Woodland, Rising Sun Country Park

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Woodland, Rising Sun Country Park by Geoff Holland 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

Woodland, Rising Sun Country Park

Image: © Geoff Holland Taken: 24 Nov 2020

The Rising Sun Country Park was once the site of one of the largest coal mines in the world, the Rising Sun Colliery. Sunk in 1906, with production starting in 1908, the colliery was owned by Wallsend & Hebburn Coal Co. Ltd., who also ran the nearby Wallsend Colliery. In 1935 it was described as "probably the most complete coal preparation plant in the world", providing dry-cleaning, wet-washing, wet and dry screening and blending and mixing and other processes for producing high quality product. The shaft eventually reached a depth of 769 ft (234 m) to exploit the Bensham coal seam, making it one of the deepest in Europe at the time. By 1965 there were 1,722 people employed at the colliery (1,442 working below ground, and 280 working on the surface). The colliery closed in 1969 and the buildings were demolished in the early 1970s. The country park covers an area of 162 hectares, boasts a nature reserve with ponds, woodlands and extensive grasslands, a farm and Countryside Centre, and is criss-crossed by numerous paths and tracks. For a selection of detailed free to download walking routes in the area visit www.northtynesidewalks.co.uk

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
55.017047
Longitude
-1.524078