In its earlier years the station name was ‘Ferry Hill’ in some timetables. The Clarence Railway was the first to provide a (horse-drawn) passenger service to Ferryhill on its route between Stockton-on-Tees and Crow Trees (also referred to as Quarrington). When the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway opened its route through Ferryhill on 18 June 1844 it is not known whether the existing Clarence Railway station continued to be used alongside the YN&B. The route taken by the railways used a north-south gap through the East Durham plateau, which required enlarging by the Clarence Railway company: a huge cutting 75yd wide and 67ft deep was excavated. This route left Ferryhill village almost a mile north-west of the station(s).
The YNB station building was west of the tracks on the down platform. As with others of this company’s stations G. T. Andrews was the architect. Set at right angles to the tracks it was a handsome ashlar building bearing his hallmarks, but the exterior elevation was stepped forward, lacked a porch and had a small gable rising above an arched first-floor window. A single-storey range abutted the main building and stretched northwards along the platform.
The development of Ferryhill as a nodal point on the network increased its importance, and this was particularly so when the opening of the Ferryhill – Durham link in 1872 added a further route which became the East Coast main line, superseding the ‘Old Main Line’ via Leamside. The inadequacy of Ferryhill station required its rebuilding in 1876, and the design was executed during Benjamin Burleigh’s short tenure of the NER Architect post. Brick was used in its construction, and pointed arches were used on window openings to add a touch of refinement. In the process the existing station building was retained but used only as the stationmaster’s house; with some alterations and additions it survived in this role until the 1960s.
Although a small community was developing close to the station, and Ferryhill village itself was growing, the design of the new station reflected its role as an interchange point, rather than one serving only the local community: the earlier rebuilding of Leamside was a similar case. As at Leamside a broad island platform was the principal feature; at Ferryhill it was 290yd in length with two-road bays set into each end. The platform was reached by a staircase from the road bridge which crossed the site. Fawcett (2003) notes that the platform was sheltered by a large expanse of glazed ridge-and-furrow roofing, with the low office range almost hidden in the middle. He also refers to the complications with the building contract which was awarded in December 1875 to the lowest bidder, Robert Weatherley of York. Owing to a mistake on Weatherley’s part, in January 1876 J Whaley of Durham took over the contract but was no longer prepared to keep to his tender, and the contract was returned to Weatherley at £500 over his original bid.
The timetable summary below indicates the importance of Ferryhill as a junction, with seven routes radiating from the station. The Coxhoe service was always sparse and followed most of the Clarence Railway route to Crow Trees / Quarrington. Coxhoe lost its passenger service in 1902 but continued as a goods depot until the 1960s.
December 1895 departures |
Train frequency |
Newcastle or beyond via Leamside |
8 [Sunday 4] |
Durham or beyond |
9 |
Coxhoe |
2 |
Spennymoor or beyond |
10 |
West Hartlepool |
6 [Sunday 3] |
Darlington or beyond |
7 [Sunday 2] |
Stockton |
9 |
Some trains divided or joined at Ferryhill station |
The engine shed and goods yard were immediately north-west of the passenger station, reached by several sidings from the north. The 1904 RCH Hand-book of railway stations indicates that Ferryhill possessed the normal range of goods facilities including a one-ton crane and a large number of associated industrial enterprises that brought traffic to the railway; these included the NER Company gasworks, two limestone quarries with lime works, a sand quarry, a colliery, and engine works and three slag works. A livestock auction mart was also established immediately east of the passenger station.
In 1923 the NER system became part of the new London & North Eastern Railway. The passenger services provided by the LNER in winter 1937-8 are summarised below. The local passenger services between Ferryhill and Leamside were earmarked for withdrawal by the LNER in 1939, but they survived until 1941.
September 1937 departures |
Train frequency |
Newcastle or beyond via Leamside |
5 |
Durham or beyond |
7 [Sunday 4] |
Spennymoor or beyond |
6MF 7S |
West Hartlepool |
8MF 12S [Sunday 2] |
Darlington or beyond |
9MF 10S [Sunday 2] |
Stockton |
8 |
|
MF Monday-Friday S Saturday |
In January 1948 the East Coast main line between Shaftholme Junction (Doncaster) and the Scottish border and the other former NER lines became part of the new nationalised British Railways’ North Eastern Region. Early in this era the ridge-and-furrow roofing gave way to much simpler steel-framed awnings. Whilst the LNER running-in nameboards with metal letters on wood were retained, in the early 1950s BR fitted totem name signs and replaced the casement-style gas lamp standards with Sugg gas lamps on curved pipes supported by concrete posts.
In 1911 the North Eastern Railway recorded 17,394 tickets issued at Ferryhill. By the standards of the day this was not a large number, but, as noted earlier, Ferryhill was inconveniently located for the village, and much of its traffic will have involved passengers changing trains. Whilst most stations saw a substantial decline in bookings by 1951, Ferryhill’s figure rose slightly to 18,229. At this time Ferryhill was still the junction with the East Coast main line for passenger trains to Stockton, West Hartlepool and Spennymoor, but each of these routes closed in 1952; thereafter Ferryhill was served only by trains on the main line.
In March 1963 the Reshaping of British Railways (‘Beeching’) report recommended the closure to passengers of Ferryhill station, but it was not until 22 November 1965 that the formal closure procedure began. The Transport Users’ Consultative Committee was supplied with data gathered in the week ending 10 July 1965 revealing that 24 passengers joined and 19 alighted from northbound trains, while 19 joined and 25 alighted from southbound trains. Average summer 1965 figures suggested that there were ten regular northbound and two regular southbound users of the station. There had been a decline of one-third in passengers using Ferryhill station since 1961 when approximately 16,000 tickets were issued, falling to 10,500 in 1965. The committee noted that the station was badly sited for the community centred on the A1 [now A167] with 65 buses on Monday-to-Friday and 83 on Saturday serving them. There were also operational difficulties for stopping trains at Ferryhill. Trains from the south had to leave the down main line, cross the up main, then travel half-a-mile before entering the platform. On leaving the station they then needed to re-cross the up main line. This procedure was stated to add 6½ to 7 minutes to the journey time. There were 22 objections to the closure of Ferryhill station.
The TUCC hearing ended on 17 March 1966 and their report, dated 18 April was delivered to Barbara Castle, Secretary of State for Transport two days later. On 12 December she consented to the closure, and Ferryhill station closed to passengers on 6 March 1967. The final timetable for the station is shown below. It will be noted how irregular the service was, including a twelve-hour gap in the northbound service on Monday-to-Friday, during which time on a Saturday there were three train calls.
Up trains winter 1966 |
Destination |
Down trains winter 1966 |
Destination |
07.54 SO |
Leeds |
07.57 |
Newcastle |
08.09 SX |
Leeds |
09.50 |
Newcastle |
11.41 |
Leeds |
11.20 SO |
Edinburgh |
15.01 |
York |
13.52 SO |
Newcastle |
17.57 SX |
Darlington |
14.50 SO |
Newcastle |
18.09 SO |
Leeds |
19.09 |
Newcastle |
19.45 |
Bristol TM |
|
|
22.15 SO |
Darlington |
SO Saturday only |
|
23.53 SO |
London Kings X |
SX Saturdays excepted |
|
Goods services continued until at least 1984; the precise goods closure date has not been found. Ferryhill station was demolished soon after closure, with nothing remaining of the platforms and buildings by 1972. It is possible that Ferryhill might become a passenger railway junction again some time in the future. There have been campaigns – for example in 1989 – for services on the route from Ferryhill through Sedgefield to Stockton to be restored on the former passenger route, which has been used only by freight and occasional diversions of main line trains since it closed to passengers in 1952. In addition, although it has recently been closed and lifted, there are calls for the ‘Old Main Line’ to be reopened, not least because the large new town of Washington could be served.
BRIEF HISTORY OF 'THE OLD MAIN LINE'
The ‘Old Main Line’ was the name frequently given to the railway between Ferryhill and Pelaw in County Durham which, from 1850 until 1872 formed part of the ‘East Coast’ route from London (Kings Cross) to Newcastle. Prior to 1850 trains ran via Brockley Whins, prior to the opening of the Washington – Pelaw line, and until 1848 terminated at Gateshead rather than Newcastle. From 1872 the present East Coast main line route was used, with diversions in 1906 when the opening of King Edward Bridge removed the need to travel via Gateshead (West) and at Newton Hall Junction, north of Durham, where the curvature of the tracks was reduced in the late 1960s. The evolution of the ‘Old Main Line’ was far from straightforward.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century waggonways were already in existence to move coal from the mines in south-east Northumberland and north-eastern County Durham to tidal water for export. It stands to reason that passengers will have been carried unofficially on such lines, but the first recorded passenger transport by rail in north-east Durham was in 1834 on the Pontop & South Shields route. Originally opened as the Stanhope & Tyne Railroad, it was not established by parliamentary Act but was built on the ‘wayleave’ system under a Deed of Settlement dated 3 February 1834, perhaps to conceal the ambitious nature of the scheme, which was 33¾ miles in length. Under this arrangement the company was to pay a toll, based on the amount of traffic carried, to each landowner through whose property the railway passed.
The south-western end of the line was in Weardale, on the moors just south of Stanhope. Here limestone was quarried, and there were deposits of coal available at intervals between Consett and South Shields. In July 1832 building of the line began, and progress was rapid. Although much of the terrain it crossed was moorland at high altitude, few earthworks were constructed or excavated, and some steep slopes on the south-western section of the route were negotiated with inclines; indeed more than half was worked by inclined planes, either self-acting or with a winding engine, and a few near-level stretches were worked by horses. Locomotives were used only at the eastern end. Much of the line remained unfenced until it closed in the 1960s. The route from Stanhope lime-kilns to Annfield was opened on 15 May 1834, and the eastern section onward to South Shields on 10 September 1834. The engineer T E Harrison surveyed the route; he was to become one of the most influential personnel of the NER.
The carriage of minerals was the priority of the Stanhope & Tyne, and no attempt was made to serve centres of population which would generate passenger traffic. Nevertheless there were requests for passengers to be conveyed so they were permitted to ride free-of-charge on top of the coal wagons. Soon a wagon was attached specifically for passenger use, and shortly afterwards a separate locomotive-hauled passenger coach was provided fortnightly on pay days. Finally, on 16 April 1835, a full passenger service was instated between Durham Turnpike (one mile north of Chester-le-Street) and South Shields, possibly calling from the start at Vigo and Washington. At South Shields a nearby inn sold tickets, and passengers boarded the train in sidings. Part of this route, from Washington to Brockley Whins, was to become a section of the original ‘Old Main Line’. The isolated stretch of passenger railway between Durham Turnpike and South Shields was joined by the Brandling Junction Railway from Gateshead to Brockley Whins, three miles south-west of South Shields, opening to minerals on 30 August 1838 and passengers on 5 September 1839; and the Durham Junction Railway, stretching north from an obscure terminus at Rainton Meadow (with horse-bus connection to Durham) to Washington opened for mineral traffic on 24 August 1838 and passengers on 9 March 1840.
Unfortunately the cost of running the Stanhope & Tyne proved unsustainable. In the moorlands wayleaves cost about £25 per mile per year, but at the eastern end the figures were £300 or more. The outgoings on wayleaves alone amounted to £5,600. Plans for a dock (where Tyne Dock was later opened) were abandoned. Traffic did not develop to the expected levels and the wayleaves proved to be financially crippling. By the close of 1840 the railway company was £440,000 in debt, and it was wound up on 5 February 1841. The following year the Pontop & South Shields Railway obtained an Act to take over the northern end of its track which had hosted the passenger service. The Derwent Iron Company took control of the section south-west of Carr House to bring limestone from Stanhope to its furnaces at Consett. This section later passed into the hands of the S&D.
The Brandling Junction Railway (BJ) originated as a private venture by brothers R W and J Brandling to connect Gateshead, South Shields and Monkwearmouth. The brothers obtained an Act to buy or purchase leases for the land over which their lines would pass, but they chose to proceed by the wayleave system. A company came into being on 7 September 1835 to acquire the assets of the Brandling Railway, and as the Brandling Junction Railway Company it was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 7 June 1836. The Stanhope & Tyne also sponsored a Gateshead, South Shields & Monkwearmouth Railway, but discussions with the BJR resulted in the abandonment of the plan. The BJR opened in three sections. The first was from the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway’s Redheugh in Gateshead, adjacent to the River Tyne, which ascended at 1:23 through Greenes Field to Oakwellgate; this was operated by a stationary engine. A self-acting incline from Gateshead Quayside was opened with it on the same day, 15 January 1839. The route from South Shields to Monkwearmouth opened on 19 June 1839, followed by the connecting lines between Gateshead and Cleadon Lane (later East Boldon) and between Brockley Whins and Green Lane (north-east of Brockley Whins) on 5 September 1839. A chord known as the Newton Garths branch opened on 9 September 1839 between East Boldon and West Boldon junctions, immediately south-east of Pontop Crossing, but this was not used by passenger trains. On 9 March 1840 the west-to-north link between the BJ and S&T opened at Pontop Crossing which enabled through services between the several termini at Gateshead, South Shields, Monkwearmouth and the Durham Junction Railway’s Rainton Meadows to operate. However services from the south had, at first, to reverse from just north of Pontop Crossing to reach Brockley Whins in a complex operation (described on the Brockley Whins page).
The Durham Junction Railway (DJ) was authorised by an Act of 16 June 1834. It became an important link in the chain of railways forming the ‘Old Main Line’, the original intention was merely to redirect to the Tyne coal from the pits in the Houghton-le-Spring area, and from pits served by the Hartlepool Railway. Even these modest ambitions were not realised as its southern terminus was to be at Rainton Meadows, two miles short of Moorsley, its intended destination, and the Houghton-le-Spring branch, authorised by an Act of 1837, was never constructed. Nevertheless a ‘Station Road’ was partly constructed in Houghton – the triumph of hope over reality – which was to be one of the largest population centres in the North-East never to have the benefit of a passenger station.
The DJ’s crowning glory was the stately stone viaduct over the River Wear between Penshaw and Washington, and based upon the Roman bridge at Alcántara, Spain. The last stone was laid on the day of Queen Victoria’s coronation, 28 June 1838, thus it was named Victoria Bridge (or Viaduct). The engineer T E Harrison constructed four main arches, those at each end of 100ft span and the two central arches of 160ft and 144ft; the total length was 811ft and the height above water level was 135ft. In 1843 the DJ became part of the portfolio of the ambitious George Hudson (the ‘Railway King’) as part of his plan for an integrated east-coast route. The Act of 23 May 1844 which confirmed his purchase of the line also made provision for the project of bridging the Tyne.
At Washington the DJ connected with the Stanhope & Tyne whose metals were used as far as Brockley Whins. Here the BJ line was joined, and the passenger service between Rainton Meadows and Gateshead took this route from its inception on 9 March 1840. The S&T owned over half of the DJ shares and also worked the services. As noted above a reversal was necessary at Brockley Whins, and this inconvenience was compounded by congestion caused by the DJ and S&T/P&SS trains sharing the line between Washington and Brockley Whins. To allow more efficient operation powers were sought to construct a direct curve and to widen the line between Washington and Brockley Whins: an Act of 23 May 1844 authorised these projects. The curve was on a difficult site intersected by the River Don and was constructed on a wooden viaduct which stood until 1940. The viaduct was used by main line trains until 1 October 1850 when the more direct route between Washington and Pelaw via Usworth was opened.
For the next stage in the evolution of the ‘Old Main Line’ through County Durham it is necessary to return to the 1830s. The Great North of England Railway obtained its Act for a route from Redheugh Quay at Gateshead to Croft (south of Darlington) on 4 July 1836. After opening from York to Darlington the GNE decided, for financial reasons, not to construct the route onward to Gateshead, and on 5 October 1841 agreed to relinquish the powers to Robert Davies, James Richardson and John Hotham, who acted on behalf of the embryo Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway. The N&DJ agreed to apply for powers to finish the line and pay all costs. The N&DJ was incorporated on 18 June 1842, and on 11 April 1843 the northern part of the GNE was transferred by Act of Parliament to the N&DJ. Work proceeded swiftly, and the line opened throughout on 15 April 1844 to mineral traffic and to passengers on 19 June. The short section between Belmont Junction (where the Durham branch left the main line) to join the Durham Junction line at Rainton Crossing was the last to be completed. There was now a direct railway link from London to the Tyne: on 18 June 1844, the day before the route opened to regular passenger traffic, a special train made history when it ran from London (Euston Square) to Gateshead in 9h 21m, including stops totalling 70 minutes. At the time of opening the N&DJ did not actually own the line beyond Washington, but had a station at Gateshead, reached via the P&SS and BJ railways: although only authorised by the Act of 23 May 1844 the station was illustrated by an engraving in a Gateshead newspaper four weeks later.
The early days of the N&DJ were difficult owing to strained relations with the GNE. For details see K Hoole’s Regional History vol 4.
The original ‘East Coast’ main line of 1844 therefore ran from Ferryhill to Gateshead via Shincliffe, Leamside, Penshaw, Washington, Brockley Whins and Pelaw. The Gateshead terminus was at Oakwellgate, which had opened on 5 September 1839. On 2 September 1844 Oakwellgate closed, and the service was diverted to the Greenesfield terminus, which had opened on 19 June 1844. This terminus, in turn, gave way to a new through station which would eventually be known as Gateshead East, when the main line was extended to Newcastle Central, crossing the River Tyne on a temporary bridge (opened 1 November 1848) then on the High Level Bridge, which opened on 30 August 1850. From 1 October 1850 the new, shorter route via Usworth was used between Washington and Pelaw, avoiding Brockley Whins. This ‘Old Main Line’ or ‘Leamside’ route was used until 15 January 1872 when through express services were diverted to the route via Durham.
The ‘Old Main Line’ continued life as an important freight route and retained its stopping passenger service between Leamside and Ferryhill into LNER days. This service - latterly amounting to four up and five down trains on weekdays and one up on a Sunday, calling at the intermediate stations of Shincliffe and Sherburn Colliery – was to have been withdrawn in 1939 but closure was deferred until June 1941. Thereafter the Leamside – Ferryhill line was used for passenger trains diverted from the main line via Durham and for freight traffic. In 1991 British Rail mothballed the line, but owing to dumping of rubbish on the lines, removal of rails at level-crossings, theft of 2½ miles of track near Penshaw in 2003, and effects of overall neglect Network Rail decided to close the line entirely and the rails were removed by April 2013. Concrete sleepers recovered from the route are understood to be destined for re-use on the Waverley Route currently under construction between Edinburgh, Galashiels and Tweedbank.
The Durham diversion was, like the development of the Leamside route, a result of evolution rather than one direct action.
BRIEF HISTORY OF 'THE NEW MAIN LINE'
Access to Gateshead from the south was via Leamside until 1872, when the present-day East Coast main line superseded it. However much earlier, in July 1846, the York & Newcastle Railway announced its intention to promote a Bill for a line following a route via the Team valley from Gateshead (and ultimately Newcastle). On 30 June 1848 the Y&N – by now the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway – obtained an Act authorising construction. The proposed route was from Gateshead via Team Valley to Newton Hall, where a branch to Durham and Bishop Auckland continued southwards, while the main line curved eastwards for about a mile then turned south to join the main line near Belmont Junction. However in 1849 the work was postponed owing to the downfall of George Hudson.
The NER in 1862 revived the project, but the line authorised was only between Gateshead and Newton Hall on the Bishop Auckland branch north of Durham, which had opened from Leamside in 1857. The section eastwards from Newton Hall had been constructed as part of the Bishop Auckland branch, but there was no west-to-south curve near Leamside to allow through running from the north onto the old main line via Shincliffe. Consequently the new line could be used only as an alternative route to Durham and the south via Bishop Auckland; and at first there were only four stopping trains in each direction between Newcastle and Durham. The Team Valley route opened on 1 December 1868, and it became part of the ‘new’ East Coast main line on 15 January 1872 when the line between Relly Mill Junction (one mile south of Durham) and Tursdale Junction (one mile north of Ferryhill) was completed.
Sources and bibliography:
- Biddle, Gordon Victorian stations (David & Charles 1973)
- Biddle, Gordon Britain’s historic railway buildings (Oxford University Press 2003)
- Bragg, S and Scarlett, E North Eastern lines and stations (NERA 1999)
- Clinker, C R Register of closed passenger stations and goods depots
(Avon Anglia 1978)
- Cook, R A and Hoole, K North Eastern Railway historical maps
(RCHS 2nd edition 1991)
- Fawcett, Bill A history of North Eastern Railway architecture (Three volumes)
(NERA 2001-05)
- Fawcett, Bill George Townsend Andrews of York (NERA 2011)
- Guy, Andy Steam and speed: railways of Tyne and Wear from the earliest days
(Tyne Bridge Publishing 2003)
- Hoole, Ken A regional history of the railways of Great Britain: vol 4 The North East
(David & Charles 2nd edition 1974)
- Hoole, Ken Railway stations of the North East (David & Charles 1985)
- Hurst, Geoffrey Register of closed railways 1948-1991(Milepost Publications 1992)
- Quick, Michael Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology
(RCHS 2009)
- Sinclair, Neil T Railways of Sunderland (Tyne & Wear County Council Museums 1985)
- Teasdale, John G (Ed) A history of British Railways’ North Eastern Region (NERA 2009)
- Young, Alan Lost stations of Northumberland & Durham (Silver Link 2011)
- Hansard Various (HMSO)
- North Eastern Express North Eastern Railway Society (various)
Tickets from Michael Stewart (except 7114 JC Dean) Bradshaws from Chris Totty & NER timetable Alan Young. Totem from Richard Furness. Route maps drawn by Alan Young.
To see other stations on the Old Main Line click on the station name: Felling 2nd, Felling 3rd , Felling 1st, Pelaw 1st, Pelaw 3rd, Pelaw 4th , Pelaw 2nd, Usworth, Washington 2nd, Washington 1st, Penshaw 1st, Penshaw 2nd, Fencehouses, Rainton, Rainton Meadows (on branch), Leamside 1st, Leamside 2nd, Belmont Junction, Durham Gilesgate (on branch), Sherburn Colliery & Shincliffe
See also Coxhoe (branch from Ferryhill)
See also: Springwell, Brockley Whins (1st site), Brockley Whins (2nd site)
& Boldon (route prior to 1850)
See also Sunderland and Durham (via Leamside):
Durham (still open), Frankland, Cox Green, South Hylton , Hylton, Pallion 1st, Pallion 2nd , Millfield 2nd, Millfield 1st, Millfield 3rd , Sunderland Fawcett Street (on branch) & Sunderland Central (Still open)
Station still open as part of the Tyne & Wear metro |