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The Derwent Valley Railway was a branch railway in County Durham, England. Built by the North Eastern Railway, it ran from Swalwell (now in Tyne and Wear) to Blackhill via five intermediate stations, and onwards to Consett.
In 1842, the Derwent Iron Company (DIC) had taken over the southern part of the former Stanhope and Tyne Railway. After the West Durham Railway constructed a line to Crook, the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) began construction of the Weardale Extension Railway to Crook, which opened on 8 November 1843, from a junction on its leased Weardale Railway. [1] As a result, the DIC proposed an extension from Crook to the foot of the Meeting Slacks incline, which latter became Waskerley, to provide a southern shipping route for their lime and iron products. Having obtained an extension of their right of way from the Bishop of Durham, the DIC submitted the plans to the S&DR, who agreed to the extension as long as the DIC leased the entire southern section of the former S&TR to them. The Stanhope to Carrhouse section passed into the possession of the S&DR on 1 January 1845, with the completed 10-mile (16 km) Weardale Extension Railway from the Wear Valley Junction to Waskerley opening on 16 May 1845. [1]
After the opening of the Weardale Extension Railway and the completion of Hownes Gill Viaduct under Thomas Bouch in 1858, [2] [3] the DIC had pressed the newly formed NER to link Consett with the River Tyne via Gateshead. [4]
Constructed as an extension of the existing Lanchester Valley Railway, the Lanchester Railway Extension as it was originally known was opened in 1867 after three years’ building work. Four viaducts were constructed and a deep, 800-metre (870 yd) long cutting was dug near Rowlands Gill. The Nine Arches Viaduct was one of the major engineering feats of the railway. It is 500 ft (150 m) long and was built because the Earl of Strathmore would not allow the railway to pass through the Gibside Estate. [5]
At its peak in 1914 the railway was carrying over half a million passengers a year with a regular goods traffic of timber, bricks and coal to Newcastle and iron ore to Consett. [6]
The railway is notable for an unsolved murder that occurred at Lintz Green railway station. The stationmaster, George Wilson, [7] met his death on the night of 7 October 1911. No satisfactory explanation was ever forthcoming despite one of the most intensive murder investigations ever carried out in the North East of England. [8]
High Westwood Station was closed in 1942 while the remaining stations survived into the 1950s. The line finally closed on 11 November 1963. [6]
The railway is commemorated in the Geordie folk song about an ill-fated train journey from Rowlands Gill, Wor Nanny's a mazer . [5]
Durham County Council have since developed the route into a multi-user path and Gateshead Council into the Derwent Walk country park, [9] part of the Sustrans network of national foot and cycle paths. The viaducts and bridges were repaired and the entire trackbed, with the exception of a small section through Rowlands Gill where the cutting was infilled, has now become a section of the Sea to Sea Cycle Route. [10]
In June 2020, MP for North West Durham, Richard Holden, sponsored a bid to the Ideas Fund of the Department for Transport's Restoring Your Railway Fund, hoping to access up to £50,000 to cover the cost of an initial study into the feasibility of restoring a rail link [11] between Consett and Blaydon. [12] In November 2020 it was announced that the requested funds would be provided for such a study into reinstating a rail service between Consett and Newcastle, [13] [14] although it was unclear whether this would focus entirely on the former Derwent Valley Railway or also include the former line via Birtley.
The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It includes Gateshead, Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Felling, Birtley, Pelaw, Dunston and Low Fell. The borough forms part of the Tyneside conurbation, centred on Newcastle upon Tyne. At the 2021 census, the borough had a population of 196,154.
The Weardale Railway is an independently owned British single-track branch line heritage railway between Bishop Auckland, Witton-le-Wear, Wolsingham, Frosterley and Stanhope. Weardale Railway began services on 23 May 2010, but decided to run special trains rather than a scheduled service for the 2013 season. The line was purchased by the Auckland Project in 2020 with a view to restarting passenger services. In 2021, a bid was submitted to the Restoring Your Railway fund. In October 2021, the Department for Transport allocated funding for the development of a business case.
Waskerley is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated six miles to the southwest of Consett and three miles southwest of Castleside and the A68. Stanhope in the Durham Dales is a further six miles to the southwest and the Derwent Reservoir and the village of Edmundbyers is approximately five miles to the north. The village of Muggleswick is three miles to the north.
Burnopfield is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated north of Stanley and Annfield Plain, close to the River Derwent and is 564 feet above sea level. There are around 4,553 inhabitants in Burnopfield. It is located 7 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne and 15 miles from Durham.
Low Westwood is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated immediately to the west of Hamsterley. Low Westwood is probably best known for Hamsterley Christ Church and Derwent care home.
Rowlands Gill is a village on the north bank of the River Derwent, in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. The Gibside Estate is near the town.
North West Durham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Bishop Auckland is a railway station that serves the market town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, North East England, 11 miles 77 chains (19.3 km) north-west of Darlington. The station is the Western terminus of the Tees Valley Line, which links it to Saltburn via Darlington. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
The Consett Iron Company Ltd was an industrial business based in the Consett area of County Durham in the United Kingdom. The company owned coal mines and limestone quarries, and manufactured iron and steel. It was registered on 4 April 1864 as successor to the Derwent & Consett Iron Company Ltd. This in turn was the successor to the Derwent Iron Company, founded in 1840.
The Stanhope and Tyne Railway was an early British mineral railway that ran from Stanhope to South Shields at the mouth of the River Tyne in County Durham, England. It ran through the towns of Birtley, Chester Le Street, West Stanley and Consett. The object was to convey limestone from Stanhope and coal from West Consett and elsewhere to the Tyne, and to local consumers. Passengers were later carried on parts of the line.
Lintz Green Railway Station was on the Derwent Valley Railway Branch of the North Eastern Railway near Consett, County Durham, England. The railway station opened with the rest of the line on 2 December 1867 and closed to passengers on the 2 November 1953. The line closed completely in 1963 and was dismantled with the station site becoming part of the Derwent Walk Country Park.
The Hownsgill Viaduct is a former railway bridge located west of Consett in County Durham, England. It is currently used as a footpath and cycleway.
Consett was a railway station built by the North Eastern Railway on the route of the Stanhope and Tyne Railway, in County Durham, North East England. It served the industrial town of Consett, which was best known for its steelworks.
The Lanchester Valley Railway was an English railway line that was developed by the North Eastern Railway to run between Durham to Consett. Extending 12 miles (19 km) along the valley of the River Browney, it opened on 1 September 1862. Closed under the Beeching Axe, it has been redeveloped by Durham County Council as a foot and cycle path as the Lanchester Valley Railway Path.
Crook railway station served the town of Crook, County Durham, England. It was located on the Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway line from Bishop Auckland to Blackhill between Wear Valley Junction and Tow Law.
Blackhill railway station served the village of Blackhill, County Durham, England from 1867 to 1955 on the Derwent Valley Line.
Wear Valley Junction railway station primarily served as an interchange between the Wear Valley Line and the Weardale Extension Railway (WXR) between 1847 and 1935. It was the closest railway station to the village of High Grange in County Durham, North East England.
Etherley railway station served the village of Witton Park in County Durham, North East England, from 1847 to 1965 on the Wear Valley line. It was briefly reopened during the summers of 1991 and 1992 as Witton Park.
Burnhill Junction was a military railway goods station that served the Saltersgate Ammunition Depot in the village of Waskerley in County Durham, England. It was located at the junction of both the Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway line from Bishop Auckland to Blackhill between Wear Valley Junction and Tow Law. As well as the Stanhope and Tyne Railway between Stanhope and Consett.
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