Railways

The region's waggonways were the forerunners to the railways. They were built by the landowners mainly to gauges between 4ft and 5ft and were laid down in the 17th-19th centuries, first using wooden rails and sleepers and then with iron rails and stone sleepers. The waggonways were mainly operated by horse and gravity. So why were they necessary? The reason the earliest waggonways were constructed in our region was to transport coal from pits to the nearest navigable point of the river Wear. As well as transporting coal, waggonways were also used in the transportation of stone from quarries down to waiting barges, or "keels" on the river Wear. The cargo would then be manually loaded onto these keels which would transport their loads down-river to Sunderland harbour where it would be transferred again into sea-going collier ships (in the case of coal). Some of the keels unloaded their coal at the glassworks and limekilns in the Southwick and Sunderland areas, but the main market for coal was in London, which was the destination of most of the colliers which sailed from the Wear.

The predominant network in our region was that of the Lambton Railways. The first waggonway was laid by Thomas Allen in 1693 at the river Wear near Fatfield. Many of the pits in the Penshaw area were owned by the Londonderry Family. The Newbottle collieries were owned by John Nesham. The Newbottle collieries were bought from Nesham by auction by John George Lambton in 1822 and the network expanded to join up with his own system. Lambton also obtained a direct route to Sunderland in 1864 by way of an agreement with the North Eastern Railway (NER), allowing coals to be transported from Penshaw to Sunderland Staithes. The colliery route joined the NER near Cox Green. In 1876, the company name was changed to Lambton Collieries. Hetton was added to the name after an amalgamation in 1911. A further amalgamation with James Joicy in 1924 created the Lamton, Hetton and Joicey Collieries Ltd. This lasted until nationalisation of the collieries and the creation of the National Coal Board in 1947.

Much has been written about the network of waggonways in the Wearside area, as well as the staithes, keels and keelmen on the river so let us focus on the waggonways in and around the Bournmoor area only, which will conveniently lead on to the development of the railway network in our immediate region. The following report is from "AIA Industrial Archaeology Review - Abstracts of Volume XX 1998" and illustrates well the type of waggonway typical to the area, constructed in the late 18th century

The archaeological excavation of wooden waggonway remains at Lambton D pit.

The timber waggonway tracks at the site of the former Lambton or Bournmoor "D Pit" at Fence Houses, near Sunderland are the best preserved and most substantial early wooden railway remains yet to be uncovered in this country. The archaeological excavation of this site exposed over 150 metres of in situ timber, allowing an in-depth analysis of the construction of wooden railways, and the study of individual features, including points and check rails. The related discovery of a brick rail-head platform and the masonry and brick remains of a colliery building also allowed the waggonway complex to be placed within its functional context. Observations from a number of leading figures in the research of early coal transport in the Great Northern Coalfield have been combined with the archaeological record of this highly significant site to provide a detailed description of the wooden waggonway and its relationship to the late 18th and early 19th century colliery.

The timber waggonway shown and described above was a surprise find following the demolition of Lambton Cokeworks and is a nationally-important find. This waggonway, or at least part of it, seems to be shown on a map dated c.1738 entitled "Lambton and Bournmoor Royalty". It shows a detailed (hand-written) plan of the Lambton Estate south of the river Wear. The land is divided into many parcels of land, most of which are named and/or numbered. The only structures visible in the Bournmoor/Wapping area are the two rows of "Estate Houses" which stand at what we now know as the Cricket Club corner. Starting at the eastern side of the map, a waggonway runs almost north/south and crosses what is now the A183 at a point east of Wapping Bridge at the same place as the old level crossing. Even on the 1738 map, it is named as "Old Waggon Way" and so pre-dates the map somewhat! Just north of the current A183, a section branches off in a south-westerly direction and then runs west. The line of the waggonway can still be seen today in the path which runs behind the former garden centre and known locally as "Jimmy's Lonnen", which is popular today with walkers, cyclists and horse riders. Unfortunately, who Jimmy was, is not known, the origins being lost in the mists of time.

Above: Jimmy's Lonnen, looking east

One branch of this waggonway continues straight into the heart of the Lambton Estate and according to the map, runs past numerous pits as it does so. Pits were commonplace on the Estate, most being shallow, surface excavations. When the surface coal was exhausted, the pit was shut down and the next pit was opened nearby. All are numbered and some also (colourfully!) named. For example "No. 97, Chance Pit", "No. 99, House of Correction Pit" & "No. 70, Hellshole Pit". The waggonways were constructed to serve these pits and new pits would have been opened in the vicinity of the waggonway for ease of coal transportation. During the stretch of waggonway which we know as "Jimmy's Lonnen", a section breaks off and heads north-west, directly down to the river Wear where waiting boats would be loaded with the coal and ship it to Sunderland and the coast for onwward transportation. The colliery waggonways to the river were mainly replaced in the 19th century by longer railways which ran to the ports at Sunderland and Seaham where the coal could be loaded directly onto sea-going ships. Not only was transport to and from the keels avoided but unnecessary breakage of the coal was avoided. However, some of the colliery waggonways and keels still remained in use until the late 19th century.

The map above dates from 1939 and shows the main North Eastern Railway just right of centre, passing below what is now the A183 at Wapping Bridge. Note the colliery/cokeworks line further east with a branch off to Wapping Village. The line appears to terminate west of Wapping but originally ran right to the village itself.

The above picture shows a steam train heading north towards Penshaw, hauling coal wagons, passing what was known as Bournmoor signal box. This signal box is clearly marked on some of the old maps in the'Old Maps' section of this site. The line crossed the A183 at the level crossing located a short distance east of Wapping Bridge. It has come from Lambton Cokeworks, hardly visible in the background.

The above picture shows locomotive type J27 0-6-0 tender engine no. 65894 approaching Bournmoor signal box with Lambton Cokeworks in the background. The locomotive was acquired by the North East Locomotive Preservation Group in 1968/'69. The photo' is of the locomotive leaving Philadelphia and heading to Thornaby where it was stored prior to travelling to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Note: The above is supplied courtesy of The North East Locomotive Preservation Group: nelpg.org.uk

What appear to be gates to the left of the engine is in fact a fence closing off the temporary crossing which was installed in the summer of 1966, during the pit closure fortnight, to carry alternate flows of traffic while a hole was dug (5 yards x 7 yards) for the concrete base of the new crossing.

Above: The name "Wapping" continues on a modern roadsign, situated just west of Wapping (railway) Bridge

The old main line railway passes Bournmoor to the east. It passes below the current A183 at an area known as "Wapping Bridge" and this area still retains the name "Wapping" today as illustrated in the road sign above. This is the only remaining reference to the fact that what we now know as Bournmoor, was once named Wapping.

It was once the main line from Newcastle to the south and is clearly marked on the old maps on this site. Even after the current main line was opened via Durham, the line which passes Wapping Bridge continued to be used at times when diversions off the new main line were needed, for engineering works, for example.

The pictures above and below shows passenger trains heading south at Wapping Bridge. Notice the old signal box on the left which is clearly marked on the old maps of the area. The picture above is of engine 'Singapore' pulling a diverted Edinburgh to King's Cross train on 18th June, 1961.

The above photograph was taken in July 2008 from more or less the same place as the previous photographs. Nature seems to be reclaiming the scene! This railway, also now known The Leamside Line, has recently been the subject of much debate regarding whether it could ever be re-instated as a working line.

Below are two very atmospheric photographs taken by photographer, Bill Watson.