Station Name: THORNLEY[Source: Nick Catford]
These maps of Haswell represent 1856 at the top and 1898 at the bottom. Haswell is some three miles north of Thornley Junction, the two locations being linked by Salters Lane, and has an interesting albeit somewhat complicated railway history. Referring to the 1856 map the Durham & Sunderland (D&S) is the line coming in from the north north-east, to the left of the Haswell & Seaham Waggonway which came down via the junction at South Hetton. Coming in from the south-east is the Hartlepool Dock & Railway Co's line which passed over the top of the D&S. A timetable from March 1850 shows a through Hartlepool - Sunderland service via Haswell and, of course, Murton but quite what happened with these trains at Haswell is unclear; the "Railway Station" marked on the map was the Hartlepool Co's station. It is possible trains used the connecting link with its sharp curve which would also have involved a reversal. The only other possible situation was passengers having to alight from the Hartlepool Co's train and board a D&S train. The D&S line was originally rope worked by means of winding engines located at intervals. It should also be noted that the two lines were on different levels, the Hartlepool Co. line being at the higher level. Whether the D&S provided any form of station or if it shared the Hartlepool Co's buildings is lost in the mists of time although the latter possibility is implied by the map. The D&S line was known as the "Haswell Branch" and was the reason for Murton being a junction. The line can be seen on both maps disappearing off the bottom left corners. It ended at Haswell Colliery which was situated just off the bottom of the maps. Haswell Colliery closed in 1896 and its tragic story can be read here here. Staying with the 1856 map for a further few moments, two Public Houses are shown; The Railway Tavern and The Railway Coach. Both have long since ceased trading and the building that was The Railway Coach no longer exists. Quite why the word "Coach" was used is unclear bit it may have been a reference to early horse-drawn railway carriages which resembled stage coaches on railway wheels. Coming into view on both maps is North Pespool. Today the name is spelled "Pesspool" and Pesspool Lane is an eastward continuation of Station Street. The earthworks seen heading north-west from the Hartlepool Co's station were the remnants of a proposed extension to Durham which was destined never to be built. The earthworks petered out after about one-third of a mile. Moving forward in time to the 1898 map it can be seen a connecting chord has been installed and the stub of the Hartlepool Co. line to the earlier terminus abandoned. The chord and the new, through, station had opened in 1858 and with it came the end of rope haulage. As can be seen the new chord bisected the by-then-abandoned formation of the Haswell & Seaham Wagonway. The siding down to the former Haswell Colliery is shown as still in situ and access was via a siding connection and reversal on the headshunt created by the original Durham & Sunderland line's disconnection from the new chord. One may wonder why a connection was not retained to give direct access, although a reversal would still have been necessary. The probably answer is that wagons (for the gasworks) were tripped from the new station's goods yard seen at lower right and the track layout avoided too much disruption to the main line which, back in the day, was very busy with coal traffic let alone passenger and other goods traffic. The map suggests the gasworks had a small dock at the northern tip of its site. This was a very small gasworks and the Haswell Gas Light Company was dissolved in 1916 although whether the gasworks ceased operation at the same time or was taken over is unclear. Certainly maps show the gasworks had gone by 1939 and the track serving it lifted, although the sidings north of the [1858] station remained. In 2025 evidence of the former railways and wagonways in Haswell and its surrounding area can still be seen from the air but on the ground in respect of Haswell itself very little obvious evidence remains.. |