Disused Stations:North Shields Station (Blyth & Tyne)

[Source: Alan Young]

Date opened:	1863 (probably 1.1.1863)
Location:	Immediately west of Mariners Lane. Near junctions of Beanley Crescent and Shipley Road. A cyletrack from Mariners Lane runs through the station site.
Company on opening:	Blyth & Tyne Railway
Date closed to passengers:	Probably 3.7.1882
Date closed completely:	Probably 3.7.1882
Company on closing:	North Eastern Railway
Present state:	The degraded remains of both platforms survive including brick facing on the southbound platform and timber facing on the northbound platform.
County:	Northumberland
OS Grid Ref:	NZ363692
Date of visit:	12.6.2011

Note: The station was on a new alignment, branching to the south-east a short distance north of the first terminus. This 2nd station was for a short time also a terminus. No details have been found of its design. In 1865 the line was extended to Tynemouth (3rd B&T site, immediately north of the NER terminus of 1847). Although Clinker gives the closure date of the 2nd B&T station as 1.4.1865, timetable evidence (1872) indicates that it remained open after the line was extended, and was renamed North Shields. Airey’s map (1881) includes it – although this source does not indicate if stations dealt only with goods traffic. So Tynemouth B&T 2nd station / North Shields was probably open until the 2nd NER Tynemouth (the present Metro station) opened in 1882. Evidence of the platforms was still discernible in 2011.

BRIEF HISTORY OF BLYTH & TYNE RAILWAY (Hartley-Monkseaton ‘Avenue Branch’; Monkseaton / Whitley Bay / Tynemouth area)

The southern end of the Blyth & Tyne Railway has a complicated history. Until 1861 there was a single route south from Blyth and Seghill through Prospect Hill to Percy Main, with a terminus adjacent to the NER station. However that year a new branch was opened, following the route of the former Whitley Waggonway, extending from Hartley to Tynemouth. It should be noted that this included the stretch to what is now Monkseaton, which was to be known as the ‘Avenue Branch’, and that the line beyond to Tynemouth was half a mile inland of the present day Monkseaton – Tynemouth Metro line.

At the Tynemouth end the original terminus was quickly replaced with a new one on a short branch which curved south-eastwards, and that in turn closed when its branch was extended to a third terminus, which adjoined the 1847 Tynemouth terminus of what had been the Newcastle & North Shields Railway. These developments are shown on the series of accompanying maps.

In 1864 the Blyth & Tyne reached Newcastle, with its terminus at New Bridge Street. This was achieved by diverting trains onto a new line just south of Holywell, through Backworth, Benton, and Jesmond. From Backworth a new line was opened to join the 1861 Whitley (Monkseaton) to Tynemouth route. Trains could now travel on the B&T from Newcastle (New Bridge Street) to Tynemouth, making the Holywell – Prospect Hill – Percy Main route, and the Avenue Branch between Hartley and Whitley (Monkseaton) redundant. These two lines closed in June 1864 on the day when the Newcastle – Tynemouth service was inaugurated. In June 1904 the Avenue Branch reopened to passenger traffic.

In 1874 the B&T was absorbed by the NER, and the opportunity was taken to reorganise the railway routes in the Monkseaton / Whitley / Tynemouth area. With the growth of housing and holidaymaking on the coast the ‘inland’ route from Monkseaton to North Shields was superseded in 1882 by one within sight of the sea, and the two formerly competing termini at Tynemouth were replaced with a splendid new through station. This created the coastal section of the familiar Coast Circle and Metro route, although there were to be realignments at Whitley Bay in 1910 and Monkseaton in 1915 where new, larger stations were built.

Click here for a list of sources and a Blyth & Tyne bibliography

1863 Bradshaw from Alan Young. Airey’s Railway Map of England & Wales (1881) from Alan Young. Route map drawn by Alan Young.

To see other stations on the Blyth & Tyne Railway Avenue branch click on the station name: The Avenue, Dairy House, Monkseaton (1st site), Whitley, Cullercoats (1st site), Tynemouth (1st site) & Tynemouth (3rd site)

See also Seaton Sluice and the unopened Collywell Bay branch: Brierdene & Collywell Bay

See also
Tynemouth (Newcastle & Berwick terminus)

A remarkable survivor in 1964 was Tynemouth (2nd) station, known as North Shields from 1865 until its closure in 1882. This view is looking north-west.
Photo by JC Dean

This 1:10,560 map, published in 1865, captures the Tynemouth / North Shields area at a very interesting stage in its railway development. ‘North Shields Terminus’ was the B&T’s Tynemouth (1st) station, opened to goods in 1860 and passengers in 1861. It closed to passengers in 1863 but continued in use for goods traffic under the name of North Shields. The replacement on a new branch to its north was Tynemouth (2nd), but this one was renamed North Shields – as it is shown on the map – when Tynemouth (3rd) was opened on an extension towards the coast (shown as Tynemouth Terminus). The Newcastle & Berwick’s Tynemouth station, by 1865 owned by the North Eastern Railway and including the Royal Hotel, can be seen immediately south of the B&T’s 3rd station.

c1882 1:2,500 OS Map. When the second B&T Tynemouth station was opened to the north-east of the original terminus (shown here as ‘North Shields’) the original one was renamed North Shields and relegated to handling goods traffic. A further extension of the new line, beyond the map, to the third Tynemouth station resulted in Tynemouth (2nd) being renamed North Shields, as it is
shown on this map.

1896 1:500 OS Town Plan. Tynemouth (2nd) was renamed North Shields in 1865, and it is believed to have closed in 1882. Its platforms are shown extant in 1896.

The cutting in which Tynemouth (2nd) - latterly known as North Shields - was located is returning to nature in this view looking north-west in July 1987. This is taken from the same viewpoint
as the 1964 picture.
Photo by John Mann

The same view from Mariners Lane bridge in June 2011.
Photo by Ali Ford

Remnant of the southbound platform (looking south-east) at North Shields station in June 2011.
Photo by Ali Ford

Remnant of the southbound platform (looking south-east) at North Shields station in June 2011.
Photo by Ali Ford

Remnant of the northbound platform (looking south-east) at North Shields station in June 2011.
Photo by Ali Ford

Looking south-east towards Mariners Lane bridge. The platforms of Tynemouth (2nd) / North Shields were behind the photographer.
Photo by Ali Ford

Looking north-west from beneath Mariners Lane bridge. The platforms of Tynemouth (2nd) / North Shields were on both sides of the trackbed, their south-east ramps being about 30yd ahead.
Photo by Ali Ford

[Source: Alan Young]

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Station Name: TYNEMOUTH 2nd site later renamed NORTH SHIELDS (Blyth & Tyne)