Northumberland Coalfield

 

 

Today I covered a slice through the Northumberland Coalfield. Starting in Newbiggin-on-sea, riding through Ashington to Pegswood then returning through Bothal and Woodhorn to Newbiggin. 

NCN 155 runs from Newbiggin-on-sea to Morpeth. The whole route is less than 8 miles long, but I only followed it for about 5 miles, as far as Pegswood. That section is pretty flat. The only real challenge is following twists and turns through Ashington. On the route back, for variety, I deviated from NCN 155 to visit Bothal then Woodhorn.

Newbiggin-on-sea has history as a fishing port and colliery town but today it mainly has the character of a small seaside resort Today was a sunny Saturday. It followed what feels like endless days of rain. Despite the cold, lots of people were out. Newbiggin-on-sea claims to have the longest promenade in Northumberland and it was buzzing with activity.

A short section of NCN 155 took me to Ashington. Until the 1840s Ashington was a tiny hamlet. But it lies above several layers of coal seams. In the second half of the 19th century the Duke of Portland built housing to attract people to come and work at his multiple local collieries. Ashington expanded rapidly to become the "world's largest pit village". The coal industry declined rapidly in the 1970's and 80's but the long parallel rows of colliery housing remain. The loss of employment hit the town hard, and parts still show the scars. But former industrial land has been reclaimed, private housing has expanded. Ashington station reopened to passenger services at the end of 2024. It feels as though a different town is emerging.

Next, on to Pegswood. This is a small pit village, with a similar history of growth, decline and recent regeneration. Perhaps the most striking feature is this sculpture, officially called 'Fire', but also known as "Robin of Pegswood", it depicts a bronze figure on a steel girder firing a miner's shovel as though it was a bow and arrow. The landowner, Welbeck Estates, has associations with Nottingham. Hence the link to Robin Hood.

My next destination was Bothal, a small estate village that lies deep in the valley of the river Wansbeck. The village history has always been closely tied to the families who owned the estate. The castle (pictured top) contains the administrative offices for the Welbeck Estate, which owns virtually all properties in the village.

It's a steep climb out of Bothal, but there's no shame in pushing. On to Woodhorn, where the colliery closed in 1981. The site is now home to Northumberland Archives and the Woodhorn Museum which depicts the work and lives of local mining families, and art created by the Ashington Group of painters. The pithead gear is currently covered in scaffolding as repair works start thanks to a grant from Historic England of almost £1million. I would have liked to take a closer look but I wasn't prepared to pay the entrace fees. So I pressed on to Newbiggin-on-Sea, where I pootled around the back streets, doing a bit of exploring before calling it a day.

The weather was cold, but not too cold. There's still a lot of water on the fields and some on the roads, including one quite exciting splash though a deep flood. However, today's blue sky was a very welcome change. Total distance covered was just over 15 miles.

Four stations

 

Starting and ending in Embleton, on today's ride I covered 18 miles. If I'd followed this route a century ago I would have ridden past four stations.

1. The first would have been Christon Bank Station. This lies just outside Embleton but for some reason was named after a nearby farm rather than the village. It opened in 1847 and closed in 1965. In addition to a limited volume of passenger traffic the station also carried whinstone from the nearby Embleton Quarry. The two were linked by a narrow gauge tramway. More details <here>.
2. The second would have been Fallodon which opened in 1847 and closed in 1934. Only a mile or so from Christon Bank, this was another complete station with two platforms, name boards and a station house. But it was never intended for the general public. They used Christon Bank Station. Fallodon was solely for the use of the Grey family, their guests and their servants. The Grey family also had a private station at Little Mill: four miles south, close to the other family seat at Howick Hall. At the time, the proprietor of Fallodon Hall was Sir George Grey, who was Home Secretary. The passage of the Newcastle & Berwick Railway Bill through Parliament was eased by providing him with a private station and the right to stop any public train. More details <here>.
3. The third was Chathill Station (pictured above). This opened in 1847. At the time there four passenger trains called every weekday in both directions. Now there are only two services each way on a weekday and none on Sunday. The station building is now a private house. It is listed, Grade-2, but the station is unstaffed and has no ticket facilities or other amenities.
4. From 1898 Chathill Station was the south-western terminus of the North Sunderland Railway. This was built to serve the harbour at Seahouses. The line was rarely profitable and a proposed extension to Bamburgh was never constructed. It was taken over by the LNER in 1939, and closed in 1951. Seahouses station was then demolished. The site where it stood is now the village car park and (importantly on a cold day) also houses the public toilets. For a view of how the North Sunderland line looked about 100 years ago (with its one loco and three coaches) see the Pathe film <here> and more information <here>.

We've had a lot of rain recently. Fields are flooded and ditches over-flowing. But the weather today was an improvement. Some mist, and a noticeable headwind on the return journey. No proper rain, patches of blue sky and even a little sunshine were very welcome. 

Multi-modal

For today's ride I drove to Ashington, took the new Northumberland Line Train to Newcastle then rode back to Ashington Station - mainly along NCN72 (Hadrian Cycleway) and NCN1 (Coast and Castles).

As the train left Ashington there was light rain, but by the time it arrived in Newcastle the sun was just about breaking through. The rain held off until the ride was over and I was in the car heading for home. The sun didn't last though. By the time I reached Whitley Bay there was quite a dense sea fret.

I anticipated the Sunday Market on Tynemouth Station, which provided a good choice of fast food for lunch. I should have anticipated the Sunday Market on Newcastle Quayside. That was really busy, which was nice, but it slowed progress for a while.

I then discovered that my maps of this part of the National Cycle Nework are out of date. There have been some significant improvements since the last time I rode this route. The result was that I drifted away from the correct path on several occasions. Initially I was inclined to blame gaps in the signage. On reflection, a more positive perspective would be to think of this as a great route, with plenty of interest to explore. I have a perfect excuse to repeat the adventure and update my mapping.

Without the unplanned diversions I had expected a ride of just over 30 miles. In practice I covered just over 33 miles. I arrived home tired, but happy after a very satisfying day.

Misty ride

After several days of wind and rain we had a change of weather this morning. No rain. Little wind. Instead it was cold and misty. The ride from Hipsburn  to Amble seemed like a sensible choice because it's mostly off-road. At Amble things were going well, so I continued on to Hauxley. That clocked up just over 14 miles in total, as well as traversing Amble in both directions.

There's a one-way system in the centre of Amble. As a result anyone following the National Cycle Route from South to North will take a less interesting route than those travelling North to South. If they stick to the cycle route they will miss the harbour, Amble's main shopping street, the Town Square, part of the Amble Bord Waalk art trail, and some evidence of Amble's fascinating history. To my mind these are worth a detour.

On the way back to Hipsburn I had a brief chat with a working party from the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans). They had been tidying up the hedges and clearing the path. Important work, for which I thanked them.

Warkworth Cemetery

The wind can be strong near the coast, so its direction makes a difference. Today I faced a fairly strong head wind on the way out. And a tail wind on the way back. A cold wind on the back is nicer than a cold wind in the face.

My ride passed through Warkworth. I was already aware of Warkworth Cemetery and its 19th century chapel, but I had never visited. It lies alongside NCN1, almost hidden behind trees, at the top of the hill on the road to the beach. My return journey was going more quickly than expected, so I went to have look. 

Discovering the view across the town was a highlight of today's ride.

Amble to Lynemouth

 

The section between Newcastle and Berwick-on-Tweed is said to be the most popular part of the Coast and Castles Cycle route that connects Newcastle, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. If that is true, it's for good reason. The 60 miles from Amble to Berwick delivers what it says on the tin. It's full of unspoilt coastline, small fishing ports, the tidal island of Lindisfarne and a choice of castles. The 15 miles between Newcastle and Whitley Bay includes a couple more castles and another five miles of coast. Not as unspoilt as the section further north, but full of interest.

But what about the 30 miles (or so) between Whitley Bay and Amble? That's roughly a third of the distance. It's not as picturesque as the other sections, and it's certainly not unspoilt. But I think it's under-appreciated. It has a complex history. It's full of interest, and I'm now equipped to explore it in some detail. There's no shortage of potential destinations.

Today's ride covers part. At 25 miles it was my longest ride, so far, on the new bike. That was pretty much the point of it. But along the way I enjoyed passing a deer in the woods at Druridge Bay Country park and watching it watching me as I rode past. I found the footpath to Low Chibburn that I missed on a previous attempt. I enjoyed my break at the Drift Cafe in Cresswell. And the late afternoon sun was lovely.

Preston Tower

 

My ride today was from Embleton to Preston Tower, and back. 

The earliest records of Preston Tower date from 1415 and 1499, but Peter Ryder believes that it was originally the defensible south end of a 14th century hall house.  By 1719 it was no longer used as a house, and the tower needed a new roof. In 1799 the house alongside the tower burned down and had to be rebuilt. In 1864 the tower was restored and the clock inserted by Henry Robert Baker Cresswell.

It wasn't a day to hang around, but there are information panels outside, and apparently there's a display inside the tower which sound as though they are worth a return visit.

A lapse of concentration on the way back meant that I missed a turning so the return journey was a bit longer than planned. That resulted in ride of a little over ten miles. Back at Embleton the Old Vicarage is another 14th century house, with a tower constructed c.1390. It was extended by John Dobson in 1828 for Rev. George Grimes. I believe it's now a private house, so can only be viewed from a distance.