must be rebuilt by the Trust, (none of the McAdams bridges having been finished in such a manner as to be taken charge of by the Counties) and the approaches to the new bridge at Alston being of necessity to be made, there will not be one farthing of surplus revenue to devote in the mean time to any other object.   Mr Ord stated as his Opinion that the interest upon the debt to the Hospital should be paid annually, and all possible means used to discharge the principal, by applying the whole saving to be effected by a change of management to that purpose and to the repayment of £400 due to the Lead Company.  I mentioned the circumstance of £20:14:0 as a charge for ten years for land at Westwood having been omitted to be made, but no books or accounts being there, must arrange at a future time with Mr Bainbridge.  If a saving of £5 a mile could be effected without detriment to the roads, by a better application of labor, as I hope it may be found possible & another saving of £380 in Salaries, some hope of a liquidation of debt may be entertained even at the present rate of revenue from the tolls.  



Stublick Bell & Shield

I next had a meeting with Mr Bell & Mr Shield of Stublick for whom I had sent. Mr Bell on this occasion and by virtue of the forcible argument used in the Boards minute respecting his gratuity did produce three plans of the Colliery workings for which he said he has had ‘a long seek’, two of them being as he says, copies of those he was ordered to burn - and one of later workings.  Those I transferred to Shield, but as they do not still show by any means accurately, the situation of the impending Water, I strongly urged upon him the necessity of proving it by boring, to avoid the chance of consequences that might prove highly injurious & distressing,  we then entered a tedious & rather perplexing discussion as to the Crop at Stublick.  After all the enquiry I have been able to make and the evidence I have obtained, I came to the conclusion that Mr Bell is not intitled to any away going Crop upon the lands held by him from the first of his engagement at the Colliery, but that he is intitled to such Crop upon the land occupied until three years ago by John Turnbull, who had a Crop from a part of it at that time, by which, Bell has only had one Crop hitherto, and if deprived of the present, would have only that one for the three years occupation.  This would not be just or reasonable.  I therefore gave him up that part which is only very few Acres & it will be necessary either to give the present Lessee an equivalent now, or a note attached to their Leases, authorising them to take a Crop from an equal extend of land, at the time of their leaving the premises.  This wearisome discussion was closed by my writing an agreement which both parties signed, undertaking to abide by the valuation to be put, by persons mutually chosen, upon the seed and later of the said crop of Corn (with that exception) upon the clover Seeds now enjoyed by the Lessees, all expenses incurred by Bell by working the fallow of this year - also in putting the seeds into the garden etc etc.  So that I trust no ground of future dispute is left unprovided for.  I told Bell, that in these matters being settled, I should be ready to pay him the gratuity ordered,  but he still seemed to entertain a hope, that from his long Services & having always done his duty, he would obtain a pension.  I told him, I should send him a Copy of the Boards Minute on the subject.  The day has been very wet and Hetherington very opportunley drew my attention to his own Chaise and several of our Gigs etc standing exposed to it in the open ground.  I think it will be necessary to build a Shed at the farther end of the yard, which need not however be a close Coach house.   Every body is greatly pleased with the improved appearance of the Inn here and indeed, now that it is cleaned, painted and extremely well furnished it is the best house & most respectable looking Inn in this part of the County.  I fear however there is little chance of its succeeding as a posting house, being so near to Hexham, as not to make a sufficiently long stage for changing and the occasional posting at such a place is very little indeed.  The length of Stages on this road is much complained of & I have sometimes thought that it might pay to make a new division of them, including the Hospital Inn at Shaw House, to which there is sufficient land attached, to give profitable employment to post Horses which that at Haydon Bridge very much wants.  The division would be very good from Newcastle to Shawhouse, Haydon Bridge, Haltwhistle etc but whether the posting on the road, exclusive of that to Hexham, would afford sufficient encouragement for such an undertaking, I am not yet well informed upon.