The Railway Line
This wasn’t a public line, it was only for wooden trucks. Trucks filled with coal would go from the pit to Thornley. From there some of the coal would make its way to the coke-works at Winlaton Mill or on to Dunston Staiths ready to be shipped out.
In this charming film, Tea Break, we hear memories of one of the train drivers who took the coals away from the pit, down to Derwenthaugh where it would either be made into coke or be sent down to London to feed the power stations.
Not everyone knows that different types of coal had different uses. Chopwell had a good standard of coal.
