Product Code:
Series: The Early Railways Collection
Author/Editor: Les Turnbull
Publication Date: NEIMME 2017
Description
The Derwent Valley is rich in industrial archaeology of international significance and the remains of the early railways which served the Great Northern Coalfield are amongst its most valuable treasures. More than one hundred years before George Stephenson built the Stockton and Darlington Railway, Lady Elizabeth Bowes and her partner Lady Jane Clavering opened a waggonway in the valley to transport their coal to market from Derwenthaugh. This book explores the history of these early railways which were part of a network serving the largest coalfield in the world during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. And railways were not the sole preserve of the coal industry. The largest steel works in Europe at this time, Crowley’s situated at Winlaton and Swalwell, was supplied by rail and by 1710 it had a short internal railway linking the wharfs with the steel furnace.
About the Author
Les Turnbull graduated in history at Durham University and worked as a schoolmaster, university lecturer and senior education adviser. Upon retirement he became a volunteer at NEIMME where now serves as a member of Council. Les has written several books on the history of mining and his particular interest, the early railways of the Great Northern Coalfield. He is frequently called upon to lecture both within the region and beyond.
Purchasing Information
ISBN: 978-0-9931151-3-4
Book Information: Softback, 80 A4 pages in full colour, 84 illustrations.
List price: £ 10.00
NEIMME Members price: £ 10.00
Other societies price: £ 10.00
