IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Twizell Avenue, BLAYDON-ON-TYNE, NE21 4EU

The substation was originally located at the east end of the Priestman Ottovale Works, which operated from 1902 and ran an electricity power station using waste heat from a coking plant. The Works also incorporated the Newcastle Tar Works and Benzol Works which was the first place in the world where petrol, known as Blaydon Benzole, was produced from coal http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/detail.php?t=objects&type=all&f=&s=ottovale&record=0 The factory was demolished and the site reclaimed in the 1970s. The wooded valley of Blaydon Burn is below the field. Mill Farm is on the far side of the valley with the large quarry east of Stargate to the left.

Surprisingly, the field was reclaimed from the site of a former chemical works, known as Ottovale, owned by Priestman Collieries Ltd. and built in 1904 http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/detail.php?t=objects&type=all&f=&s=ottovale&record=0 The Priestman coke ovens were known locally as the ‘German Ovens’ or ‘Ottovale’ after their German manufacturer, Otto Hilgenstock. The ovens burnt coal to produce coke. The nearby Newcastle Tar Works refined crude tar, a by-product of coke production. The Newcastle Benzol Works was the first place in the world where petrol, known as Blaydon Benzole, was produced from coal. There was also a power station which generated electricity using waste heat but little remains to be seen today Image The factory was demolished and the site reclaimed in the 1970s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottovale_coke_works