Blackhall Colliery railway station

Blackhall Colliery railway station served the village of Blackhall Colliery in County Durham, North East England. It was located on the Durham Coast Line, north of Blackhall Rocks and south of Horden.

1. History

The North Eastern Railway opened their new coastal line linking the former Londonderry, Seaham and Sunderland Railway at Seaham and the former Hartlepool Dock and Railway at Hart to passenger traffic on 1 April 1905. This line was built, primarily, to avoid the steep gradients of the inland route at Ryhope Bank and Hesleden but also provided access to the newly developed collieries along the Durham Coast. However, when the line was opened, the NER chose to build the station to serve the Blackhalls at what became Blackhall Rocks as sinking of the colliery at Blackhall did not begin until 1909 and thus the main traffic that was expected to use the station was that of tourists visiting the caves at Blackhall Rocks. This meant that the village that developed to serve the colliery was left some distance from their nearest railway station. Eventually, the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), who had absorbed the NER in 1923, agreed to open an additional station to serve Blackhall Colliery. Construction of the station began on 6 July 1936 and was opened, just 18 days later, on 24 July 1936 by the then manager of Blackhall Colliery and county councillor Ernest Chicken who then proceeded to purchase the first ticket from the station ticket office. The station was recommended for closure in the Beeching Report and was duly closed on 4 May 1964 when all stopping services on the line between Sunderland and Hartlepool were withdrawn. Passenger services continue to pass through the site of the station but run non-stop between Seaham and Hartlepool.

1. References


1. External links

Nearby Places View Menu

Blackhall Colliery

Blackhall Colliery is a village on the North Sea coast of County Durham, in England. It is situated on the A1086 between Horden and Hartlepool. To the south of the Blackhall Colliery's Catholic church is Blackhall Rocks. Built around the once extensive mining industry, Blackhall's colliery closed in 1981. Daniel Hall was one of the founding fathers of the colliery and invested heavily in the establishment of the mining infrastructure in the area. It is believed but unconfirmed that the name Black-Hall was established as a result of Daniels alias 'Black' due to his association with the mining of coal and his surname Hall. In 1991 a local campaign to erect a statue of Mr Hall was unsuccessful due to a lack of available funding from the local Authority. There is now an industrial estate built over part of the old colliery buildings, the colliery itself was pulled down in the 1980s. Blackhall Colliery is on the edge of Castle Eden Dene, and Castle Eden Dene Mouth. Over the past couple of decades, there have been many changes. Following the closure of the colliery, the once busy village has economically gone downhill. As time has passed since the closure, other industries have now begun to emerge to once again create employment in the region. With both Blackhall Colliery and Blackhall Rocks being on the main road to Peterlee and Hartlepool. This has meant that these villages have become commuter villages, supplying workers for the now busy and expanding call centres in the nearby towns of Hartlepool and Peterlee.

Neighbourhood

Blackhall Rocks railway station

Blackhall Rocks was one of two railway stations to have served the Blackhalls in County Durham, North East England, and was a stop on the Durham Coast Line. The station was poorly sited for the village that grew around Blackhall Colliery in the years following its opening and, after the opening of the more conveniently sited Blackhall Colliery station in 1936, it came to primarily serve the more southerly village of Blackhall Rocks.

Train

Blackhall Rocks

Blackhall Rocks is a village on the North Sea coast of County Durham, North East England. It is situated on the A1086 between Horden and Hartlepool, and just south of Blackhall Colliery which it adjoins. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as "The Rocks". One of the earliest testaments to Blackhall Rocks is an Ordnance Survey taken of the Durham area from 1855-1857, where it is referred to as "Black Halls Rocks". The area was the site of the eponymously named Blackhall Rocks Hotel, a Temperance Hotel. The Hotel was converted into temporary accommodation by Easington (district) Council the 1940's, and was eventually demolished in the 1960's. In 1907, Blackhall Rocks railway station opened, primarily serving tourists wishing to visit the cave formations present along the coast of Blackhall Rocks. Adjacent to the station, a siding and coal depot supplied coal from Blackhall Colliery 1 mile north to the surrounding area. On 4 January 1960, the station was closed to passengers, and on 7 December 1964, closed indefinitely. Beginning in the 1920's, the population of Blackhall Rocks began to rise as nearby coal mining operations grew. In the late 1930s, the local council built a large council estate to the west of the coast road, around the road to High Hesleden. In the 1960s and 1970s, a series of new council houses were built to the east, between the coast road and the railway line.

Hotel Neighbourhood

1.6 km

High Hesleden

High Hesleden is a village in Monk Hesleden parish, County Durham, in England. It is situated a few miles north of Hartlepool, between Blackhall Rocks and Hesleden. High Hesleden is located mostly along one street, on one side of which lies the village green; there is a turn off (although difficult to recognise), for Monk Hesleden and there is a small country lane which takes you down to Crimdon.

Neighbourhood