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.