Coal and its Transportation Introduction

Transcription

1 Coal and its Transportation Introduction by John G. Milburn Coal has been extracted from this mother earth for many centuries, flint axe heads have been found embedded in the coal seams in the Derbyshire Coal fields. From history we know the Romans dug for coal on North Tyneside at Benwell, and when you consider that the River Tyne was used to supply the forts along Hadrian s Wall as well as the support forts and encampments behind the wall. Thus with the ships bringing goods into the Tyne it is fair to assume that these ships carried cargo away from the Tyne, and maybe some of the cargo would have included. As the centuries past the coal resources along the banks of the Tyne began to wane, therefore the search for this black gold progress away from the rivers edge and out into the countryside. Initially the coal was dug using Drift Mines (indentations in hillsides) or Bell Pits. The Bell Pits were the most frequent form of coal extraction, however one of the problems was the lack of light, one of the methods used to reflect the light was the gluing of fish scales together. These bell pits were numerous, as they were worked to the limit they moved to another piece of ground and started again. However one of the drawbacks of moving inland was the transport back to the river or coast, for the road conditions in this era was atrocious. Thus when it rained these so called roads were rutted and clay base thus they became impassable and when you consider the types of winter we have in the north, that for at least six months of the year these roads were useless. This made the need for, to find ways to carry the

2 coal back to the river or the coast for shipment to for example London; a priority as the need for coal in the capital was increasing at an alarming rate. Coal and its Transportation Early methods The early method was to make use of the packhorses, on the same principle as the lead miners had done in the distant days gone by. The routes these animal trains would have taken would I believe been along what was regularly known as the drovers trails, in this area of County Durham, there were several routes, by which they took the flocks of sheep etc. to the coast. These same routes were used by pack trains carrying the good from Upper Weardale down to the coast; the route was in reverse to supply these outlying districts, where the use of wagons was impractical, mainly due to the conditions of the roads. In South Durham, pack animals were used; each animal carried about 2 hundredweight (100 Kilo s approx.) thus it needed 10 animals to carry one ton. By 1696 there was about 20,000 horses needed to work the Tyneside coal trade. When you look at the amount of coal that was shipped from the northern ports, it is fair to assume that another method of carriage had to be thought out. In the 17th century (1669) they opened the wagon way called the Ravensworth Way from Dunston Staithes to Whickham Colliery. This must have been an industrious colliery for in the 1690 s they were sending 700 wains per day to the staithes, (a wain was a wagon, which carried 171/2 cwt [889 kilos], and thus they were sending tons). Coal and its Transportation Wagon ways

3 Coal mining took place around the area of the Pontop Estate in the 14th Century. When the estate was sold the underground coal value was taken into consideration when the price was agreed. It is written that some time before the middle of the 17th century a commencement was made to export coal from Pontop district, and it was conveyed in wooden trucks, having wooden wheels, on a now old fashioned Wagon way, having wooden sleepers and rails. Afterwards superseded by short metal plates, three feet long laid on stone sleepers, down the Derwent Valley to the Tyne at Derwent Haugh, from whence it was shipped from the Tyne to numerous places on the continent as well as London. One of these old wagon ways commenced to the south of Pontop Hall and travelled via Upper Lintz, across Syke Lane, and through the fields to the north of Burnopfield and Bryan s Leap, across Busty Bank, and through Gibside Woods. (Grey in his Chorographia published in 1649, mentions Mr Beaumont s wagons with one horse to carry down coals from the pit to the staithes ). On the wagon way, which travelled through the Daren t Valley, in Dipton there is a series of large ponds, which were alongside the tracks (if you could call them that). These ponds were used to soak the wheels of the carts in to stop them splitting with the continual use on the wooden tracks. There is still some of these ponds in existence today and can be seen if you walk along the old line, although they are now overgrown with lack of use. Although this system of wagon ways worked quite well there were problems and disputes, for these wagon ways crossed the land of several different owners/farmers who all wanted there cut of the pie. In the early days the carrier was paid 2/6 (121/2p) per day to carry coal from the pit to the staithes. From this 2/6 (121/2p) the

4 horse had to be fed, the wagon maintained (although it is fair to say that the early carriers were farm workers who worked on the coal when the wagon was not needed on the farm, thus the cart/wagon was not idle). Also the workers wage was paid from this amount, as well as the wayleave the charge made for crossing the land of other owners, it is said this could be as high as a penny per load thus some land owners made large profits. Coal and its Transportation Harelaw and Tanfield wagon ways The Harelaw Wagon Way described in J. W. Fawcett s The Parish of Dipton, part of this old wagon way has now been transformed into a cycle track. An elderly lady told me how she remembers tagging along with her father when he used to water the local council work horses in the 1920 s, she said they used to walk the animals from Stobb House to the troughs which were along side the old Harelaw wagon way. Today all that is left is a stone cowl, which covers the spring. Although the previously mentioned wagon ways are well known to local people, when you mention the old wagon way you cannot forget the old Tanfield way, which was opened in the 1720 s. This wagon way crossed the then new Causey Arch, this was built in 1725, however this first bridge was built of timber and could not take the strain and it collapsed. In 1725, Ralph Wood began to build the second bridge, this time the materials used was stone, and it took over a year to construct, on the top of the bridge there is a sundial with the date of 1727, and the name of the mason Ralph Wood. Although it is said that the mason Ralph Wood who designed and built this bridge committed suicide with fears that this one would fall down like the first one,

5 there is no proof of this happening. This one is still surviving today as the oldest single span railway bridge in the world. It is fair to say that there were hundreds of miles of wagon ways throughout the North of England. However there is virtually nothing left to mark this method of transport, the indentation or grooves in the land, or where the old tracks are transformed into cycle tracks. Although while they were landscaping the old pit heaps at Fence Houses they found still in place the old wooden tracks, these have been photographed and preserved for history. Coal and its Transportation Railways As history progressed with the innovation of steam in the mid 18th century, we find that in some places they installed stationary engines to pull the full & empty wagons up hill, and lower them down the other side. One of these engines was situated at East Castle for in the 1851 Census the occupation of a family head was the Stationary Engineman. After the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825, there were several new railway lines opened. One of these new companies was the Stanhope and Tyne Railroad, the first part of the railway only came to Annfield Plain, but on 10th September 1834, the final stretch of the line to South Shields was opened. The first to use the new line was a coal train of 100 wagons from the Medomsley Colliery to South Shields; the second train was the one carrying the dignitaries. With this new innovation we see the beginnings of the decline of the wagon ways, as where the tracks were of iron, the horse drawn were now began to be drawn by

6 steam loco s. However some of the courses used by the wagon ways were totally unsuitable for the steam engine as to the steep gradient, thus in some cases the incline was still used. Coal and its Transportation Tyne and Wear Now once this precious cargo was deposited at the staithes, it had to be transferred to the ships to complete the journey to its final destination. Both the Tyne and the Wear were difficult to navigate due to shallows and low old fashioned bridges, thus ships had to use boats to unload and load cargo, on the Tyne and the Wear these boats were called Keels. The Keel was about 40ft (12.2m) long, and 20ft (6.1m) across, the boat was clinker built with an almost oval, but not flat bottom. These boats can be found in the history of the Tyne in the 14th century. These were each designed to carry 8 Newcastle Chaldrons, which was estimated to be between 21 and 25 tons. Each of the boats were crewed by four men, the skipper, the Haddrack who steered the boat and two Hillie s who poled the vessel along, keeping it clear of the shoals. When you think that a Collier carried some 580 tons, thus it took 23 keels to load a ship, it must have been like the pitman a hard and dangerous life for the water can be a good friend but a lethal enemy. In 1712 it is estimated that there were 1600 keel men working the Tyne (400 keels), however by 1800, this figured had doubled to over 3200 keel men. The keel men of the Tyne very concerned with the Welfare of their fellow workers thus they built a hospital in Newcastle. But also they were a very militant group, and fought hard to get the bets deal for the workers, however, with the coming of steam this caused the reduction of the keels. During one strike in the 1830 s, a steam engine from Wylam

7 was placed on a keel, and paddle blades fitted to the wheels to tow keels up and down the Tyne. When the loaded Collier left the Tyne, it took some 14 days to sail to the capital, London. However, the coal from the Tyne & the Wear was to all the countries in Europe, for it wasn t until the mid 1800 s that countries like Germany started to produce their own coal, (their pits were sunk by English miners). Coal and its Transportation Railways As history progressed with the innovation of steam in the mid 18th century, we find that in some places they installed stationary engines to pull the full & empty wagons up hill, and lower them down the other side. One of these engines was situated at East Castle for in the 1851 Census the occupation of a family head was the Stationary Engineman. After the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825, there were several new railway lines opened. One of these new companies was the Stanhope and Tyne Railroad, the first part of the railway only came to Annfield Plain, but on 10th September 1834, the final stretch of the line to South Shields was opened. The first to use the new line was a coal train of 100 wagons from the Medomsley Colliery to South Shields; the second train was the one carrying the dignitaries. With this new innovation we see the beginnings of the decline of the wagon ways, as where the tracks were of iron, the horse drawn were now began to be drawn by steam loco s. However some of the courses used by the wagon ways were totally

8 unsuitable for the steam engine as to the steep gradient, thus in some cases the incline was still used. Note: The views that are expressed on the website are the contributors own and not necessarily those of Durham County Council. This is a community website so no guarantee can be given of the historical accuracy of individual contributions