While in theory pitmatic was spoken throughout the Great Northern Coalfield, from Ashington in Northumberland to Fishburn in County Durham, early references apply specifically to its use by miners especially from the Durham district (1873) and to its use in County Durham (1930).
William Fishburn Donkin FRS (1814–1869) was an astronomer and mathematician, Savilian Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford.
In 1975, WVWR's transmitter was moved from Fishburn Hall on the VWCC campus to Poor Mountain, where most of Roanoke's major radio and television stations have their transmitters.