Note: This station replaced Tynemouth (2nd B&T site, later renamed North Shields) as the new terminus on a short extension of the 2nd site branch. Somewhat impudently this new terminus was constructed immediately north of the North Eastern Railway’s 1847 terminus. However the journey from Newcastle on the 1864-opened B&T route from New Bridge Street station was about twelve miles as opposed to eight on the NER.
This station was equipped with ridge-and-furrow platform roofing which was removed after closure and installed at the new Whitley station (opened 1882). The new route between North Shields and Tynemouth occupied the west end of this station.
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.
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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.
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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
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) & North Shields (B & T)
See also Seaton Sluice and the unopened Collywell Bay branch: Brierdene & Collywell Bay
See also
West Monkseaton, Monkseaton (2nd site), Whitley Bay (1st site), Whitley Bay (2nd site), Cullercoats (2nd site) & Tynemouth (4th site)
See also
Tynemouth (Newcastle & Berwick terminus) |
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Recent aerial view showing the site of the third Tynemouth station. Tynemouth Road runs in from the north. The extant Newcastle & Berwick terminus building is seen half way down on the left. The Blyth & Tyne terminus was on the opposite side of Tynemouth Road.
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