Ryhope railway station

Ryhope was one of was one of two railway stations to have served the village of Ryhope, Tyne and Wear, North East England. For much of its existence, it was served by the Durham–Sunderland and Hartlepool–Haswell–Sunderland lines.

Ryhope
The site of the second station in 2016. Note that the footbridge and short sections of both platforms remain in situ.
LocationRyhope, Tyne and Wear
England
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyDurham & Sunderland Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
19 October 1836 (1836-10-19)First station opened as Ryhope
1894First station replace by second
5 January 1953Second station closed to passengers
7 March 1960Goods station renamed Ryhope East
1 June 1964 (1964-06-01)Second station closed completely

History

The Durham & Sunderland Railway and the opening of the First station

On 13 August 1834, the Durham & Sunderland Railway was granted parliamentary powers to construct their main line between Sunderland's South Dock and Durham City, and a branch linking Haswell to main line at Murton Junction.[1] The Sunderland to Haswell section was the first to be completed, officially opening on 30 August 1836[1] and the first station at Ryhope (co-ordinates: 54.8694°N 1.3559°W / 54.8694; -1.3559) was opened on 19 October 1836 as the temporary southern terminus of the line's first passenger service from Sunderland Town Moor.[2] From April or May 1837, D&SR passenger services were extended to a station at Haswell[2] where passengers could change for services to Hartlepool from the adjacent Hartlepool Dock & Railway station (though the different companies' tracks were not, initially, connected).[1] The line between Murton and Durham was completed gradually and, when finally opened on 28 June 1839, it served Durham City by means of a station at Shincliffe Town,[3] over 1 mile (1.6 km) from the centre.[2] The steep topography that the line traversed meant that, unlike many of its competitors, D&SR opted to haul its trains using a series of stationary winding engines,[1] with change-over between the Sunderland and Seaton Bank Top engines having been undertaken at Ryhope.[4]

NER improvements and the opening of the second station

In 1846, the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway purchased the D&SR.[3] and promptly renamed itself the York & Newcastle Railway.[5] The York & Newcastle Railway later also took out a lease on the HD&R[1] before both were amalgamated into the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway in 1848 and then the North Eastern Railway in 1854.[6]

By around 1860, the NER had converted the ex-D&SR network to locomotive haulage[7] and Ryhope's passenger services were diverted to new northern termini at Hendon in 1858 and then Sunderland Central in 1879.[8] From 1877, the opening of a new chord to connect the ex-D&SR and ex-HD&R lines at Haswell saw Ryhope served by direct through-trains to West Hartlepool[9] and, from 1893, construction of a new terminus at Durham Elvet finally provided the station with trains to Durham City centre.[3]

Durham–Sunderland Line
Durham Coast Line
to Newcastle
 Sunderland Docks
 Sunderland Central
Sunderland Town Moor
former York, Newcastle
& Berwick Railway to Penshaw
 Hendon
Ryhope Grange Junction
Durham Coast Line
to Hartlepool
 Ryhope
 Seaton Bank Top
 Murton
Hetton
 South Hetton
 Haswell
Hartlepool Dock & Railway
to Hartlepool
 Pittington
Leamside line
to Fencehouses
Leamside line
to Ferryhill
 Sherburn House
 Durham Elvet
 Shincliffe Town

Despite the line's conversion to locomotive working, gradients remained steep, with the first Ryhope station having sat on a gradient of 1 in 60 and the line between there and Seaton having an average gradient of 1 in 44.[2] On 19 August 1889, a Liverpool to Newcastle express train derailed while rounding the sharp curve at the foot of Seaton Bank at too high a speed, injuring 101 passengers.[1] In response, the NER realigned the curve and replaced the original Ryhope station with a new one, located on the curve, 11 chains (220 m) further south[10] (co-ordinates: 54.8674°N 1.357°W / 54.8674; -1.357), in 1894 at a cost of £1,080.[2] The NER also issued an instruction that all passenger trains descending Seaton Bank must momentarily stop at the new Ryhope station so as to ensure drivers control their speed during the descent.[1]

This second station was situated immediately to the southeast of George Street, which had been diverted to pass under the railway when the station was built.[10] A single-story brick-built booking office and waiting room was located on the down (northbound) platform while a timber waiting room and toilet block was located on the up (southbound) platform.[10] The platforms were linked with a standard late 19th century NER footbridge,[10] which remains in situ as of 2021. Close to the station was a siding serving a brickworks while a branch to Ryhope and Silksworth Collieries diverged from the ex-D&SR line a short distance to the north.[10]

Decline and closure

Despite the improvements of the 1850s-1890s, the route through Ryhope continued to provide a steep and indirect route between West Hartlepool and Sunderland and so the NER purchased the Seaham to Sunderland line of the Londonderry, Seaham & Sunderland Railway (which paralleled the original D&SR north of Ryhope) in 1900 and extended it along the coast to meet the ex-HD&R line near at Hart.[11] The new line, opened on 1 April 1905,[11] bypassed both Seaton Bank and Hesleden Bank further south[6] and thus led to the gradual diversion of much of the longer-distance traffic away from the lines through Ryhope station.[9] The LS&SR had had its own station at Ryhope, approximately 100 yards (91 m) to the east of the NER-build one, which was now under also under NER ownership.[12] From December 1903, the two stations were administered as one, with a shared station master, and, from 1904, the ex-LS&SR station was renamed Ryhope East.[12]

The NER became part of the London and North Eastern Railway as part of the 1923 grouping. Already beginning to experience a decline in traffic, the LNER withdrew regular passenger services from the Durham–Sunderland line west of Pittington[3] on 1 January 1931.[7] Nonetheless, Ryhope retained almost hourly service frequencies on both lines during the 1930s.[10]

The LNER came under the control of the North Eastern Region of British Railways following its nationalisation in 1948 and, by this time, the decline in rail passenger and goods traffic was becoming more serious. Nonetheless, BR initially reinstated the hourly service on the Pittington line (previously reduced during the Second World War) but appears to have been unsuccessful and ticket sales at both Ryhope stations amounted to only 6,917 by 1911.[10] The Hartlepool–Haswell–Sunderland line lost its stopping passenger service (south of Murton) on 9 June 1952[7] and Ryhope closed to passengers completely when the remaining Pittington–Sunderland passenger service was withdrawn on 5 January 1953.[10] Ryhope station remained open for goods to share the burden on Ryhope East's goods-handling facilities and, when the latter closed to passengers on 7 March 1960, the former was renamed so that both goods stations were called Ryhope East.[10] Both closed to goods on 1 June 1964.[10][12]

The remainder of the Durham line was dismantled west of Pittington following its complete closure on 11 November 1963[3] while many of the stations on the West Hartlepool line remained open to goods until 1966,[9] and it was still used by Sunday diversions until the section through Haswell was dismantled in the late 1960s.[13] Still, the northern section of the former West Hartlepool line was retained through Ryhope to provide a northerly outlet for coal from South Hetton and Hawthorn Collieries[13] until 1991.[14] Once this last section of the line was lifted, the Hart to Haswell Walkway was extended to terminate at the site of Ryhope station.[14]


References
  1. Ken, Hoole (1986). Regional History of Railways of Great Britain Volume 4 The North East (3rd ed.). David St John Thomas. pp. 149–154. ISBN 0946537313.
  2. "Disused Stations:Ryhope Station (First site)". Disused Stations. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. "Disused Stations: Durham Elvet Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  4. Whishaw, Francis (1842). The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Practically Described and Illustrated. London: John Weale. pp. 74–78.
  5. Allen, Cecil J (1974) [1964]. The North Eastern Railway (Revised ed.). Ian Allan Ltd. p. 90. ISBN 0711004951.
  6. Norman, Hill (2001). Teesside Railways A View from the Past. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd. pp. 27, 30, 48. ISBN 0711028036.
  7. Hoole, Ken (1978). North Eastern Branch Lines Since 1925. Shepperton: Ian Alan Ltd. pp. 80–81 & 114. ISBN 0711008299.
  8. Sinclair, Neil T. (1985). Railways of Sunderland. Tyne and Wear County Council Museums. p. 54. ISBN 0905974247.
  9. Hoole, Ken (1985). Railways of East Durham. Clapham, North Yorkshire: The Dalesman Publishing Company Ltd. pp. 8, 33. ISBN 0852068352.
  10. "Disused Stations: Ryhope Station (second)". Disused Stations. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  11. Body, Geoffrey (1989). PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2. Patrick Stephens Limited. pp. 66, 85 & 150. ISBN 1852600721.
  12. "Disused Stations: Ryhope East Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  13. Goodyear, Alan (January 1992). "MURTON CLOSURE ENDS AN ERA". Railway Magazine. London. 138 (1089): 56–57.
  14. "Colliery Railways: Hartlepool to Sunderland via Haswell 1835/6-1993 | Durham Records Online Library". Durham Records Online. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Seaton Bank Top
Line and station closed		   Durham & Sunderland Railway   Sunderland Town Moor
Line and station closed
Seaton
Line and station closed		   London and North Eastern Railway
Durham–Sunderland line		   Sunderland Central
Line closed; station open
Seaton
Line and station closed		   London and North Eastern Railway
Hartlepool–Haswell–Sunderland line		   Sunderland Central
Line closed; station open


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