Hetton - Warden Law Trail, near Houghton-le-Spring
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Hetton - Warden Law Trail, near Houghton-le-Spring by Malc McDonald as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Hetton - Warden Law Trail, near Houghton-le-Spring
Image: © Malc McDonald Taken: 30 Mar 2013
As its name suggests, the Hetton - Warden Law Trail links Hetton-le-Hole with Warden Law. Here, it follows the route of the Hetton Colliery Railway which opened in the early 1820s. The railway was built to carry coal from the mines at Hetton-le-Hole to the port at Sunderland where it could be loaded onto ships. It was the first railway in the world to be designed for locomotives rather than horses, opening about three years before the Stockton & Darlington Railway. However, unlike the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the Hetton Colliery Railway did not carry passengers. The mine at Hetton-le-Hole closed in 1950. The railway carried on running for another nine years, as it also served several other mines nearby, but it closed in 1959 and was dismantled. More information about the Hetton Colliery Railway and the mines it served can be found on the Durham Records Online website: http://www.durhamrecordsonline.com/literature/transport.php
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Image Location
Latitude
54.838269
Longitude
-1.45098