Wagonways & Coal Mining In Dunston...
The land between the River Team and the River Derwent lay some of the richest coal seams in the North East, the village of Dunston-On-Tyne in he 17th Century was a cluster of small dwellings the people of the village numbering perhaps several hundred were mainly dependent upon farming, the coal trade and river for their livelihood, there was at least one pub, there were eleven in 1821.
In Dunston, coal and the railway were virtually synonymous for almost 350 years.
Early Days...
The early coal mines were more or less horizontal tunnels (adits) driven into the coal outcrops along valley sides or simple bell pits, a bell pit consisted
of a narrow shaft dug down to the uppermost coal seam, the miners then worked outwards until ventilation, roof supports and transport prevented further expansion when the pit was abandoned another pit was started nearby, the coal was hauled to the surface by horse power in large baskets (corves) attached to a rope passing over a pulley at the head of the shaft, a single colliery might consist of as many as 30 or 40 of the small pits.
To supply the lucrative London market coal had to be carried to staithes on the river banks for loading into sea going vessels, pack horses and two-wheeled carts (cowps) used earlier were replaced by wains, large four wheeled wagons hauled by two horses which could carry close to a ton of coal. Wainroads led from pits to the banks of the River Tyne and River Team, Dunston Road and Ravensworth Road are former wainroads, this often meant crossing land not owned by the coalowners or lesse, this need for rights led to the Wayleave system, in which landowners were paid an annual rent on the amount of coal passing thru their land.
The history of the railway in Britain maybe divided into three periods, the first the wooden tracked wagon-way, horse and gravity from about 1600 until 1825 when the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway signalled the second period, this lasted until the change to diesel traction in the 1960's.
Whickham Grand Lease 1621 to 1705...
The Leasees' wagonway to Dunston, the first on Tyneside was built in about 1621, from a point to the south of Whickham village the line crossed the head of the northern dene of Washingtonwell woods and ran roughly eastwards past Washingwell Farm towards Lobley Hill where it curved round to the North crossed Whickham Highway and ran downhill to about the Dun Cow Inn and then along Ravensworth Road to reach the staithes at the Team Gut. The wagonway proved to be the most successful of the 17th century the line finally closed some time after 1705.
The Team Way 1669-1964..
The Liddells of Ravensworth held the manors of Fanacres, Ravensworth and Lamesley and in 1620 Thomas Liddell built a wainroad from his pits at Horsemouth Wood to the Staithes at Dunston, the route came along the Coach Road down Clockmill Road to a staith on the river Team, the route was heavy in 1710 some 120 wagons a day passed over the line.
Riding Field Way 1684-1745...
This wagonway served the colliers of a number of leaseholders owned by the Hardings at Riding Field south of Whickham, this line ran north-east wards through the present day Whickham down the Banky Fields near Whickham Thorns and over Matfins Haugh and the Coleway Haugh to staiths on the River Team about 250 yards from the mouth of the river.
The Northbanks Way 1699-1723....
To the south of Riding Field lay five square miles of the Blakiston estates rich in coal two miles from the river Tyne, at first the coal was transported in wains (large carts) but about 1695 a waggonway was proposed the line ran from Byremoor the eastward towards Marley Hill then turning north passed the west of Sunniside it crossed Whickham Highway just west of Dunston Hill West Farm and then turned eastward skirting the grounds of Dunston Hill House descended through the woods on a 1 in 15 gradient towards Carrs Bank it then turned north across Ellison Road passed the Coalway Haugh where it crossed the Riding Field Way to staithes on the Tyne.
Later on this route was relaid along Dunston Road. Through it 25 years of operation it is estimated to have carried some two-million ton of coal. By the end of the 17th century the four waggonways shipped some 200,000 to 300,000 tons of coal, the railway in the shape of the wooden waggonway had become established as a valuable method of heavy land transport.
The Tanfield Way 1724-1965....
This line was to become the best know and one of the longest lasting of the Tyne waggonways, the route was opened from Blackburn and reached the old Whickham Grand Lease Way which it followed across Lobley Hill were it divided one line going north-eastward to the staithes at Redheugh while the other went Northward past the Dun Cow Inn across the Coleway Haugh where again it divided this time into three branches one serving Pitts Staithes on the Tyne Bank just west of the Team mouth with Bowes and Montague's a short distance further upstream.
The Tanfield way carried a very heavy traffic amounting to 930 wagons a day in 1727 carrying over 2,000 tons of coal, by 1728 conditions on the busiest section had come so congested that a second main way was laid along side of the main line.
The land between the River Team and the River Derwent lay some of the richest coal seams in the North East, the village of Dunston-On-Tyne in he 17th Century was a cluster of small dwellings the people of the village numbering perhaps several hundred were mainly dependent upon farming, the coal trade and river for their livelihood, there was at least one pub, there were eleven in 1821.
In Dunston, coal and the railway were virtually synonymous for almost 350 years.
Early Days...
The early coal mines were more or less horizontal tunnels (adits) driven into the coal outcrops along valley sides or simple bell pits, a bell pit consisted
of a narrow shaft dug down to the uppermost coal seam, the miners then worked outwards until ventilation, roof supports and transport prevented further expansion when the pit was abandoned another pit was started nearby, the coal was hauled to the surface by horse power in large baskets (corves) attached to a rope passing over a pulley at the head of the shaft, a single colliery might consist of as many as 30 or 40 of the small pits.
To supply the lucrative London market coal had to be carried to staithes on the river banks for loading into sea going vessels, pack horses and two-wheeled carts (cowps) used earlier were replaced by wains, large four wheeled wagons hauled by two horses which could carry close to a ton of coal. Wainroads led from pits to the banks of the River Tyne and River Team, Dunston Road and Ravensworth Road are former wainroads, this often meant crossing land not owned by the coalowners or lesse, this need for rights led to the Wayleave system, in which landowners were paid an annual rent on the amount of coal passing thru their land.
The history of the railway in Britain maybe divided into three periods, the first the wooden tracked wagon-way, horse and gravity from about 1600 until 1825 when the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway signalled the second period, this lasted until the change to diesel traction in the 1960's.
Whickham Grand Lease 1621 to 1705...
The Leasees' wagonway to Dunston, the first on Tyneside was built in about 1621, from a point to the south of Whickham village the line crossed the head of the northern dene of Washingtonwell woods and ran roughly eastwards past Washingwell Farm towards Lobley Hill where it curved round to the North crossed Whickham Highway and ran downhill to about the Dun Cow Inn and then along Ravensworth Road to reach the staithes at the Team Gut. The wagonway proved to be the most successful of the 17th century the line finally closed some time after 1705.
The Team Way 1669-1964..
The Liddells of Ravensworth held the manors of Fanacres, Ravensworth and Lamesley and in 1620 Thomas Liddell built a wainroad from his pits at Horsemouth Wood to the Staithes at Dunston, the route came along the Coach Road down Clockmill Road to a staith on the river Team, the route was heavy in 1710 some 120 wagons a day passed over the line.
Riding Field Way 1684-1745...
This wagonway served the colliers of a number of leaseholders owned by the Hardings at Riding Field south of Whickham, this line ran north-east wards through the present day Whickham down the Banky Fields near Whickham Thorns and over Matfins Haugh and the Coleway Haugh to staiths on the River Team about 250 yards from the mouth of the river.
The Northbanks Way 1699-1723....
To the south of Riding Field lay five square miles of the Blakiston estates rich in coal two miles from the river Tyne, at first the coal was transported in wains (large carts) but about 1695 a waggonway was proposed the line ran from Byremoor the eastward towards Marley Hill then turning north passed the west of Sunniside it crossed Whickham Highway just west of Dunston Hill West Farm and then turned eastward skirting the grounds of Dunston Hill House descended through the woods on a 1 in 15 gradient towards Carrs Bank it then turned north across Ellison Road passed the Coalway Haugh where it crossed the Riding Field Way to staithes on the Tyne.
Later on this route was relaid along Dunston Road. Through it 25 years of operation it is estimated to have carried some two-million ton of coal. By the end of the 17th century the four waggonways shipped some 200,000 to 300,000 tons of coal, the railway in the shape of the wooden waggonway had become established as a valuable method of heavy land transport.
The Tanfield Way 1724-1965....
This line was to become the best know and one of the longest lasting of the Tyne waggonways, the route was opened from Blackburn and reached the old Whickham Grand Lease Way which it followed across Lobley Hill were it divided one line going north-eastward to the staithes at Redheugh while the other went Northward past the Dun Cow Inn across the Coleway Haugh where again it divided this time into three branches one serving Pitts Staithes on the Tyne Bank just west of the Team mouth with Bowes and Montague's a short distance further upstream.
The Tanfield way carried a very heavy traffic amounting to 930 wagons a day in 1727 carrying over 2,000 tons of coal, by 1728 conditions on the busiest section had come so congested that a second main way was laid along side of the main line.
Industry at Dunston..
The waggonways were owned, built and operated solely for the needs of the coal trade and profit of the coal owners, the new public railways were financed by the sale of shares to individual investors and were built to serve the general public, commerce and industry.
The effect on Dunston of the opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway the first public railway in the area was considerable, the vital link of the Redheugh incline now allowed coal from Pontop area which until now had been loaded into keels at Dunston to be carried directly to the colliers down river, the keel men lost much of their work. In 1840, twelve keel berths of staithe at Dunston were advertised for sale.
The Newcastle and Carlisle line while dependent on on coal was a general carrier of raw materials and finished products running along its length was a prime area for the establishment of heavy industry as were the northern end of the Tanfield branch from the foot of the Lobley Hill incline to the junction with Redheugh branch, from 1840 onward a steady growth of new industry occurred along both lines.
Norwood Colliery just to the north of the Teams Crossing on the Tanfiled Line was won, Dunston Colliery was reopenedby John Bowes & Co in 1890 having been worked on briefly in 1873 served by the Redheugh Branch, which had the greatest concentration of industry, at the Redheugh end Carrick & Wardle's Foundry started in 1873 lasted til about 1930, after World War 2 two small ship breaking firms started up, westward of the Tanfield/Redheugh junction the great
Redheugh Gas Works occupied the Tyne Banks as far as the Team mouth replacing a an earlier group of small metal works and a tar works.
A map dated 1884 shows the Dunston Brick Works and Thubrons Saw mill near the Team mouth but these were gone by 1940, later at the Team mouth were the engineering works of Taylor, Pallister & Co. Ltd, and Emerson Walker Ltd, the CWS built its Flour Mill in 1887/91 the mill had its own Jetty in 1909 the CWS opened its Soap Works, next along the banks were Palmer Hall's long established saw mills and timber yard on either side of the Dunston Engine Works, on the landward side of the branch through the old village were Dunston Colliery, Thomas Wardman's Glass Factory and iron and brass works and the well known Atlas Rivet Works of McFarlane and Whitfield founded in 1889, Mawson Clark's Grease and candle works were easily located by smell when the west wind blew across the village.
The modern age of electricity heralded the opening of Dunston Power Station in 1910 (Dunston A) this was replaced in 1933 by the much larger Dunston B power station but was not completed to its full capacity till after World War 2, the West Dunston Staithes occupied the river bank to the west of the power station as far as the Delta Iron and Steel works B.W. & G. Raine.
On the Tanfield branch two rope works of R.S.Newall and Dixon Corbitt were established in 1840 they amalgamated in 1887, in 1959 became part of British Ropes, the line also served Dunston Forge at the foot of Lobley Hill incline, Davisons Glass Works (1868), the Redheugh Iron and Steel Works (1874) and no fewer than three brick works
Dunston Colliery...
Dunston colliery, worked by Jno. Bowes and Partners, was sunk in 1873, but after working for about twelve months, was closed until 1891, when it was reopened. There is only one seam worked at present, the Brockwell, 2 feet 10 inches thick, at a depth of 74 fathoms. The following seams are here, but are not worked, owing to bands, troubles, and post rolls : the Beaumont, 34 fathoms ; the Three Quarter, 67 fathoms ; Six Quarter, 37 fathoms ; and the Busty, 47 fathoms deep.
The average output is 500 tons per day, employing 476 men and boys. Dunston Pit closed finally in 1947. In 1958 the site was taken over by Taylor-Pallister & Company.
The waggonways were owned, built and operated solely for the needs of the coal trade and profit of the coal owners, the new public railways were financed by the sale of shares to individual investors and were built to serve the general public, commerce and industry.
The effect on Dunston of the opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway the first public railway in the area was considerable, the vital link of the Redheugh incline now allowed coal from Pontop area which until now had been loaded into keels at Dunston to be carried directly to the colliers down river, the keel men lost much of their work. In 1840, twelve keel berths of staithe at Dunston were advertised for sale.
The Newcastle and Carlisle line while dependent on on coal was a general carrier of raw materials and finished products running along its length was a prime area for the establishment of heavy industry as were the northern end of the Tanfield branch from the foot of the Lobley Hill incline to the junction with Redheugh branch, from 1840 onward a steady growth of new industry occurred along both lines.
Norwood Colliery just to the north of the Teams Crossing on the Tanfiled Line was won, Dunston Colliery was reopenedby John Bowes & Co in 1890 having been worked on briefly in 1873 served by the Redheugh Branch, which had the greatest concentration of industry, at the Redheugh end Carrick & Wardle's Foundry started in 1873 lasted til about 1930, after World War 2 two small ship breaking firms started up, westward of the Tanfield/Redheugh junction the great
Redheugh Gas Works occupied the Tyne Banks as far as the Team mouth replacing a an earlier group of small metal works and a tar works.
A map dated 1884 shows the Dunston Brick Works and Thubrons Saw mill near the Team mouth but these were gone by 1940, later at the Team mouth were the engineering works of Taylor, Pallister & Co. Ltd, and Emerson Walker Ltd, the CWS built its Flour Mill in 1887/91 the mill had its own Jetty in 1909 the CWS opened its Soap Works, next along the banks were Palmer Hall's long established saw mills and timber yard on either side of the Dunston Engine Works, on the landward side of the branch through the old village were Dunston Colliery, Thomas Wardman's Glass Factory and iron and brass works and the well known Atlas Rivet Works of McFarlane and Whitfield founded in 1889, Mawson Clark's Grease and candle works were easily located by smell when the west wind blew across the village.
The modern age of electricity heralded the opening of Dunston Power Station in 1910 (Dunston A) this was replaced in 1933 by the much larger Dunston B power station but was not completed to its full capacity till after World War 2, the West Dunston Staithes occupied the river bank to the west of the power station as far as the Delta Iron and Steel works B.W. & G. Raine.
On the Tanfield branch two rope works of R.S.Newall and Dixon Corbitt were established in 1840 they amalgamated in 1887, in 1959 became part of British Ropes, the line also served Dunston Forge at the foot of Lobley Hill incline, Davisons Glass Works (1868), the Redheugh Iron and Steel Works (1874) and no fewer than three brick works
Dunston Colliery...
Dunston colliery, worked by Jno. Bowes and Partners, was sunk in 1873, but after working for about twelve months, was closed until 1891, when it was reopened. There is only one seam worked at present, the Brockwell, 2 feet 10 inches thick, at a depth of 74 fathoms. The following seams are here, but are not worked, owing to bands, troubles, and post rolls : the Beaumont, 34 fathoms ; the Three Quarter, 67 fathoms ; Six Quarter, 37 fathoms ; and the Busty, 47 fathoms deep.
The average output is 500 tons per day, employing 476 men and boys. Dunston Pit closed finally in 1947. In 1958 the site was taken over by Taylor-Pallister & Company.