WW12
Cowpen Colliery Railway
Blyth
55.122096, -1.532318
Opened:
Closed:
1950s
2007
Entry Created:
17 Jan 2023
Last Updated:
17 Jan 2023
Disused
Condition:
Owners:
National Coal Board
Description (or HER record listing)
NEHL - This relatively modern railway adjoined the much older railway to the Isabella Pit in the 1930s, staking its claim a strip of farmland up to the River Blyth to connect with the Bates Pit. A previous colliery (North Pit) stood nearby and was connected by rail, but from the railway station in the centre of town.
The pit closed in 1986 and the railway was rarely used thereafter. It was officially dismantled circa 2007, though there are still some remains close to Plessey Road.
WALKABILITY: ★★☆☆☆
Much of the route is walkable, however please do not attempt in wet weather. It's extremely boggy and muddy. Some of the route is impassible and flooded (taken over by duck ponds!) so proceed with caution. On a dry summers day I can assume it would be a pleasant walk.
Ordnance Survey, 1966. The branch is in the centre of the shot through Cowpen.
Part of the trackbed with a footbridge in situ. Just after this area the trackbed is flooded, so a diversion has to be made via the old Cowpen Colliery.
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An aerial view of wider Blyth and the Bates Pit Branch in the centre from 1953. The branch was very new, either opening around this time or a couple years before. Source: Source Historic England Archive (RAF photography) Historic England Photograph: raf_58_1112_v_0002 flown 05/05/1953
Historic Environment Records
Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past
Tyne and Wear: Sitelines
HER information as described above is reproduced under the basis the resource is free of charge for education use. It is not altered unless there are grammatical errors.
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