Mining & Railways in Weardale by Barry Kindleysides In 1154 King Stephen granted all the mineral rights in Weardale to his nephew Hugh Bishop of Durham. From then on a succession of Bishops owned these rights until 1836 when the church commissioners took charge. Both lead ore (Galena) and ironstone were mined from those early times and were brought down from the mines to the smelters by horsepower. This was to change with the coming of steampower and so during the 19th century we see the steady progress of the railways into the hills of upper Weardale. From an idea conceived by Cuthbert Rippon a local landowner and William Wallis a colliery owner the idea of Stanhope to Tyne railway was muted. Before the idea came to fruition both Rippon and Wallis had withdrawn from the project having had second thoughts about the financial wisdom of it. This was to be a wise decision, as the wayleaves to the landowners alone would come to an annual rent of 5,600. Other investors were found and Robert Stephenson was recruited as the consultant engineer. So it was on the 15th May 1834 at the cost of half a million pounds the highest standard gauge railway in England was opened. By 1840 it was nearly bankrupt with debts of 440,000 and company capital of only 150,000 and some of this was borrowed money. The 49 shareholders of the railway were invited to form a new company and reinvest, paying off the old debt. Of the shareholders 24 declined and lost their investment. In 1842 Stanhope and Tyne railway sold the line to the Derwent Iron Company and the 25 shareholders would partly recoup their loses.
A few years later in 1845 the running of the railway changed hands again when the Stockton & Darlington Railway Company acquired the leases and wayleaves from Derwent Iron Company. The Weardale Iron Company founded by Charles Attwood now set about looking for iron ore deposits in upper Weardale having leased the mineral rights for iron ore over the whole of the Weardale area. In 1859 Wilkinson Fordyce in his book The History of Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham says that in the Weardale Iron and Coal Company as it was now known employs about 1700 men in the Tow Law and Weardale area of which about half are occupied in the rising of iron ore. Attwood opened his first blast furnace in Stanhope Dean in 1845; it was supplied with iron ore from a mine in the dean and coke brought in via the Crawleyside incline. This incline was 934 yards in length with gradients of between 1 in 8 and 1 in 12. The engine used for the lower part of the incline was designed by George Stephenson and the higher section was worked using a 50 horsepower Hawkes situated at Weatherhill. Both sections using a rope system to lift and lower the trucks up and down the incline. The steam winding engine wheel from Weatherhill is now preserved in the National Railways museum in York. The incline was finally closed in 1951. From Weatherhill to Parkhead the line reached about 1400 ft and the trucks were hauled using an endless rope system the length between Parkhead and Meeting Slacks. This enabled 12 wagons to be hauled in each direction over a distance of 3¼ miles. In 1847 the Parkhead wheel was bypassed thus enabling locomotives to work as far as Weatherhill. At Meeting Slacks a further rope system worked there to Waskerley and in 1859 this was also bypassed allowing locomotives to run from Waskerley all the way to the Tyne.
The Stanhope and Tyne Railway was joined by the line running from Tow Law to Crook in 1845 enabling the Weardale ironstone to be taken to Attwoods new furnaces at Tow Law. This junction at Waskerley was to spawn a village of some size and an important part of this railway system. Had it not been for lead and ironstone bringing the railway here no one would have thought of building a village in such a desolate and isolated spot. In its heyday a few hundred people lived here in rows of back to back cottages, work being provided from the locomotive depot, wagon repair shop and company offices. The village also supported a shop, school and chapel but no public house. With the closure in 1939 of the Tow Law Burnhill line the locomotive depot was closed and then in 1951 with the closure of the incline to Crawleyside, Waskerley village went into decline. By 1956 it was virtually a ghost town and now little remains expect the signpost at the road end, a farm and two or three private houses. In 1846 the Weardale Iron and Coal Company approached the line owners the Wear and Derwent Railway asking if they would build an extension to Rookhope as they wanted to open up mines in the west of the county. The Wear and Derwent decided against this and it was left to the Weardale Iron and Coal Company to construct its own line joining the Wear and Derwent at Parkhead. The next stage of construction was again done by Weardale Iron and Coal Company and was from Rookhope towards Westgate and the Wear Valley. Because of the steep gradient locomotives could go no further than the ironstone mine of Smailes, Scuttershill and Slitt Pasture mines were reached by a self acting incline known as Bishops Seat. The incline continued downwards until it reached its end some 300ft above the village of Westgate.
There were other inclines and aerial ropeways bringing lead and ore from mines to both Rookhope and North Eastern Railway line running for Bishop Auckland to Wearhead. This line was joined near Bishop Auckland by the Crook, Tow Law, and Consett line giving two routes for the transportation of Weardale ironstone to the furnaces of Tow Law. The last major railway built was again constructed by the Weardale Iron and Coal Company and was to satisfy the Tow Law and Tudhoe furnaces needs for more iron ore. It ran from Rookhope in the direction of Allenheads passing by the long established Grove Rake lead mine and onto the opencast ironstone workings at Frazers Hush and North Grains. An exact date for the opening of this line is not known but 1866/7 is a likely one. The Bishops Seat incline closed in the early 1920s however the Weardale Iron and Coal Company locomotive No 9, which had originally been lowered down the incline to work at Heights Quarry, was left behind. It rested there unnoticed until 1943 when it was winched down to the N.E.R. line in the valley bottom and it then saw service at Easington Colliery before eventually going for scrap. The ironstone mines at Frazers Hush and North Grains closed in 1877 but the line remained open from Grove Rake to Rookhope until the lead mines closed in 1923. The next 20 years would see these lines closing as lead and ironstone production ceased. The Crawley and Wetherhill inclines were to close 28th April 1951, from then on rail traffic declined until finally the line closed in 1968. The mines and railways in the hills have now long gone and the scars of the landscape they have all but grassed over. It is now just part of the landscape but the signs are still there for anyone who wishes to look closely from Parkhead the track bed is clearly visible as it wends its way through the heather towards Rookhope and beyond.
Digitised by Helen Davison 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