John Thomas William Bell’s plans produced to a scale of 2½ inches to the mile between 1842 and 1861 are very detailed and provide an invaluable source of information for those studying the collieries and railways of the region. There are six very large maps in total which have been reproduced in full. However, because much of the detail is lost in the reduction quarter sections have also been reproduced. For the same reason sections of particular areas of interest have been reproduced to a larger scale.
1. Hartlepool District, 1843. S.E. Durham covering the area between Lumley and Ferryhill in the west and Seaham and Hartlepool in the east.
2. Tyne and Wear Coal Districts, 1843. Covering the area between Blaydon and South Shields in the north and Stanley and Seaham in the south
3. Newcastle Coal District, 1847. S.E. Northumberland covering the area between Whalton to Blyth in the north and Wylam to Tynemouth in the south.
4. Blyth and Warkworth Coal Districts, 1851. N.E. Northumberland covering the area between Low Newton and Amble in the north and Morpeth and Blyth in the south.
5. Auckland Coal District, 1852. S.W. Durham covering the area between Wolsington Park and Durham City in the north and Cockfield Fell and Sim Pasture in the south.
6. Western Coal District, 1861. S.W. Northumberland and N.W. Durham covering the area beween Bywell and Newcastle in the north and Waskerley and Ushaw in the south
